Most people equate cutting-edge tech as the growth area of the future. But according to industry research company IBISWorld, the retirement and pension plans category should be the second-best performing industry during the period of 2010-2019, with a total expected growth rate of nearly 138%.
The trust and estates industry ranks seventh on the decade-performance list, with a projected growth rate of roughly 106%. IBISWorld analyzes 700 different industries that comprise the nation's gross domestic product, and rates them based on real revenue growth, or inflation-adjusted revenue.
It expects voice over internet protocal (VoIP) providers--services such as Skype that enable phone calls over broadband Internet connections--to have the best growth rate, at almost 150%. VoIP, which started to earn revenue in 2002, was last decade's biggest growth industry at an astronomical rate of 179,000%. Conversely, it expects wired telecom carriers to be the worst performing industry this decade.
Retirement and pension plans include IRAs, 401(k)s, funds and private and public retirement plans. IBISWorld also has a financial planning and advisory category, but it didn't make the forecasted ten-year list. That's because the retirement and pension plans category is seen as fast growing while the financial planning and advisory category is viewed as more mature due to consolidation among the industry's biggest players.
That said, the predicted average annual revenue growth in the financial planning and advisory industry for the next five years is a solid 11.5%. "Relative to any GDP measure other than China, that's pretty impressive," says IBISWorld analyst George Van Horn.
Van Horn expects the trust and estates industry to be a big grower because it caters to the ultra wealthy. "Rules and business environments can change," he says, "but over time the wealthiest have the best chance of maintaining or growing wealth than does the general population."
The rest of the expected top ten industries this decade comprise biotech, ecommerce and online auctions, video games, search engines, environmental consulting, recycling facilities, and land development.