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Highlights Jackson Hole: The message from Jackson Hole is that the majority of the FOMC – including Fed Chair Powell - is ready to begin tapering asset purchases before year-end. There is less unanimity within the FOMC over the timing of interest rate increases following the taper. Fed Policy: The Fed is trying to communicate a separation of the balance sheet and interest rate components of its monetary policy, hoping to limit bond volatility stemming from markets pulling forward the timing of rate hikes during the taper. A tightening US labor market will make that separation difficult given the shallow path for interest rates currently discounted in the US yield curve - particularly if the current surge in US inflation proves not to be as transitory as the Fed is expecting. US Treasury Yields: Expect higher Treasury yields over the next 12-18 months as the Fed transitions from talking about tapering to actual tapering and, eventually, to rate hikes starting in H2/2022. A September To Remember? Chart 1The Fed Faces Some Tough Decisions The much anticipated Jackson Hole speech from Fed Chair Jerome Powell offered a balanced tone.1 Powell did say that the Fed could begin tapering asset purchases by the end of this year, given the “substantial further progress” on the Fed’s 2% average inflation goal, if the US economy evolved in line with the Fed’s forecasts. However, Powell also noted that rate hikes would not occur without greater improvements in the US labor market, particularly given the Fed’s view that the current surge in US inflation will not prove lasting. Several other Fed officials speaking to the media before Powell’s speech hinted at a much more accelerated timetable, with tapering to begin in September and rate hikes potentially starting as soon as mid-2022. The Fed’s messaging is part of an extended conversation with financial markets to prepare for a withdrawal of pandemic-era policy stimulus from quantitative easing (QE). The FOMC is well aware that valuations on asset prices of all stripes have been boosted by loose monetary settings. Powell’s Jackson Hole comments were more nuanced than those of his FOMC colleagues, but this is no surprise as the words of the Fed Chair carry the greatest weight among investors. The Fed Chair does not want to risk a repeat of the 2013 Taper Tantrum in Treasury yields, or the December 2018 plunge in US equity prices, by sounding unexpectedly hawkish and triggering a market rout that tightens US financial conditions (Chart 1). Our baseline assumption has been that the Fed would signal a tapering at the December FOMC meeting and begin to slow asset purchases in January 2022, leading to an eventual liftoff of the fed funds rate by the end of next year. The comments from Powell and others have raised the risk that the Fed moves a bit faster than our expectations on tapering, and perhaps even for liftoff (Chart 2). This would also be faster than the expectations among bond investors. Chart 2The Fed May Be Set To Move Faster Than Our Expected Timeline The New York Fed’s Survey of Primary Dealers in July showed that tapering is expected by Q1 of next year but a rate hike was not projected until the latter half of 2023 (Table 1). Current pricing in the US overnight index swap (OIS) forward curve is a bit more hawkish than that, with a full 25bp rate hike discounted by January 2023. Table 1Primary Dealers Expect A Taper, Not Rate Hikes The Fed’s next move will depend on how the questions regarding the Delta variant, the true state of the US labor market and underlying US inflation momentum are resolved. Dismissing The Delta Threat? There has been a clear hit to US economic confidence from the spread of the variant. The August readings from the University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey, the Philadelphia Fed business outlook survey and the ZEW survey of US growth expectations all showed sharp declines (Chart 3). The August flash estimate of the Markit PMIs fell to 8-month and 4-month lows, respectively, indicating that the pace of US economic activity slowed. Higher frequency data like restaurant reservations and hotel bookings have also dipped in recent weeks, potentially a sign of US consumers turning more cautious on leaving home during the Delta surge. Yet there is some tentative positive news on the spread of the variant. The 7-day moving average of new COVID-19 cases in the US appears to be rolling over (Chart 4). In the more stricken states in the US south like Florida, Texas and Louisiana, the effective