Finance Artificial intelligence The development of artificial intelligence – computers that can think, learn and solve problems for themselves – has captured the imagination of a lot of people over the past couple of years, and has made a lot of money for investors who were fortunate and insightful enough to jump into the trend early. Sure, there’s a lot of hype here – but there’s also a lot of opportunity, particularly in the following areas: AI software – you’ve likely heard about ChatGPT, the best-known example of AI software that can write, edit, create images and video and produce creative output with minimal human direction. Companies working on similar software are some of the most obvious investment opportunities within the broader trend. Chip makers – some of the most explosive stock market gains of the past year have been realized by the makers of the computer chips and hardware which power AI-enabled software. Will gains be as good in the future? Hard to say. But there’s little doubt that such companies have a bright future ahead of them. De-carbonization News flash: the planet is warming… and more quickly than many anticipated. As a result, there is a push to adapt renewable energy sources that will help to mitigate (and in time, reverse) the negative effects of burning fossil fuels. This transformation will be a multi-decade effort and will create a variety of opportunities along the way. Green power – companies building solar, wind, hydro, geothermal and other sources of clean energy to replace gas and coal-fired power plants will likely have order books that stretch far into the future. Energy storage – windmills and solar panels only generate power when the weather co-operates. To balance that generation against the times when we need energy most, we’ll need to develop batteries that are capable of storing much more energy, on a much larger scale, at a much cheaper cost. Companies which can do that successfully could stand to make a lot of money. Energy infrastructure – all of this clean electricity is going to need an upgraded transmission system – good news for anyone mining copper, making cable and wire, building electrical meters, putting up electrical poles and manufacturing the various technologies that are the ‘backbone’ of a souped-up energy grid. Electric vehicles – replacing gas and diesel-powered transportation with cleaner, greener vehicles will be a big part of de-carbonization. That means opportunities for new and existing electric vehicle manufacturers, as well as for the companies which will build charging stations, battery-recycling depots and other infrastructure. Preparing for climate change It’s going to take a number of years to transition our carbon-based economy to one that’s healthier for the planet. During that time, we’ll have to build protections against some of the more negative impacts of climate change. Infrastructure upgrades – in the future, our infrastructure will need to be built to withstand increasingly extreme weather. Companies involved in beefing up our buildings, roads and living spaces to help them survive floods, hurricanes, wildfires Investing for the Future Ten big-picture trends and ideas that will shape the markets (and the world) in the years to come What’s the outlook for the market? Or the economy? Or inflation? Or interest rates? How will my portfolio do next year? What about that stock I just bought – how much will it go up next quarter, next year or next decade? As an investor, it’s almost impossible not to think about these questions from time to time. But here’s the thing: investing isn’t really about predicting the future – rather, it’s about understanding it. We can’t predict what will happen to a given stock or asset with 100% accuracy. But what we can do is identify long-term, big-picture trends that stand to shape the market, the economy and the larger world over many years, or even decades. Indeed, this process of noticing some theme, some development, some progression or some idea that’s taking hold and then aligning one’s portfolio to profit from it is how many of the world’s most successful investors became so successful. With that in mind, here’s a quick overview of several long-term trends, themes and ideas that will likely create intriguing investment opportunities in the years to come. Armed with this knowledge, you should be able to start targeting particular sectors of the economy and specific businesses that are worthy of further study, investigation and investment research. By James Dolan 28 | www.snowbirds.org
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