Global Exposure Plays: Infrastructure
Foreign exposure: It's been a manta among analysts and fund managers for quite a while now. David Fondrie of Heartland Advisors says the best way to play it right now is in infrastructure, and he has a couple of names for investors.
Fondrie's four-star Heartland Select Value Fund is up an average of 16.7 percent per year over the last five years.
Recommendations:
Fondrie's first pick in the foreign infrastructure arena is precision-bearing maker Timken.
Among Timken's many customers are foreign infrastructure giants like Caterpillar and John Deere.
"They've been kind of washed as an automobile parts supplier," he told CNBC. "Indeed, that's 30 percent of their business, but to us, we see the infrastructure piece growing very rapidly, and they also have a nice position in the aerospace market."
He says Timken's valuation is much more favorable than those of other infrastructure-related companies like Shaw Group and Fluor.
Also on Fondrie's list is Ultrapetrol.
"Ultrapetrol is a Brazilian shipper," he said. "They have barges that move up and down the Hydrovian River -- similar to the Mississippi River. They take iron ore and soybeans out of the interior of that country, put them to the ports, and they also have oceangoing vessels that take that overseas to countries like China and India."
He describes Timken as a safer play and Ultrapetrol as a more speculative play.
Disclosures:
Fondrie owns Timken and Ultrapetrol through his fund.
