Structural changes in our economies have been the primary drivers of sector performance over the last 25 years. Online shopping has grown from a niche business at the turn of the century to accounting for a third of retail sales in some markets, while the extent of remote work was turbocharged by the pandemic. These factors have fundamentally altered the risks and opportunities in the traditional sectors.

Now, with prospective returns looking less appealing, investors are increasingly turning to a range of alternative sectors with a view to generating higher risk-adjusted returns, improving diversification and keying into the trends that will shape our economies over the next 25 years. Demographic megatrends such as ageing populations and immigration flows, AI's growing importance in all areas of life, and the higher interest rate environment provide structural support for sectors such as senior living, data centres, self-storage, and co-living. When combined, these sectors are no longer fringe and are instead becoming the pillars of a resilient portfolio.

This page lays out how those themes will underpin winning and losing sectors over the coming years, incorporating a new body of work from Q2 2026 as well as the most important pieces from earlier analysis prompted by the pandemic.

See all our property after the pandemic analysis