The world’s population is undergoing a structural change: Allianz Global Investors launches a global demographic equity fund. The fund management company expects surging demand in all key industries – property, infrastructure, transport, finance, health care, food and consumer goods are all profiting.
Allianz Global Investors KAG
Frankfurt am Main, Apr 20, 2007
The world’s population is undergoing a structural change. Demographic experts are predicting that the world’s population will rise to more than nine billion people by 2050. Nations in Asia, Africa and South America, particularly, will experience soaring growth in the decades ahead. By contrast, the industrialized countries of Western Europe and Japan are looking at falling birth rates.
In demographic terms, the world can thus be divided into two parts: on the one hand the rising societies, and on the other the ageing societies.
More opportunity than threat
This social transformation goes hand in hand with a series of investment opportunities. "The mega trend demographics is not so much a threat, more an investment opportunity", is how Hans-Jörg Naumer, Head of Capital Market Analysis at Allianz Global Investors, sums up the situation.
Population growth in the developing and newly industrializing countries, together with the increasing affluence in these nations, is proving an enormous boost to demand across a wide range of different sectors. To quote Naumer: "People want to have food, drink, homes, jobs and a share in the economic upturn." Satisfying these essential needs leads to rising levels of demand in most of all key industries – starting with the planning and construction of infrastructural projects all the way through to the cultivation and production of foodstuffs.
But the ageing societies also offer interesting investment opportunities. Affluence and an "actively lived" retirement period are boosting consumption. What’s more, there is rising demand for products and services from the pharmaceutical and health care sectors. Medical provision, plus beauty and wellness, are becoming progressively more important for the 50-plus generation.
Profit from the global trend
At the beginning of this year, Allianz Global Investors Luxembourg S.A. launched an equity fund offering investors the opportunity to profit from the global trend of demographics. Since April 20, 2007, the Allianz-dit DemographicTrends has been approved for public sale in Germany.
The fund invests worldwide in companies that benefit from demographic changes or their consequences. It is not tied to a particular investment style (growth or value), and can invest in both large caps and small & mid caps. It is based on a fundamentals-focused, research-driven investment approach, complemented by the in-house "Grassroots" research system.
Key data
The Allianz-dit DemographicTrends (SIN A0LGX7, ISIN LU 0281689694) was launched through Luxembourg on February 20, 2007. It has been approved for public sale in Germany since April, 20, 2007. The initial charge is five per cent; the management fee is 1.75 per cent p.a.
The fund distributes its income on the 15th September each year starting on September 15, 2008. The business year ends on June 30. The custodian bank is Dresdner Bank Luxembourg. Savings plans are possible from 25 euros a month. There is no minimum level for one-off investments. The fund manager is Christian Schneider.
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