"Digital lifestyle" is a vivid way of describing the new mega-trend. This is the credo under which Swissquote has put together a basket that is packed with companies which profit especially from social distancing. This applies both for changing patterns of behaviour and for the greater demand for applications geared to spatial separation. The experts focus particularly on the high-growth segments of e-commerce, online education, remote office, e-mobility, food deliveries, online pharmacies and contactless technologies.
The most far-reaching consequence of COVID-19 could well be its effects on education. School life has recently moved increasingly onto the internet, for instance, causing huge upheaval in the education system. Almost 1.6 billion schoolchildren in more than 165 countries had to learn how to take part in lessons using digital communication tools. Online education has been common practice for many years already at the Chinese TAL Education Group, for example. Founded in 2003, the education and training company has focused on children from pre-school to school-leaving age and their out-of-school and private tuition. In the USA K12 and 2U are among those ensuring that home schooling is feasible. According to a recent market research report from Technavio, the worldwide market for digital education content – triggered in part by coronavirus – will expand by an estimated USDbn 26.3 between 2020 and 2024, corresponding to a CAGR of 9 per cent. The basket takes this trend into account, with the index containing no less than eight companies that have made a name for themselves in online learning.
If digital communication is to function smoothly, the very latest technologies are essential. That is why high-tech companies such as Slack or Zoom are key constituents of the "digital lifestyle" sector. While Slack facilitates communication within working groups thanks to its web-based instant messaging service, the pandemic has turned the video conferencing service Zoom from a niche player into an established part of everyday life. This is also reflected in the figures: the frequent use of the technology for home offices, religious services or education caused global participation in video conferences to shoot up to a daily 300 million in April. By comparison, that figure was just 10 million in December 2019. Another presence on this market is a Swiss representative in the form of Logitech. Accelerated by the coronavirus crisis, the trend towards the home office has recently caused the tills of the computer accessories manufacturer to ring loudly. The main drivers of this growth have been PC webcams and video conferencing systems.
There are a total of 28 international companies in the innovative Swissquote New Digital Lifestyle Index. Investors gain access through an actively managed certificate from Leonteq. The new tracker reflects the performance of the index 1:1 less an annual fee of 0.8 per cent. The current heavyweight is Zur Rose, the Swiss online pharmacy, which has an index weighting of 6.7 per cent. Competitor Shop-Apotheke is another member of the top 10. On the subject of competition, in a recent interview Zur Rose boss Walter Oberhänsli raised the prospect of a merger with a competitor – with Shop-Apotheke from the Netherlands among the candidates.
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