After Pokemon Cards Outperform S&P 500 and Peru Becomes First Latin American Country to attain Game’s World Title, What Other Unexpected Assets Can We Bet On?

This month Peru made history in Anaheim, California and lifted the Pikachu Cup at the Pokémon World Championships 2025. With the victory, Peru became the first Latin American country ever to claim a world title in the popular video game.

There are many pop culture products that market themselves as collector items to encourage consumers to view them as investments, rather than for purchase. Think Beanie Babies, action figures, or Hot Wheels. 

While most of these haven’t stood the test of time, Pokémon trading cards have bucked the trend to become a legitimate form of alternative investment assets, in part due to their popularity in Latin America and across the globe, as cited in Wall Street Journal’s: The Hot Investment With a 3,000% Return? Pokémon Cards. 

In fact, the latest data from analytics firm Card Ladder found that the popular trading cards that grew to fame on the playground have seen their value increase by 3,821% since 2004. The market for Pokémon cards saw explosive growth during the pandemic as people looked for alternative assets, and this interest has proven stable. 

This was so much so, that the cards actually outpaced growth across the S&P 500, which saw a 483% increase during the same time period. The cards even beat Meta and its 1,844% growth rate.

This trend shows that the biggest asset gains can come from unexpected places, including via popularity in Latin America. A close eye on prevailing headwinds and emerging markets can give us some clues to where we’re likely to see valuations rise in the near future. 

Pokémon cards aren’t the only assets that are changing in price due to LatAm. Here are 4 other places that we expect to see surprising valuations emerge in the near future. 

In Latin America, software engineers become an increasingly high-value asset for companies

This May, the CEO of Anthropic warned that AI could eliminate many white-collar jobs, with entry-level positions expected to take the biggest hit in the next 2-5 years. However, not all professional and executive roles will be affected in this way. For some, AI is increasing their capabilities - and value -  significantly. 

Research from Ness Digital Engineering, which is expanding into Mexico, looked at the impact AI is having on software engineering roles. The study found that, with AI, engineers could reduce their task completion time for existing code updates by 70%, while senior engineers saw a 48% reduction in task complete time. The time saved thanks to AI was used to plan better and assist junior engineers.

The study also found that AI supported engineers to handle complex coding scenarios with increased efficiency and fostered a more collaborative and dynamic work environment. Considering the asset of these firms is in large part its people, we should expect a material appreciation here.

Rather than making the role of the software engineer obsolete, we expect to see the value associated with tech experts to increase significantly. Demand for software products, data solutions and AI products is skyrocketing across industries, and these companies look to agency partners to create these software solutions. AI-powered coding assistants can take up some of the workload, but creative engineers with an understanding of business use cases will be invaluable to agencies. 

When it comes to publicly traded markets, companies such as IBM (IBM) and Accenture (ACN) are two companies to watch.

Data centers cause surge in demand for nuclear energy in emerging markets

Moving from software service to energy, nuclear is another asset set to see a big shift in valuation in the years ahead due to emerging markets. 

For one, although we’ve seen big investments in renewable energy infrastructure, these aren’t always an ideal fit for our AI-driven future. When reliant on wind and solar, power grids are prone to fluctuations. 

Further, countries in Latin America including El Salvador, Peru, Colombia, Chile and Bolivia are exploring nuclear energy, with some having research reactors and expressing interest in building full-scale plants. 

At the same time, the data centers that power LLMs are energy-intensive and need stable, consistent access. Although nuclear energy had negative connotations for decades, the rise of mega data centers has made the case for more nuclear energy. Goldman Sachs noted that “several big tech companies looking for low-carbon, round-the-clock energy signed contracts for new nuclear capacity in the last year, and there could be more such deals ahead.”

Local states are also investing in fusion energy solutions. Earlier this month, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) detailed interest in deploying Type One's stellarator-based fusion power plant technology. Type One Energy is developing the Infinity Two, a 350 MWe baseload plant utilizing its stellarator technology, which offers stable, steady-state operation for a potential commercial fusion power plant. 

The move TVA is a strategic one, expected to show leadership in advanced nuclear innovation to support the growing energy demands of AI, quantum computing, and advanced manufacturing with reliable, carbon-free power. As the future of AI takes hold, we can expect the associated impact on energy usage to make these stocks a high-bet ticket. 

When it comes to this space, ETF VanEck Uranium and Nuclear ETF (NLR) is one to watch, in addition to privately held Think Power Solutions, a provider of AI-enabled utility infrastructure solutions.

Health data valuations remain high, but AI in Latin America is democratizing access 

Next, we expect to see a shift in valuations associated with health data. 

Patient data is a valuable, intangible asset that contains a wealth of information. Healthcare providers, pharmaceutical companies and government agencies are just some of the stakeholders interested in access to these datasets. As a result, the US healthcare analytics market is expected to be valued at $47.40 billion USD by 2029, and, according to healthtech company PurpleLab, $2.97B was spent on TV ads for pharma brands in the first half of 2025, which was a 12.2% YoY jump.

Patient and healthcare data can help to create new drugs, improve treatments, uncover epidemiological trends and make hospitals more efficient. It can also help countries internationally cope with disease outbreaks or spearhead new care methodologies. 

However, access to healthcare data and associated works of research is dominated by countries like the U.S. and bodies like the WHO. 

With the use of AI, companies like 360 Health Data are working to make this information available in other languages. In this example, the company is focused on Latin American healthcare providers and clinicians, using the technology to make research and real-world evidence available to Spanish-language speakers. This is part of a wider trend where AI is looking to democratize access to healthcare data. 

In emerging markets, AI is making traditional agency communication and acquisition models obsolete 

The final asset that we expect to see a major shift in pricing is in communication. 

Traditionally, executives and enterprises pay thousands of dollars a month to access professional communication services. These high fees are based on a model that sells consultancy expertise, but AI is quickly making the traditional model obsolete.

Rather than a race to the bottom with AI, the technology is expected to actually enhance and improve the quality of communication services, disrupting the valuation as a result. 

Prezent, who’s CEO Rajat Mishra was recently named by Forbes as one of its 10 executives to watch expanding into Latin America, is challenging traditional agency models by delivering board decks in hours, not weeks, and sales narratives in minutes, not days. 

In this space keep an eye out for publicly traded enterprise HubSpot (HUBS) a US-based developer of software products for customer service and communication, in addition to privately-held enterprise MyUser.