Investing in themes like robotics, 3D printing, synthetic biology, or nanotechnology isn’t easy to do sometimes given that most truly disruptive technologies are in early stages and not so many investing opportunities exist for retail investors. There are any number of exciting startups to invest in but most are off access to retail investors unless they IPO or are acquired by a publicly traded company. It is this “lack of opportunity” that over-the-counter (OTC) companies try to take advantage of when they target excited retail investors who saw the Dateline special on stem cell research and now want to dump half their life savings into it. Whenever looking at a theme to invest in, you should always diversify across multiple stocks to reduce risk (and never invest in OTC companies). This is why ETFs are so popular.
Let’s take the theme of “robots or robotics”. You don’t need to educate the public about what robotics technology is capable of. Whether accurate or not, we’ve been inundated with ideas of what robots are capable of thanks to Hollywood’s liberal use of this futuristic technology in movies. While some see robots as threatening our livelihoods, others see it as a tremendous investment opportunity. There is no doubt that recent advances in technology will prop