I was at a function on Wednesday night. The keynote speaker was talking about what it means to be a citizen of Australia. And during his speech he made a very interesting point.
He mentioned four names. Dr Victor Chang, Sir Gustav Nossal, Fred Hollows and Professor Elizabeth Blackburn.
Victor Chang was a pioneer of the modern heart transplant. He was one of the most influential people in modern medicine. He was an Australian, born in Shanghai, China.
Sir Gustav Nossal is a research biologist knighted in 1977 for his groundbreaking work in immunology. He too is an Australian, born in Bad Ischal, Austria.
Fred Hollows was a pioneering ophthalmologist who worked tirelessly in restoring sight to the blind. Because of his work, over one million people can see who would have otherwise been blind. Fred was an Australian, born in Dunedin, New Zealand.
Professor Elizabeth Blackburn is a research biologist. She co-discovered telomerase, a vital function of chromosomes. In 2009 she won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Professor Blackburn is an American/Australia born in Hobart, Australia.
The basis of the keynote speaker’s point was every one of those four is Australian and has made a significant contribution to the world of medicine and health. They each advanced their field through research, innovation and breakthrough technology…
But only one of them was actually born in Australia.
This however was almost typical of what it meant to be an Australian. One way of looking at it is that to be an Australian is to be a global citizen.
There are examples of other Australian’s doing great things in various industries. And it’s a credit to this country that no matter what your point of origin, a typical Aussie usually has heritage from other parts of the globe.
And being a global citizen is particularly relevant in today’s age. The world is advancing at an amazing speed and it’s one of the most exciting times to be alive.
Technology and the connectedness of our world mean that borders are slowly fading away. Companies look globally for growth, because they can and because that’s where opportunity is.
However when it comes to investing, Australians tend to be very narrow with where they look for investment opportunity. It’s quite rare to see an Aussie investing in overseas companies.
Technology is Global, Meaning It’s Happening Outside of Australia
A fact that you might have heard a thousand times is the Australian market only accounts for about 2% of the world’s stock markets. That obviously means 98% of the world’s markets are still investable.
If you look at Dr. Chang, Sir Gustav Nossal, Fred Hollows and Professor Blackburn, between them all they span the globe from China, to Austria, New Zealand and America. Their families just chose to live in Australia. The impact they’ve had has also been global.
And when it comes to technology, it’s a global game too. As we push on through the 21st century we will only become more connected and the world will only (figuratively) get smaller.
When money is ready to invest into tech companies often the best place to look isn’t on the ASX. To find the best of the best when it comes to investable tech companies, more often than not you need to look abroad. That’s not to say there aren’t opportunities here, but they’re thin on the ground.
Look at some of the trends that are impacting the world today. Personalised Medicine, Regenerative Medicine, the Neurone Revolution, the Sensor Revolution, Energy Independence and the Commercialisation of Space.
None of these are exclusively Australian. There are many companies involved in each of these trends. Each one with a great technology or innovative approach that’s ready to change the world. But it’s New York, Tokyo, Shanghai or London where most of them list their stocks.
It’s Time to Capitalise on the Opportunities
The difficulty lies in separating the good tech from the not so good tech. And that’s where the new Revolutionary Tech Investor service comes into play.
See we’ve been working tirelessly on expanding our horizon in the world of Revolutionary Tech breakthroughs. This has opened us up to companies located all over the globe with breakthrough technologies.
The technology advances happening in robotics, biotechnology, consumer technology, space, manufacturing and finance are world changing. And it’s the most exciting time to be an investor as these companies are poised to take off.
Yes there will be some Aussie based opportunities. But like Chang, Nossal, Hollows and Blackburn, we’re all citizens of the world. And that means we should also be investors of the globe when it comes to investing in technology.
Sam Volkering
Technology Analyst
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