Individual Investors

To access the 'No retirement for investments' white paper, please click the download now button above. Important notice: a previous version of this whitepaper incorrectly stated the ASFA comfortable retirement standards for a couple as $43,787/year and superannuation balance of $545,000. These figures relate to the comfortable retirement standards of a single not a couple. The standards for a couple are $61,786/year and $640,000 in superannuation balance. The duelling forces of retirement It is normal for retired investors to need to manage their portfolios for a stable income, a level of growth and capital protection, but current market conditions are making this particularly challenging. Faced with globally low interest rates on one hand as a threat to their income, and market volatility from geopolitics like corona virus and tensions in Iran affecting growth assets, how should retired investors manage their portfolios? ETF Securities recommends three options summarised below: product selection, income diversification and portfolio construction. You can read the full paper by downloading above. 1. Product Selection In retirement, investors need to be conscious of the quality, flexibility and costs of the products they use for their investments. One product type investors may consider are ETFs which hold characteristics such as lower costs compared to active funds, typically high liquidity allowing investors greater flexibility and are easy to use with less administration compared to shares or bonds. 2. Income diversification Investors have traditionally looked to Australian fixed income for their key yield option. In the current environment, they should consider diversifying their income,such as looking at fixed income internationally where there may be higher yields available or through dividend streams. Dividend streams can be a riskier option, and where some retired investors may use high yield shares and offset the risks in other ways, others can look to options in more stable, less cyclical industries like infrastructure. 3. Portfolio construction Retired investors should consider the overall construction of their portfolios and ensure they are diversified across assets and regions for growth and income, after all, the portfolio still needs to grow and support the lifespan. One area retired investors may wish to look at incorporating as part of the overall construction is alternatives, in the form of commodities like gold which can assist with stability and diversification. For more information on the solutions ETF Securities offers, please speak to your financial adviser or contact us on: Sales Trading Phone +61 2 8311 3488 Email: infoAU@etfsecurities.com.au Phone +61 2 8311 3483 Email: primarymarkets@etfsecurities.com.au

This is an extract of the ROBO Global paper 2020 Trends in robotics and AI innovation. To access the ROBO Global white paper, please click the download now button above. Companies around the globe are revising and rethinking their strategies to cement their futures in a world that is dictated by robotics, automation, and AI (RAAI). Deep learning, 5G, and computer vision are among the trends to watch in 2020 and beyond. 1. Computer vision Computer vision is the technology that gives computers and machines the sense of sight and the ability to analyse and understand the content of digital images. It is increasingly used throughout the manufacturing process to enhance product quality, reduce waste, and improve productivity in a variety of endmarkets, including consumer electronics, automotive, pharmaceuticals, and many more. 3D vision, a type of computer vision which has long been prohibitively expensive and complex, is set to accelerate with the help of Isra Vision in manufacturing, Koh Young in semiconductor and electronics inspection, and FARO and Hexagon in metrology and surveying. Computer vision is also enabling collaborative robotics and advanced driver assistance. Ambarella, the video processing technology provider, is rapidly morphing into an AI computer vision company. The company has received design wins for its CV chip in the professional security camera market and is engaged in several use cases in the automotive market. 2. Deep learning A subfield of machine learning, deep learning uses algorithms that strive to mimic the deep neural networks of the human brain. Reinforcement learning (RL), an aspect of deep learning, refers to goal-oriented algorithms that are the key to enabling autonomous robots, improving personalization, and accelerating drug discovery. RL will be used to dramatically improve the personalization of news and other content—a shift that will transform the massive data sets available to the advertising industry into practical, usable information— and to revolutionize myriad processes that can be simulated, including fraud detection and credit loan processes in the banking industry. 3. 5G The fifth generation of mobile wireless communications—5G—boasts features that have the potential to supercharge everything from business processes to how we engage with the Internet. Once it is fully deployed, 5G is expected to deliver up to 100x faster connection times than 4G and is expected to enable download speeds of 500-1500 Mbps in a matter of seconds. Major carriers are expected to roll out some type of 5G services in late 2020 and into 2021. Consumers will soon be able to choose 5G-compatible mobile devices from leaders like Apple, Samsung and Xiaomi, powered by Qualcomm’s latest 5G Mobile Platform Snapdragon. This best-in-class RF System provides peak speeds that promise to surpass most wired connections and transform the mobile experience. The Internet of Things (IoT) currently includes about 30 billion devices. The power of 5G will be more crucial than ever as this figure accelerates thanks to investments in autonomous vehicles, smart cities, smart factories, big data, and AI. ETFS ROBO Global Robotics & Automation ETF (ROBO) helps investors capture these trends across robotics, automation and enabling technologies. Find out more about ROBO here. For more information on accessing these trends through ETFs for your clients, please speak to ETF Securities. Sales Trading Phone +61 2 8311 3488 Email: infoAU@etfsecurities.com.au Phone +61 2 8311 3483 Email: capitalmarkets@etfsecurities.com.au

