Australian investors show interest in cybersecurity sector



Australian investors are seeking out the global cybersecurity sector as companies increase their spending to protect themselves from cyber-attacks, according to BetaShares.
With the cybersecurity market forecast to grow from US$140 billion to US$248 billion by 2016, it would mean that the costs for both corporations and governments would continue to rise, positively impacting the cybesrsecurity industry, the firm said.
BetaShares’ managing director, Alex Vynokur, said that even though Australian investors were willing to increase their holdings to global exposures in this sector, it still had little or no representation in the local sharemarket.
“Cybersecurity is part of the ‘new world’ economy and it will continue to be critically important the more our lives, and consequently our personal data, move online,” he said.
“Demand drivers for the cybersecurity industry remain strong, and we believe investors will continue to recognise the opportunity to be part of this story and seek investment opportunities that provide access to this sector."
The interest from investors in this sector helped double the size of BetaShares’ ASX-traded Global cybersecurity ETF (HACK) to almost $150 million in assets under management over the last 12 months, the firm said.
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