Theme-based funds appeal to the intellectual in all investors. Shares may have the pattern and regularity of a fly trapped in a bottle, but I suspect we like to think we can spot big patterns, key trends, processes that will change our lives.
Big trends also provide great talking points with clients. “Mrs Miggins, you may have noticed the world has a vastly growing number of Asian consumers/old people/big data companies/unemployed people because of the rise of the machine society – well, fear not. I have a fund for you.” I do not in any way mean to disparage the fun art of big trend following. The rise of the machine society and the unemployment/under-employment problems that will follow are the single biggest challenge of our decade – along with that ageing population, and the need to completely re-engineer our energy infras...
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