Recent Signals and Tematica Model Confirmation Points
Examining recent targeted exposure model confirmation points
We’re back with a fresh set of ripped from the headlines confirmation points and signals for not only our targeted exposure and thematic strategies, but also our Digital Infrastructure & Connectivity model and the AI & Data Center Model Suite.
Feast away!
Aging Population
The transition from your working years to retirement introduces a significant wild card: time. While the accumulation phase of retirement planning is oriented around your target retirement date, your decumulation—the spending down of your retirement assets—requires financial planners to work backwards from a lifespan estimate. Throw in further uncertainty around market volatility and inflation, and it’s clear that withdrawal rates are often predicated on assumptions that may not pan out. Read more here
Senior housing has been one of the biggest disappointments for commercial real-estate investors. Now, thanks to millions of aging baby boomers, that may be about to change. The oldest boomers turn 80 in less than a year. And by 2030, the U.S. population 80 years and older is expected to increase by more than four million people to 18.8 million. History suggests that a growing number of people conclude at that milestone age they can no longer live comfortably or safely at home and seek a senior facility. Read more here
Artificial Intelligence
According to a study commissioned by software company Appian, 70 per cent of Australian public sector workers are using AI for daily tasks – a jump from 58 per cent 12 months ago. The survey of 500 APS workers also found that that AI literacy is growing, with 68 per cent reporting they are confident using the tools in their roles – this compares to 59 per cent in 2024. Read more here
The 2026 Connectivity Benchmark Report from Salesforce, MuleSoft, and Deloitte Digital finds AI agents are now used across 89% of business teams, with the average organization operating 12 agents today and planning a 67% increase to roughly 20 within two years. Digital leaders expect to devote about 19% of their IT budgets to agent-focused initiatives as projects shift from experimental pilots to production-grade workflows. Read more here
Despite uncertainties in supply chains and turmoil wrought by tariffs, manufacturers are continuing to prioritize AI adoption in digital transformation. The Rootstock survey found 61% of manufacturers are planning to increase enterprise software spending over the next 12 months, with the largest share planning on increases of 11% to 25%. Read more here
Equifax has launched a product that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to detect and help prevent synthetic identity fraud. Synthetic identity fraud, in which fraudsters create a fictitious identity and use it to open credit accounts or obtain loans, is a fast-growing threat… Read more here
AI has evolved beyond “copilots” and productivity tools. Increasingly, agents are being embedded directly inside workflows that affect financial reporting, customer data handling, patient information processing, payment transactions, and even identity and access decisions themselves. Read more here
Target’s new CEO, Michael Fiddelke, said Wednesday (Feb. 4) during a company town hall event that he aims to improve the retailer’s merchandise, in-store experiences and technology… “So, we’re investing to deploy the power of AI more fully across our team, freeing them up to spend more time bringing joy to our guests,” Read mor here
Cash-Strapped Consumer
Apparel, accessories and cosmetics companies are targeting higher-income households with marketing and investment in a more premium product as they splurge on nice-to-have items, while lower- and middle-income consumers are strained by higher costs for rents and food amid a softer job market. Read more here
Consumer spending continues to move fluidly across digital and physical channels, but groceries are emerging as one of the clearest signals of where financial pressure is reshaping consumer behavior. While grocery prices are often used as shorthand for inflation, grocery baskets themselves have not changed dramatically in size or composition. Instead, PYMNTS Intelligence finds that financial stress is creating a bifurcation in grocery shopping behavior, particularly in the shift toward online channels. Read more here
Roughly 16% of households were behind on their utility bills last year, owing approximately $23 billion, according to NEADA data. That was up from $21 billion in 2024 and $18.6 billion in 2023, said Mark Wolfe, executive director of NEADA, which is a group of state directors who carry out a federal program that helps low-income families with heating and cooling bills. “If current trends continue, arrears could reach around $28 billion in 2026 as higher electricity and natural gas costs collide with broader inflation in essentials like rent, food and medical care, stretching household budgets further,” Read more here
Taking their place is a phenomenon economists are calling “luxury-phobia,” a psychological and financial retreat from overt status symbols in favor of “local heroes,” homegrown brands that prioritize cultural resonance and extreme value over European heritage. Read more here
Cybersecurity, Data Privacy & Digital Identity
Lawmakers used the hearing to stress how cyber intrusions, autonomous drones and artificial intelligence are no longer discrete risks managed in silos. These risk factors are converging into a single operational reality capable of disrupting the transportation networks, energy corridors and digital systems that underpin the United States economy. “Rapid advances in emerging technologies, including AI, are further accelerating the scale, speed and sophistication of these cyber operations,” Read more here
Match Group, the owner of multiple popular online dating services, Tinder, Match.com, Meetic, OkCupid, and Hinge, confirmed a cybersecurity incident that compromised user data. The company stated that hackers stole a “limited amount of user data” after the ShinyHunters threat group leaked 1.7 GB of compressed files allegedly containing 10 million records of Hinge, Match, and OkCupid user information, as well as internal documents. Read more here
Digital Infrastructure
Companies like Anthropic and OpenAI are striking deals with chip makers other than Nvidia to get their hands on as much raw computing power as they can, said Daniel Newman, an analyst at the Futurum Group. As result, he and his firm predict, the market for Nvidia alternatives will grow faster over the next two years than the market for Nvidia’s chips. Read more here
Amazon.com on Thursday projected a jump of more than 50% in capital expenditures this year, joining its Big Tech peers in adding new expenses as they race to build out artificial-intelligence infrastructure. It is the latest sign that tech companies will not be hitting the brakes on their hefty AI investments anytime soon. Read more here
Digital Lifestyle