reproduction number has fallen below one and cases are clearly peaking, suggesting that the transmission of Delta is slowing. If these trends continue, the full hit to US growth from the variant could prove to be minimal and potentially contained to only August data Chart 3A Hit To US Confidence From The Delta Variant Chart 4Has The US Delta Wave ##br##Peaked? Fed officials have been highlighting Delta as a potential near-term risk to the economy, but some comments made last week suggested only a modest level of concern that would not derail tapering plans. For example: Dallas Fed President Robert Kaplan: “[…] what I'm seeing is, in certain sectors, as you would expect, travel-related, you're seeing weakness in some other sectors but by and large, predominantly, what we're seeing is resilience across the indicators that we look at.”2 Kansas City Fed President Esther George: “[…] by and large, I think, unlike what we experienced last year, people have mechanisms to continue to interact with the economy in a way that we didn't before. And so that gives me some confidence in the outlook that we see, that we could continue to push through this.”3 Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic: “What I have seen is some suggestion that things are slowing down, but they are still just slowing from extremely high levels. I have not seen big changes in the underlying dynamic.”4 Even Powell himself noted in his speech that “while the Delta variant presents a near-term risk, the prospects are good for continued progress toward maximum employment.” If the hit to the domestic US economy from Delta proves to be modest and short-lived, the Fed will want to see confirmation of this in the US employment data. Labor market slack overestimated? It is clear from other comments made last week that FOMC officials will be watching the August payrolls report very closely, especially given the perception that the US job market may be a lot tighter than the headline unemployment rate suggests. For example, Fed Governor Christopher Waller noted that “when you adjust the labor force for early retirements, if we get another million [jobs in August] we will recover about 85% of the jobs that were lost and that took almost seven years after the last recession.”5 Kaplan noted that “we do think that the labor market is much tighter than the headline statistics indicate. We've had 3 million retirements since February 2020.” Our colleagues at BCA Research’s The Bank Credit Analyst came to a similar conclusion on labor market tightness in a report published last week.6 They determined that the single largest factor driving the US labor force participation rate lower since the onset of the pandemic has been individuals choosing to retire (Chart 5). Only some of that decline has been related to early retirement decisions made in response to COVID. There has been a structural trend of a falling participation rate, by an average of 0.3 percentage points per year, since 2008 due to demographic factors. The labor force participation rate does not need to fully return to pre-pandemic levels for the Fed to conclude that its maximum employment goal has been reached, after accounting for retirements and other demographic shifts (Chart 6). This fits with the comments from Waller and Kaplan indicating that there has likely been enough labor market improvement to begin tapering asset purchases. Chart 5Most Of The Pandemic Decline In Labor Force Participation Has Occurred Due To Retirement Chart 6Full Employment Without A Pre-COVID Participation Rate Transitory or persistent inflation? In his Jackson Hole speech, Fed Chair Powell downplayed many of the factors that have driven US headline inflation higher in 2021 as “[…] the product of a relatively narrow group of goods and services that have been directly affected by the pandemic and the reopening of the economy.” He also noted that the current surge in durable goods inflation, which has contributed “about one percentage point to the 12-month measures of headline and core inflation”, was likely to end once current supply chain disruptions fade. Durables would then return to the deflationary trend of the past 25 years and help cool off current overheated US inflation. Chart 7US Inflation Is Not Slowing Down Powell also noted the absence of significant US wage growth as reason not to be overly worried about a sustained period of high inflation. He also highlighted that “there is little reason to think” that ongoing structural disinflationary forces like technology and globalization “have suddenly reversed or