What makes Mampilly so qualified to give investment advice in the first place? A native of India, he came to the United States at the age of 18 to attend college. Like so many who come to the States for higher educations, Paul quickly embraced the culture and decided to make the country his permanent home. Throughout his more than 20 years on Wall Street, Mampilly held positions as a money manager, senior research analyst, senior portfolio manager and more, and he gained extensive insights into successful investment strategies along the way.
Now, Mampilly has 10 predictions for business in 2019 that he wants to share with fellow investors to help them to make the most informed decisions possible in the new year. Without further ado, here are predictions for what you can expect to happen over the next 12 months along with information about how these things may impact your investment strategy for 2019.
10 Business Predictions for 2019 by Paul Mampilly
1. Big Data becomes accessible – Big Data has been a thing for some time. For several years, the increased ability to process large amounts of consumer data and other information has been an enormous boon to tech companies around the world. For many organizations, data has become their chief product—selling it to other companies for a steep price. Unfortunately, big data has been inaccessible for many smaller companies as the manpower and technology involved has only been available to organizations with massive budgets and organizational power.
In 2019, however, more businesses will finally have the means to make effective use of this information than ever. Up until recently, only large companies with massive marketing budgets could truly capitalize on the promise of Big Data, but that is about to change in a big way. As the technology and processes involved become cheaper and easier to leverage, more and more smaller businesses will be able to implement the power of Big Data into their business strategy. This is going to have a major impact on how business is done as well as how consumers interact with businesses around the world. Watch out for these major changes coming in 2019 and beyond. Big Data is guaranteed to get even bigger.
2. Home appreciation rates lose steam– For more than a decade, homes in the U.S. were appreciating at a rate of between 5 and 7 percent, which helped enormously with consumer confidence as families were able to grow nest eggs fairly easily. As home values continually rose, and demand stayed constant, families were able to resell their homes after just a few years in order to earn a profit on their initial purchase price. This was a huge boon to the economy and led to increased confidence thanks to more spending power. It was a seller’s market, and the economy overall benefited as a result.
Over the next year, however, the rate is expected to average only around 1.5 percent—and that is expected to remain the case for some time. The impact that the foundering housing market will have on business is sure to be profound. Everything from real estate companies to individual families will be affected, as they’ll be forced to hold onto homes for longer in order to build equity before selling. That will result in less spending overall, and less money being pumped back into the economy on a regular basis.
What this will mean long-term remains to be seen, but one thing is for certain—the booming housing market to which we’ve all become accustomed is not likely to last much longer heading into 2019.
3. Businesses will adapt to modern consumers– As small startups demonstrate incredible success with their highly personalized marketing techniques, bigger companies will increasingly get on board with such strategies in the new year. More than ever, companies will need to find ways to provide unique user experiences that actually pique and retain customers’ interest. For many brands, this will mean having to do a dramatic shift in how marketing is handled. Featured on channels like Fox Business News, CNBC and Bloomberg TV, Paul Mampilly predicts that companies of all sizes and scopes will focus more than ever on cultivating interactions and relationships with consumers.
Related to this development is the fact that more and more large companies and corporations will have to begin thinking like small companies. Embracing the agile approach, which involves constantly releasing and adapting products based on customer feedback rather than spending years refining a product before release, is likely to become more common as large companies attempt to stay on top of consumers’ constantly evolving needs. As technology progresses at an exponential rate, so do the changing interests of consumers. That means that large companies can no longer focus all of their efforts on existing products—because those products are becoming obsolete faster than ever. Expect more companies in 2019 to become more adaptable, agile, and tuned-in to what the modern consumer is looking for. That’s a trend that Paul Mampilly all but guarantees will arrive in 2019.
4. The rise of voice search– As smart speakers like the Google Home and Amazon’s Echo become more ubiquitous in households around the country, more people will conduct online searches via voice than via text than ever. This means that the way in which the algorithms process these searches will change too, and this will eventually affect the way in which companies try to reach out to consumers. Businesses that stay on top of the voice search trend stand to do a lot better than those that remain stuck back in the text-based days.
Voice search will also require greater investments in AI and voice processing software. Even the most accurate voice search listening device won’t mean much if it doesn’t know how to provide accurate, genuinely useful responses and reactions based on that voice input. We’ve already seen how a voice search function can be frustrating if not executed correctly, with some companies’ offerings resulting in misheard words, incorrect searches, or useless information that only slightly has to do with the actual query being made. Companies will begin to invest heavily in the means to make voice response AI more effective, responsive, and natural than ever—and that’s going to lead to a rise in businesses specializing in this sort of responsiveness. Soon, voice search will become an entire industry in and of itself.
4. New sources of consumer data– A successful investor in his own right, Mampilly has earned cumulative gains of 6,220 percent from savvy investments in stocks for companies like Facebook, Whole Foods and many tech brands. He predicts that in 2019, new sources of consumer data will change the way in which companies market their wares and services. In particular, location information is more readily available thanks to the popularity of map apps and location services, and this information provides key insights for businesses across all industries.
5. Interestingly, major data – gathering scandals like those that have occurred at Facebook have done little to diminish customers’ willingness to share data with the companies they use. That means that consumer data is more accessible than ever, and the battle over the research and analysis behind this data is only going to intensify in 2019. Gone are the days of go-by-the-gut guesswork and vague strategies designed to target certain groups. Companies can now access more information than ever about their customers and target markets, and that will empower them to make more focused marketing strategy decisions than ever before. That means less money will be wasted on marketing campaigns that are poorly targeted or ineffective. With all of the data they need at their fingertips, marketers will be able to create the perfect content to appeal to their exact target demographics.
