Five key themes for investors in the upcoming years

Credit Suisse Securities (Thailand) Ltd, has three businesses: institutional equities brokerage, investment banking and wealth management. It aims to capitalise on these investment themes to continue implementing its “One Bank” policy, Pornchai said at a press briefing recently. 

“Our ‘One Bank’ concept entails that all these three businesses of Credit Suisse support each other through finding synergies such as referring clients and research information sharing,” Pornchai explained. Its equities brokerage research team was ranked No 1 in 2010-14 and in 2016-17 by the Institutional Investor. In the past 12 months, Credit Suisse Thailand has made seven deals, valued up to US$3 billion (Bt100 billion) including equity placements and convertible bonds. 

The first theme, called “Angry Societies – Multipolar World” highlights the growing inequality among people within countries despite reduced inequalities across countries in the past decade. Pornchai and his team expect the upcoming years to be a period characterised by economic policies that seek to support domestic consumers and redistribute growth to sectors with high domestic employment. The key opportunities arising from this focus will be multi-year investment prospects in national champions and brands, defence and security and emerging market consumers, he said.

“Secondly, we are looking at infrastructure as there has been a global increase in investment in infrastructure, including in Thailand”, said Pornchai. “This is because governments have turned to infrastructure spending as a means to stimulate domestic economic growth, and Credit Suisse continues to review opportunities for investors as infrastructure spending programmes develop and gradually move from transport infrastructure to water, energy and affordable housing.” He cited as an example the Thai government’s aim to develop infrastructure in the Eastern Economic Corridor through attracting foreign investors.

“Technology in the Service of Humans” is the third investment theme, targeting various technological trends such as the adoption of Internet platforms by various company giants and the sheer volume of Internet data that continues to grow. This opens up opportunities to invest in cybersecurity and data waste management, according to Pornchai. 

The fourth theme is termed “Silver Economy – Investing for an Ageing Population”. “As Thailand is becoming an ageing society, it is important that we transition well into a silver economy,” Pornchai said, adding, “We think that there are investment opportunities in service and technology industries for the old age population in Thailand. In our view, investors positioned along the continuum of senior wants and needs – such as senior-centric consumer goods, healthcare services, senior housing – should see attractive returns,” he said. 

Millennial Values is the fifth investment theme, focusing on millennials who are soon to become mature investors with an interest in sustainability, clean energy and impact investing. As digital natives, millennials are disrupting traditional models and redefining consumption as they embrace new technology and invest in improving convenience, said Pornchai. “When it comes to technological disruptions, at the end of the day, it is about convenience,” he said, adding. “Anything that allows more convenience for its users is promising investment opportunities, such as e-commerce.”