Janus Capital Group expanded its offerings to include four new exchange traded funds that track various health and living-related themes.
Janus rolled out The Health and Fitness ETF (NasdaqGM: FITS), The Long-Term Care ETF (NasdaqGM: OLD), The Organics ETF (NasdaqGM: ORG) and The Obesity ETF (NasdaqGM: SLIM). Each fund comes with a 0.50% expense ratio.
FITS targets global companies that take advantage of the growing trend toward health and fitness consumption, including those focused on fitness technology/equipment, sports apparel, nutrition, and sports/fitness facilities.
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Supporting the fitness theme, fitness club membership continues to climb, with an estimated 54 million having at least one health club membership, up from 45 million in 2009 and 41 million in 2005, according to Janus. The increased demand has also helped fuel a steady growth in health club facilities, which have increased to over 34,000 with revenue in the U.S. of $24.2 billion in 2014.
OLD tracks global companies that profit from providing long-term care to the aging populace, including those owning or operating senior living facilities, nursing services, specialty hospitals, and senior housing, biotech companies for age-related illnesses and companies that sell products and services to such facilities.
As medical and pharmaceutical advancements prolong life expectancy, the aging population is expected to create increased demand for the long-term care industry. In 2050, the population age 65 and over in the U.S. is expected to be 83.7 million, or almost double its estimated population of 43.1 million 2012. About one in four 65-year-olds will live past 90 and one out of 10 will live past 95.
[related_stories]ORG includes global companies that capitalize on the growth in naturally-derived food and personal care items, such as companies that service, produce, distribute, market or sell organic food, beverage, cosmetics, supplements, or packaging.
In an attempt to lead a healthier lifestyle, Americans are turning to more natural or organic products. For instance, the U.S. organic industry has experienced a tenfold growth in demand, with sales rising to over $39 billion in 2014 from $3.6 billion in 1997. Moreover, organic personal care industry, which includes natural cosmetics, is expected to hit $16 billion in revenue by 2020, with skin care products seeing compound annual growth rates of 9.8% from 2014 to 2020.
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Lastly, SLIM includes global companies that fight the global obesity epidemic, such as companies that engaged in biotechnology, pharmaceutical, healthcare and medical device companies whose businesses are focused on obesity and obesity related disease, including diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol, heart disease, stroke and sleep apnea, along with companies focused on weight loss programs and supplements, and plus sized apparel.
In the past 40 years, the population of obese people increased by more than 600%, with over 640 million worldwide now classified as obese – over 10% of men and some 14% of women are classified as obese, and the numbers are predicted to rise to 18% and 21%, respectively, by 2025. Consequently, a rising global heath and wellness market has experienced 7.2% growth rates, with sales expected to hit $1 trillion by 2017, in an attempt to combat the rising health costs of obesity. For instance, the low-calorie food market is expected to grow to $10.4 billion by 2019 from $7.4 billion in 2013.
For more information on new fund products, visit our new ETFs category.