Southeast Asian digital wealth manager StashAway announced that it has launched three thematic portfolios given its growing popularity that is eclipsing traditional equity sectors.

The themes include technology enablers, the future of consumer tech, and healthcare innovation.

According to StashAway, the portfolios feature ETFs from some of the world’s top fund managers, including ARK Invest, iShares, Global X, and VanEck.

The firm added that the risk management feature of its thematic portfolios sets it apart from simmilar offerings that are available to both retail and institutional investors.

The feature enables investors to select the downside they’re willing to accept in a given year, and then the StashAway platform will reportedly maximise the thematic exposure as much as possible within those risk constraints.

Since 2018, the amount of assets in thematic funds globally have grown at an annual rate of 37%. In 2020 alone, assets in thematic funds grew by 77% while thematic portfolios have accounted for nearly 40% of all equity fund net sales since 2017.

“This gives investors the access to thematic investing without the risk inherent with thematic investing. The remaining non-thematic assets in a portfolio are there to manage risk. We call these non-thematic assets ‘balancing assets’, and their role in our thematic portfolios is just as important as the thematic assets.”

said StashAway Co-founder and CIO, Freddy Lim.

“StashAway’s thematic portfolios will empower Malaysians to invest in promising innovations for the long term. Innovations that aim to shape the future take time to grow and gain market acceptance. So, it’s important for investors to have a long-term mindset when investing in these themes,”

said Albert Kok, Deputy Country Manager, Malaysia at StashAway.