abated” and that “it seems more likely that they will continue to weigh on inflation as the pandemic passes into history.” This is the message that the Fed has consistently communicated over the past several months, that high inflation was merely “transitory” and the inevitable result of year-over-year base effect comparisons and temporary supply squeezes. The problem with this interpretation is that we are now well into the summer months of 2021, past the period where base effects would be expected to boost US year-over-year inflation rates (the level of both the CPI and PCE deflator indices fell between January and May 2020 before starting to climb again in June). The July 2021 readings on annual headline and core PCE inflation were 4.2% and 3.6%, respectively, the highest rates seen since 1991 (Chart 7, top panel). The year-over-year increase appears to have been concentrated in a few components, with the Dallas Fed’s trimmed mean PCE 12-month inflation for July only climbing to 2.0%. However, the 6-month annualized measure was a more rapid 2.6% - the fastest such pace in 13 years - suggesting that the momentum of US inflation is both broadening and accelerating on the margin (second panel). Chart 8A Sustainable, Not Transitory, Rise In Global Inflation Powell, like many other developed market central bankers, is making a big bet that the “transitory” inflation narrative will prove to be correct and the current surge in inflation will soon subside. Yet already, global supply chain disruptions have lingered longer than the Fed has been expecting. There are also deeper underlying trends in inflation that are challenging the “transitory” narrative. The NFIB small business survey showed that a net 52% of respondents reported raising selling prices in July, while a net 44% planned future price hikes (third panel), both readings last seen during the days of double-digit US inflation in the late 1970s. US firms are successfully passing on rising input costs to US consumers, which is influencing US consumer inflation expectations. The University of Michigan consumer survey for August showed that US households expect inflation over the next year of 4.6% and over the next 5-10 years of 2.9%, with both series well above pre-pandemic lows (bottom panel). The trends in higher inflation seen in the US, and elsewhere, are not just limited to commodity prices where supply squeezes were most prevalent earlier this year and where price momentum is peaking (Chart 8). A GDP-weighted average of core inflation rates for 14 developed market economies reached 2.50% in June and 2.4% in July, levels last seen in the mid-1990s. Higher core inflation readings are consistent with intensifying price pressures stemming from diminished economic slack. The broad swings in our global core inflation measure correlate strongly with the IMF’s estimate of the output gap for the advanced economies (bottom panel). The current acceleration in global core inflation is entirely consistent with the rapid narrowing of the global output gap projected by the IMF for 2021 and, more importantly, 2022. This suggests that underlying inflation pressures, both within and outside the US, will linger into next year, providing an offset the expected drag on “non-core” inflation from slowing commodity price momentum. Already, lingering supply squeezes and stubbornly high US inflation are causing concern among some FOMC members, as noted in these comments last week: Robert Kaplan: “[…] headline PCE inflation next year, we think is going to be in the neighborhood of 2.5%, and there's risk that could be higher. And so we think some of these supply-demand imbalances for materials, some of them will not moderate, but some of them are going to persist longer than people think.” Esther George: “[…] if you continue to have supply constraints and strong demand, you might expect that those will persist more through this year or longer than we originally anticipated.” Chris Waller: “I do think it’s going to be more persistent than I may have thought back in May.” Chart 9Fed Tapering To Deal With Financial Stability Risks? Importantly, the senior FOMC leadership - Powell, Lael Brainard, Richard Clarida – has been sticking with the “transitory” narrative. However, even Clarida noted in a speech in early August that he would consider core PCE inflation at or above 3% at year-end to be “much more than a “moderate” overshoot” of the Fed’s 2% inflation objective.7 In his role as Fed Chair, Powell must speak on behalf of the entire FOMC, even if those views are not necessarily his own. Given