Investors globally are focusing on the implications of a Donald Trump presidency but there is a niche industry likely to perform well no matter who is in the White House.
Milford Global Fund portfolio manager Stephen Johnston says the pet industry is growing and is likely to continue to do so.
He particularly liked the ''pet humanisation'' investment thesis which is the global trend of treating pets like valued members of the family. An increasing percentage of the population was treating pets like humans, driving a global spending boom.
The total number of pets worldwide had continued to grow and the United States has the highest number of dogs and cats. About 65% of households in the US owned one or more pets.
The number of pet dogs and cats in the US had grown by almost 20 million between 2012 and 2015-16. New Zealand had the highest proportion of households with pets in the world on 68%, he said.
Demographic trends were supporting the strong growth in pet numbers and baby-boomers and millennials were the fastest growing segments of owners.
In general, the trend was to have smaller families and leave more room for pets, Mr Johnston said.
''Millennials are getting married later and are enjoying the companionship of a pet earlier. The ageing population is another driver of pet demand as pets provide good company and many studies have revealed the health benefits of pet ownership.''
The more affection people felt for their pets, the more money they spent, and people were spending more than ever on their pets, he said.
''This spending boom on pets is reinforced by my personal experience as the owner of three dogs and two cats.''
Spending on pets in the US continued to grow, reaching a ''massive'' $US60 billion ($NZ84.9 billion) in 2015. Spending on pets in the US had grown more than 6% every year since 1944, even growing during the global financial crisis in 2008, he said.
It was recently reported New Zealanders spent $797 millon on their dogs in 2015, slightly more than the $747 million spent on cats in the same period.
The Milford Global Fund had exposure to companies benefiting from the trend of ''pet humanisation''. Those companies were involved in animal healthcare which tended to account for about half of the total spend on pets each year.
Milford preferred animal healthcare to human healthcare as the industry was less regulated, there was less competition and only a few major players.
The prospects for the ''pet humanisation'' companies were exciting given the outlook from increasing pet ownership, pet longevity - ageing pet population due to medical advances - and increased pet insurance which encouraged pet owners to proceed with more expensive pet treatments.
Large emerging market economies such as China and India offered huge potential, given the relatively small number of pets relative to their large population, Mr Johnston said.
''It is only a matter of time before the trend in pet humanisation makes its way to these countries.''
