Along with death and taxes, natural disasters seem to have to become another unpleasant certainty these days. While losses from natural disasters are increasing, insurance costs are ballooning and coverage is becoming unavailable in some cases. However, disaster prevention, preparation and recovery measures go a long way in reducing damages from extreme weather events.

$1 in disaster mitigation can yield $6 or more in loss reduction.¹ In line with this data, the United Nations has announced an initiative to expand worldwide early warning systems with a goal of raising $157 million.²

Destructive thunderstorms and earthquakes cost the world $250 billion in 2023.³ Interestingly, although the earthquake magnitude and population density were similar in events in Turkey/Syria and Japan, the death toll was significantly less in Japan. Munich Re attributes this to following building codes and seeing how buildings performed under these circumstances. Their conclusion was that an emphasis on resilience will be essential to limit losses in the future.

Governments and corporations throughout the world can proactively hire companies to mitigate disaster losses by designing and building disaster resilient infrastructure. For example: 

AECOM* offers infrastructure consulting services for damage prevention, as well as the reconstruction of facilities post disaster.

Fluor* provides engineering and construction services to create resilient buildings.

Generac* offers generators and grid services to ensure continuous energy flows during and after disasters.

Hexagon AB* has wide area remote monitoring systems to detect, predict and simulate disasters and alarm systems for early warning of potential disasters.

On a more granular level, individuals need to prepare for upcoming events. Home improvement stores worldwide like Home Depot*, Lowe’s*, Hornbach* and Wesfarmers* are go-to destinations. Shovels, salt, heaters, sandbags, flood barriers, flashlights, generators, and pumps are popular purchases prior to and after natural disasters.

The Procure Disaster Recovery Strategy ETF (FIXT: NASDAQ) was created to follow corporations focused on natural disaster prevention, preparation, and recovery. With extreme weather events expected to increase in frequency and costs⁴, investors may want to have exposure to companies within the natural disaster mitigation sector.

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¹”Natural Hazard Mitigation Saves Interim Report”, FEMA.gov, June 2018.

²At Climate Ambition Summit, UN Agencies and IFRC Kickstart Major Initiative Towards Realizing Early Warnings for All by 2027,” UNDP.org, September 23, 2023.

³“Record thunderstorm losses and deadly earthquakes cost $250 billion in damages in 2023, report says”, by Sam Meredith, cnbc.com, January 9,2024.

⁴ “2023: A historic year of U.S. billion-dollar weather and climate disasters,” by Adam B. Smith, climate.gov, January 8, 2024.

*As of January 18th, 2024, AECOM (ACM) was a 1.97% holding, Fluor (FLR) was a 2.01% holding, Generac (GNRC) was a 1.96% holding, Hexagon (HEXAB SS) was a 2.12% holding, Home Depot (HD) was a 2.29% holding, Hornbach Holdings (HBH GR) was a 2.22% holding, Lowe’s (LOW) was a 2.15% holding, Wesfarmers Ltd (WES AU) was a 2.19% holding in the Procure Disaster Recovery Strategy ETF (NASDAQ: FIXT).

Please consider the Funds investment objectives, risks, and charges and expenses carefully before you invest. This and other important information is contained in the Fund’s summary prospectus and prospectus, which can be obtained by visiting procureetfs.com. Read carefully before you invest.

Investing involves risk. Principal loss is possible. The Fund is also subject to the following risks: Shares of any ETF are bought and sold at market price (not NAV), may trade at a discount or premium to NAV and are not individually redeemed from the funds. Brokerage commissions will reduce returns. Securities of small- and mid-capitalization companies may experience much more price volatility, greater spreads between their bid and ask prices and significantly lower trading volumes than securities issued by large, more established companies. The Fund is not actively managed so it would not take defensive positions in declining markets unless such positions are reflected in the underlying index. Please refer to the summary prospectus for a more detailed explanation of the Funds’ principal risks. It is not possible to invest in an index.

Natural Disaster/Epidemic Risk – Natural or environmental disasters, such as earthquakes, fires, floods, hurricanes, tsunamis and other severe weather-related phenomena generally, and widespread disease, including pandemics and epidemics, have been and may be highly disruptive to economies and markets, adversely impacting individual companies, sectors, industries, markets, currencies, interest and inflation rates, credit ratings, investor sentiment, and other factors affecting the value of the Fund’s investments. Foreign Investment Risks – Foreign securities are typically more volatile, harder to price, and less liquid than U.S. securities.

The Procure Disaster Recovery Strategy ETF is neither associated with, nor endorsed by, the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The Procure Disaster Recovery Strategy ETF is distributed by Quasar Distributors LLC.