Etoro, the global multi-asset investment platform, has announced the launch of its latest portfolio, offering retail investors in Asia the opportunity to take a stake in the upgrade to 5G.

Investors in the 5G Revolution portfolio will get access to 45 of the world’s biggest companies developing 5G infrastructure and technology.

The portfolio includes real estate companies American Tower Corporation who are leasing space in order to build antennas and wireless equipment; network companies like Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone and Verizon; semiconductor makers include Micron Technology and Broadcom; and infrastructure companies such as Ericsson, Intel and Qualcomm.

Asia-based companies in the portfolio include ZTE Corporation, China Unicom (Hong Kong), China Mobile, China Telecommunications Corporation and Lenovo Group.

“Many countries are on the verge of 5G and by the early 2020s, the incredible download speeds it offers will start to roll out. This technology offers a big leap forward for communications and most forecasts point to an explosion of investment in the industry, said eToro co-founder and CEO Yoni Assia.

“That said, it’s not a straightforward sector to invest in. Each country’s approach to 5G will be different and there are several regulatory, legal and planning hurdles to a successful rollout.

“With this portfolio we’ve tried to simplify things for Asian investors, identifying the biggest and most exciting companies that will lead the 5G rollout. We’ve selected companies in this sector that have the potential to offer a strong investment case for years to come.”

This new portfolio joins eToro’s expanding list of thematic portfolios, available to investors on the platform. They include portfolios providing exposure to big tech, cryptoassets, renewable energy, gaming companies, banks, genome engineering and the cannabis industry. The most recent to launch, in July, was eToro’s drones portfolio.

“CopyPortfolios are designed to make thematic investing accessible to all. If you’ve got a particular passion or area of expertise, we want to provide a simple way to invest in it. To date, we’ve strong demand for our portfolio launches and hope this one will be no different,” Assia added.

The transition to 5G is expected to offer speeds up to 100 times faster than current 4G technology. As well as improving existing applications for mobile data like video streaming, data sharing and smart home technology, 5G is forecast to accelerate the development of autonomous vehicles, smart cities and virtual reality.

In 2017, the 5G technology market size was just $34 billion, but this is expected to grow to more than $3,400 billion by 2026.

THE NATION (THAILAND)