by The theme of aging population and why it never gets old.
A week doesn’t go by without hearing about the problems which will be created by the world’s rapidly aging population. Much of the focus is on how fewer people will mean lower future economic growth. When we look at the investment opportunities as a fund, we must look at many different and unique markets older adults not only rely on their primary care physician, but also on long-term care services and supports. Teams of physicians, long-term care assistants, nurses, social workers, and family caregivers often work together to provide tailored and coordinated care to older adults. Access to health care is critical for older adults to age in place. Because many retirees are choosing to move to rural destinations and keep their independent lifestyle, many rural counties are naturally becoming retirement communities. However, these communities have fewer options for geriatric care teams and accommodations specially designed for older adults, such as retirement communities and assisted living facilities. Today, there are more than 46 million adults age 65 and older living in the U.S.; by 2050, that number is expected to grow to almost 90 million. Between 2020 and 2030 alone, the time the last of the baby boom cohorts reach age 65, the number of older adults is projected to increase by almost 18 million. This means by 2030, 1 in 5 Americans is projected to be 65 years old and over.
LAM has researched this theme and has invested in the areas of aging population. Which in hindsight, was suppose to be long term investments but now are at a point of reevaluation. During this reevaluation, it is important that we not only look at the holdings within this theme but we also keen in on its sector’s performance to reevaluate the outlook for this next coming year as expectations of a recession may be becoming. It’ll be interesting to see specifically how the drug distributors that are in the portfolio as of now perform with the market volatility at it’s highest and whether it is time to make gains on other investments before it’s too late.