6. Political conditions will be favorable for business– As Paul will surely discuss in Profits Unlimited, his wildly popular monthly investment newsletter with more than 130,000 current subscribers, political conditions in 2019 are expected to be very favorable for entrepreneurs and businesses. President Trump’s administration is expected to continue with its trend of deregulation, which will give more freedom for businesses of all stripes. At the same time, however, the Democratic victory in the 2018 midterm elections means there will be gridlock in Congress much of the time, and this is actually favorable for business. It means that new legislation that could hamper business productivity is unlikely to be passed, as both sides will stop the other from passing meaningful legislation. While this doesn’t look good for our nation’s reputation as a whole, it will certainly allow businesses more freedom to operate without fear of short-term changes to regulations, compliance, or taxes. Now is definitely the time to get serious about investments.
Another boon to businesses thanks to current political conditions? The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Put into place last year, the TCJA is a business-friendly tax reform that involves lower tax rates for corporations, increased ability to deduct expenses from investments, and a greater ability to earn money oversees. This will result in greater earnings for businesses as less of their income will be going toward taxes. 2019 will certainly be the Year of Businesses, and Mampilly says that it would be wise to jump onboard with investments now rather than waiting and finding you’ve missed the boat.
7. Edge computing will propel the Internet of Things– As the Internet of Things, or IoT, continues to evolve and grow, new technologies will be introduced to spur that growth along. In particular, edge computing, which involves moving computational processes as close to devices as possible rather than coming from centralized locations, will increasingly be used to help devices to communicate with one another more quickly and efficiently. Mampilly discusses these trends often in Profits Unlimited as well as in his four elite trading services—The $10 Million Portfolio, True Momentum, Rapid Profit Trader and Extreme Fortunes—and believes that they will only increase the availability of consumer data for businesses.
At its core, edge computing is a method of using something called a node that’s located physically near the device it’s supporting. The purpose of edge computing is to provide artificial intelligence, analysis, and server power that’s physically closer to the sources of data themselves. The reasoning is that this will significantly reduce delays in computing and data processing. This new science is expected to radically accelerate the quality of product designs and instant feedback by giving companies the information and data they need. This will allow them to work more closely with predictive and behavior analytics to form a more complete picture of their customers and their needs. Paul Mampilly predicts that 2019 will see a boom in edge computing as the technology it requires becomes more accessible and affordable.
8. Long-termism in investing– One term that you are sure to see bandied about a lot in 2019 is long-termism. This refers to an investment philosophy that focuses on assets that can be managed on a sustainable basis. Previously, approximately 20 percent of managed assets were invested with consideration of ESG, which stands for environment, social and government, factors. Mampilly and others predict that in 2019, that figure will double to more than 40 percent—and the trend is not expected to end any time soon.
Long-termism isn’t a new concept, but it’s become increasingly popular in recent times as analysis of global investing atmospheres has become more refined. As investors become more tuned-in to what’s happening around the world, how it’s likely to change, and how all of this will affect their investments, they’re becoming more empowered to take a long-term view of their investments for greater returns. While this requires a bit more patience and insight on their part, it’s become popular for smart investors with a long-term view. Until then, long-termism is certainly here to stay.
Mampilly predicts that long-termism will be a blazing hot trend in 2019, and will continue on for the foreseeable future until major economic changes shake up the investment world.
9. VR is poised to explode– Although virtual reality, or VR, is still in its infancy, the technologies behind it are being developed at a truly amazing rate. Therefore, it is believed that this sector is going to explode in the near future—and investors who reflect this in their portfolios are poised to do quite well in the years ahead. Mampilly routinely recommends various stocks in his newsletter, and you can expect to see him recommending many from the world of virtual reality in the near future.
Not convinced that virtual reality and augmented reality are poised to explode? Here are some stats that may surprise you. The market size of virtual reality hardware and software was 2.2 billion in 2017. By 2020, just three years later, it’s expected to have increased by nearly 10 times to 20 billion. The number of virtual reality users around the globe is also exploding, expected to grow to more than 130 million in the next few years. The virtual reality market is already booming, and as technology continues to evolve it will come with new applications, new opportunities, and new emerging markets to explore. Mampilly is confident that VR is going to be massive in 2019, so investors should take notice.
10. User reviews more critical than ever– Finally, the reputation of a brand, company or product is going to be more crucial than ever in 2019. Currently, around 95 percent of online customers report that they refer to online reviews before making purchases. This trend is only going to intensify over the next 12 months, and brands that focus on generating positive reviews will outperform those that don’t. Investors are going to want to look toward companies that have solid reputations in terms of online reviews because these are the firms that will continue to succeed and grow well into the future. Mampilly and other experienced investors encourage investors to do online research before taking any additional steps.
How many of the predictions that Paul Mampilly has made regarding business will come true in 2019? That remains to be seen, of course, but given the extensive amount of experience that the former hedge fund manager possesses, odds are that most of them will.
Fortunately, Mampilly doesn’t limit himself to making predictions just one time per year. Every month, he provides priceless guidance and advice for investors from all walks of life in this Profits Unlimited newsletter. After retiring at just 42 years of age, Mampilly now focuses on helping Main Street Americans to realize the true benefits of successful investing—and he will continue to do so throughout 2019 and beyond.business
