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To me, sustainability means having the ability to endure. It includes—but goes beyond—environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations. More broadly, it entails businesses making the right strategic choices that bring continuity to their shareholders, employees, customers and the communities around them. Ultimately, my team invests in emerging markets because as a team of people who were born, educated and have spent large amounts of time in these countries, we want to direct capital to companies that can have a long-term positive impact on emerging markets’ people.

We believe companies manifest and embody sustainability in a variety of ways. 

The printing press, invented in Europe around 1440 CE, was for roughly the next 500 years the primary means of generating and storing data. However, since the advent of computers in the mid-1990s (depending on which model you consider the “first”), we’ve seen an attendant explosion of data, which is only accelerating.

Moore’s Law projected the number of transistors that can fit on an integrated circuit would double roughly every two years—which has proven particularly accurate. Remarkably, the rate at which data are being generated is even faster than Moore’s Law. However, the combination of 3 billion people on the Internet with mobile apps and sensors in an increasing number of smart devices is a recipe for an exponential increase in data which computers will have a hard time keeping up with—not only from a storage standpoint, but also a processing standpoint. The need to find ways to harness, understand and use data will ultimately transform the way we work. 

We’ve gone from smartphones and smart TVs to smart factories, smart health, smart cars and smart homes—connectivity has become deeply ingrained in our society. Low-cost sensors, along with cheaper and faster computing resources, are enabling the connectivity of the real world in a paradigm shift to what is called the Internet of things, or the IoT.

With growing connectivity comes still more data— we’re just scratching the surface on the scale of what data generation will be. Data creation in general is already doubling every two years, and it’s estimated machine data can grow 50 times over the next 5 years.

How can investors capitalize on the data and analytics explosion?

Antero Peak Group portfolio manager Chris Smith discusses the opportunities his team is finding thanks to the rising importance of the Internet of things (IoT). 

Antero Peak Group portfolio manager Chris Smith explains why Artisan Partners is the right place for his team. 

Antero Peak Group portfolio manager Chris Smith discusses his team’s thematic approach to idea generation. 

The automobile industry is experiencing massive change as a result of increased demand for electric and hybrid cars that require batteries and the evolution of autonomous driving features that rely on connectivity. We believe these structural shifts are enduring and offer potential opportunities for long-term oriented investors, such as ourselves. However, investors will need to be discerning as both winners and losers will emerge.

Eric Colson, CEO, at the Artisan Partners Investment Forum, shares how high value-added investments, a talent driven business model and thoughtful growth make us who we are. 

After global growth gained momentum through 2016 and 2017, the investment outlook turned cloudier in 2018. Concerns about decelerating economic and earnings growth due to normalizing monetary policies, softening global growth and US-China trade tensions drove a sharp increase in equity market volatility, leading to the MSCI All Country World Index’s worst calendar year since 2008. No regions were unscathed: Europe, Japan and emerging markets were each down double-digit percentages, while the US market fell 5% for the year.

In contrast to the rest of the world, the US economy strengthened in 2018. The substantial fiscal stimulus in the form of tax cuts contributed to stronger economic growth and corporate profits. Yet, with tax reform in the rearview mirror, growth rates are inclined to come down in our estimation as comparisons become more difficult in upcoming quarters. In addition, margins are at risk as the costs of raw materials, labor and interest are increasing.

Market volatility at the end of 2018 understandably tipped off an array of analysis—from whether it marked a larger turn in the economic cycle and the market to whether it increased the attractiveness of some investing opportunities. And if the latter, where those opportunities might lie. We believe that despite some signs of economic softening, the broader economic and market cycle are likely not over. Further, volatility has indeed introduced new compelling investing opportunities—though likely not where many would first look.