With the holidays fast approaching, Millennials will be one of the prime demographics who will influence this year’s shopping trends, which could bolster funds that focus on them.
“YPulse survey data for North America found 11% of Gen Z and Millennial shoppers were starting their holiday purchasing in September this year vs. 6% who did so in 2021,” a Furniture Today article mentioned. “While more hit the stores last October (37% vs. 26% forecast this year), the numbers ramp up again in November, thanks to Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and by December, just 13% will be starting the winter holiday buying process.”
Given this financial trend, one exchange traded fund (ETF) to consider checking out is the Global X Millennials Thematic ETF (MILN ). MILN seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of the Millennials Thematic Index, which is designed to measure the performance of U.S.-listed companies that provide exposure to the Millennial generation.
MILN offers investors high growth potential to capitalize on this demographic. Millennial behavior will obviously influence future trends and force companies to adapt to the next generation’s consumer habits.
“Millennials have surpassed Baby Boomers as the largest generation in the US,” Global X noted on the product website. “With most of their prime earning years ahead, companies that cater to Millennials should be well-positioned for growth.”
“The US economy is consumer-driven, with private consumption accounting for more than two-thirds of nominal GDP,” Global X added. “The most innovative US companies often defy sector categorization. MILN invests accordingly across a wide range of consumer-driven businesses.”
Thematic Fund Resilience
While MILN falls categorically into a very niche thematic fund, it’s interesting to note that despite all the market uncertainty, interest in thematic funds hasn’t waned. According to a Financial Times article, certain themes are actually holding up better than the broad market.
According to the article, an analysis by Morningstar showed that inflows have been stronger this year, even beating out mainstream funds. Even more notable is that a number of funds have tilted towards technology, which is one of the hardest-hit sectors this year.
“I was as surprised as anyone [about the findings]. It’s counterintuitive,” said Kenneth Lamont, senior fund analyst for passive strategies at Morningstar, who noted that Millennials have had a profound influence in the current investing climate. “There might be a case for saying this isn’t a flash in the pan and the way that investors see investing has changed, particularly millennials, but not exclusively them.”
For more news, information, and strategy, visit the Thematic Investing Channel.