the growing chorus of Fed voices expressing concern that US inflation could remain higher for longer, it will be increasingly difficult for Powell to do what he did at Jackson Hole – sound more dovish than the individual FOMC members with regards to inflation risks. What about financial stability risks from QE? Fed officials have been understandably cautious in their comments about how QE (and a 0% funds rate) could be influencing asset prices (Chart 9). However, with equity markets at record highs, corporate bond yields near record lows despite high levels of corporate leverage, and US house prices soaring – the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller national index rose 18.6% on a year-over-year basis in June, the fastest pace in its 35-year history - it is difficult not to see the role of the Fed’s easy money policies in boosting risk seeking, yield chasing activities. Stimulative financial conditions are also creating future upside growth risks, with the Conference Board leading economic indicator now reaccelerating (bottom panel). Robert Kaplan, Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren and St. Louis Fed President James Bullard have voiced concerns that QE, particularly the Fed’s buying of agency mortgage-backed securities (MBS), have played a significant role in the current US housing boom. The senior FOMC leadership has avoided any such comments for obvious reasons – imagine the market reaction if Powell expressed concerns about high house prices or equity market valuations. However, for those at the Fed already looking to begin tapering sooner, booming asset prices are an additional reason to vote that way as soon as the September FOMC meeting. Separating Tapering From Rate Hikes It seems clear that the majority of the FOMC is now leaning towards starting to taper before year-end, if US growth and employment maintain recent strength. The common message of Fed officials, from Powell on down, is that enough progress has been made on the Fed’s 2% average inflation target objective to justify tapering. Market-based inflation expectations from the TIPS and CPI swap markets are consistent with that interpretation, with breakevens and forward inflation rates within the 2.3-2.5% range consistent with the Fed’s 2% inflation mandate (Chart 10). Yet while our Fed Monitor continues to flag the need for tighter US monetary policy, only 100bps of rate hikes are discounted in the US OIS curve by the end of 2024 – and only after a first rate hike not expected to occur until January 2023. Despite the common messaging on the start of the taper, the Fed voices were singing a bit less in harmony about the potential timing of the first interest rate hike post-taper. Powell went out of his way to note in his Jackson Hole speech that “the timing and pace of the coming reduction in asset purchases will not be intended to carry a direct signal regarding the timing of interest rate liftoff, for which we have articulated a different and substantially more stringent test.” That test, of course, is when the Fed deems that its maximum employment objective has been reached. Can the Fed continue to successfully separate guidance on balance sheet decisions from guidance on future interest rate moves? Current pricing from US OIS and CPI swap forward curves indicates that the market is discounting negative real policy rates, with the Fed never raising rates above inflation, for the next decade (Chart 11). This goes a long way to explain the persistence of negative real US Treasury yields at a time of elevated inflation readings. Although a decade of negative real interest rates is also consistent with the market believing the equilibrium real interest rate (i.e. r-star) is negative – a view currently expressed by no one on the FOMC. Chart 10Too Few Rate Hikes Discounted In The US OIS Curve Chart 11Markets Believe The Fed Will Never Raise Rates Above Inflation That persistent pricing of negative real rates make sense when there is modest headline inflation and ample spare capacity in the US economy and labor markets. However, that complacency on future rate hikes will be shaken if the US economy approaches full employment and inflation remains above the Fed’s 2% target – outcomes that we expect to occur by the second half of next year. That will lead to the first fed rate hike of the next cycle in Q4 2022, but only after the taper that we expect to start in either December 2021 or January 2022 is completed in Q3 2022. Bottom Line: A tightening US labor market will make the Fed’s current guidance on the separation