Vantage: Heptagon Capital’s Alex Gunz on investing in future trends

Alex Gunz manages the Future Trends Equity Fund at Heptagon Capital. The fund invests in long-term future trends, defined as pan-thematic trends that the manager expects to grow in importance regardless of GDP.

The fund is concentrated, with no more than 25 holdings in the fund offering pan-thematic diversification with high-conviction investing. Alex illustrates the thematic investment approach by revisiting his Rubicon hypothesis, arguing that in the same way that once Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon river, it was the point of no return, the changes in the way we work and live as a consequence of the pandemic have changed the way we do things permanently. He then illustrates this with the fund’s investment in Airbnb (NASDAQ: ABNB), which moved steadily towards cash flow break-even and adjusted its approach as a result of the pandemic.