What Are the 7 Themes Leading the Stock Market This Year?

Investment by Theme More Effective Than by Sector
Autonomous Vehicle Theme Expected to Yield Highest Profits

[Asia Economy Reporter Minji Lee] Samsung Securities identified seven themes expected to lead the market this year: △Aging △Robotics △Fintech △Eco-friendly Vehicles △Autonomous Vehicles △Millennial Generation △5G. Among these, autonomous vehicles were selected as the theme expected to show the best stock price performance this month.

The appearance of the EV concept car unveiled by Hyundai Motor Company.

Recently, the stock market has been experiencing a new paradigm due to advances in information and communication technology, as well as changes in population and economic structures. Reflecting this trend, Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI), a global leading index provider, has been calculating theme-based indices since 2018.

Dongwon Won, a researcher at Samsung Securities, explained, “Previously, when identifying the driving forces behind market returns, decisions were made based on sectors, but now the focus should be on themes. There is an increasing correlation in stock prices within the same theme.”

Aging refers to a society where the proportion of the elderly population aged 65 and over is increasing. When the elderly population exceeds 20%, it is defined as a super-aged society. Key keywords for the aging theme include arthritis, dementia, life insurance, travel packages, antioxidants, and Botox. Researcher Won said, “With the increase in the elderly population, pharmaceutical companies will develop new drugs, and insurance companies will launch products for the elderly. Products related to travel, leisure, and shopping targeting economically active elderly people will also develop.”

The main keywords for robotics are artificial intelligence, robots, and automation. The robotics theme reflects the growing importance of the robot industry due to intensified productivity competition in manufacturing, safety issues, and worsening low birth rates and aging. Additionally, stocks related to machine learning and artificial intelligence are included in this theme.

Fintech refers to newly emerging services that combine finance and technology. Key keywords include cybersecurity, electronic payments, pay, blockchain, and techfin. Recently, fintech has expanded beyond simple payments and remittances to areas such as financial data analysis, blockchain, and cryptocurrencies.

The main keywords for the eco-friendly vehicle theme are secondary batteries, hydrogen fuel, electric vehicles, hydrogen vehicles, electrolytes, cathode materials, and anode materials. This theme is expected to grow significantly, supported by the government’s ‘Future Automobile Industry Development Strategy.’ The government plans to increase the domestic new car share of electric and hydrogen vehicles from the current 2.6% to 33% by 2030.

The autonomous vehicle theme is also expected to benefit from the ‘Future Automobile Industry Development Strategy.’ The government announced plans to complete four major infrastructure communications on key roads nationwide by 2024 and to commercialize fully autonomous vehicles by 2027. Key keywords include robotaxi, image sensors, ultrasonic sensors, car sharing, shared mobility, and high-definition maps.

The millennial generation refers to people born between 1980 and 2000. They tend to strongly pursue personal happiness and have a high interest in self-development. Key keywords targeting this group include luxury goods, entertainment, convenience stores, e-commerce, virtual reality, social media, and games.

The 5G theme is characterized by ultra-high speed, ultra-low latency, and ultra-connectivity. Through the ‘5G+’ strategy, the government announced plans to discover new business models in the 5G era and lead the industry by expanding overseas. Key keywords include 5G networks, antennas, frequencies, and 5G equipment.

Among these, the theme expected to yield the highest returns is autonomous vehicles. Researcher Dong-eun Kim of Samsung Securities explained, “After focusing on undervalued stocks and examining those expected to have upward revisions in earnings estimates, it was found that the autonomous vehicle theme showed the best performance throughout March.”