IFN – India Fund – BRIC Investment Theme

I‘ve added IFN – India Fund and CHN – China Fund to my public list as interest in BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) is waking up again. I think it is well worth keeping an eye on those. A few stocks off the top of my head that I am monitoring are TRF – Templeton Russia Fund, TTM – Tata Motors and CRESY – Cresud. CRESY is an Argentinian agriculture play. Not exactly part of the BRIC investment theme but worth watching nonetheless.

Guild Investment wrote an interesting piece on India: Indian Elections Are Positive For Indian Investment. Here is an excerpt:

Every five years, assuming there are no failed confidence votes, the Indian electorate goes to the polls for a month long voting exercise where over 400 million voters (out of about 700 million eligible voters) decide the country’s leadership.

The election that just ended this past weekend will return the Congress party coalition and the incorruptible Manmohan Singh to the position of Prime Minister. The Congress party coalition will have close to a majority and will be able to make a strong coalition without the communists or the radical right. We expect a pro-business, pro-growth economic policy, a pro-western foreign policy and an improvement of the government’s ability to achieve its stated goals. For the last several years the Congress party has ruled in a coalition with radical left parties. These parties slowed or stopped much economic progress that Congress had initiated.

This election will make India a stronger investment destination, strengthen its economic growth rate and strengthen an already stable democracy. As everyone knows, India is located in a turbulent region. India is surrounded by several small, unstable, and sometimes warring states. Their neighbors include Sri Lanka to the south, Nepal to the north, Bangladesh to the north east, and Pakistan to the west. As we have suggested in past letters, the U.S. should look more to India and less to the corrupt and weak government in Pakistan for a dependable ally in the region.

Have a great evening!