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Zet inclusieve groei in om sociale ongelijkheid te bestrijden

Zet inclusieve groei in om sociale ongelijkheid te bestrijden Door Neil Dwane – topstrateeg bij AllianzGI  (Allianz Global Investors).

Het huidige klimaat van trage groei veroorzaakt sociale problemen, waaronder oplaaiend populisme en groeiende economische ongelijkheid.

De economische groei zit sinds de financiële crisis een beetje vast in de tweede versnelling. De lage rente en kredietstromen…

If the electoral surprises of 2016 are anything to go by, we live in an era where nothing is certain anymore. Political upheavals in the United States and United Kingdom have left many investors confused, pessimistic, and overly cautious. And a series of major elections across Europe are soon to take place, with outcomes that aren’t necessarily predictable. 

However, even if the nature of global politics is altering, there will always be a need to grow one’s wealth, and there will always be opportunities out there. Below are some ways to ensure your wealth doesn’t diminish during these interesting times.

Play the long game Widely considered one of the most successful investors in the world, Warren Buffett remains optimistic about the market. While he hasn’t been coy about his support for Hillary Clinton, he nevertheless thinks America will “work fine” under Donald Trump, even though he can’t say for certain where the stock market will be going in the next couple of years. 

Part of the reason for his confidence is because he invests with a long-term in view, instead of timing the market. He says: “The best thing with stocks actually is to buy them consistently over time. You want to spread the risk as far as the specific companies you’re in by owning a diversified group, and you diversify over time by buying this month, next month, the year after... but you are making a terrible mistake if you stay out of a game that you think is going to be very good over time because you think you can pick a better time to enter it.”

Pick your stocks carefully

It’s no secret that investing in companies which generate profits efficiently will benefit your portfolio in the long run. So, the next time you’re rebalancing your portfolio, take a look at what you’re putting your money into.

Neil Dwane, Global Strategist at Allianz Global Investors, advises: “Owning high-quality companies with good dividends and returns on equity ... is a solid strategy that can also help to buffer against burgeoning inflationary threats.” If you’re not certain what to invest in, take inspiration from institutional investors, who are required to show their holdings periodically, and shape your portfolio from there.

Be cautiously optimistic

Experts agree that America’s potential economic shortfalls, including trade, climate change, and employment, are long-term problems.

But in the short term, Trump’s agenda should result in even stronger economic growth domestically in the US market. Planned tax reforms could also boost corporate profitability, ignite consumer and business spending, spur mergers and acquisitions activity and even lead to debt reduction efforts.

Decreased regulation should have a positive impact on many industries including but not limited to banks, energy companies, drug manufacturers and automobile manufacturers.

The effects should be wide-ranging from stimulating companies to hire and invest or driving lending activity to improving trading liquidity. Increased fiscal spending should accelerate economic growth. Along those lines, cyclicals could benefit from infrastructure spending and military-exposed companies may be impacted by higher defence spending.

So despite a general air of uncertainty, it looks like it is a good time for investors to focus on the US market right now.

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We are living at the vanguard of technology, with exciting new developments nearly every day. These have completely transformed the way we live and work, with more to come in the future.

Yes, some of these risk being over-hyped and on the verge of forming a bubble – the market for drones in particular being called “over-hyped” by some observers. But with enough research into forthcoming innovations, you just might spot opportunity in some of these sectors of the market for tech products.

We look at some of the coolest innovations of our time – some of which could be worth investing your money in.

3D Printing

3D printing – aka additive manufacturing, for the way things are built in layers – brings custom digital designs to fruition. Over just a few years, 3D printing has become sophisticated enough to a point where it is altering the futures of certain industries – with some firms already printing out working automobiles, or even an entire house in just 24 hours.

One to watch: Proto Labs (PRLB) has seen big jumps in revenue recently, with more spikes possible as US infrastructure spending is set to increase.

Virtual Reality

VR, as it is know, has arguably been the hottest thing to hit the gaming industry in recent years. However, there are many other applications for the technology besides game immersion. CEO of VR firm Improbable, Herman Narula, says that the simulation technology in VR has real-world applications such as building real-life models of towns and cities to replicate traffic flow for urban planning purposes, or controlling autonomous vehicle fleets.

One to watch: Alphabet Inc (GOOG). Google’s holding company may be an obvious choice for the tech investor, but with its Android platform powering the latest wave of untethered VR technology, it is future-proofing itself.

Driverless cars

One of the most anticipated technological developments is undoubtedly fully self-driving cars. The key appeal of these vehicles is the reduction of traffic jams and safer roads, since human error has been found to be the biggest cause for crashes. Self-driving vehicles have been undergoing testing in Singapore since 2013, while the state of California in the United States is paving the way for fully-autonomous vehicles allowed for public use as early as next year. It is estimated that the market for autonomous vehicles could grow to US$290 billion in less than 20 years.

One to watch: Intel Corp (INTC). The silicon chip maker’s bold and pricey acquisition in March 2017 of vehicle technology firm Mobileye has put it in direct competition with other chip makers Nvidia and Qualcomm, both already developing driverless technology.

Smart home technology

With more and more Internet-capable home devices these days, controlling your lights, air conditioners, and even your car from your phone is becoming increasingly common. Now, with intelligent home assistants like the Amazon Echo and Google Home, all your connected devices can be controlled by voice alone. You can also use these assistants to play music, shop online, and even schedule your appointments for the day.

One to watch: Amazon (AMZN). The online commerce giant’s huge resources have allowed it to develop its own products, such as the Echo, which have been critically-acclaimed.

Drones

Multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, have become popular as toys, but most users are barely scratching the surface of their device’s capabilities. In some markets, drones are currently used to deliver your shopping, but in the future they could monitor farms, assist in search-and-rescue missions, provide data on storms and hurricanes, and even protect endangered species. In Singapore, planning is in the works for drones to check roof gutters for mosquito breeding sites.

One to watch: DJI. Makers of the top-selling Phantom line of leisure drones, DJI is privately held for now, but is rumoured to be planning an IPO in 2017 – to the tune of US$10 billion or more. Could this be hype, or opportunity? Time will tell.

Investment Profiles

Discover star-studded opportunities in the US

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