of tapering from rate hikes increasingly unconvincing, given the shallow path for interest rates currently discounted in the US yield curve - particularly if the current surge in US inflation proves not to be as transitory as the Fed is expecting. Jackson Hole Investment Conclusion – Expect Higher US Treasury Yields Chart 12Stay Below-Benchmark On US Duration With such a modest path for future rate hikes, and bond yields, discounted in US forward interest rate curves, we continue to advocate positioning for higher US Treasury yields on a strategic (6-18 months) basis (Chart 12). We see the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield eventually reaching a peak in the 2-2.25% range by the end of 2022. We recommend maintaining a below-benchmark duration stance in the US, while staying underweight US Treasuries in US and global bond portfolios. There is even a case to be made for a more tactical (i.e. shorter-term) bearish stance on US Treasuries with the US data surprise cycle set to turn towards upside surprises, especially if the negative impact of the Delta variant on confidence and spending begins to wane as case numbers start to decline in the coming weeks. Bottom Line: Expect higher Treasury yields over the next 12-18 months as the Fed transitions from talking about tapering to actual tapering and, eventually, to rate hikes starting in H2/2022.   Robert Robis, CFA Chief Fixed Income Strategist rrobis@bcaresearch.com Footnotes 1 A transcript of Powell’s speech can be found here: https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/powell20210827a.htm 2 https://finance.yahoo.com/news/dallas-fed-president-robert-kaplan-yahoo-finance-transcript-august-2021-215700082.html 3 https://finance.yahoo.com/news/kansas-city-fed-president-esther-george-yahoo-finance-transcript-august-2021-113024734.html 4 https://www.reuters.com/business/exclusive-feds-bostic-says-reasonable-begin-bond-buying-taper-october-2021-08-27/ 5 https://finance.yahoo.com/news/fed-gov-waller-strong-august-jobs-report-will-be-green-light-for-taper-202340105.html 6 Please see BCA Research The Bank Credit Analyst September 2021 Section II, “The Return To Maximum Employment: It May Be Faster Than You Think”, available at bca.bcaresearch.com 7 https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/clarida20210804a.htm Recommendations Duration Regional Allocation Spread Product Yields & Returns Global Bond Yields Historical Returns

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Highlights Gen Z Is Coming Of Age And Has Money To Spend Generation Z in the US includes 62 million people born between the 1997 and 2012. With $143B in buying power in the US alone, making up nearly 40% of all consumer sales, Gen Z wields increasing influence over consumer trends. This is the first generation of digital natives—they simply can’t remember the world without the internet. They are the early adopters of the new digital ways to bank, get medical treatments, and learn. Gen Z is joining the workforce and replacing retiring baby boomers. Gen Z Investment Themes Fintech: Gen Z loves seamless connectivity, online banking, and digital wallets. They are also the early adopters of semi-autonomous digital and non-traditional banking and insurance: PayPal (PYPL), Square (SQ), Lemonade (LMND), and Social Finance (Sofi). Investing And Crypto: Gen Z are avid investors: They opened 20% of all new investment accounts in 2020. Crypto is also very popular among the digital natives: Coinbase (COIN), Paypal (PYPL), and Square/Cash App (SQ). Alternative Reality And Online Gaming: Members of Gen Z will become the key gaming demographic in the decade ahead. E-sports betting is also gaining prominence. Two online gaming ETFs capture the theme: GAMR and ESPO. Quality-Over-Price Shoppers: Gen Z was found to be less price-sensitive when buying products, choosing quality over price. Lululemon (LULU) is among the Gen Z’s favorites. Finally, Gen Zers won’t have any qualms about buying a car online: Vroom (VRM). Online Dating: Gen Zers have whole-heartedly accepted online dating: Match (MTCH) and Bumble (BMBL). Pet Ownership: The Gen Z cohort often feels lonely and loves their furry friends: They are more than happy to spend time and money on them: Chewy (CHWY), Trupanion (TRUP), and IDEXX Labs (IDXX). PAWZ is the ETF. Healthy Lifestyle: Gen Z is a “green” generation that deeply cares about the planet, loves outdoors and traveling, with many identifying as vegans. This is also a generation that prizes a healthy lifestyle and working out: Beyond Meat (BYND), Planet Fitness (PLNT), and