Tired of the ‘new normal’?

We all hope that masks, social distancing, and playgrounds in the living room are only the transition and not our typical tomorrow. Beyond the pandemic, there really will be a new normal. How will you position your investments for the medium term? 

We offer our thoughts on why we expect health care, sustainable energy and products, and technology will be the medium-term leaders for the new normal.  

Nothing like a pandemic to focus the mind on the seemingly never-ending need for breakthroughs in healthcare. Vaccines for new diseases, testing equipment and ever-improving chemical reagents for faster and more accurate tests. Today’s news headlines remind us not only of the risk to our overall population, but how many of our family members are immune-compromised or vulnerable.

Candriam’s healthcare investment team has been managing healthcare portfolios for twenty years. 

Little did we know how much we needed to speak on the telephone until calling prices were slashed in the 1980s. Just when the Boomers thought the Millennials could not expand their video communications, we all discovered just how much more flexibility we could add to our lives with communcations technology. We are also discovering the need for innovative companies – for example, to bring products to market when supply chains are interrupted. 

Luscious photos of blue skies over New Delhi, combined with news stories and medical articles on how climate change is increasing the prevalence of diseases such as malaria and deforestation is accelerating the mutation of new diseases, are reminding us that ‘we are the first generation to feel the effect of climate change and the last who can do something about it.’^[1] The economic costs are enormous. Meanwhile, new growth companies and industries – along with investment oppportunities – should continue to grow as the need to address climate change grows more urgent. Invest and take action at the same time; it is possible with Candriam.