Why IROs need to add megatrends to their IR agendas

The obesity epidemic is capturing headlines, but has this topic found its way into your IR talking points for one-on-one meetings? For a Whole Foods, a Sprouts Farmers Market, an Orexigen Therapeutics (which makes an anti-obesity drug) or any other company within the $930 bn health and wellness industry, the answer may be a resounding ‘yes’.

And yet almost all public companies are affected by the fact that 71 mn Americans are considered obese. Globally, says Sarbjit Nahal, head of the thematic investing strategy team at Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BofAML) Global Research in London, obesity contributes to lower worker productivity and is said to account for 21 percent of medical spending. Or take another megatrend: water scarcity. California has been classified as 100 percent drought-ridden, says Nahal; and 45 percent of China’s GDP comes from water-stressed provinces and regions. ‘How do you maintain yields in a water-stressed environment?’ he asks. ‘This idea of more crop per drop is gaining increasing traction.’

Hier geht es zum Artikel als PDF, erschienen im IR Magazine.