Australia’s population is ageing. Those aged 65+ made up 13.8 percent of the population in 2011, by 2031 that number is expected to grow to 18.7%. The economic implications of these trends are well established and varied, including additional pressure on health infrastructure, lower tax revenues, and higher social spending by the government. It’s not just bad news, many sectors and businesses are well placed to benefit from these trends. As these trends are well publicised and understood, does buying into these trends at this stage make one a victim of ‘first level thinking’ as Howard Marks put it? In this week’s episode of Buy Hold Sell, we asked Steve Johnson from Forager Funds and Romano Sala Tenna from Katana Asset Management for their view on three stocks exposed to the ageing consumer, also includes two stocks benefiting from demographic trends, which they like.
