Article by Investment U
Emerging markets like Vietnam and Cambodia are full of rich opportunities for both value and growth investors.
Imagine waking up one morning and turning on the news to hear that interest rates are rising again to slow down growth…
It’s something we heard in the United States a long time ago.
Nowadays those types of announcements are still being heard, but in places that you may not have on your radar. While most people think that rising interest rates are a bad thing, that’s not always the case. If rates rise for the right reasons it means that growth is strong – maybe too strong.
Lately, I have found myself in many such places. Places where waking up in the morning means facing the din of noise, endless activity on the street, vibrancy the likes of which we experienced here in the United States decades ago. It’s the sound of growth, the sound of money…you can almost smell the profits at times!
On one of my recent trips to Asia, specifically Vietnam and Cambodia, the wheels of commerce were churning at high speed. By 7:30 AM, the streets were clogged with trucks, cars, scooters and rickshaws. Goods of all sorts were packed to the point of bursting on the beds of small pick-up trucks. Sidewalk vendors had set up shop, peddling breakfast to the passersby. Crossing the street amidst this controlled chaos was an adventure in itself. This is what 8% to 10% annual GDP growth looks like.
Shanghai, another one of my stops last year, as a guest of the Consul General of Canada, was another eye opener. The city boasts a population of 125,000 millionaires, all of which seem bent on spending like it’s going out of style. Rolls Royce, Bentley, Porsche, BMW, Mercedes and Range Rovers are the wheels of choice and plentiful, with the odd Ferrari and Lamborghini thrown in for good measure. A burger at the Long Bar will set you back US$18… if you can get a table. Things are so good that the Chinese government is sending out private messages to the big spenders to buy things that are less ostentatious so as not to look “so rich!”
In Mumbai, the financial capital of India, you can’t touch an apartment in town for less than $400 per square foot. This is a country where annual per capita income is less than the average American earns in a month. But, with a middle class approaching 300 million people, that number is skewed by the other 900 million who aren’t yet participating fully in the boom.
Fast forward 10 years and the world’s top 20 economies will be comprised of more countries that were once considered backwaters. Therein lies the opportunity. Places like Turkey, Chile, Vietnam, Cambodia, South Africa and Uruguay may not be on the top of your shopping list, yet, but these are the places that money is flowing to for growth.
Twenty years ago, when I first began my journey to these emerging markets, it was a different story. Sure, there was growth, and many of my readers profited handsomely from picks like Malaysia’s Sime Darby or Indonesia’s Semen Gresik or even Hong Kong’s Jardine Matheson. Today, it’s even better because it’s also easier…
Now, you can trade companies in Asia as easily as you can trade a U.S.-listed stock, online and at a discount. You just have to know where to look, what to buy and when to buy it.
In my new book, Where in the World Should I Invest: An Insiders Guide to Making Money Around the Globe, you can start participating in this boom of mammoth proportions with a reliable guidebook that takes to you street level.
You’ll learn about the specific types of investment vehicles that can get you into places like Vietnam, Eastern Europe, China and many other places at a discount. And, as a bonus, you’ll also learn about what it’s like to travel and spend time in places like India, South America, North Africa and of course, Asia.
Good Investing,
Karim Rahemtulla
Article by Investment U
