Opportunities in Thematic Investing: Exploring the Digital Future and Beyond

Thematic investing has seen exponential growth over the last few years as investors seek exposures into long-term structural economic trends. Portfolios with a thematic focus target the beneficiaries of transformative forces shaping the global economy and societies. Primarily, the wave of technology-driven innovation, which creates efficiencies in businesses, shifts human activity to the digital space, and pushes breakthrough advances in healthcare, communications and other industries. Index-based products such as ETFs enable investors to access these themes in a systematic, rules-based and objective manner, and the allocations have mostly paid off in terms of returns[1]. As interest rates rise, however, they have presented a test to the growth-oriented themes that populate thematic portfolios. This webinar will address the outlook for the strategies amid the volatility we’ve seen in 2022 and explore the reasons why many thematic funds have continued to attract inflows despite the current market conditions. Hear from subject matter experts from Qontigo and BlackRock, whose solutions form a comprehensive thematic-focused investment ecosystem. The panelists will also discuss products available to investors as the thematics menu grows and evolves. [1] In the five years through 2021, the average return of 26 STOXX thematic indices was 145%, compared with 105% for the benchmark STOXX® Global 1800. Eighteen of the 26 thematic indices outperformed the benchmark over the period. Presenters: – Omar Moufti | EMEA Lead Equity Product Strategist – Sector & Thematics ETFs, iShares – Yang Wang | Senior Director, Index Product Research & Development, Qontigo – Christoph Schon | Senior Principal, Applied Research, Qontigo Moderator: Brendan Maton