If the investment theme for 2016 was anticipating “black swans”, 2017 will be more focused on riding out the unforeseen events of the previous year.

While global markets are currently concerned about the volatility arising from President-elect Trump’s policies, or the UK’s European Union exit strategy, there are still key sectors within Asia that are ripe with investment promise this year.

Healthcare, for example, has been an attractive sector for growth. With an aging population in wealthy countries such as Japan and Germany, expect to see quality healthcare services grow in demand. Capital markets have also reflected investor interest in this segment.

Technology, particularly e-commerce and artificial intelligence, are other areas with growth potential. Chinese e-commerce giant, Alibaba, for example, has stated its ambitions to become an international player, and over the last several months made high-profile acquisitions in European-based Intime Retail Group and Southeast Asia-focused Lazada.

According to consulting firm Zinnov, investments into AI technology globally have grown almost 10 times over the past 5 years, from US$94 million in 2011, to US$1.04 billion in 2016.

The ESG sector is another area seeing increased interest from investors. BNP Paribas Global Entrepreneur Report 2017, discovered that 77% of surveyed “ultrapreneurs” (a business individual with over US$25 million in investable wealth) saw corporate social responsibility as an important aspect in business conduct.