Trends Identified
Tightening central banks
For the last several years, central banks around the world have engaged in quantitative easing, interest-rate reductions and a general loosening of monetary policy. That's already reversing in the United States, which raised its overnight rate three times in 2017, to between 1.25 percent and 1.5 percent, but in other developed nations rates remain at ultralow levels. For instance, Sweden still has a negative interest rate of minus 0.5 percent. That's likely to change in 2018, says Jeff Knight, Columbia Threadneedle Investments' global head of investment solutions and co-head of global asset allocation. Many people expect the European Central Bank, the Bank of Japan and the Bank of Canada to raise interest rates at some point in 2018, while Bank of England may raise its rate, too. "Other central banks are a year or two behind the Fed in the cycle," he says.
2018
6 global trends that can derail your portfolio in 2018
CNBC
Rising tensions with north Korea
North Korea may now be sending athletes to the Winter Olympics in South Korea, but the threat of war with America remains. While global stock markets haven't reacted much to a potential nuclear fallout, conflict continues to be a risk, says Tim Courtney, chief investment officer at Exencial Wealth Advisors, an Oklahoma City-based financial advisory firm.
2018
6 global trends that can derail your portfolio in 2018
CNBC
A potential us trade war
Will Trump scrap NAFTA? Will he engage in a trade war with China? Those are the questions many investors are likely wondering, and as with most things Trump, it's difficult to know whether his antitrade Tweets and talks are genuine or if they're a negotiating tactic.
2018
6 global trends that can derail your portfolio in 2018
CNBC
A more globally dominant china
Speaking of China, the world's second largest economy is becoming a more dominant global force by the day. In October, at China's 19th National Congress, President Xi Jingping was written into his party's constitution, which has led many experts to believe he won't step down after his second five-year term. "I believe he's going to be here for the next 20 or 25 years," says Catechis.
2018
6 global trends that can derail your portfolio in 2018
CNBC
Unrest in Iran
Unrest in the Middle East is always concerning for investors, especially ones who pay attention to the price of oil. While the recent protests in Iran will likely be contained to that region, if things flare up further, and if it does disrupt oil production — the country produces about 4.4 million barrels of oil per day — then we could see energy prices spike, says Hormozi.
2018
6 global trends that can derail your portfolio in 2018
CNBC
A deteriorating American outlook
The World Bank expects the U.S. economy to grow at 2.2 percent in 2018, while many firms, like Goldman Sachs, expect equities to continue climbing, but that could change if there's a blowup in Washington. With Donald Trump's erratic and often offensive behavior, an ongoing special counsel investigation and an increasingly divided American public, domestic issues could get in the way of a continued bull market.
2018
6 global trends that can derail your portfolio in 2018
CNBC
Synthetic biology
Synthetic biology may be the least known and most “disruptive” of the technologies in this study. In essence, it is the application of engineering principles to biology. It draws on a number of existing technologies to design and construct new biological systems that produce useful products or serve useful purposes. Current so ware helps bio-engineers use a growing online library of “biobricks” to design new genetic functions. Biobricks can be assembled by robots, or digital DNA les can be sent to a DNA printer; in either case, the new DNA is inserted into a living cell. The technology is proving to be very efficient.
For example, when genetic engineering (which modifies only a few genes at a time) was used to develop
a yeast to produce precursors to the an malarial drug, artemisinin, it took 150 person-years of work and $25 million. Using biobricks, however, a lab of 12 people produced 12 biological systems of comparable complexity in 3 months. Working in this field is becoming easier for researchers at all levels.
2013
Metascan 3 emerging technologies
Canada, Policy Horizons Canada
Bioinformatics
Bioinformatics involves storing, analyzing, modeling and sharing large amounts of biological data. Current applications of bioinformatics include DNA barcoding, new bioproducts (such as Millennium Asparagus and biodiesel), modeling disease outbreaks and personal genomics. Our capacity to analyze large amounts of data and our ability to affect traits in plants, animals and humans will increase dramatically. Consider the potential of a widespread medical device costing under $1,000 that sequences your genome, connects to online databases, profiles your genetic history and future, highlights your risk profile, and identifies opportunities to mitigate risks. Bioinformatics holds the promise of tailoring medical and drug treatments to the individual through preventative medicine, using biomarkers to model adverse drug reactions, and helping to understand the complex interplay between genetics and environment. Bioinformatics will fundamentally change the way we think of health care systems.
2013
Metascan 3 emerging technologies
Canada, Policy Horizons Canada
Tissue engineering
Tissue engineering uses synthetic or naturally grown biomaterials to replace damaged or defective tissues, such as bone, skin and even entire organs. Today, organs that can be regrown include skin, windpipes and bladders; in a decade, this list may expand to kidneys, livers and hearts. Stem cells may also be used to repair damaged or failing organs in place. The most immediate application for tissue engineering is in the area of human health for purposes of healing, replacement and augmentation. This technology will reduce the need for organ donation and eliminate transplant rejection as body parts are regrown or printed using the patient’s own cells. In the longer term, advances in skin, bone and muscle synthesis may even allow individuals to change their appearance and augment physical abilities.
2013
Metascan 3 emerging technologies
Canada, Policy Horizons Canada
Nanomaterials
Nano-scale systems often exhibit properties that improve upon or are much different from their human-scale varieties; for example, silver exhibits anti-bacterial properties at the nano-scale that are absent at the macro-scale. As scientists work with materials close to the molecular level, they can produce new and useful materials, such as nanocellulose and nanocarbon. Both have impressive performance characteristics, being respectively 10 and 50 times stronger than steel for their weight. Nanocoatings provide new ways to make structures self-cleaning, more durable and perhaps even able to receive, store and respond to stimuli. Other nanomaterials are excellent catalysts for making chemistry greener and cheaper. Over the next 15 years, nanomaterials will change the types of things we build and how we build them.
2013
Metascan 3 emerging technologies
Canada, Policy Horizons Canada