A report released by the McKinsey Global Institute in late November suggested that 30% of the global workforce could be pushed out due to automation. A significant proportion of these workers should be able to find alternatives if states adequately prepare for this future – as much as 375 million out of the 800 million jobs lost.
In October I’d recommended that investors take a look at the Robo Global Robotics and Automation ETF (NASDAQ:ROBO). The ETF reached an all-time high of $42.59 in late November but has since dropped 4%. The stock was trading at $40.81 at the top of the noon hour on December 11. The slight dip could give investors a fantastic opportunity to own shares of a fund that will look to take advantage of a revolution in the workforce.
Some of its top holdings include Yaskawa Electric Corp., and Fanuc Corp. Yaskawa is a Japanese manufacturer of servos, motion controllers, AC motor drives, switches and industrial robots. Fanuc is another Japanese automation company that provides robotics and computer numerical control systems.
North American companies are looking to aggressively modernize processes over the next several years. The Trump administration has focused on reinvigorating manufacturing, and the private world has called for a drive to bump up efficiency. A significant degree of investment will be in robotics and automation.
Investors should be preparing for this future by investing in ETFs like the one above and also buying the rare dips.