Yeti (YETI). Generation Sober Chooses Cannabis: Gen Zers perceive hard liquor and tobacco as bad for their health. Curiously, marijuana is perceived as “healthy.” CNBS, YOLO, and THCX are the biggest ETFs in this space. How To Invest In Gen Z Gen Z is a nascent investment theme, so there are no ETFs available in the market yet. We propose investors follow our Gen Z investment themes or replicate fully or partially our Gen Z basket (Table 1). Table 1Gen Z Basket Constituents Feature ​​​​​​​Gen Z Is Coming Of Age And Has Money To Spend Generation Z in the US includes 62 million people born between the years of 1997 and 2012 – a cohort starting to come of age now, with the oldest members hitting 25 this year (Chart 1). Gen Z-ers now outrank Millennials as the majority generation on the planet. With $143B in buying power in the US alone, making up nearly 40% of all consumer sales, Gen Z commands an increasing influence over consumer trends. Chart 1Gen Zers Are Taking Over Furthermore, while most Gen Zers are still in high school and college, their parents, who have padded their savings accounts after a series of stimulus checks, are ready to step in and foot the bill, fortifying the financial impact of this new generation. In this report, we have outlined the Gen Z investment themes and most representative stocks. The Gen Z basket is a compilation of these themes and stocks. However, we are not stock-pickers - our selections are for illustration only. Digital Natives This is the first cohort that has grown up with a phone in one hand and a computer mouse in the other. Dubbed “digital natives,” they simply can’t remember a world without the internet. Gen Z, often referred to as “Zoomers” or “Centennials,” are connected nearly every waking hour of the day and are deeply social, even if considerable interaction may take place in cyberspace. The average Gen Z got their first smartphone just before their twelfth birthday, communicates primarily through social media and texts, and spends as much time on their cell phones as their parents on television. Because tech made Gen Z’s personal lives easier, faster, and more efficient, they emphasize customization and optimization as users and consumers. One of the most educated generations, they are more likely to pursue college than earlier generations. Among 18- to 21-year-olds no longer in high school in 2018, 57% were enrolled in two- or four-year college (that number was 52% for Millennials). The last year has also blurred the lines between work and home: Many college graduates have never met their new colleagues in person. Generation Z students had unprecedented exposure and experience using technology to continue their education outside the traditional brick-and-mortar school setting. They are also most likely to adopt new ways to bank, get medical treatments, and learn. Zoomers are future entrepreneurs (72% of high schoolers want to start their own business)1 and evangelists of the gig economy. Demographics & Macro Trends Chart 2 displays US demographic trends. Until 2018, baby boomers dominated the labor force; but, over the past three years, they have passed the baton to Gen Z. Moreover, during the pandemic, the retirements of baby boomers have accelerated. With more Zoomers graduating from high school and college, their proportion in the labor force is rising and their spending patterns are becoming increasingly more prominent in the economy. Gen Z wage data also reveals an interesting trend. Since 2014, median weekly earnings for the coming generation noticeably outpaced one of the departing generations—by 14.5%, to be exact (Chart 3). Chart 2Generational Shifts In The Labor Force Chart 3They Also Have Money To Spend Investment Themes A host of investment themes reflects the retail preferences of Gen Z, collectively called the Gen Z basket. While some of the themes are ubiquitous (most of the US middle class aspire to maintain a healthy lifestyle), it is the quirks specific to Gen Z that we focus on. The oldest Zoomers turned 18 in 2015. Since then, the Gen Z basket has outperformed the S&P 500 Growth index by 46% (Chart 4). A word of caution: As any emerging investment theme, the basket remains volatile. Chart 4Solid Performance Since 2015 Fintech Gen Z is financially minded and risk averse. Many watched parents struggle during the Great Recession. They’re often leery of debt and credit, and thus stick to debit cards. Digital natives expect seamless connectivity, and their finances are no exception. They can't live without their digital wallets and online banking. Generation