Thematic Approach to Investing
Pondering on the investment themes for 2025-2040
One of my first exposures to the world of investing was at Newton Investment Management, a London-based institutional investor. The asset manager, managing approximately $100bn, is one of the boutiques under the BNY Mellon umbrella, alongside a few other well-known investors such as Insight Investment, Dreyfus, and Walter Scott.
Newton at the time was led by Helena Morrissey, a charismatic CEO, an advocate for women in finance, and notably a mother of nine children! She was a great ambassador for Newton in the City of London and even though Newton was smaller in size than many of its neighbours, it had a strong image and reputation — in part thanks to Helena.
One of the key things you always associated with Newton at the time was their ‘thematic approach’ to investing. A thematic approach involves setting up a few big global themes and then picking great companies that fit within those themes.
I found that very interesting. So rather than being constrained to a region or a sector (as most investment strategies are), Newton had no such limits. They picked interesting companies from around the world that aligned with their themes — companies that would benefit as those themes played out.
Newton’s presentations in the City were all about these themes, and their analysts were real subject matter experts — sometimes even bringing in scientists or industry heavyweights to be part of the research behind them. The themes were long-term by nature, which meant they attracted a different type of investor — not someone looking to make a quick return, but someone who believed in a much longer time horizon and was willing to see the story unfold.
I was able to dig out a piece from 2013. At that time, their themes included things like ‘Chinese influence’, ‘State Intervention’, and ‘Population Dynamics’.
For whatever reason, 15 years on, Newton’s thematic strategies have become more diffused in their offering and are no longer front and centre the way they used to be. I can see how it might be difficult to keep the end investors satisfied if the themes keep shifting, or to maintain a long investment horizon in a world that demands short-term performance. Perhaps the active thematic approach is better suited to family offices or retail investors. Or maybe it works better in an ETF format — after all, BlackRock has built an impressive and ever-growing list of ETFs that each follow a theme.
Inspired by some of the DNA from Newton, I tried to think what the themes of today might be that will likely play out over the next 10–15 years. What will the world look like? Who knows even roughly, but if I were to imagine a few ideas came to mind quickly:
Robotics - Over the last two decades, we’ve made big leaps in the digital world — software, IT, and now AI. But I think the next leap will be in hardware, specifically robotics. Machines will handle more physical work for us — driving, cleaning, cooking, and beyond. A whole new industry of companies, components, and use cases will emerge. That would be my first theme.
New Money - The second theme is closer to my comfort zone — fintech — which I think could be nicely subtitled as ‘innovation in value’. I expect that in ten years, how we save, spend, send money will look very different from today. The same goes for how and where we invest. This was actually one of Newton’s original themes, although it went through many iterations. One reason is that if you rely only on public markets, it’s hard to find pure investment opportunities. I think I will have to dig deeper into the private markets to find meaningful ideas for this theme.
Mixed Reality - The third theme is about the blurring lines between the physical and the digital. It’s fascinating to see sports simulators, games, and virtual worlds becoming more realistic. We’re starting to merge entertainment, learning, and even work into these immersive environments. Mixed reality — combining virtual and real spaces — feels like a major frontier. This shift will change how we work out, how we play, and even how we collaborate professionally. Fitness will increasingly be guided by gamified, immersive experiences. Gaming itself is evolving from a niche hobby to one of the dominant cultural and economic forces of our time, with entire virtual ecosystems forming around it. The way we ‘experience reality’ is going to probably look very different.
Next-Gen Energy - my fourth theme — and the one I’d probably need to hire an analyst for :) — is energy. We all know the world will have to move away from carbon, sooner or later. That means solar, nuclear, batteries, new grid systems. There’s political pressure, climate urgency, and technological momentum all pointing in the same direction. It’s a hard sector, but it feels inevitable.
Of course, there are plenty of other themes I’m surely missing here — commerce, AI infrastructure, healthcare, macroeconomics, security, ageing populations, food innovation — and that’s kind of the point. From a personal investing perspective, you can only really focus on a few themes you’re curious about and want to keep learning about. And the rest can be left for others to research!