Three long-term winning stocks for the post-pandemic world
Professional investor Zehrid Osmani of the Martin Currie Global Portfolio Trust picks three companies with sustainable business models, strong pricing power and a low risk of disruption.
As we come out of the pandemic, we are identifying numerous structural-growth opportunities in several key areas. This comes as governments deploy sizeable fiscal stimuli to support the economic recovery.
These target global infrastructure programmes, which could create attractive long-term opportunities in sectors such as green infrastructure, robotics and automation, and healthcare infrastructure. Green infrastructure developments focus on renewable energy, electric transportation, energy efficiency and greener buildings.
Robotics and automation trends should accelerate, with companies making their manufacturing capacities and supply chains more resilient. Healthcare infrastructure is likely to be channelled into upgrading physical care facilities and extending digitalisation to improve patient care.
MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE

Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
The latter implies more remote patient monitoring and virtual care. We seek out firms with sustainable franchises, strong pricing power, low risk of disruption, high returns on invested capital (a key gauge of profitability) and strong balance sheets.
The fifth utility
Sweden’s Atlas Copco (Stockholm: ATCOA) is a global leader in vacuum and air-compressor technologies. Its high market share permits the company to maintain a pricing premium. Atlas Copco is very well run and has shown resilience despite being exposed to cyclical end-markets. What’s more, historically it has managed to cover its cost of capital even during severe recessions.
The group sells to a broad range of customers. Air compressors are known as the “fifth utility’” as they are crucial in sectors such as cars, construction and semiconductors. Atlas Copco is well-placed to harness global infrastructure growth through exposure to green-building construction, renewable energy and infrastructure developments for electric transportation, as well as to 5G and healthcare infrastructure.
Another Swedish company we hold is digital industrial-equipment specialist Hexagon (Stockholm: HEXAB). It focuses on enabling firms to augment their robotics and automation throughout their production lines.
This also has the benefit of helping companies reduce their carbon footprints over time. Hexagon is especially exposed to the structural-growth opportunity from the emergence of “digital twin” assets, which are the digital representations of physical objects such as manufacturing sites.
These digital representations are then used to monitor and improve the performance of the equivalent physical asset. We see several markets moving towards the convergence of digital and physical assets, which bodes well for Hexagon’s revenue growth and profitability over the long term.
Software for bespoke healthcare
US-based Veeva Systems (NYSE: VEEV) is at the forefront of bringing tailored software to drug development: it offers cloud-based solutions for the global life-sciences industry. Veeva’s market opportunity is growing thanks to the trend towards more complex and personalised healthcare. Veeva serves a regulated market with products that provide high barriers to entry against potential competitors, thus giving it the ability to sustain a long period of strong growth and profitability.
Get the latest financial news, insights and expert analysis from our award-winning MoneyWeek team, to help you understand what really matters when it comes to your finances.
-
Could your family be at risk of an unexpected tax bill? How to keep your loved ones in the loop
Many families are out of the loop when it comes to planning the financial aspects of both retirement and inheritance
-
Rightmove: Glut of homes for sale in southern England drives asking price drop
Asking prices are 0.1% lower than a year ago, according to the property website, driven by challenges in affordability-stretched London and the south
-
Small UK industrial stocks are hidden gems
Opinion Ed Wielechowski of the Odyssean Investment Trust highlights three of his favourite British small-cap industrial stocks
-
Aurora Innovation is running on empty – is it overvalued?
Aurora Innovation, a maker of self-driving trucks, may have promised far more than it can deliver
-
'Ride the recovery in emerging markets': Gustavo Medeiros of Ashmore Group tells MoneyWeek
Interview What's the outlook for emerging markets? Gustavo Medeiros, head of research at Ashmore Group, gives his analysis and reviews progress in developing economies
-
What is the Enterprise Investment Scheme and should you have one?
The Enterprise Investment Scheme is tax-efficient and potentially lucrative. Taking a chance on the scheme could trim your family’s IHT bill, says David Prosser
-
The alcohol industry is suffering as consumers sober up – is it still worth investing in the sector?
Changing consumer tastes are rocking the alcohol industry, but the best players are adapting their strategies. Buy them while their shares are still cheap
-
A strange calm in credit
Corporate bond markets remain remarkably relaxed, with yields that offer little compensation for risks
-
'The City's big bet on green finance fails to pay out'
Opinion Insurers and banks are backing away from “green finance”, and there is not much sign of the green boom we were promised. That’s a problem for the City
-
Why is English football thriving – and can it last?
What has gone so right for English football? The national team has found its feet; the Premier League is swimming in money and profits are soaring