Pick your BRIC
The BRICs, four nations of undoubtably great importance in our world today.
Some have equated them to the Old world's four horsemen, insolent upstarts vying to replace the old guard.
To most however, we see nothing but a vast, wet, and beautiful ocean of opportunity.
Since the term was coined nine years ago, the BRIC nations have been on a massive growth spurt and are expected to go on still until they surpass much of the developed world. China’s GDP for one has already eclipsed that of France, the UK, Germany, and Japan since then.
With that growth come big opportunities.
So if you had to be in one, which one would you rather be in?
Will it be Brazil? The holy land for assmen and where 10’s are given birth to every minute? Its fast growing economy has been a boon for its developing financial sector, bolstering M&A and more and more Private Equity firms are setting up shop there. Rio and Sao Paolo is also home to one of the largest commodity exchanges in the world.
Or Russia? Where the Natalia’s and Olga’s run free? A vast amount of money has been sloshing around Russia these days, mainly due to their vast resources. Admittedly though, outside of the Oligarchs, Forbes writers getting shot, and the over 1000% rise in their stock market this past decade, I know next to nothing about their financial industry.
Or will it be India? India’s banking is fast becoming a force to be reckoned with. Hell, some banks have even outsourced the grunt work to them already. With a rising middle class, growing industry, and an already sophisticated financial sector to play with, India looks like a good place to work in as well.
Or is China for you? The world’s 800 pound Gorilla, China really needs no introduction. Whether it be Private Equity, Research, Trading, Banking, whatever you want, whatever you need, China has it.
So which BRIC will you pick?
And which one will you stay away from?
I for one am learning Portuguese at the moment.
And I’m not really in a hurry to learn Hindi.
You?
Seriously? Would anyone not pick Brazil?
^A picture speaks a thousand words^ (although Russia looks good too)
The second question is tough. I personally would stay away from all 3 probably, at least for full-time living.
I think India is good. Its not getting as hyped as China and they still speak English there and its growing just as astronomically as China, so if you can endure the currently crappy living conditions over there, you should experience a lot of career growth when the tide comes rushing in.
I think that Russia is probably the one that I would stay away from. Too much corruption and the threat of nationalization and lets not even begin to talk about the Russian mob. While all those countries have corruption and mafia problems, I think that there is a larger portion of the pie that you can safely invest in in in the other three countries.
Agree with Immelt, India has the population and the "slow burn" working to their advantage. Aside from their general outlook on life, they have the opportunity to put their massive numbers to good use, using their high ranking education system and wealth to create growth thats at a nicer pace than China.
Russia seems to very well be the gamblers play... great opportunity but too much risk with their political climate.
China is well, China in my eyes. Great gaudy numbers (for how long?), but with their communist society and huge gap between poor and wealthy, something has to give. Also didnt we just read something that their Minister of Finance said the numbers are completely fixed??? Something on wikileaks that just popped here the other day?
My 2 cents...
I'd say China, because that's what I choose and where I live/work, but I have to admit that when I made the choice to try and come here and make a fortune (at the age of 16 or so), I didn't realize I'd spend 20% of my waking hours from the age of 17 to 25 learning to speak Chinese and barely be fluent. The language factor in China is a BITCH. And unlike India, in the smaller cities / places where all the opportunities are - not a single person in a single company speaks a word of English... That's particularly true in real estate, but it's true even at other companies as well (outside of Beijing and Shanghai, where maybe 20% of people speak english).
So for a Chinese American kid who's native in both tongues - definitely leave for China. The best opportunity for long term growth and for you to make HUGE money.
For everyone else who's not a masicist (and wants to study Chinese) or an ABC, I'd go with India. Corruption is very present, but from what I can see the system still functions in a transparent enough way to make investments with some degree of confidence. Brazil would be a close second.
I've heard horror stories about Russia. While I've had a lot of fun visiting Moscow in HS/College (albeit part of the fun was i was with my dad and thereby on an unlimited budget), I'd never want to move there. It's fucking cold as shit. The corruption is visible on an everyday basis. The people are harsh and aggressive... I just hate to say it, but if you're not a badass russian you're probably not going to make out in russia.
Am I the only one not really thrilled by any of these choices? I guess Brazil is the one I'm least uneasy about.
I can weigh in a bit as I have some experience with three of the four. I helped a friend incorporate a clean energy startup incorporate in Gujarat Province, have several acquaintances from undergrad in China moving goods and personally worked as an analyst in Moscow.
