New research shows intangible assets - non-physical assets such as data, brand, confidential information, and patents - will drive growth for companies after the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Intangible asset specialist EverEdge said such assets could grow much faster, which was good news for companies with business models built around data.
EverEdge chief executive Paul Adams said physical assets did not provide a competitive advantage for high growth firms.
"With intangible assets, there's no inherent limitation on their scale so they tend to be able to grow much faster.
"Physical assets generally are reasonably readily available by most parties. So most people, if you've got the money can go out and buy the plant and equipment, etc ... everybody's got access to the same things.
"Things that make it different are how you deploy those assets and that all comes down to your intangibles."
Adams said investors should look out for companies that focus on their intangible assets.
"Companies that identify their intangible assets and monetise them via scalable business models tend to outperform those that don't and are able to command superior enterprise values from external investors or acquirers," he said.
"Consequently, these intangible-asset rich companies attract more capital and thereby better perform their ultimate function of increasing shareholder value."