Thematic investing in healthcare: 3 practical examples investors actually use

If you want examples of thematic investing in healthcare, start with demographics. Aging is slow, predictable, and incredibly powerful for healthcare demand.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, adults 65 and older are projected to reach nearly 95 million by 2060, more than double the 2018 level (census.gov). That shift pushes spending toward:

• Hospitals and procedures
• Prescription drugs
• Medical devices and implants
• Long-term care and home health

For many investors, the best examples of thematic investing in healthcare start here: building a theme around companies that benefit as populations age and chronic conditions rise.

How investors build an “aging and care” theme

One example of thematic investing in healthcare is a portfolio centered on aging-related demand:

• A core allocation to a diversified healthcare ETF (for example, a broad U.S. healthcare fund) for stability and liquidity
• A satellite basket of stocks or a focused ETF targeting:
  • Managed care and health insurers
  • Medical device makers
  • Long-term care and senior living operators
  • Home health and hospice providers

Investors often screen for companies with a high percentage of revenue from cardiology, orthopedics, oncology, or diabetes—areas tightly linked to older populations.

Real examples: companies tied to the aging theme

To make this concrete, here are real examples of how this theme shows up in portfolios (not recommendations, just illustrations of the theme):

• Medical device makers: Companies that produce joint replacements, stents, pacemakers, and minimally invasive surgical equipment. Aging populations mean more hips, knees, and heart procedures.
• Dialysis and kidney care providers: Chronic kidney disease is strongly correlated with age and diabetes. Investors use these names as a direct play on long-term treatment demand.
• Home health and hospice operators: As payers try to control costs, more care is shifting from hospitals to the home. These businesses sit at the intersection of aging, cost pressure, and patient preference.
• Managed care / Medicare Advantage players: Insurers with large Medicare books are a clear aging-population exposure. Many thematic investors overweight these names inside a healthcare sleeve.

These are all examples of thematic investing in healthcare where the thesis is simple: more older people, more long-term conditions, more recurring revenue for treatment and care.

From a risk perspective, this theme is highly exposed to reimbursement policy. U.S. Medicare rules, value-based care models, and pricing reforms can significantly change margins. When you look for the best examples of aging-related thematic funds, pay attention to how diversified they are across devices, services, and insurers.

2. Digital health and AI: examples of thematic investing in healthcare that didn’t exist 15 years ago

Healthcare has been notoriously slow to adopt technology, but that’s changing fast. The pandemic accelerated telehealth, remote monitoring, and digital records. At the same time, AI began to show real promise in imaging, drug discovery, and workflow automation.

If you’re looking for modern examples of thematic investing in healthcare: 3 practical examples almost always include some flavor of digital health or AI.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported that telehealth visits surged during COVID and remain well above pre-pandemic levels (hhs.gov). Meanwhile, the FDA continues to clear AI-enabled medical devices each year, from imaging tools to clinical decision support.

Building a digital health and AI theme

An investor might build a digital health sleeve using:

• A technology-focused healthcare ETF that emphasizes software, data, and automation in medicine
• A handpicked basket of:
  • Telehealth platforms and virtual care networks
  • Electronic health record (EHR) and practice management software providers
  • AI imaging and diagnostic software developers
  • Remote monitoring and wearable device makers

This is a very different example of thematic investing in healthcare than the aging theme. Here, the bet is on efficiency and data, not just volume of procedures.

Real examples: where digital health shows up in portfolios

Again, these are illustrations of the theme, not personal investment advice:

• Telehealth platforms: Companies offering virtual visits, mental health counseling, and remote chronic care management. Investors see these as long-term cost-saving tools for insurers and employers.
• EHR and health IT vendors: Firms that run hospital and clinic software, patient portals, billing, and interoperability. They benefit from regulatory pushes toward digital records and data-sharing.
• AI imaging and diagnostics: Businesses developing algorithms to assist radiologists, pathologists, and cardiologists in detecting disease earlier or faster.
• Wearables and remote monitoring: Device makers that track heart rhythm, glucose levels, sleep, and activity. These feed into chronic disease management programs.

These are real examples of thematic investing in healthcare where the common thread is data: collect it, analyze it, and use it to reduce cost or improve outcomes.

From a risk standpoint, digital health and AI themes are more exposed to:

• Valuation swings (many are still growth-oriented, with less predictable earnings)
• Cybersecurity and data privacy regulations
• Adoption risk (clinicians and hospitals can be slow to change workflows)

Still, for investors who want higher-growth examples of thematic investing in healthcare, digital health and AI often serve as the “risk-on” side of a healthcare allocation.

3. Biotech and genomics: the classic high-risk, high-reward example of thematic investing in healthcare

If aging and digital health are about steady trends, biotech and genomics are about breakthroughs and binary outcomes. This is where investors look for asymmetric upside—and accept real downside risk.

The National Institutes of Health highlights how genomic medicine is rapidly expanding into cancer, rare diseases, and pharmacogenomics (genome.gov). At the same time, the FDA continues to approve gene therapies and targeted treatments for conditions that once had few options.

So when investors talk about examples of thematic investing in healthcare: 3 practical examples, biotech/genomics is almost always one of them.