From my dealings with India, I am less than impressed. It seems like one of the only places I have encountered that is totally proud of the fact they are dysfunctional. People run 30-60+ minutes late and deem it normal, telephone and internet failure is inevitable on a weekly basis, theft (among the populace and bureaucracy) is rampant. Also, during my dealings, I noticed some have a bizarre tendency to tell completely inconsequential lies. Of the three, this was my least favorite. On a side note, it is definitely the most neat of the bunch - cool place to visit, not my choice to live or do business.
China seems fairly stable, government controls the federal level, the military rules on the city/province level. Things largely work as expected but the complaint I hear time and time again from contacts is the lack of accountability. If a person or firm screws you, you sue them, they declare bankruptcy and reincorporate with a new name a week later. Also, I am not a fan of the lack of transparency. It appears there is a growing asset bubble in real estate and the Chinese will not disclose how many loans to businesses were made or if they are in default. Bottom line - I could make it work here. I see huge growth but am concerned as to how.
Russia gets my thumbs up of the three because they aren't as bad as they are made out to be. Full disclosure: part of my undergrad was spent at MGU Lomonosova and I worked as a marketing analyst at a large European corporation. Corruption is very bad among small and medium sized businesses, there is a lack of transparency and laws are not largely observed. Also, courts frequently decide against business and often the burden of proof is on the accused. This is the classic argument against Russia. I definitely saw it and acknowledge it.
However, Moscow and Petersburg have already gone through the real estate bubble and are coming out on the other side, the economy is rich with resources, Mayor Luzhkov was recently thrown out, Russian debt was recently regraded upwards, a lot of the professional economic and financial academic community within Russia has been pointing out positive fundamental steps forward including land reform, reorganizing soviet legacy infrastructure, currency reform, and rural/agrarian development. Bottom line - Russia is getting better. It doesn't function the way a European country would, but when you figure out the way it works, it is fairly consistent. Of the three, I see the most potential (but not growth) here.
I know nothing about Brazil and can't comment.
brazil. DONE. suckas.
Can someone please aware me on Brazil? I know that they have a lot of nat resources and the hottest women of the 3, but is there anything else? They seem a bit isolated relative to India and China to where a lot of the growth will be. I know that isolation can sometimes help, but what else is going on in Brazil that has WSO buzzing?
Brazil!
Can we please rank the BRIC countries in terms of women?
For me it would be something like Brazil/China>Russia> IndaLOL
Did you honestly just put China on the same tier as Brazil???
That's like ranking GS with Suntrust. I would think Russia would be above China too, but honestly it all depends on your preference. (Tan brunettes/blond/black haired vs. all blondes vs. asians vs. indian)
I'm surprised not to see more Brazil. In addition to women, the country itself is beautiful. All of latinamerica is expected to show pretty strong growth, with Brazil leading the charge.
India's female situation is completely unacceptable. China's is great and Russia's is solid. I can't say I've ever been to Brazil to see it first hand, but from what I hear it's pretty much completely insane.
The education system in India is definitely not what it is made out to be.Most of the colleges/universities apart from the Government funded IIMs/IITs/NITs are really crap.
too much corrpution in russia.
brb, learning portugese.
I'm not very educated in international economics (yet, hopefully), so the majority of what I'm about to say may very well be bullshit.
I'm going with Brazil. Having lived in India for the last two years, I don't think the country will be able to escape the level of corruption, crime, ethnic problems and drama caused by conservative political parties (funny how it's always the conservatives fucking shit up?). Also, one of the above posters is right - aside from a handful of awesome universities there, the rest are all shit-tier. LPU, for example - Lovely Professional University - saw ads for this all the time on TV.
I view China pretty skeptically for a number of reasons. Firstly, the whole censorship thing as well as a fake GDP - I'm just not sure what to believe. Secondly, sure, the country has a booming population, huge amounts of production and should slowly start slowing down its exports to meet its domestic demand - but would the average citizen be able to afford a decent lifestyle with the products otherwise exported to developed countries? Thirdly, isn't their currency pegged to the USD? If so, worst-case scenario - wikileaks releases document on BoAML - boom, company collapses - lots of unemployment, recession again, if not depression blah blah, debt rises, china's like oh fuck what the fuck do we do now, etc.
As for Russia, I don't really know enough to choose a yes/no. From what I can tell reading the above posts, it's got a fair amount of corruption which may impede its future growth. I just don't know enough to say anything.
Once again, this is all an uneducated post - I don't really know what I'm talking about - feel free to call me out on any shit I said.
Cheers.
There has been several articles that say the bric is overdone. Think Indonesia or Turkey for the coming growth.
Also, the pictures for all of your countries are causing serious growth, in my pants.
Come on people, I've seen more than a few Bollywood hotties on TV, should be more where they came from. Or are they really a minority? I've never been there so can anyone confirm this?
