While many investors are keen on recovery plays, Robert Weissenstein, chief investment officer of private banking, Americas at Credit Suisse, sees a more dynamic arena: global restructuring.
“There has been an enormous shift [of economic activities] going on. It was even in place before the crisis took place. It just got highlighted during the crisis,” Weissenstein told CNBC.
Over the last five years, the emerging markets have gone from 5 percent of the world’s equity market to 15 percent, according to Weissenstein. He doesn’t see it as standard growth, but rather an effect of global restructuring and transformation.
“It’s doubled in very short time and it’s a large pool of assets to make that kind of progress. You really have to pay attention to what’s going on there,” he says.
Yet Weissenstein warns investors about treating emerging markets as a whole:
“It’s a little bit naive right now to talk about the emerging markets as a package. There is a world of differences between emerging Europe and what’s going on in Asia. You have to be a little discreet about which market you are looking at,” he says.
Weissenstein likes China and India within Asia, and Brazil in South America. He thinks with the current level of technology, those countries don’t have to build a lot of infrastructure to move on to the next stage, which would greatly expedite their development.
“In most of the world now, you don’t have to put land lines in, because people are starting off with the cell phones,” Weissenstein says.
Recommendations:
Weissenstein likes tech, financials, multinationals, consumer staples, metals, mining and materials.
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Disclosures:
Disclosure information was not available for Weissenstein or his company.