International Investing Opportunities With Comgest

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We as investors often suffer from "home court bias", where we're most interested in the opportunities who are based in the country that we live in. We're familiar with the culture and the currency, so it's easier for us to invest closer to home.

Yet the business world stretches to all corners of the globe, and investing is similarly an global phenomenon. Astute investors who are willing to put in a bit more research are often rewarded by the opportunities offered by other countries.

So where are those opportunities today? Are there certain countries that are particularly lucrative for investors? Are there specific companies who are winning on the global stage?

To answer those questions, we're welcoming back two of our favorite guests. 7investing CEO Simon Erickson recently spoke with Comgest's portfolio managers Rick Mercado and Richard Kaye about international investing. Comgest is an independent global asset management firm based in Paris, who manages $30 billion and has a knack for finding long-term growth opportunities.

The three kicked off the conversation by sharing perspective on the global macroeconomy. Interest rates are rising and threats of a recession are looming, yet bottoms-up research and stress-testing of companies still shows that the fundamentals of most businesses are still sound and attractive. Tech companies like Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) appear well-positioned to benefit from AI, while the membership-based Costco (Nasdaq: COST) appears resilient to an economic downturn. Perhaps surprisingly, high-end consumer discretionary names like Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy (OTC: LVMHF) and Ferrari (NYSE: RACE) have similarly shown a resilience to the challenging macro.

Richard then discussed investing in Japan. He points out that Japan's growth rate is amongst the highest of OECD nations, yet its market valuation multiple is among the lowest. Several under-the-radar companies like Ibiden (OTC: IBIDF) and Advantest (OTC: ATEYY) are manufacturing the equipment necessary to manufacture the microprocessors to support high-performance computing. Due to the rising popularity of AI and machine learning inference, those are seeing a dramatic increase in demand. Rick and Richard together described how sometimes a country's equity markets could be a springboard for it's companies to enter other markets.

Simon and Rick then dive into the computing industry, specifically about ASML's (Nasdaq: ASML) dominance of lithography. They discuss whether rising geopolitical tensions between China and Taiwan could disrupt the semiconductor supply chain and the impact that might have on ASML.

The three then discuss India, where mega-conglomerates with close ties to the government often "write the script" of emerging industries. One example is Suzuki, who is working with the government on the rollout of electric vehicles. Similar situations have happened with renewable energy and telecommunications. This can often make it challenging (and messy) for international companies like American Tower to compete in countries like India. But it can often also backfire, as seen recently with Adani Group's troubled financial statements.

In the final segment, the group discusses investing in 2023 as compared to 2022. "Earnings matter now", as fundamentals and good quarterly reports are increasingly being rewarded by the market. Rick and Richard close out by discussing their approach to valuation, especially using a long-term mindset.

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