Companies such as American Water Works, BKW, Ecolab, Iberdrola and Siemens Energy show how future-oriented operations can be combined with a stable business model. And this can also be seen in part on the stock exchange. Shares in Swiss energy and infrastructure company BKW and Spanish utility Iberdrola, for instance, have more or less doubled in value over the last five years. The southern Europeans are pursuing a consistent decarbonisation strategy with major projects in Europe, Latin America and the USA. BKW is also a driver of the energy transition. The Berne-based company is seeking significant growth with its pioneering solutions in the energy, buildings and infrastructure sectors. The board’s medium-term plan is for earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) to rise to CHFbn 1 by 2030. This corresponds to a massive 60% increase on the figure for 2023. The return on equity is to climb to over 50% by then, underlining the strong financial base of the company, which has a long tradition stretching back to 1898.
It is not only the energy sector that can look forward to a rosy future, though – other industries too, such as water treatment and waste management, should see just as much demand in the years to come. American Water Works, the USA’s largest listed water utility, supplies millions of homes with drinking water and profits from ageing water infrastructure overseas. This will have to be modernised over the next few decades, a process which will deliver steady income and plannable cash flows thanks to usually regulated contracts. France’s Veolia also plays a key role in the circular economy, for example by recovering valuable raw materials from waste. It is not for nothing that the credo of the French company is to “Protect, preserve and conserve resources”. The world leader in the waste, energy and water management sectors benefits both from ever stricter regulation and also growing environmental awareness in society.
The infrastructure sector offers an attractive investment field for investors with a long-term outlook wanting to invest in essential themes of the future without having to compromise on security. To that end, a few weeks ago Swissquote launched the Vital Infrastructure Index, which focuses on the sectors that are increasingly emerging as growth drivers thanks to the technological transformation of core services. The carefully compiled basket of equities offers a pragmatic investment opportunity with little risk and the potential for sustainable and predictable returns. The index is concentrated on key sectors such as energy, water, waste management and logistics – all industries that form the basis of modern society and whose continuous availability is vital. That makes the index ideal for investors seeking to put their trust in the future of global productivity and essential systems.
As to the question of how to invest in the future-oriented index, there is a relatively simple answer: through the tracker certificate from Leonteq. In return for a low management and calculation agent fee of 0.60% p.a. in total, not only does it offer 1:1 participation in the Vital Infrastructure Index, but investors also get access to a professionally and actively management basket of shares. The index currently comprises 26 companies that are geared towards constant growth and long-term relevance. For investors, this is a pragmatic, stability-oriented approach that is based on society’s needs and prioritises reliability and value creation over speculation.
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