How a biotech/genomics theme is structured

A common approach is to:

• Use a diversified biotech or genomics ETF as the core, to spread clinical-trial and regulatory risk across dozens of companies
• Add a smaller sleeve of individual names with:
  • Late-stage pipelines (Phase 3 trials)
  • Approved therapies with expanding indications
  • Platforms in gene editing, cell therapy, or RNA-based drugs

This is a very different risk profile from the aging theme. Here, a single trial result can move a stock 30–50% in a day.

Real examples: how biotech and genomics show up in themes

Again, these are examples of thematic investing in healthcare, not endorsements:

• Oncology-focused biotechs: Companies developing immunotherapies, targeted small molecules, or antibody-drug conjugates for cancer.
• Rare disease specialists: Firms that design treatments for small patient populations, often with high pricing power and favorable reimbursement once approved.
• Gene therapy developers: Businesses using viral vectors or other delivery systems to correct genetic defects at the DNA level.
• Genomic tools and sequencing platforms: Companies that provide sequencing machines, reagents, and analysis software used by labs and research centers.

These real examples share a common theme: monetizing scientific discovery. For investors, that means:

• Higher volatility and longer time horizons
• Heavy dependence on regulatory approvals
• The need to diversify across many names or use funds to avoid single-stock blowups

Still, if you’re looking for the more speculative side of healthcare, biotech and genomics are among the clearest examples of thematic investing in healthcare you can build into a portfolio.

Putting it together: blending the 3 practical examples into one healthcare sleeve

So far, we’ve walked through the three big pillars most investors use as examples of thematic investing in healthcare: 3 practical examples that cover:

• Aging populations and chronic disease
• Digital health and AI
• Biotech and genomics

In practice, many investors don’t pick just one. They blend them into a single healthcare sleeve inside a broader portfolio.

A common structure looks like this (weights are illustrative, not advice):

• A large, diversified healthcare ETF as the anchor
• An aging and care basket tilted toward devices, insurers, and services
• A smaller allocation to digital health and AI
• A modest, high-risk slice in biotech/genomics

That gives you:

• Defensive exposure (aging and core healthcare)
• Growth exposure (digital health and AI)
• Optionality and upside (biotech/genomics)

The key is to treat these as themes, not predictions. You’re not guessing which single company wins; you’re expressing a view that certain long-term forces—demographics, technology, and science—will keep reshaping healthcare spending.

Other real-world examples of thematic investing in healthcare

Beyond the big three, investors are also exploring narrower themes that still qualify as examples of thematic investing in healthcare:

• Mental health and behavioral care: Exposure to therapy networks, digital mental health platforms, and psychiatric drug developers, as awareness and treatment rates rise.
• Obesity and metabolic health: Companies involved in weight-loss drugs, diabetes care, and metabolic monitoring technologies.
• Value-based care models: Providers and platforms that get paid for outcomes rather than volume, often using analytics and care coordination.
• Global healthcare access: Firms expanding low-cost diagnostics, vaccines, and primary care in emerging markets.

These aren’t always large enough to stand alone in a portfolio, but they often appear as tilts within broader healthcare themes. They serve as additional real examples of how investors slice the sector.

For research, investors often monitor sources such as:

• NIH for research and clinical trial trends (nih.gov)
• CDC for disease prevalence and public health data (cdc.gov)
• Mayo Clinic for clinical guidance and treatment trends (mayoclinic.org)

These help validate whether a theme has real-world momentum or is just marketing.

FAQs about examples of thematic investing in healthcare

What are some simple examples of thematic investing in healthcare for beginners?

For beginners, some of the simplest examples of thematic investing in healthcare are:

• A broad healthcare ETF as a single-ticket way to get exposure to the entire sector
• A diversified biotech ETF as a targeted but still spread-out bet on innovation
• A digital health fund that focuses on telehealth, software, and AI in medicine

These give you theme exposure without having to pick individual winners.

How is a healthcare theme different from just buying a healthcare index fund?

A standard healthcare index fund owns a wide mix of drug makers, device companies, insurers, and providers, usually weighted by market cap. A thematic healthcare allocation narrows in on a specific story—like aging, AI, or genomics—and concentrates exposure there. That focus is what turns a general sector bet into a clear example of thematic investing in healthcare.

Are there examples of thematic investing in healthcare that are relatively defensive?

Yes. Aging populations, chronic disease management, and certain medical device segments tend to be more defensive than early-stage biotech. Investors who want steadier exposure often emphasize insurers, large pharmaceutical companies, and established device makers, using higher-risk biotech or AI names only as smaller satellite positions.

How much of a portfolio should go into these healthcare themes?

There’s no one-size-fits-all answer. Many investors treat healthcare themes as a slice of their equity allocation, often in the single-digit to low double-digit percentage range. Higher-risk areas like biotech or early-stage digital health are usually kept smaller than broad healthcare or aging-related holdings.

The bottom line: if you’re looking for examples of thematic investing in healthcare: 3 practical examples that actually map to real portfolios, think in terms of aging, digital health/AI, and biotech/genomics. Then decide how much risk you’re willing to take in each, and build your healthcare sleeve accordingly.