Exploiting the 'smart materials' tipping point

One of the opportunities emerging from the resources scarcity challenge is replacement technologies and the adoption of ‘smart' materials. Pieter Busscher, manager of the RobecoSAM Smart Materials fund, highlights the sectors set to grow in popularity in 2015

The pressure on finite natural resources has continued to increase over the past few decades driven by population growth, particularly in emerging economies, and the intensification of use. This, combined with investments in traditional commodities suffering a torrid time over the past few years, has led to a growth in investments in lesser-known materials.  Such investments have focused on the ‘materials lifecycle', from investing in the material extraction process to substitute resources and recycling.  The opportunity from these industries and the rise of smart materials means t...