ROBO-ADVISER StashAway has launched three thematic portfolios amid the rising popularity of such funds globally.

The themes are technology enablers, the future of consumer tech, and healthcare innovation. These new portfolios feature exchange-traded funds (ETFs) from global fund managers including ARK Invest, iShares, Global X, and VanEck, said the fintech in a press statement on Monday.

Compared to diversified equity funds, thematic funds carry more risk given their concentrated exposure to a particular theme.

To manage risk, investors are able to select the downside they are willing to accept in a given year and StashAway's platform maximises the thematic exposure as much as possible within those risk constraints.

"This gives investors the access to thematic investing without the risk inherent with thematic investing. The remaining non-thematic assets in a portfolio are there to manage risk," said the firm's co-founder and chief investment officer Freddy Lim.

Its peer Syfe also rolled out thematic portfolios earlier this month. Investors can pick from five pre-curated themes (such as disruptive technology and healthcare innovation) to invest in, or choose to build their own portfolio, where they can pick up to eight ETFs from a repository of over a hundred.

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Globally since 2018, the amount of assets in thematic funds has grown at an annual rate of 37 per cent. In 2020 alone, these assets jumped by 77 per cent.

Thematic investments are also eclipsing traditional equity sectors, accounting for nearly 40 per cent of all equity fund net sales since 2017.