Take a global view to benefit from sustainable long-term growth themes.
Every country needs to do at least some work on its infrastructure, which presents an opportunity for infrastructure spending to grow 6% per year for at least a decade. Watch Colin Moore explain why taking advantage of this long-term opportunity requires a new way of thinking.
Transcript
We have a clear opportunity for infrastructure spending to grow at least 6% per annum for a decade or more.
The U.S. infrastructure is, you know, evidently in need of repair and restructure and rebuild. And spending money on that does, at least in our experience, have what’s known as an economic multiplier. You build a new road and you get the benefit of increased commerce between the two cities that are connected by that road or a fast railway link or better airports. But of course, today, we also have to think about better internet connections, etc., etc. There are other ways to think about infrastructure than just buildings and roads.
There is really no country that I can think of that does not need to do some work on their infrastructure. In the developed world, we need to replace a lot, particularly the U.S. And in the developing world, we need to add it for the first time.
And that’s going to lead to very sustainable growth, which itself is a different way of thinking about investing. When we talk about global investing, we think about the U.S. or we think about Europe or we think about Japan or emerging markets. But those traditional geographically-defined ways of investing, I think, are going to become increasingly redundant. We will have to think across the globe. Infrastructure is a theme across the globe. Think, if you like, horizontally rather than vertical time zones and develop more sustainable longer-term growth opportunities that way.
Article by Colin Moore, Columbia Threadneedle Investments
