Global Trends

These top global investment trends should be considered for your portfolio in 2012. Each trend has strategic advantages driven by global demand. All have the potential to provide superior returns on investment that can transform a portfolio from average to extraordinary.

Following is a summary of each trend with a link to a more in depth analysis of the individual investment trend.

Top Global Investment Trends

Dividend Income Investing

Investors are hunting for yield, and dividend income investing is becoming their choice. Short term rates are at historic lows and the Federal Reserve is promising to keep them low for an extended period of time. Baby boomers are reaching the age where the need for income is becoming more critical. A long term view including considering yield, potential increases in the dividend over time, and valuations should be a part of hunting for yield.

Investments in Infrastructure

No state or nation is able to thrive without Infrastructure Investments in Energy, Transportation, Communications, & Utilities to support growing economies and populations. Airports, railroads, highways, communications, and energy are all needed to move people, products, and information efficiently. Developed countries have old and neglected infrastructure needs. Emerging markets have unending needs for new infrastructure.

Food and Nutrition

As emerging and frontier market economies develop they require Investment in Food, Nutrition, and Agriculture. This process is already under way as consumers demand more meat and higher quality food as incomes rise. Add world population growth and you have ever increasing demand for good nutrition and quality food for decades to come.  

Environment Services

The global trends are increasing demand for Environmental Management Services and Sustainability. These trends are being propelled by rapid population growth in developing and frontier markets, higher standard of living being demanded by emerging countries, and the sheer volume of resources consumed in the developed nations. The costs and resources needed are huge and require capital for investment.

Energy Investments

Invest in Energy Stocks for Inflation Hedge and Growing Dividends. Whether we are talking about oil, natural gas, coal, nuclear energy, or new green energy, we will probably need it all. We already use all the energy we produce worldwide. The tremendous growth expected in the standard of living of the emerging markets, in addition to worldwide increase in population, will force us to find more ways to produce and deliver energy to an energy starved world.

Defense Spending, War and Terrorism

Defense Stocks: Stable Growth Companies and High Dividend Yields. We live in a dangerous world. Trends that include an increasing number of fanatics willing to kill innocent people will require technology and diligence to defeat. Add to the fact that as we have become more global and mobile we need more resources to keep the peace, not less.  The expected cut in military spending has provided an opportunity to buy defense stocks at bargain prices. If history is any guide the cuts will probably be much less than anticipated and future allocations to global defense will have to increase.

Demand is Driving Global Trends

Each of these six global investment trends have the potential to provide extraordinary investment returns because the demand created by the global market place will require these needs to be met. If you have demand that outstrips supply, the return on investing in that product or service will have to be higher than average to attract investors into investing and meeting that need. 

Would you add any global investment trends to my list?