Join the investors returning to Brazil

Brazil’s economy is picking up, the political backdrop is improving and investors are returning. Max King picks the best ways to buy in.

"Brazil is the country of tomorrow and always will be," according to a saying that could equally apply to the whole of Latin America. This phrase sums up the perennial overoptimism that is the curse of the region, encouraging belief in a rosy future without tough decisions being taken. Although Latin America's fortunes seemed to improve last year, 2017 has brought fresh disappointment. Commodity prices have weakened, Brazil's president Michel Temer has been indicted for corruption and the Chavistas are intent on installing a dictatorship in economically devastated Venezuela. Equity markets have retreated as investors once more shy away.

However, William Salomon of Ocean Wilsons, which has extensive business interests in Brazil, is optimistic about the country. "The key issue is not the survival of Temer," he says, "but of his programme of necessary reform, notably of labour laws and the bankrupt state-pension system. That looks likely." He, like most Brazilians, is impressed by the way in which the judicial system has dealt with a very corrupt political class.

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Max King
Investment Writer

Max has an Economics degree from the University of Cambridge and is a chartered accountant. He worked at Investec Asset Management for 12 years, managing multi-asset funds investing in internally and externally managed funds, including investment trusts. This included a fund of investment trusts which grew to £120m+. Max has managed ten investment trusts (winning many awards) and sat on the boards of three trusts – two directorships are still active.

After 39 years in financial services, including 30 as a professional fund manager, Max took semi-retirement in 2017. Max has been a MoneyWeek columnist since 2016 writing about investment funds and more generally on markets online, plus occasional opinion pieces. He also writes for the Investment Trust Handbook each year and has contributed to The Daily Telegraph and other publications. See here for details of current investments held by Max.