Page 35 - DIY Magazine June 2018

AFRICA
I’ve had an interest in the continent since I owned a pine furniture factory near Durban 20 years ago.
There has been political turmoil for many years and corruption has been rife; however recent changes in government could see things finally start to improve, and with large mineral resources it may one day prove to be a profitable place to invest.
Two funds which occasionally turn up in the Saltydog numbers are:
• African Opportunity Investment Trust
• HSBC MSCI South Africa ETF
OLD TECHNOLOGY
These funds invest in companies that emerged from the dot.com crash as well as some of the newer internet retailers in emerging markets and biotech companies which have done well in recent years
• Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust
• Pictet-Digital
• Polar Capital Global Technology
NEW TECHNOLOGY
These subjects really fascinate me; nanotechnology, graphene, quantum computing, DNA data storage, artificial intelligence, etc. I’m not sure which funds are really investing in this technology, but these are the closest that I’ve found so far.
• Smith & Williamson Artificial Intelligence
• Polar Capital Automation & Artificial Intelligence
MARIJUANA
I have no real interest in marijuana, but I do like reading about influential world leaders and especially early entrepreneurs and money makers - J.P. Morgan, J.D. Rockefeller, Mayer Rothschild and of course Jesse Livermore.
I read a book about the Kennedy clan and a great deal of its wealth came from a liquor distribution business, which straddled the ending of prohibition in America; the consumption of alcohol simply exploded with the
change of the law creating a vast fortune for Joseph Kennedy.
In a similar situation, the law is changing in the US
so that the production and use of Marijuana will no longer be illegal; used both medically and personally there could be a similar explosion in demand as liquor experienced at the end of prohibition.
This requirement will be met by legal farming and conversion companies, in which it should be possible to invest.
There are already a couple of ETFs already investing in this area, although not that easy to get hold of:
• Horizon Marijuana Life Sciences Index
• Marijuana Opportunities Fund
• MG Alternative Harvest
I remind you of these funds only because they look into investing into geographical and technology areas of the future and are perhaps worth watching from an interest point of view. I am not suggesting that you should invest.
None of these funds feature in our two Saltydog portfolios, although I do hold a small investment in some of the Technology, Vietnam and Marijuana funds, but I do mean small.
Best wishes and Good investing,
Douglas.
35 DIY Investor Magazine | Jun 2018