Invesco Ltd. is launching an exchange-traded fund for metals used to build electric vehicles, a sign of growing investor appetite for commodities and products tied to the energy transition.

The new fund, officially called the Invesco Electric Vehicle Metals Commodity Strategy No K-1 ETF, is believed to be the first commodity fund linked to the shift away from fossil fuels, the company said. It will hold futures contracts and other financial products tracking prices of metals such as cobalt, copper, nickel and aluminum that are in high demand for their uses in electric cars and other clean-energy projects.

Existing funds for investing in electric cars typically hold shares of battery companies and metals producers rather than assets tied directly to metals prices.

Futures are contracts that give the holder the obligation to buy or sell a fixed quantity of an asset at a specific price by a certain date in the future. They are typically the most commonly referenced price gauge of many raw materials and are usually settled with physical material, or sometimes cash.

The creation of the new ETF comes with prices for many metals at or near records and auto makers and politicians worried that supply shortages will limit the production of electric vehicles in the future.

Demand for metals such as copper has soared at the same time that investors are pressuring miners to limit their environmental footprints and investments in new supply, crimping production. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has exacerbated commodity supply disruptions, increasing attention on raw materials after roughly a decade of low prices and lackluster returns.

“There’s been a bit of an awakening on the part of investors,” said Jason Bloom, head of fixed income and alternatives ETF strategy at Invesco.

Commodity funds managed by Invesco and other asset managers have raked in billions of dollars in recent months with prices for fossil fuels such as oil and natural gas also rising at their fastest pace in years.

Investors are also clamoring for new ways to put money into fighting climate change, pushing a flood of money into funds that incorporate environmental, social and governance—or ESG—factors. Mr. Bloom said the firm isn’t explicitly positioning the new fund as an ESG fund but institutional investing clients that consider such factors are eager for such products that don’t include fossil fuels.

Some analysts argue metals shouldn’t be part of ESG portfolios, despite their uses in clean energy, because extracting them often damages the environment.

Investing in and managing such funds is risky. Futures contracts and other commodity-linked assets expire each month, so fund managers must often sell the expiring contract and purchase the next month’s contract. That process, known as “rolling,” can drive thinly traded markets haywire when investor demand ebbs and flows.

Metals prices are also notoriously volatile. Nickel prices skyrocketed to unprecedented levels earlier this year, turbocharged by a “short squeeze” in which a Chinese producer that had been wagering on falling prices was forced to unwind that bet by buying, pushing up the price.

The fund will hold futures contracts and other products tracking prices of metals such as copper.

Photo: Lucien Kahozi/Bloomberg News

Mr. Bloom said Invesco’s experience managing other metals and commodity funds gives it confidence it can effectively manage this one. The fund is also actively managed, giving its managers more freedom to deviate from its benchmark.

The new ETF won’t initially include lithium, a key component of batteries, because there is no actively traded futures market that meets Invesco’s liquidity requirements. There are different grades of lithium chemicals needed for batteries, making it challenging to create a standard, easily tradable financial contract tied to the lightweight metal. Mr. Bloom said the firm would consider adding new metals to the fund in the future as markets evolve.

The new fund will trade under the ticker EVMT.

Write to Amrith Ramkumar at amrith.ramkumar@wsj.com