The Space ETF Built to Let the Winners Win | Nick Frasse, Van Eck

Nick Frasse spent five years on Van Eck's internal wholesaler desk before making the uncommon move from sales into product management. He now covers the firm's thematic ETF lineup — semiconductors, robotics, data center supply chain, and most recently, space.In this episode, Nick walks through WARP, the Van Eck Space ETF, launched in May 2025 with 20 pure-play holdings and a 50% revenue threshold for inclusion. We get into why the index was deliberately written to be forward-looking and open-ended given how quickly the space industry is likely to evolve, what Van Eck learned from its European UCITS predecessor JEDI, and how the four building blocks — satellite communications, rocket and propulsion, earth observation and data, and space exploration — actually break down in the portfolio. Nick makes the mass-to-orbit case with real specificity: from $50,000 per kilogram in the shuttle era to under $200 with Starship — a shift that reframes space from a specialty sector into an economic unlock that touches shipping, communications, data, and industries that don't yet exist.He's also honest about the current revenue mix in the fund — still largely government-driven through prime and subprime defense contractors — and where he expects that mix to move as commercial applications scale. And he makes the case for a design philosophy that Van Eck has stuck to across its thematic lineup: build focused, pure-play, market-cap-weighted vehicles that let the winners win, and leave position sizing to the advisor.