05-03-2021 · Insight

The healthy living trend is to stay in the long run

Rising health awareness coupled with increasing knowledge about what is favorable for the body are driving a broad trend towards a healthier lifestyle. More and more people are adjusting their habits and consumer choices as they increasingly take responsibility for their own health and well-being.

    Authors

  • David Kägi PhD - Portfolio Manager

    David Kägi PhD

    Portfolio Manager

Digitalization of healthcare

Digitalization has already disrupted many industries such as retail and financials. Healthcare so far has been lagging as inertia of crucial players, and data security concerns have held back swift implementations. There is no doubt, however, that digitalization will have a similarly disruptive impact on healthcare. As a market sector which accounts for about 10% of global GDP or roughly USD 7 trillion, the opportunities for improvements and better efficiency in healthcare are numerous and substantial in size.

Benefits of health awareness

A central driver of the healthy living trend is the increasing general health awareness of what is beneficial for health and what is not and the changing consumer preferences that result. For example, with better lifestyle choices, 80 % of cardiovascular diseases and 30% of cancers could be avoided.

“This broad trend presents interesting investment opportunities linked to health promotion, disease prevention and effective treatment of chronic illness”, says Robeco portfolio manager David Kägi.