Z members are early adopters of semi-autonomous digital banking, which deploys digital cognitive agents or AI systems to help with financial decisions. It provides Zoomers with the right degree of personalization and autonomy to make smarter, faster, and better money moves. And, when it comes to money movements, 75% of Zoomers are using peer-to-peer (P2P)2 banking methods, with easy-to-use apps like Zelle and Venmo taking the lead in downloads. Similar fintech trends apply to other financial transactions, like loans and insurance. This theme may be expressed through Paypal (PYPL), Square (SQ), Lemonade (LMND) online insurance, and Social Finance (Sofi)—an online platform for student loan refinancing, private student loans, and a host of other financial products. Interest In Investing And Cryptocurrencies Zoomers are avid investors. They opened 20% of all the new investment accounts in 2020 — impressive, considering that half of the cohort are underage (Chart 5). Crypto is also very popular among digital natives. Last year, Business Insider (BI) released a survey asking if Zoomers are “likely to purchase cryptos in the next six months”. What is telling is that approximately 1/4 of responders indicated that they are likely to purchase crypto, which correlates to the percentage of Zoomers who are currently age 18 or older (Chart 6). We can play the crypto theme in the equity space by investing in Coinbase (COIN), Paypal (PYPL)—which recently started accepting crypto as a payment—and Square/Cash App (SQ). Chart 5Gen Zers Are Avid Investors... Chart 6...Including In The Crypto Space Alternative Reality And Online Gaming Members of Gen Z will become a key gaming demographic in the decade ahead. 91% of Gen Z males regularly play video games, compared to 84% of Millennials. In a recent study, “From Nerdy to Norm: Gen Z Connects Via Gaming” conducted by Whistle, 68% of Gen Z males agreed that gaming is an important part of their identity. The industry has responded to the mores of this incoming generation by shifting its focus towards highly stylized immersive mobile games, live dealers, and interactive experiences rather than the traditional click-to-spin style slot games. E-sports betting is also getting prominence. We have very little doubt that the proliferation of e-sports will accelerate, especially as Gen Z comes of age. The upcoming 2021 e-sports “world cup” event for just one game already has more than $40,000,000 in prize pool money secured. To express the online gaming theme, we included six stocks in our basket: Online game developers, such as Take Two Interactive (TTWO), Electronic Arts (EA), and Activision Blizzard (ATVI); Zinga (ZNGA), which develops apps for phone games; DraftKings (DKNG), a leader in online sports betting; and finally, Nvidia (NVDA), a graphic chip manufacturer that thrives as a market leader in gaming computing. There are also a couple of online gaming ETFs: GAMR and ESPO. Quality-Over-Price Shoppers As consumers, tech-savvy Zoomers are pragmatic shoppers who rely on social networks to make informed purchasing decisions. They were also found to be less price-sensitive when buying products, choosing quality over price as their top purchasing factor, while sustainability was also highlighted as an important issue. As a result, brick-and-mortar shops with a strong online presence, such as Urban Outfitters (URBN) and Lululemon(LULU) are Gen Z favorites. Vintage clothing has also recently been in vogue among these teens. Companies like Poshmark (POSH) capture this trend. High-end outdoor clothes brands also have a Zoomer following. Canadian Goose (GOOS) is one of them: For many, a “goose” jacket is a winter campus uniform. Lastly, Zoomers won’t have any qualms about buying a car online: Vroom (VRM). Online Dating Gen Z is different from any other generation in their whole-hearted acceptance of online dating. For example, Zoomers represent 40% of all Tinder users. The online dating landscape3 in the US is dominated by just two companies, Match/Tinder (MTCH) and Bumble (BMBL), an app whereby only a female can make initial contact. Pet Ownership Zoomers are lonely – 3 million adolescents had a major depressive episode,4 and there is an increase in anxiety and depression among high schoolers. Many feel isolated as a result of too much screen time. Zoomers are also known to avoid long-term relationships. It is not surprising that this cohort loves their furry friends and is more than happy to spend time and money on them. Since the worst of the pandemic, PAWZ pet care ETF has outperformed the S&P 