Fintech, automation favored at UBS after share surge

Shares of financial-technology and automation companies have been market leaders in the past couple of years, and UBS Wealth Management expects more of the same. Both industries are among the investment themes that “offer the most promise,” Global Chief Investment Officer Mark Haefele wrote Thursday in a report. Global X exchange-traded funds that track these groups have risen more than an ETF for the MSCI World Index, a developed-market benchmark, since they began trading in September 2016. UBS also cited a third theme, growth in digital data. 

Robotics, e-commerce seen as `uber-growth' areas

Robotics and online selling are places to find “uber-growth” stocks now, according to Michael Hartnett, chief investment strategist at Bank of America Corp.’s Merrill Lynch unit. He mentioned the Indxx Global Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Thematics Index, poised for the biggest annual gain since its 2010 debut, and the Dow Jones Internet Commerce Index, headed for a record sixth straight annual advance, in a report last week. Hartnett recommended a fourth-quarter barbell trade with the two industry groups on one side and “uber-value” banks, represented by the KBW Bank Index, on the other.