How to start an investment conversation?

3 ideas to start a conversation on thematic investment

Secular trends such as population growth, aging, and increased urbanisation create a variety of long-term thematic investment opportunities.

Each week, I share three interesting articles relating to those long-term investment themes.

These articles provide ideas for conversation opener and can spark clients' attention, while gauging their interest to invest in these long-term investments themes.

1 - Fintech

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That is what Angela Strange, general partner at US venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, said in 2019. ??

Raconteur is taking a closer look at retailers that have tied the knot with an investment/financial firm and what looks like a win-win deal. ??

Financial firms get access to an existing pool of customers, while retailers can offer an increased level of services, without having to own a banking licence. ??

And consumers also love it… ??

Because it is so seamless and convenient to be able to arrange all those financial aspects when shopping, without having to really think about it. ??

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Olaf said:

?[A fintech company] & an insurer & a utility - but therefore retailer should gather all relevant data about user & usage of sold devices. Tesla & Amazon are a very good examples. Anyhow : being embedded will be favorable for very few companies

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? Read more on?Fintech and the investment rationale ?from UBS CIO.

?? UBS colleagues will find more information about our solutions to take advantage of volatility in tech at?goto/DigitalTransformation ?(internal only).

2 - Clean air and carbon reduction

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A Swiss start-up is aiming to apply the principle of gravity to store large quantities of energy. ??

How does it work?

1?? Electricity produced is used to raise 30-ton composite bricks, "stocking" the energy through this elevation gain

2?? When power is needed, the system lowers the bricks, using gravitational force

3?? The kinetic energy is used to turn motors and re-generate the electricity

4?? The electricity is then released back to the grid

Being able to store energy is critical to support the development of intermittent renewable power generation source and contribute to decarbonization.

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Volkher said:

Never thought about an elevator to store energy. But the problem is there for sure. Hope there is a lot more to come...

Stefan said:

?Storage“ of energy is one of the key topics to be solved in the future. We will have to find ways, how to do this in a smart way. And how to make energy again available. There is a lot to come I‘m sure!

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? Read more on?Carbon reduction and the investment rationale ?from UBS CIO now.

?? UBS colleagues will find more information about our solutions to take advantage of volatility in tech at?goto/FutureLeaders ?(UBS intranet page).

3 - Medical devices

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A new device is being developed that device stimulates the retina of blind people to convert light into signals the brain can interpret. ??

How does it work?

1?? A stimulator is implanted on the retina of the eye of the patient, and a communication module is inserted under the skin behind the ear ?????

2?? The patient wears a pair of sunglasses with a camera ???

3?? The camera captures pictures, and passes them to the communication module ??

4?? The communication module turns the pictures into electrical pulses, and transmits them to the stimulation module on the retina ??

5?? The retina conveys them to the brain, along the optic nerve ??

The application is being tested on human patients whose retina is damaged. ??????

It will help create a sense of vision, through a sense of light, shadow, and shapes for people visually impaired. ??

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Christine said:

That's so amazing.

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? Read more on?Medical devices and the investment rationale ?from UBS CIO.

?? UBS colleagues will find more information about our solutions to seek opportunities in healthcare at?goto/HealthTransformation . (UBS intranet page)

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?????If you find these investment conversation starters useful, follow #InvestWithFunds for more news stories around these long-term investment themes.