Asia-Pacific is aging rapidly — especially China. One in four in the region will be over 60 years old by 2050, according to the United Nations. In China, authorities expect those aged 60 and over to jump from 280 million to more than 400 million by 2035 . That would be the equivalent of Britain's and the U.S.' current populations — combined. The social and economic implications of a silver economy are mostly negative, but there are some big opportunities for investors.
Pro spoke to analysts to find out how to play the trend. Health-care tech and gear Tech is one major opportunity, according to Sandeep Rao, head of research at Leverage Shares, which sells exchange-traded products.
Pro. Rao named Hong Kong-listed JD Health International, an online health-care company, as a stock to watch because of its "rapidly growing presence" in online clinical assistance services. And Japanese health-care tech companies Sysmex and M3 are "very interesting bets," according to Rao. He also likes Singapore-listed Raffles Medical as it has a dedicated division for equipment development and because its upmarket services make it "somewhat recession resistant.
Pro. As for investors looking to get exposure to China's wealthier income segment, he named Raffles Medical, Asian Healthcare Specialists and IHH Healthcare — stocks that will also give similar exposure in other Asian countries. Dividend payers and financial services High-dividend-paying stocks as well as financial services are set to benefit from the aging population, according to analysts.