October 2020 / VIDEO
Coronavirus, Growth and the Outlook for Technology
The pandemic has, in most cases, accelerated trends that were already in place in the technology sector
Recorded 18 September 2020
COVID-19 has represented a significant shock to the economy, and it has had profound implications for the technology landscape as well. The pandemic has in most cases accelerated trends that were already in place; from the penetration of ecommerce across different categories to the adoption of cloud technologies that help enable a distributed workforce, such as video conferencing, to the proliferation of digital and contactless payment options.
Our approach to investing through this period has been to identify companies that we believe will be durable winners over both the near term and the long term. We’re doubling down on companies that we believe are on the right side of change, address large markets and are led by strong management teams that have demonstrated an ability to be adaptable during dynamic environments.
While the mega cap tech companies dominate the news headlines, and also the major stock indices, we believe the best approach to investing through this period is to construct a portfolio of best ideas across a number of different sub-sectors in technology, particularly given the fact that we see strong growth opportunities across many of these areas. We believe this will help mitigate both fundamental and valuation risk.
Longer term, I am bullish about the prospects of technology stocks. We live in a very dynamic environment with a lot of change and a lot of opportunity. Despite very strong recent stock performance, and pockets of elevated valuation, I believe that the underlying fundamentals can support attractive investment returns, particularly over the long term.
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Alan Tu is the portfolio manager for the Global Technology Equity Strategy in the U.S. Equity Division. He also is chairman of its Investment Advisory Committee. Alan is a vice president and an Investment Advisory Committee member of the US Small-Cap Growth II Equity, Science & Technology Equity, US Large-Cap Core Growth Equity, Communications and Technology Equity, and US Tax-Efficient Multi-Cap Growth Equity Strategies. In addition, he is an Investment Advisory Committee member of the Global Growth Equity Strategy. Alan also is a vice president of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc.