Global Urban Population Megatrend

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The Martin Curie Global Urban Population Megatrend has been specifically designed for investors looking for an attractive total return, with lower volatility than the broader equity market.

The strategy invests in a diversified portfolio of quality listed Real Asset securities including REITs, infrastructure, and utilities, from developed and emerging countries.

Our approach is premised on the philosophy that the performance of Real Assets is driven by their unique leverage to the multi-decade megatrend opportunity of urban population growth.

Our key thesis is that as urban population grows, so too will demand for Real Assets to service everyday needs. With a growing demand, coupled with the nondiscretionary nature of the services provided, Real Assets often have strong pricing power, proven cash flows, and the ability to grow income distributions regardless of the economic cycle. Given these attractive characteristics, real assets are generally less volatile than the wider equity market or sector-specific strategies and have a lower correlation with the returns of other asset classes.

While the global megatrend of urban population growth is enduring and is expected to hold well into the future, not all countries and cities are growing, and some are in fact going backwards. Our approach is to invest where Real Asset demand growth is underpinned by a naturally growing customer base, avoiding low growth regions like Japan where population declines become an investment headwind. As such we focus on select target countries, regions and cities with the most attractive demographic growth.

Key Information

Earn a pre-tax yield income yield above the MSCI AC World Index yield

Portfolio characteristics	Global Urban Population Megatrend
Objective	Income / Long-Term Growth
Asset Class	Listed Real Assets
Style	Income
Investable Universe	Global listed Real Asset securities
Benchmark	Benchmark unaware
Market capitalisation	All cap
Country limit	Max country weight 40%
Sector limit	Unconstrained
Security limit	Absolute 8% and Max 40% in securities >5%
Number of stocks	Typically 40
Portfolio turnover	Typically 25% p.a.
Forecast tracking error	We do not target tracking error but total risk outcome is typically 90% of the market.
Inception	July 2020

"As urban populations grow, the demand for the essential services that listed Real Assets provide rises, and helps to grow dividends irrespective of the business cycle."

Why Invest in Global Urban Population Megatrend

Heritage

Attractive total returns by capturing income

We have put client income needs at the heart of the product design for the Martin Currie Global Urban Population Megatrend strategy

Heritage

Income from Real Assets can grow with urbanisation

As tangible every day-use building blocks of the economy, Real Assets are driven by demographic themes rather than the business or economic cycle. As urban populations grow, the demand for Real Assets increase, helping to grow dividends

Heritage

Investments that are highly exposed to key demographic themes

By focusing on high growth target cities and regions, investments into Real Assets tap into future defining, urban population megatrend

Investment Team

Martin Currie’s suite of Real Income strategies are managed by the experienced Martin Currie Australia Real Asset team.

The strategy benefits from the close collaboration and deep industry expertise of wider Martin Currie Australia investment team and the broader Martin Currie global investment floor.