Megatrend and Secular Growth Investment in a post COVID-19 world

Accelerated Change? The Brave New World of Post-Pandemic Secular Growth Investing

Several investment commentators have suggested that the COVID-19 pandemic may well accelerate secular trends or changes that were already underway across global economies. The widespread rapid adoption of technology to solve issues, in terms of location by home workers in lockdown and by the biotechnology sector in its race to find a potential vaccine, is one example. Disruption to supply chains and the enforced closure of many manufacturing sites has renewed interest in the possible use of robotics as an alternative while you solution.

In this blog post, Savvy Investor has collated a number of papers which address investing in megatrends and secular growth stories, some of which may have been revitalised and rejuvenated by the COVID-19 Pandemic.

 

Thematic Investing: Seeking independent sources of excess growth (Wellington, 2020)

Wellington Management identifies several secular trends which may impact capital markets over the long term, explores the benefits of adopting a thematic approach, and outlines best practice for successful thematic investing.

The Future of the Health Care Sector - The analyst view (Capital Group, May 2020)

For compliance reasons, this paper is only accessible in certain geographies

This piece from Capital Group takes a look at the future of the healthcare sector, postulating that 3 waves of growth might derive from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Podcast: Healthcare - An investment theme for the coming decade (BNP Paribas, May 2020)

BNP Paribas AM's Jon Stephenson, Senior Portfolio Manager for US equities and specialist for healthcare innovators, and Daniel Morris, Senior Market Strategist discuss why healthcare stands out as the sector that may become the investment theme for this decade.

The Bio Revolution: Innovations transforming the world around us (McKinsey & Company, 2020)

McKinsey & Company investigates the bio revolution, a confluence of advances in biological science and accelerating development in computing, automation, and artificial intelligence, which is fueling a new wave of innovation.

Podcast: Fast-forwarding the digital transformation (NN IP, May 2020)

NN IP's Ewout van Schaick, Head of Multi-Asset, and Hans Slob, senior investment analyst, discuss which tech segments currently look appealing from a defensive perspective and which crisis-induced trends might be here to stay.

Podcast: Time to invest in robotics? (Candriam, Apr 2020)

This podcast sees Candriam's Nicolas Deltour, Head of Client Portfolio Management (Fundamental Equity) and Renato Guerriero, Global Head of Distribution & Member of the Executive Committee (Group Strategic Committee) discuss the positive long-term outlook for the robotics sector.

An Intuitive Approach to Investment Prediction with ML (State Street, 2020)

State Street's paper illustrates, only too clearly, how digitalization and specifically machine learning is already making is presence felt in the management of models applied to investment portfolios.

Podcast: Life beyond lockdown - how the coronavirus will accelerate existing global trends (Federated Hermes, Apr 2020)

For compliance reasons, this paper is only accessible in certain geographies

Federated Hermes muses whether shifts in our way of life introduced as part of the fight against the COVID-19 virus may accelerate industry trends that were already underway.

After the Great Lockdown: Investment implications of new realities (PGIM, May 2020)

PGIM's latest Megatrends paper features input from a range of contributors from across the company. They discuss the impact of the 'COVID-19 reality' and its implications for long-term investors.

Webinar: Investing amidst monumental change (Baillie Gifford, May 2020)

In this webinar presented by Tim Garrett, client director in Baillie Gifford's Long Term Global Growth Team (LTGG) he examines the benefits of investing amid monumental change. Some or all of the companies mentioned in this webinar may be investments in funds managed by Baillie Gifford.

Phase II: The next chapter (KKR, May 2020)

In this piece from KKR, they view the COVID-19 pandemic as a likely catalyst for change amongst a range of industries, and which will require new perspectives through which to view the world economies and their associated capital markets.

Applying AI and Big Data in Investing: Four FAQs (Enterprising Investor blog, 2020)

The AI Pioneers in Investment Management report from the CFA Institute's Enterprising Investor blog certainly got investors thinking. In this follow-up article, the author outlines some of the FAQs that he has fielded since.

Indexing Thematic Megatrends (Qontigo, 2019)

STOXX introduces its family of thematic indices, outlining the construction methodology and rationale for each index, illustrating drivers of risk and return and any unintended biases within those indices that investors should be aware of.

Digitalization of Wealth Management (SimCorp, 2020)

SimCorp notes the disruptive trend that has been emerging in wealth management and argues that companies need to embrace, not fight it.

2020 ESG Trends to watch (MSCI)

MSCI examines five emergent trends in ESG investing that the firm believes will unfold in 2020 to catapult this approach into the new decade.

Technology Vision 2020: The Tech-Clash (Accenture)

In this annual report on the sector, Accenture reviews trends in technology, such as artificial intelligence, the Internet-of-things, robots and much more besides!

Digital Transformation in the Hedge Fund and PE Industry (2020)

In this academic paper, the authors examine how digital disruption is affecting different parts of the financial sector, from Big Data, through the use of emerging technologies to help democratize investment decision making for all kinds of investor.

Asia Now: The China Edition (Matthews Asia, 2019)

For compliance reasons, this paper is only accessible in the United States and Canada

Matthews Asia investigates some of the investable trends that currently exist in China.

Asset Owner 100: The most influential capital on the planet (Thinking Ahead Institute, 2020)

The Thinking Ahead's study gathers data on the total assets of the top 100 asset owners around the world. It also presents industry-wide observations including the rise in sustainability and the structural challenges faced by both DB and DC pension schemes.

The 100-Year Dragon Portfolio: A brief summary (RCM Alternatives blog, 2020)

Artemis Capital outlines the basis of a proposed asset allocation for the next 100 years, suggesting that exposure to several strategies and asset classes, including long volatility, fixed income, gold, commodity trend and equity-linked should be considered.