When one invests, there are a lot of issues to take into consideration. Along with the fiscal issues plaguing potential investments, the “geopolitical developments of the Middle East” have to be taken into consideration.
This is an issue Brandes Investment Partners, LP, has been aware of in recent times. According to the firm’s investment director, Gerardo Zamorano:
“It’s been a dynamic region for investments this year. When we are looking at the potential of some of these countries, which stands out the most is how healthy they are from a macroeconomic perspective, metrics like debt-to-GDP – that’s a real strength. The income per capita also tends to be higher than your average emerging market countries.”
In addition, a recent survey from Reuters showed “fund managers in the region are placing big bets on Middle East stocks…One only has to look to countries such as Turkey that neighbor the region to see the dismal performance of emerging markets: Istanbul’s BIST National 100 is down nearly 5% for the year.”
Zamorano, who works alongside Charles Brandes, concluded:
“Certainly, stock markets in the region have had a strong run up this year, which makes looking at individual companies and finding value on a case-by-case basis more important now.”