Profit from the rise of robots who’ll bring you your tea
THE idea that one day robots will fly our planes, fill our dishwashers and write our newspapers might sound like science fiction — but it’s not.
Robots are already being brought in to do the everyday tasks we loathe, such as tidying up, gardening and washing the car.
Companies are trialling self-driving cars and increasingly using drones to deliver parcels. Scientists last week even predicted that sex robots — socalled pleasure bots — would become commonplace in the next decade. Big businesses are waking up to the power of robots and are investing billions of pounds in new technologies in the hope it will boost profits.
Companies across the world spent £55 billion on robotics in 2015, and this is expected to double to nearly £105 billion by 2019.
By 2030, up to a third of British jobs could be done by robots, according to respected consultancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Jeremy Gleeson, manager of AXA World Funds Framlington Robotech, says: ‘There is a huge range of uses for robots and automation. Markets are really starting to open up to the idea.
‘ Technology has improved significantly in the past five years. Robots can now sense the environment they are in and can detect what is around them.’
So how can you cash in on the robot revolution?
Honda, the Japanese motoring giant, has been developing robot technology for more than 30 years. In 2000, it created a humanlooking robot with arms and legs called ASIMO, short for Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility.
It is 4 ft 3 in and looks like someone wearing a spacesuit. But not only can it walk and climb stairs, it can also recognise faces, gestures and even understands commands. It is not on sale to the public, but some of Honda’s robotics technology is currently being trialled in Japanese hospitals.
For example, its Walking Assist belt that straps around your thighs and waist is used to help people struggling to walk by themselves — such as someone recovering from a stroke.
For savers looking for a fund investing in Honda, Laith Khalaf, of stockbroker Hargreaves Lansdown, tips the Man GLG Japan Core Alpha fund. It invests £5.47 of every £100 in Honda and has turned a £10,000 pot into £22,190 over the past five years.
Sophie Muller, of adviser EQ Investors, recommends Baillie Gifford Japanese to savers wanting to profit from robotics. One of the companies it invests in is SoftBank, the £ 67 billion Japanese mobile phone giant that last month bought world-leading robotics firm Boston Dynamics from Google for a reported £79 million.
Boston Dynamics creates robots with names such as BigDog and Spot that walk on all-fours and pick up rubbish, put plates in the dishwasher and tidy away books and CDs.
After buying the U.S. firm, the boss of SoftBank, Masayoshi Son, said robotics will come to the fore as devices such as fridges, TVs and even cars are hooked up to the internet. SoftBank, whose share price has risen 66 pc in the past year, is Baillie Gifford Japanese’s biggest stock pick, accounting for more than £5 in every £ 100 of savers’ cash. The fund has turned £10,000 into £24,180 in the past five years. Robotics have been used in factories for more than 30 years, with managers looking for ways to automate unskilled or dangerous jobs.
Cognex makes vision systems for robots on production lines. One of its key uses is in quality inspection. For example, its robots are used to check if labels are stuck on to bottles properly.
Mr Gleeson, of AXA World Funds Framlington Robotech, holds Cognex in his fund, which has turned £10,000 into £11,500 since it launched earlier this year. It is recommended by Darius McDermott, of adviser Chelsea Financial Services.
The fund also invests in Intuitive Surgical, a firm which makes robotic arms that allow surgeons to carry out complex, invasive surgery using tiny incisions.
Its multi- armed Da Vinci Surgical System has been used in more than three million operations and has reduced recovery times in patients.
Ryan Hughes, of broker A.J. Bell, recommends Polar Capital Global Technology. The fund has a big stake in Google.
Google, which has its own robotics lab, recently gave the Press Association a grant of £630,000 to trial ‘robot journalism’ through a scheme called Reporters And Data And Robots ( RADAR). As part of this, machines will write up to 30,000 news stories for local news outlets, which have been struggling due to falling revenues.
While robots can’t carry out detailed investigations the way experienced journalists would, they can write basic stock market and sports reports.
Polar Capital Global Technology invests £3.55 of every £100 in Google and has turned £10,000 into £26,650 in five years.
ROBO Global Robotics And Automation ETF, tipped by Ms Muller, is not managed by a human. Instead, it is controlled by computers and tracks a special robotics index. Its biggest stock pick is AeroVironment, which makes unmanned planes that are flown by robots.
The fund has turned £10,000 into £16,460 since it launched three years ago.