ROLAND DAHLMAN
HEAD OF ASSET MANAGEMENT
INVESTERUM
Score prediction: SWEDEN 2 – POLAND 1
INVESTMENT INSIGHT:
In Swedish, we have idiomatic expression “bollen är rund” (the ball is round), which means that anything can happen and outcomes are uncertain; something the last year has certainly taught us.
Many investors have been struggling to interpret the recent year’s highly unusual circumstances. For instance; simultaneously unprecedented excess savings ratios in Asia, the US and Europe (due to the massive government support for households) while spending on services was constrained due to social distancing enabling households to save a lot more.
It is certainly a highly unusual macroeconomic outcome for a recession when households, on a global scale, have strengthened balance sheets. An interesting question is what will happen once the stimulus packages peter out?
Similarly the current, highly unusual, growth dynamics places investors at an uncertain juncture in the markets; since high-quality nominal assets promise no or even negative returns, it appears that all roads lead to equities.
From an investment perspective, the Swedish equity markets are surprisingly multifaceted and advanced. Many of the true unicorns such as Skype, Spotify, Klarna, Mojang, Izettle, Oatly and Sinch are Swedish. Actually Sweden has one of the highest concentrations of billion-dollar companies per capita.
Like in this match against Poland, anything can happen – but I somehow think Sweden will just have the edge.
LUCAS STROJNY
MULTI-ASSET PORTFOLIO MANAGER
AMILTON AM
Score prediction: SWEDEN 1 – POLAND 2
INVESTMENT INSIGHT:
Have you heard about Cyberpunk 2077? This video game broke records to become the fastest-selling PC game ever and has been developed by CD Projekt, one of Poland’s gaming giants.
The video game market is booming in Poland, with highly skilled programmers and creatives leading the way in this youngest of art mediums. The games being developed in the country are not only popular around the world, but they are also financially successful.
According to a recent report from the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development, the Polish video game market is now worth €470M. While CD Projekt has dominated the Polish “gamedev” scene, Poland became the home of gaming giants such as PlayWay, 11 bit studios, and Ten Square Games.
One of the reasons Poland is so successful in the gaming industry is the high level of mathematics present in the education system, which in turn leads to a high number of very skilled programmers.
Universities throughout the country are driving the gaming industry offering more than 60 degree courses related to programming, arts and design that allows cross-sectional and complementary education of professionals in the implementation of digital games.
