5 Comments

Looking at the various Ishares for Asian countries, it’s remarkable how poorly they have done over an extended period of time even as the underlying economies have done well.

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Good businesses doesn't necessarily translate to good investment returns.

From a Malaysian who invests globally these days

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Yeah, that's certainly true. There's been some margin compression, but also, earnings growth hasn't been all that impressive. I blame the generally weak corporate governance practices in Asia.

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Corporate governance can be non-existent when investing in Asia, where many listed businesses are family owned or are government linked companies.

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I think it’s interesting to see who captures most of the growth. Sometimes it’s consumers thru ever lower margins. Other times it’s real estate investors thru capital flight. In the US it’s been public market investors. I live in the US and am mostly US centric in my investing but the contrarian in me is interested in some of these markets (although I recall suffering through holding Sime Darby back in ‘98). Anyways, good luck!

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