Thematic Reads: Week of October 7, 2019
Each week Team Tematica consumes a voracious amount of content as we look to stay on top of the latest data and mine it for tailwind and headwind signals for our 10 investment themes.
Aging of the Population
The global demographic shift towards a more senior population
- Alzheimer’s research receives major funding across the nation (Newsweek)
- Using digital health technology to manage aging populations (Healthcare IT News)
Cleaner Living
Growing demand for items that claim to be better for you and the planet:
- Toyota Revamps Its Biggest Car Plant for Hybrid SUVs (Bloomberg Businessweek)
- Companies struggle to digest ‘alphabet soup’ of ESG arbiters (FT)
- Auto-Parts Supplier’s Incoming CFO to Focus on Revenue Boost for Electrical Business (The Wall Street Journal)
Digital Infrastructure
The Buildout and upgrading of our Networks, Data Storage Facilities, and Equipment
- China Tower counts 1.95M tower sites, dwarfing US tower sites (FierceWireless)
- 5G explained for the rest of us (CNET)
- AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint rally behind ZenKey for authentication (FireceWireless)
Disruptive Innovators
Business models designed to transform an entire industry and leap-frog over incumbents.
- PayPal Bails On Libra Crypto Project (PYMNTS)
- Tech’s Most Controversial Startup Now Makes Drone-Killing Robots (Bloomberg Businessweek)
- How New Tech Is Changing Furniture Shopping (PYMNTS)
- Amazon is in talks to bring its cashierless Go technology to airports and movie theaters (CNBC)
- Robots to Cut 200,000 U.S. Bank Jobs in Next Decade (Bloomberg)
- McKinsey to start selling underwear and Makeup (Financial Times)
Digital Lifestyle
The increasingly digital landscape that now underpins the entire consumer experience.
- Flipkart’s Big Billion Days Event Sees 70B Views, Massive Growth In Users (PYMNTS)
- NRF forecasts holiday sales will grow between 3.8 and 4.2 percent (NRF)
- Outlet Malls Bucked the Shift to Online. Until Now. (The Wall Street Journal)
- Instagram introduces AR shopping feature (AdWeek)
- Ant Financial in talks to lead $600m investment in Zomato: Chinese payments giant wants to buy into India’s leading food delivery app (Financial Times)
The products and services people will consume no matter the economic environment.
- Social media influencing near-record Halloween spending (NRF)
- How much candy are you buying for Halloween? (USA Today)
Those things that bridge the gap between want and ability at every socioeconomic level.
- World’s luxury brands count costs of Hong Kong protests (Reuters)
- Producing luxury goods with sustainability in mind (The London Economic)
Consumers trading down when and where possible or looking to stretch the disposable dollars they do have.
- The last days of the middle-class world citizen (FT)
- Even High-Income Millennials Fear They’ll Need to Work Forever (Bloomberg)
- The Seven-Year Auto Loan: America’s Middle Class Can’t Afford Its Cars (The Wall Street Journal)
- The Middle-Class Crunch (The New York Times)
Areas around the world where rising disposable incomes are driving demand for a host of products and services.
Reflecting the evolving needs across individual, cyber, corporate and homeland security.
- Governments Need To Consider Privacy With Facial Recognition Tech (PYMNTS)
- California’s new privacy law could cost companies a total of $55 billion to get in compliance (CNBC)
- Iran to Take Legal Action Against U.S. Cyber Attacks (Bloomberg)
What Else We Are Loving
Other reads, experiences, products, services and the like that we enjoyed so much this past week we just had to share
- As the days get shorter and the nights cooler, we’re enjoying this Crystal-Clear Ice Ball Maker along with certain aspects of our Guilty Pleasure investment theme.
