Areas of Interest

As at 20 December 2024

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Refer to each Funds’ monthly reports for weights across largest 5 AoIs as at last month end.
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Big Data – Businesses that derive a competitive advantage from having unique and hard to replicate data sets. In many cases, network effects mean that these proprietary data sets get stronger over time, advancing the company’s competitive advantages to peers.

Climate – The need to decarbonise the planet is a major thematic of our time. Companies whose earnings prospects should improve with increased investment and focus on decarbonisation, as the global economy moves towards reducing carbon emissions. We’ve identified climate change leaders and decarbonisation enablers that generally fit one or more of the following sub-trends:‍

• Clean Energy – Companies benefiting from demand for carbon-free and renewable energy sources, including wind, solar, nuclear, renewable diesel and electrical grid equipment;
• Clean Transport – companies benefiting from the growth of electric vehicles, battery technology and other low carbon transportation;
• Energy Efficiency – companies offering insulation products, electrical switches, lighting, metering and other energy efficient technologies; and
• Circular Economy – companies most likely to benefit from efforts to improve recycling, alternative packaging materials and management of waste, wastewater, agriculture technologies and other services aimed at reducing reliance on raw materials.

Connectivity – Semiconductors focused on tools at the ‘edge’, for example, semiconductor content in smartphones, PC’s, industrial & healthcare applications and telecommunication equipment (such as 5G).

Consumer – Businesses that benefit from a growth in consumer spending, such as dominant brands, restaurants and consumer technology.

Digital Enterprise – The cloud computing revolution is still in its early growth stages, with Public Cloud and software as a service (SaaS) technology likely to dominate information technology spend in the next few years.

Digital Media & Content – Content assets are relatively scarce and often have a premium valuation for their ability to scale and attract consumer attention. Digital media includes the integration of digital advertising to premium content globally.

Digital Payments – There is a global trend moving away from physical cash payments to digital payments. New payment technologies mean we are now seeing an accelerating take-uprate along with a growing desire among many governments to eradicate the cash economy.

E-Commerce – With improvements in the selection of goods and services available online combined with delivery speed and reliability – such as Amazon’s move to one-day shipping – online consumer sales are on the rise. Over time we expect retail to continue to shift from physical stores to online stores.

Energy Transition – Companies that play a role in the management of energy infrastructure and supply, as well as maintaining energy continuity as we progress towards decarbonisation over time. 

High Performance Computing – As emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, cloud computing and self-driving vehicles become more mainstream, they will demand ever greater computing power which only a handful of players will be able to supply.

Infrastructure – Is the key to a growing economy, we expect large spending plans and growing private participation to enable strong growth ahead for Toll Road providers, airports and housing.

Innovative Health – Health is an industry facing unsustainably rising costs and inconsistent outcomes – and is therefore fertile ground for innovation across diagnostics and patient care, in areas like genetic sequencing, virtual reality and 3D printed medical devices.

Intelligent Industry – This Area of Interest is focused on the integration of automation, specifically robotics, into various industries globally. Integrating robotics and improving automation through technology has the ability to create meaningful efficiency gains for many different industries.

Internet Disruption – As the world’s big online platforms or aggregators attract more users and generate more content, they acquire more data, create smarter algorithms and create better services – a circular‘ network effect’ giving the big players like Google and Facebook ever more pricing power and the ability to exceed market expectations.

Outsourcing & Complexity – Companies that provide a solution that is integral to improve the efficiency of a complex process, or provide a solution to a complex problem that creates a natural moat around their offering.

Security – Companies that are involved in either cyber or physical security such as public safety on a smaller scale and military defence on a global scale.

Testing – There is an increasing global demand for testing services as customers and regulatory bodies require higher standards for product safety, quality assurance and sustainability. Testing companies have the potential to compound their earnings as standards become stricter and complexities increase across various verticals including healthcare, industrial, food and beverage, decarbonisation and many more. These structural shifts lead to an increasing need for more thorough testing over the years to come.

Travel – Businesses that play a role in the global travel market with a competitive advantage in their business, such as global airline manufacturers Boeing and Airbus, who exist in a duopoly market.

Wealth Effects – As the global population becomes wealthier and consumers and businesses more financially savvy, consumers and businesses become more connected to the financial world driving a need for more insurance, banking and securities and other financial products.