Investing in Longevity Stocks: a $38 Trillion Opportunity
Every week we share our thoughts on sectors, companies, and investment ideas. This time, we want to take you through an emerging sector that remains undiscovered by investors, and one which that may represent a massive opportunity for investors, and something we think it is worth considering: investing in longevity stocks.
The Big Idea: Extending Human Life
Discussions about longevity aren’t new. For years, researchers and entrepreneurs, including the richest man in the world, Elon Musk, have been fascinated by how technology and science can push human life expectancy far beyond today’s limits. Some forecasts even speak of people in the current and future generations living to 120–150 years!
Longevity has three main drivers:
- Lifestyle: (diet, exercise, avoiding excess alcohol/smoking)
- Supplements & treatments (a $485 billion global market)
- Advanced biotech & devices (from telomere therapies to brain-computer interfaces)
For investors, the question is: where does the money flow, and which companies are best positioned to capture it?
Supplements: A Fragmented Market
At first glance, supplement makers look attractive.
Companies that have exposure to longevity products include:
- Jamieson Wellness (JWEL:xtse)
- Usana (USNA:xnys)
- Herbalife (HLF:xnys)
- Church & Dwight (CHD:xnys)
But when you dig deeper:
- Many are too small in scale.
- Some, like Herbalife, face pyramid-scheme reputational risks.
- Even the larger players such as Nestlé (NESN:xvtx) only derive a small percentage of revenue directly from longevity products.
In short: supplements are a massive industry but not yet offering clear, pure-play investment opportunities.
A Game-Changer? Metformin
Where our research got interesting was in pharmaceutical, specifically metformin, a decades-old diabetes drug now being studied for its potential life-extending properties.
Metformin:
- Improves insulin sensitivity and reduces metabolic stress.
- Activates longevity enzymes (AMPK).
- Appears to reduce cancer proliferation and lower risks of common age-related diseases (heart disease, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s).
- Already proven safe, in use since the 1950s, and off-patent (cheap and scalable).
The economic implications are huge. Even adding one extra year of global life expectancy is estimated to unlock $38 trillion in economic value. If clinical trials confirm metformin’s role in healthy ageing, demand could surge globally.
If you are interested in learning more about interesting new technologies that may shape our extended lives in the future, we recommend you see our article on AI Robots: Why Elon Musk Believes This Will Be His Biggest Product Ever
Who Benefits? The Companies Behind It
Unlike supplements, here we find investable names:
Merck KGaA (MRCG:xetr): A German company that reports ~€1bn in annual revenues from metformin.
Teva Pharmaceuticals (TEVA:xnys): An Israeli company with a NASDAQ listing and a ~$17bn turnover, solid turnaround, strong EPS growth expectations, and meaningful metformin production.
Sanofi (SAN:xpar): A French/Swiss global heavyweight, producing metformin though without detailed revenue disclosure.
These are established pharmaceutical giants with the scale and balance sheet strength to supply a global boom in longevity treatments if approvals come through.
How can Investors Invest in the Longevity Economy
Apart from investing directly in the companies listed above, that stand to directly profit from longevity products such as pharmaceuticals, there are other firms that will indirectly benefit from longevity of consumers (e.g. banks), known as the “longevity economy”.
Source: LSEG/Refinitiv
There are equity indices tracking the performance of companies in the longevity economy. We can see from the graph above that the ECPI Global Longevity Winners Equity NTR index has performed strongly since 2019, and its returns are broadly correlated to the S&P 500.
The CI Global Longevity Economy ETF (LONG) is one of the few instruments to track longevity-themed indices. However, the Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) has very low liquidity at the time of writing. Unfortunately, as of 2025, there is no UCITS ETF equivalent available for European investors to track these indices, but we expect that to change in the coming years. To get around this, investors could look at the constituents of these indices and ETFs to see which stocks are associated with the longevity economy and invest in them directly.
If you are interested in our analyses of interesting sectors with future growth opportunities for investors, we recommend you see our analysis on Decoding the AI Investment Landscape: Separating Bubble from Brilliance
Investment Takeaways
As an investor, you have three options:
Ignore longevity until the science is conclusive.
Watchlist companies like Merck, Teva, and Sanofi and follow trial results closely.
Position early, accepting the risk but with potential to benefit from a future breakout product.
Given the parallels with weight-loss drugs like Ozempic, where demand exploded almost overnight, it’s not hard to imagine a similar trajectory if metformin (or another drug) gets official longevity approval.
Final Word on Investing in Longevity Stocks
We often reach dead ends in research, with small cap companies, reputational risks, lack of pure plays. But sometimes, a well-worn medicine with new applications re-emerges as a genuine investment theme. Longevity could be one of the most powerful drivers of economic and market growth in the decades ahead.
For now: keep an eye on Merck, Teva, and Sanofi. Longevity may not just add years to life, but potentially add growth to your portfolio.
We, as investors, have to look to the future and what opportunities lie in the ever-changing world. We see the birth rates of Western countries declining, and the populations of the developing world expanding. And with these changes comes new markets and opportunities for investors. And so, if you liked this article, we also think you may like our analysis on Investing In Indian Stocks: The Next Big Opportunity?
If you’re unsure how to invest in longevity, whilst minimizing your risk and maximizing your return, or unsure how to trade the above-mentioned stocks on our trading platforms, we’re here to help, feel free to contact us. In times like these, a sound strategy is your best defense.
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Kaspar Huijsman
Kaspar is a passionate investor known for his thorough analysis of news and market
dynamics. With over 25 years of experience in the financial world, he never relies on half- truths and always prioritizes knowledge.
“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.”
— Kaspar Huijsman
The information in this article should not be interpreted as individual investment advice. Although Hugo compiles and maintains these pages from reliable sources, Hugo cannot guarantee that the information is accurate, complete and up-to-date. Any information used from this article without prior verification or advice, is at your own risk. We advise that you only invest in products that fit your knowledge and experience and do not invest in financial instruments where you do not understand the risks.