Mr. Market has handed potential Asian investors a gift: returns have been positive but lower than many European and US indexes the last two years, and this has left many investors underinvested and many analysts unenthusiastic, often a good contrary indicator. (Drawing straight lines is the primary job skill of 90 percent of Wall Street analysts—what has happened in the past will happen in the future. A secondary job skill is explaining why they do not foresee trend shifts—those straight lines changing direction—although such changes are an inherent feature of financial markets.) Even those who don’t want to make the paired trade—long Asia, short the US and Europe—may want to consider increasing their outright portfolio exposure to Asia. There is not a region in the world that doesn’t have its problems, but the smart money bet is that Asia handles them in more constructive fashion than the west, as its billions of people seize their opportunities and propel economic and financial outperformance for decades to come.
You can go bust in the short term investing for the long term. Especially when investing in a short term that is controlled by vested interests in opposition to your long term.
Mr. Market has handed potential Asian investors a gift: returns have been positive but lower than many European and US indexes the last two years, and this has left many investors underinvested and many analysts unenthusiastic, often a good contrary indicator. (Drawing straight lines is the primary job skill of 90 percent of Wall Street analysts—what has happened in the past will happen in the future. A secondary job skill is explaining why they do not foresee trend shifts—those straight lines changing direction—although such changes are an inherent feature of financial markets.) Even those who don’t want to make the paired trade—long Asia, short the US and Europe—may want to consider increasing their outright portfolio exposure to Asia. There is not a region in the world that doesn’t have its problems, but the smart money bet is that Asia handles them in more constructive fashion than the west, as its billions of people seize their opportunities and propel economic and financial outperformance for decades to come.