500 growth index by 24%, while the US pet & vet services CPI series rose by 5.6%, compared to 4.6% for core CPI (Chart 7). While the love of pets is certainly not a unique characteristic of this cohort, it is a significant part of their spending basket. The following stocks capture this trend: PAWZ ETF; Chewy (CHWY), online pet supplies; Trupanion (TRUP), pet insurance; and IDEXX Labs (IDXX), the vet pharma company. Chart 7Pet Ownership Is On The Rise Healthy Lifestyle Aside from gaming, pet ownership, and online dating, there are some other Gen Z behavioral shifts. This is a “green” generation that deeply cares about the planet, loves outdoors and traveling, and has a soft spot for animals, with many Zoomers identifying as vegans. This generation also prizes a healthy lifestyle and working out. Stocks like Beyond Meat (BYND), makers of meat substitute products; Planet Fitness (PLNT), a gym favored by the Zoomers; and Yeti (YETI), high-end hiking equipment (indeed, this generation chooses quality over price) are the stocks that provide exposure to these new tastes and preferences. Generation Sober Chooses Cannabis Gen Z certainly cares about their health, and most Zoomers perceive hard liquor and tobacco as harmful. Gen Z drinks 20%5 less alcohol than Millennials did at their age. Curiously, marijuana is perceived as “healthy.” BusinessWeek commissioned a survey through the polling firm Morning Consult, which found Zoomers were more than twice as likely to be regular or occasional cannabis users than the national average (Chart 8). They concluded, “It’s always hard to generalize about an entire age group, but early signs suggest it will be a generation of marijuana consumers.” CNBS, YOLO, and THCX are the biggest ETFs in this space. Other Themes Finally, our discussion about Gen Z wouldn’t be complete without mentioning economic digitalization (Amazon, Teladoc, Zoom), proliferation of social media (SNAP, PINS, FB), and the sharing economy (UBER, ABNB, FVRR). Please refer to Table 1 at the beginning of the report for a complete list of Gen Z basket constituents. Chart 8Cannabis Is Not Considered A Drug For Gen Z Chart 9Expensive... Fundamentals And Valuations The Gen Z basket is certainly not cheap, trading at 28x forward earnings and 5.5x sales. This is rich but on par with the S&P 500 Growth index, which trades at 28x and 5.7x respectively (Charts 9 & 10). This basket has strong sales growth and has had a healthy post-COVID recovery bounce (Chart 11 ). Chart 10...But On Par... Chart 11...With The S&P 500 Growth Index How To Invest In Gen Z Gen Z presents an untapped investment opportunity. We have created our own Gen Z basket, as there is no direct way to play the Gen Z theme: There are no ETFs nor dedicated active funds in this space. While we used our entire basket in our analysis, it should not be viewed as an optimal investment vehicle. Instead, we advise using the basket as a helpful starting point and then filtering through its constituents to choose stocks that better meet one’s investment mandate. We emphasize that we are not stock pickers and that our company selections are mere illustrations of the investment thesis. We recommend investors to initiate a position in Gen Z themes, as they have a tremendous runway and are yet to go through their peak growth phase. Gen Z is a cyclical and structural investment idea and offers prospects for growth. Bottom Line Gen Z is coming of age and, being one of the largest cohorts in the US with $143B in buying power, wields increasing influence over consumer trends. The Gen Z investment thesis captures a host of nascent themes that reflect new generational preferences and spending patterns, such as fintech and online gaming, and a keen interest in investing and crypto, among others. Our Gen Z basket of stocks captures these investment themes, which are yet to go through their peak growth phase and provides investors with an opportunity to profit from them over short- and long-term investment horizons.     Irene Tunkel Chief Strategist, US Equity Strategy irene.tunkel@bcaresearch.com Arseniy Urazov Senior Analyst ArseniyU@bcaresearch.com   Footnotes 1    Sean McDowell, "6 Trends Among Gen Z in 2016" (Nov 23, 2016) 2    https://www.pymnts.com/news/payments-innovation/2020/why-digital-payments-innovation-sticks-to-gen-z/ 3    https://www.statista.com/statistics/426066/tinder-age-distribution/ 4    Susanna Schrobsdorff, “The Kids Are Not All Right,” Time (Nov 7, 2016): 47. 5    https://www.businessinsider.com/millennials-gen-z-drag-down-beer-sales-2018-2   Recommended Allocation