To access the ETF Trends 2020 whitepaper, click here. The ETF landscape has expanded rapidly from the straight index replication of the past to more tailored offers covering themes, specific industries or sectors and even using alternative weighting. Advances in technology has allowed ETFs to become more sophisticated to meet with investor needs and demands. The value of the Australian ETF market is currently $A60.24bn[1] and is anticipated to continue to grow both in size and available options. Here are five trends likely to continue in 2020. 1. The search for yield Continued globally low interest rates means investors are seeking alternative sources of yield. Some are still looking at fixed income, but focusing on international options like the US, which has higher interest rate compared to its counterparts. Others are considering using equity dividend streams to help provide an income. Investors concerned about volatility risks for an equity approach might look towards infrastructure ETFs. The infrastructure sector includes many essential services areas like utilities, telecoms, industrials and transport which tend to be less vulnerable to market cycles and movements. Investments in gold tend to be popular with investors in times of low yield and market volatility. Holding appeal for both consumption purposes and investment, the performance of gold tends to have low correlation with other asset classes and tends to offer stability in times of market volatility. 2. Investing to offset Australian exposures Australian investments have been influenced over several years now by factors like slowdown in resources and residential property, along with a weaker Australian dollar. This has meant investors have needed to focus more on investing internationally to diversify the local risks and access growth and income opportunities. For example, investors are looking at particular growth themes like the middle class in Asia or at sectors not widely available in the Australian market, like technology. Currency ETFs are also becoming more popular, particularly those exposed to the US dollar which continues to be stronger than many developed nation currencies. 3. Thematic investing ETFs are becoming a cost-efficient and transparent way for investors to express their specific market opinions, growth themes, moral and ethical views or to target niche areas of growth. Concerned about UK post-Brexit? You might choose a European ETF which excludes UK companies. Passionate about new technology? A robotics or tech focused ETF might be for you. There is a movement towards ethical investing, with environmental investing a particular focus at the moment. As a quickly developing space with investor demand, there is likely to be continued growth in ETFs supporting this space, such as in alternative energy like battery technology. 4. Bespoke and smart beta strategies There has been a rise in ETFs using sophisticated rules or algorithms (smart beta) to ‘beat’ the market while still remaining passive. This might mean the exclusion of certain factors or using a different way of weighting investments compared to the index. For example, excluding companies in a particular industry. Or rather than weighting the investment based on company size, it might be weighted based on how volatile the companies are to market movements. Some ETFs like this are designed bespoke to large-scale institutions looking for both cost-efficiencies as well as the ability to match strategic or philosophical needs but still available to retail investors on the stock exchange. 5. Active ETF investing Active ETFs are an emerging area and typically track the strategies of active investment managers. ASIC lifted its suspension of new active ETFs in December 2019 and released new admission guidelines. Given international activity in this space as well, there is likely to be further growth in the available active ETFs in the Australian market. These may appeal to self-directed investors looking for active and liquid solutions with greater ease of use compared to many other active managed funds. For more information on accessing these trends through ETFs for your clients, please speak to ETF Securities. Sales Trading Phone +61 2 8311 3488 Email: infoAU@etfsecurities.com.au Phone +61 2 8311 3483 Email: primarymarkets@etfsecurities.com.au __________________________ [1] https://www.asx.com.au/documents/products/ASX_Investment_Products_November_2019.pdf