Zurich Investments launches Global Thematic Focus fund

Zurich Investments has announced the launch of its high conviction Global Thematic Focus fund, which will offer Australian advisers and their clients access to a number of investment themes with high return potential, focusing on three to six high conviction investment themes.

This fund, which would aim to hold 35-50 global stocks, identified the major structural drivers of the next decade as:

• Geopolitics – deglobalisation, demographics and the rise of China;
• Monetary policy - debt and disinflation;
• Sustainability – addressing climate change and inequality; and 
• Technology - the impact of AI, connectivity, and industry disruption

Following this, the team identified key investment themes which would fit this view of the world and will benefit from these structural changes over the next few years as:

• Asset Efficiency - companies that deploy industrial operating systems to harvest efficiency gains;
• Bits of Chips - key components that enable the digitisation of transportation, industry and communications;
• Empowered Consumer – consumer-facing companies with strong and adaptable business models;
• Software as a Standard – software companies that are augmenting and automating white collar jobs;
• Digital Runway - the emerging markets fintech and financial inclusion opportunity; and
• Data, Networks and Profits – capturing returns from artificial intelligence while navigating the increasing need for data privacy.

“This high conviction, long-term style of investment has been high on the wish list for financial advisers for some time now, and we are pleased to bring this strategy to Australian investors during a period of historic global challenge but also significant investment opportunity,” Matthew Drennan, head of savings and investments for Zurich Investments, said.

“This is a forward looking, style-agnostic fund that focuses on the long term and how companies are allocating capital, especially as we see emerging trends resulting from the global pandemic.

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“Our best-of-breed approach to bringing proven asset management expertise to Australian advisers and clients identified the clear opportunity to expand our long-term partnership with Lazard Asset Management which manages the underlying fund.”