“The growth is not coming from Canada,” Smart said. “It’s coming from markets that are maybe a little more volatile, but over the longer period of time… the stocks that you invest in South Africa, in Brazil, [and] in China are going to give you much better return.”
Russian spending power, for instance, has grown at a 20% to 25% rate in recent years, he said. “And, there’s no sign of that stopping.”
But Donald Coxe, a global portfolio strategist at BMO Financial Group, urges investors to exercise caution. He thinks Canadian and Australian markets are the wisest choices, especially in the mining sector: “You don’t have the kinds of risk you have in Russia,” he said. “They have lots of mines in Russia, but [they’ve] got lots of holes in the ground to pour your money down too. And, maybe a few bodies along the way.”