Ageing populations & healthcare
Last updated · By StockDashes
Does my portfolio reflect an ageing population?
StockDashes scores your portfolio 0–100 against the ageing populations and healthcare worldview: older people spend more on drugs, medical devices and care for decades, so pharma, device makers, care providers and retirement-income providers gain, while businesses built on a young, growing customer base face a smaller market.
Portfolio score
Example portfolioWhat this worldview says
The worldview, as StockDashes states it:
Older populations spend more on care, drugs and devices for decades, while shrinking workforces strain pensions and labour supply.
People live longer and have fewer children. The number of over-65s grows for decades while workforces shrink, which puts more weight on health systems, pensions and the care workforce.
Demand rises for the treatment of age-related and chronic disease — diabetes, heart disease, joint replacement, eye disease, dementia — and for the devices, care homes and senior housing older people use. Life insurers and annuity providers gain too, as people need income for longer retirements.
Under pressure are businesses that depend on a young, growing customer base: children’s clothing, toys, childcare and early education. Health insurers are a case of two forces: more members as people age, but higher claims from those members, so the classifier marks them mixed.
How StockDashes scores your portfolio against it
Worldview fit is a 0–100 score for how well a stock portfolio matches an investor’s view of where the world is heading.
Each holding in your portfolio is marked against the worldview as Benefits, Neutral, Mixed or Hurt, with a one-line reason. The marks are weighted by what each holding is worth: Benefits pushes the score up, Hurt pulls it down, and Neutral leaves it where it is; Mixed means two real forces pull in opposite directions, so it counts half each way and cancels out. A portfolio that is balanced, or mostly neutral, lands at 50; one where most of the value benefits scores high, and one where most of it is hurt scores low. With several worldviews, each is worked out the same way and the results are averaged. Worldview fit is 60% of your 0–100 portfolio score, next to diversification and volatility.
Worldview fit measures how well your holdings match your view. It doesn’t say whether the view is right or whether the stocks are good value.
What is worldview fit? The full definition →
Companies linked to this worldview
These companies are classified by how their business relates to this worldview. This is research, not a recommendation to buy or sell.
Classified on
Benefits
- LLY · Eli Lilly — Its drugs target diabetes, obesity and Alzheimer’s, conditions that grow with age.
- AMGN · Amgen — Makes drugs for osteoporosis, heart disease and cancer.
- REGN · Regeneron Pharmaceuticals — Its eye-disease and other drugs treat conditions common in older people.
- SYK · Stryker — Hip and knee implants and surgical equipment, used more as populations age.
- BSX · Boston Scientific — Heart and urology devices whose demand rises with age.
- EW · Edwards Lifesciences — Makes heart valves for a disease concentrated in elderly patients.
- WELL · Welltower — Owns senior housing, where an ageing population drives demand.
- BKD · Brookdale Senior Living — The largest US operator of senior living communities.
- PRU · Prudential Financial — Provides annuities and retirement income for people living longer.
Mixed
- UNH · UnitedHealth Group — Gains Medicare members as people age, but older members also claim more care.
- HUM · Humana — Its Medicare Advantage coverage gains members, but higher claims from older members squeeze margins.
Under pressure from this worldview
- CRI · Carter’s — Children’s clothing, which depends on the number of births.
- BFAM · Bright Horizons Family Solutions — Childcare and early education, which depend on young families.
- MAT · Mattel — Makes toys for children, a shrinking share of the population.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a tool that checks whether my portfolio fits my view of where the world is heading?
Yes. StockDashes lets you choose up to 4 worldviews — such as an ageing population — or write your own, and marks every holding in your portfolio as benefiting from, hurt by, neutral to or mixed on each one. The result is your worldview fit: a 0–100 score with a one-line reason for every holding.
How do I know if my portfolio is positioned for an ageing population?
Import your portfolio into StockDashes and choose an ageing population as one of your worldviews. You see what share of your portfolio’s value benefits from it, is hurt by it, is neutral or mixed, and which holdings sit on each side, each with a one-line reason.
What is worldview fit?
Worldview fit is a 0–100 score for how well a stock portfolio matches an investor’s view of where the world is heading. It is worked out from how each holding relates to the worldviews you choose, weighted by what each holding is worth, and it is 60% of the StockDashes portfolio score.
Which kinds of companies does an ageing population benefit?
Makers of drugs for chronic and age-related disease, medical-device companies, care providers and senior housing, and providers of annuities and retirement income.
Can I combine an ageing population with other worldviews?
Yes. You keep up to 4 worldviews at a time, picked from the ten ready-made ones or written in your own words, and every holding is marked against each of them. Your worldview fit combines them all.
Check your portfolio against ageing populations & healthcareFree account. Your portfolio stays private to your account.
What it doesn’t do
- It doesn’t tell you what to trade, or when. It shows how your portfolio lines up with the worldviews you chose; what you do with that is yours.
- It doesn’t say whether a worldview is right. You choose the worldviews; StockDashes shows how your holdings line up with them.
The example portfolio is fictional. Nothing on this page is investment advice.