As many look to diversify portfolios into frontier markets, some advisers might consider recommending Peru, which offers an economy with peaks and valleys reminiscent of the country's Andes Mountains.
On the upside, the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America forecasts that Peru — the world's leading silver producer, and second in copper and zinc — will have the fastest-growing economy in Latin America this year, expected at 8.3%.
The Americas Society and Council of the Americas, both based in New York, reported in July that, over the previous 12 months, Peru's growth rate — boosted by strong performance in the construction, mining and agriculture sectors — was 9.37%.
Both Fitch Ratings Ltd. and Standard & Poor's, both of New York, have upgraded Peru to investment grade this year.
However, New York-based
Citigroup Inc. lowered Peru to "underweight" in July. On Oct. 6, the Lima Stock Exchange lost 28% of its value, largely in response to a global drop in metals and minerals prices.
"I'm not steering investments toward Peru right now. It's not growing as fast as some of the other markets, and it's too dependent on commodities," said Sergio Alcazar, a financial adviser with Life Certain Wealth Strategies LLC in Greenwood Village, Colo.
"China is the country's largest customer for buying metals like gold, copper and zinc. But when there's lower demand, it hurts Peru," he said.
Mr. Alcazar oversees $20 million in assets and has a special interest in Latin American emerging markets. He sees Brazil and Chile as the most attractive of those markets, followed by Argentina and Peru.
"With inflation hitting a nine-year high, commodity prices sliding and President Alan Garcia's approval ratings hovering around 20%, EPFR Global-tracked funds were net sellers of Peru for the fifth time in seven months during August," said Brad Durham, managing director of EPFR Global, a research firm based in Cambridge, Mass.
He added that while the economy still has considerable momentum, inflation is erasing economic gains.
GLIMPSES IN PORTFOLIOS
Nonetheless, glimpses of Peru are showing up in portfolios. For example, the Claymore/
BNY Mellon Frontier Markets ETF (FRN), launched in June by Claymore Securities Inc. of Lisle, Ill., invests in an index of frontier market American depositary receipts and global depositary receipts, and had 4.48% of its holdings in Peru at the end of September.
Peruvian holdings are included in the Bank of New York Mellon New Frontier DR Index because the country meets the screens of the index, including appropriate gross domestic product growth, per capita income, inflation rates, privatization of infrastructure, social equality, a market cap of over $100 million, and share prices over $3, said Christian Magoon, president of Claymore Securities.
Peru has been appearing more prominently on the Canadian investment scene, too.
"The majority of small-cap mining companies exploring in Peru are publicly listed Canadian companies," said Luis Zapata, managing partner of Vancouver, British Columbia-based Intercapital Canada Inc., a subsidiary of Intercapital SAB, a Peruvian brokerage house and investment bank based in Lima.
"The capital markets in Canada have developed a niche for financing micro-cap mining exploration companies, called 'juniors.' There are 90 Toronto Stock Exchange-listed companies with projects in Peru at the moment," Mr. Zapata said.
"Junior investment is a highly speculative albeit sometimes highly lucrative undertaking." he said. "The current credit crisis has brought the TSX Venture index to an all-time low, and there are plenty of great buying opportunities out there"
"We would play the country not on mining but on developing the middle class — supermarkets are being built, for example," said Alfredo Sillau, general manager of Compass Group Peru, an affiliate of Compass Group LLC of New York. Compass Group Peru, based in Lima, manages assets for pension funds and high-net-worth individuals.
"Most people focus on mining because 65% of the stock index is from that sector. But construction saw 16% growth in the first six months of this year," he said.
