Low interest rates, rising labor costs and disrupted supply chains are setting up “a huge surge in spending on robotics and artificial intelligence,” says Global X, the New York-based provider of exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
According to the firm’s Senior Vice President and Head of Research and Strategy Jay Jacobs, the robotics industry could reach a “key inflection point” in the coming year.
He told CNBC: “We think we’re going to be in the golden era of robotics adoption in the United States and beyond. We’re actually forecasting growth in industrial robots from 16 billion to 37 billion over the next 10 years with 2022 being that key inflection point.”
Jacobs said the last big year for robotics investments was 2017; however, investors got distracted by other themes such as electric vehicles.
Global X’s Robotics & Artificial Intelligence ETF skyrocketed 140% since its 2016 launch, but has declined more than 9% in the past month.
“It’s important to try to anticipate the changes that are happening before the rest of the market has picked up on it,” Jacobs said. “I think it behooves many investors to be early on [robotics] as we see it accelerate in the coming year.”
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