The Future of Aging and Longevity - Flipbook - Page 22
The New Inves琀椀ng
Megatrend Is Old
Ken Dychtwald, PhD
Peter Kaldes, JD
Founder and CEO,
Age Wave
President and CEO,
Next50
magine a market that commands 70
percent of the na琀椀on’s personal wealth
yet remains largely overlooked.10 That’s
the reality for Americans over 50, who buy most
of the clothing, homes, travel, and prescrip琀椀ons,
yet only 10 percent of marke琀椀ng budgets are
aimed towards this demographic.11 These business
decisions are made for older adults without them
in the room. We treat aging as a crisis to manage
rather than the untapped opportunity of our era.
There’s been some movement, but nowhere
near commensurate with the megatrend of aging.
A handful of companies and investors are leading
the charge: Lifeline, Oxo, Home Instead, and
Viking Cruises took an early lead with older adults.
Centrum Silver and Michelob Ultra, both built by
targe琀椀ng the 50-plus customer 昀椀rst, are the leading
mul琀椀vitamin and best-selling beer in America.
These few wins came from the numbers, not from
gerontologists lobbying Wall Street. The two have
never really spoken the same language: experts
talk in “outcomes and dignity” and markets in “risk
and return.” Imagine the impact if the aging 昀椀eld
supplied the dic琀椀onary and Wall Street the funding.
I
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Inves琀椀ng in aging has its challenges: federal
funding uncertainty, a fragmented market, and
undeniable age bias. But climate inves琀椀ng faced its
own risks over a decade ago, when it, too, sounded
like a niche. Experts de昀椀ned what ma琀琀ered,
governments backed it with rules and incen琀椀ves,
and private capital 昀氀owed, making it a mul琀椀-trilliondollar megatrend. Aging is on a similar trajectory,
with one edge climate never had: No one thinks
aging is a hoax.
What aging needs is sca昀昀olding and a
shared de昀椀ni琀椀on of what even counts as an
aging investment. That is why Next50, a private
founda琀椀on, in collabora琀椀on with JPMorgan
Chase & Co., built the 昀椀rst-ever Aging Inves琀椀ng
Roadmap and is applying it across its en琀椀re $300
million endowment.12 Grounded in research,
including decades of pioneering longevity work
by Age Wave, this plan for all investors iden琀椀昀椀es
four themes where capital can earn returns and
improve how we age.
• Economic opportunity: Many aspects of
aging are expensive, which is exactly why
the market poten琀椀al is so robust. Sixty-three
MIL K EN I N S T I T U T E | T H E FU T U RE O F AGI N G A N D LO N GEV I TY
