This post was written in collaboration with Nasdaq. While we are financially compensated by them, we nonetheless strive to maintain our editorial integrity and review products with the same objective lens. We are committed to providing the best information in order for you to make personal financial decisions with confidence. You can view our Editorial Guidelines here.

If you’re a regular investor, you might have come across things like “thematic investing”, “thematic funds” or “thematic ETFs” on your favourite online brokerage or robo advisor. This, um, theme seems to be everywhere on investment platforms these days.

So what does it mean? Don’t worry, it’s not a technical term. Thematic investing is just an investing style where your decisions are guided by broad, long-term, global trends that may impact multiple industries or companies. Some examples are sustainability, robotics, and the post-pandemic world.

Still confused? Let’s use an analogy to explain thematic investing.

Imagine that investing is like going to a shopping mall. Many investors head straight to the Apple store (or other stores that sell only one big, famous brand). They invest because they’re familiar with the brand and believe the company can deliver value.

Some folks aren’t loyal to a particular brand and don’t want to make too many decisions. They’re happy to fill their shopping baskets with assorted brands; any brand will do. These investors head to the S&P 500 department store, which stocks the 500 most successful companies in the US stock market.

After thinking about it, however, you might head to a sustainability-themed boutique that stocks multiple brands sourced from all over the world and a whole range of products like clothes, household products, and food. That’s pretty much what thematic investing is like. (In this case, the “theme” is sustainability.)

Why is thematic investing a “thing” now?

Thematic investing has always been around, but it wasn’t until COVID-19 hit that it shot to stardom.

On the surface, COVID-19 is a health pandemic. But its influence doesn’t stop there. It’s also caused massive changes in logistics, F&B, retail, real estate, travel, among other things. We used to group things in tidy little categories and industry sectors, but the pandemic blew everything apart and showed us how interconnected everything is.

The pandemic also showed investors the limits of traditional methods like stock-picking (the Apple shoppers) or generic index investing (the department store goers). If you’ve suffered losses from the pandemic or, now, the Russo-Ukrainian war, it’s now blatantly obvious that traditional investing methods leave one’s portfolio open to major disruption.

That’s why many are now turning to thematic investing as add-ons to our existing portfolios. It’s both a way to future-proof our portfolios and to support our convictions.

What themes should you be looking at?

As thematic investing is such a broad umbrella term, referring to a loose investment philosophy rather than a cut-and-dried method, it all boils down to your personal preference.

Many thematic investors buy into specific causes or technological shifts that we believe will change the world for the better, for example, clean energy or blockchain technology.

A portfolio along one of these themes may feature many companies scattered across sectors like finance, tech, and manufacturing. However, undergirding it all is the belief that all these companies will benefit from the structural changes that come with the widespread adoption of the trend.

However, such themes are very much for the long-term investor since it may take years or even decades for such structural changes to come to fruition.

For risk-averse investors or those who want to balance out the more idealistic components of their portfolios, there are also investment themes with more tangible prospects of sustainable growth.

How to get started?

Getting started with thematic investing isn’t difficult. Most investment platforms offer thematic funds or ETFs and have made it easy for you to buy into them.

However, before you jump in, you should first ask yourself about your thematic investing goals and horizon. Are you investing in your ideals for the long run and don’t care that much about getting tangible returns anytime soon? Or are you looking for something with a strong investment case right now, as well as potentially explosive growth in the longer term?

Most investment companies publish their research and insights on what themes they believe will do well. You can also read about the latest thematic funds and indices and find out why they were created.

Each investment platform has its range of thematic investment products and you might realise that your desired investment (such as the Nasdaq cybersecurity and semiconductor funds described above) aren’t on the platform. Feel free to speak to your asset manager, investment broker or bank to request access to such funds.

Another method is to identify the ETFs you want, find out which stock market they’re available on, and buy them through a platform that offers that market. For example, Nasdaq’s ETFs are available on Nasdaq (obviously!) and you can invest via any broker that offers US market access.

Either way, you’ll want to do your due diligence as there are a lot of thematic funds out there. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, our advice is to stick to reputable financial institutions like Nasdaq, which build solid investment cases (as opposed to fluffy ones) and offers transparent and easy-to-understand reports.

Click to understand more about Nasdaq Global Index.

Disclaimer: Nasdaq may, from time to time, exercise reasonable discretion as it deems appropriate in order to ensure Index integrity including but not limited to quantitative inclusion criteria. Nasdaq may also, due to special circumstances, if deemed essential, apply discretionary adjustments to ensure and maintain the high quality of the index construction and calculation. Nasdaq does not guarantee that any Index accurately reflects future market performance. Neither Nasdaq, Inc. nor any of its affiliates (collectively “Nasdaq”) makes any recommendation to buy or sell any security or any representation about the financial condition of any company. Investors should undertake their own due diligence and carefully evaluate companies before investing. The information contained herein is provided for informational and educational purposes only, and nothing contained herein should be construed as investment advice, either on behalf of a particular security or an overall investment strategy. ADVICE FROM A SECURITIES PROFESSIONAL IS STRONGLY ADVISED.