@NewMountain, thanks for sharing that, most of what I've heard (and I think most here as well) about Russia are horror stories. How's their banking industry going?
You mean the N11's? Think I've read about them somewhere as well, they're supposed to be the "in" countries now.
Priya Rai = very hot
Oh boy.
Right now it is in a down period. After the crisis in 2008/2009, the financial sector was hit very hard. However, it is bouncing back. In terms on banking, BB is definitely present, but from what I have heard and read, the native banks (Sberbank, Alfa-Group) get most of the IPOs and state issue deals. My uncle-in-law worked as a Forex director but got out of it. As he put it, the key to finance in Russia is this: be happy and try to stay at the level under the top. Sub-director you make good money and don't have the target on your back. He almost went to jail after a government accusation of currency manipulation.
I know a few former classmates that say that working at Sberbank is Hell on earth. Only a Soviet era bank could be so mismanaged.
Long term, I would definitely consider going back and think that things could work out.
I cannot believe you guys up there posted Indian women as last. That is horrifying! You all need a trip to New Delhi or Mumbai to clear the misconception.
India's biggest problem is political and bureaucratic corruption. In my view that is the biggest impediment to its growth. Other problems exist as well- infrastructure investment needs to be ramped up, poverty, illiteracy and other socio-economic problems.
The best thing about India from a foreign investor/businessman's perspective is the English speaking population and the burgeoning middle class. India churns out three-quarters of a million English speaking engineers and doctors a year. You can't get that anywhere else.
Not to mention your lifestyle as a foreigner. You're treated like a God. Also, international benefits kick ass.
Brazil is probably the most fun country on earth! They have awesome carnivals, hot women, and are pretty happy people. I think the quality of life has the other places beat.
Brazil is probably the most fun country on earth! They have awesome carnivals, hot women, and are pretty happy people. I think the quality of life has the other places beat.
Jeeves people, there's hot and ugly girls everywhere. Its not as though the minute your plane touches down in Sao Paulo, you're transported into Fairy World and every person lacking a Y Chromosome suddenly transforms into Adriana Lima or Alessandra Ambrosio. Similarly, not every Indian girl you meet will be Aishwarya Rai but not all of them will look like the poor, destitute dogs that most people think they look like. There's plenty of middle class girls in India that are decent looking and I'm sure the same is true for Russia and China as well. And yes, India is corrupt, but as the people start holding the Government more responsible, it will slowly get fixed and the booming private sector helps pick up a ton of the slack. Go to some of the malls in Delhi or see the new New Delhi airport to see what India can become if they get their shit together politically.
Great article, I don't see Turkey as booming (growth yes...but definitely not on the levels of other developing countries). If I had to live somewhere it would probably be in Latin America...maybe Buenos Aires and conduct business in Brazil...thoughts
Women: Brazil>Russia>China>India?
Good book that provides both economic and political history of BRIC nations, http://www.amazon.com/Six-Sizzling-Markets-Profit-Investing/dp/04701788…
Does China include Hong Kong?
Brazil!!!! Investment Bankers are making money hand over fist and some of the largest M&A deals in 2010 have been in Brazil!
Plus they just found some of the largest oil field resources in the world! Think anybody else is going to do a $70bn equity raise anytime soon? As for job security, they're building out their entire infrastructure over the next five years with a ton of FDI coming in...even if there is a bubble it won't pop until after 2016.
(Oh and lets not forget Florianopolis where one in two females are models)
Agora eu voy a trabalhar em mis modelos financeiros :D
Woo hoo Florianopolis, I will be there next semester studying abroad!!
I won't comment on the other 3 but the growth in Brazil has strong fundamentals with consumer-driven spending, natural resources, clean energy, financial services, infrastructure, tourism & hospitality, real estate, food processing (top producer of chicken & beef), and beverages all bolstered by good public policy and regulation in the court system. Brazil is here to stay, and I like the investment and finance prospects there through 2018 much more than I do the U.S.
Eu acho que voces todos aprender Portugues e estao pronta pela nova ordem econômica mundial. Também as pessoas trabalham duro em São Paulo por isso desista de seus sonhos de carnaval e as praias por favor!!
This is an interesting question. I would have to choose Brazil for its women and the sustainability of its growth. It should benefit greatly over the decade from its fertile farmland and other natural resources. Rousseff is a bit too left-of-center for my liking, but no place is perfect.
^Silver banana'd.
Priya Rai is revolting at times.
I'm gonna start looking into BRIC ETFs, particularly ones in India, China and Brazil. Any suggestions?
PIN + INXX + INDY are ones to look at for india...
Also, I just reached 200 banana points! Yay!
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