Three great ways to earn income in Latin America

Many investors believe that Latin American equities come in just one flavour: volatile growth stocks. But that’s just not true, says James McKeigue. Here, he explains why, and picks three solid dividend-paying stocks to buy now.

It seems that for many British investors Latin America is like marmite you either love it or you hate it. Whenever I write about investing in Latin America reader responses generally fall into one of two camps: they either think I'm nuts, or they think it's a great idea. Of course regular New World readers will know what camp I'm in. In previous articles I've tried to explain why some of the most commonly held fears MoneyWeek readers have about Latin America are misplaced.

Today I want to tackle another myth that Latin American firms don't pay dividends. Oddly enough, even some of my buddies in the pro Latin America camp' believe this one. There's a general perception among readers that while you may find safe, reliable, dividend-paying blue chips in Britain, Europe or the US, places like Latin America just have volatile growth stocks. The type of companies, as one friendly reader put it to me, that "are worth a punt but not betting the house on". Now, I wouldn't recommend betting the house on anything, regardless of what country it's based in. But I think investors that ignore Latin America's heavy hitting dividend payers are missing a trick. So today I'm going to point out some of the best ways to earn income in the region.

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James McKeigue

James graduated from Keele University with a BA (Hons) in English literature and history, and has a certificate in journalism from the NCTJ. James has worked as a freelance journalist in various Latin American countries.He also had a spell at ITV, as welll as wring for Television Business International and covering the European equity markets for the Forbes.com London bureau. James has travelled extensively in emerging markets, reporting for international energy magazines such as Oil and Gas Investor, and institutional publications such as the Commonwealth Business Environment Report. He is currently the managing editor of LatAm INVESTOR, the UK's only Latin American finance magazine.