[ TECH TRENDS ] concert produced in collaboration with the game – had more than 27 million viewers . Witnessing China ’ s empty streets during its early lockdown , 8AM investment managers Andy Merricks and Tom McGrath bought the VanEck Vectors Video Gaming and eSports ETF , which – alongside EMQQ ’ s Emerging Markets Internet & Ecommerce ETF – gives their Focused fund exposure without the pressure of forcing them to pick stocks in a relatively young sub-sector . “ If you buy everything , you won ’ t miss out on the two or three stocks that will probably come to the fore anyway , over time ,” they say . “ You also won ’ t get hammered by picking the wrong ones .” Convergence is not just happening in gaming : Porter eyes “ social commerce ”. “ Facebook is now launching its e-commerce initiative ,” she adds . “ Lots of small- and medium-sized businesses that had no online focus before , that don ’ t need a big distribution network but might need a shopfront , can use Instagram to go on , see an item and shop through . Social commerce is a really emerging trend .” In terms of identifying the emerging themes worth pursuing , Merricks simply says : “ I try and identify what the world wants . Cybersecurity has been a favoured theme for about five
“ When you witness a rise in a sector like tech that everyone wants to get involved in , you will inevitably see a rise in the people who want to break and steal that ”
years . When you witness a rise in a sector like tech that everyone wants to get involved in , you will inevitably see a rise in the people who want to break and steal that .” His vehicle of choice is the Cyber Security UCITS ETF from Legal & General Investment Management . Aanand Venkatramanan , LGIM ’ s head of ETF investment strategies , highlights cybersecurity as a prominent theme , with a $ 1trn worldwide spend estimated between 2017 and 2021 . With a 350 per cent increase in ransomware attacks in 2018 and the internet of things expected to see 100 billion connected devices by 2025 , Venkatramanan identifies investments across areas as broad as cloud , predictive analytics and biometrics and identification , far beyond just malware and viruses commonly associated with the theme . “ That is just the tip of the iceberg ,” he says . trustnet . com