Apple has acquired a secretive Israeli start-up Q.AI whose technology can analyse facial expressions to understand “silent speech”, in one of the iPhone maker’s biggest ever acquisitions. The deal is designed to help the iPhone maker narrow its gap with Meta, Google and OpenAI in the growing race to create new kinds of wearable devices to speak to AI. Read more here
Food delivery, which skyrocketed during the pandemic as a practical necessity, has become even more entrenched in the years since as a convenience, an everyday alternative to cooking or eating out. DoorDash is now a verb. And the new delivery economy is transforming the way Americans live — reshaping budgets, mealtimes and social habits. Read more here
Streaming viewership captured 47.5% of television in December 2025, eclipsing its previous record set in July 2025 to achieve the largest share of TV ever reported in Nielsen’s The Gauge™, the media industry’s leading snapshot of total TV and streaming consumption. Read more here
Nuclear Energy & Uranium
Rising energy demand, inflation, grid investment, extreme weather and volatile fuel costs are increasing the cost of electricity faster than many households can keep up, and there are no easy fixes, experts say. Mitigating the problem would require threading a needle of policy alternatives, but even with the right policies, it will take time to reduce customer energy burdens. The U.S. Energy Information Administration puts the national average residential price per kilowatt hour in 2026 at 18 cents, up approximately 37% from 2020. Read more here
Across the state, proposals for hyperscale data centers built to support artificial intelligence and cloud computing are driving unprecedented demand for electricity and water. That surge is already reshaping long-term energy planning, delaying coal plant retirements and raising new questions about who bears the environmental and financial costs of keeping the grid running. Read more here
Safety & Security
…the Body Worn Camera market is experiencing accelerated growth due to expansion with rising demand for transparency, accountability and safety in law enforcement, private security and public service provision. The trend to adoption is motivated by the increasing number of conflicts, regulatory requirements and the necessity to record evidence in real time. Governments are spending on digital policing schemes and efficient surveillance systems whereas the private firms are utilizing such devices to observe their employees and minimize liabilities. Read more here
The president recently announced his desire for a $1.5 trillion defense budget in fiscal year 2027, which would represent a substantial increase of $600 billion over current figures. As large a sum as that is, it is money the department could realistically use to address shortfalls in modernization and readiness. With Congress working out a budget deal, a full year defense continuing resolution looks unlikely for the remainder of 2026. But many experts predict a chance of a split Congress after the mid-term elections. If that happens, divided control of Congress creates a high probability of another full year defense continuing resolution in FY27, rendering the president’s request for $1.5 trillion as collateral damage. Read more here
The Strategies Behind Our Thematic Models
Aging of the Population - Capturing the demographic wave of the aging population and the changing demands it brings with it.
Artificial Intelligence – Software, chips, and related companies that facilitate the collection and analysis of large data sets and autonomous generation of solutions given non-machine language prompts.
Cash Strapped Consumers - Companies poised to benefit as consumers stretch the disposable spending dollars they do have.
CHIPs Act – Capturing the reshoring of the US semiconductor industry and the $52.7 billion poised to be spent on semiconductor manufacturing.
Cloud Computing – Companies that provide hardware and services that enhance the cloud computing experience for users, such as co-location, security, and edge computing.
Core Holdings – Companies that reflect economic activity and are large enough to not get pushed around by day-to-day market trends. Low-beta, large-cap names able to better withstand economic turmoil.
Cybersecurity - Companies that focus on protecting against the penetration of digital networks and the theft, ransom, corruption, or destruction of data.
Data Privacy & Digital Identity - Companies providing the tools and services that verify authorized users and safeguard personal data privacy.
Digital Infrastructure & Connectivity - Companies that are integral to the development and the buildout of the infrastructure that supports our increasingly connected world.
Digital Lifestyle - The companies behind our increasingly connected lives.
Digital Payments - Companies benefitting from the accelerating structural adoption of digital payments and financial technology (FinTech).
EPS Diplomats - Profitable large capitalization companies proven to produce above-average EPS growth and provide investors with the benefit of multiple expansion.
EV Transition - Capturing the transition to EVs and related infrastructure from combustion engine vehicles.
Guilty Pleasure – Companies that produce/provide food and drink products that consumers tend to enjoy regardless of the economic environment and potential long-term health hazards associated with excessive consumption.
Homebuilding & Materials – Ranging from homebuilders to key building product companies that serve the housing market, this model looks to capture the rising demand for housing, one that should benefit as the Fed returns monetary policy to more normalized levels.
Market Hedge Model – This basket of daily reset swap-based broad market inverse ETFs protects in the face of market pullbacks, overbought market technicals, and other drivers of market volatility.
Nuclear Energy & Uranium – Companies that either build and maintain nuclear power plants or are involved in the production of uranium.
Luxury Buying Boom - Tapping into aspirational buying and affluent buyers amid rising global wealth.
Rebuilding America - Turning the focused spending on rebuilding US infrastructure into revenue and profits.
Safety & Security – Targeted exposure to companies that provide goods and services primarily to the Defense and security sectors of the economy.
Space Economy – Companies that focus on the launch and operation of satellite networks.
The Strategies Behind Our Dividend Income Models
Monthly Dividend Model – Pretty much what the name indicates – this model invests in companies that pay monthly dividends to shareholders.
ETF Dividend Model – High-yielding ETFs that provide a range of exposures from domestic equities, international equities, emerging market equities, MLPS, and REITs.
ETF Enhanced Dividend Model – A group of high-yielding ETFs that utilize options to enhance yield through collecting option income.
Don’t be a stranger
Thanks for reading and if you have a suggestion for an article or book we should read, or a stream we should catch, email us at info@tematicaresearch.com. The same email works if you want to know more about our thematic and targeted exposure models listed above.