Latin American dominate World Cup and investment opportunities

J.P. Morgan Asset Management has highlighted that not only are Latin American countries dominating the World Cup, they are also offering compelling investment opportunities.

As Argentina, Mexico, Brazil and Chile outperform their Western opponents (such as France, Spain and England) on the pitch, J.P. Morgan Asset Management's Emerging Markets Equity team, which manages USD 1.4 billion in Latin America regional portfolios, says the region is also showing increasing investment capability off the pitch.

Having been investing in the region since 1992, J.P. Morgan Asset Management said the investment opportunities have developed and they are now finding an increasing number of investable companies in areas such as infrastructure as well as sectors focusing on domestic consumption, for example, retailers, telecommunications and financial services.

Highlighting the opportunities in the region, Luis Carrillo, Portfolio Manager of Latin American equities at J.P. Morgan Asset Management said, "World Cup fever and the solid performance from Latin American football teams are highlighting the increasing dominance of the region in global terms - both footballing and financial markets. Brazil will be hosting the next World Cup in 2014 and we are already seeing huge public and private spending on infrastructure in this increasingly domestic driven economy."

In conclusion, Carrillo highlighted that Latin America is a lot more than just a commodity play and that he believes the region is under utilised from an investment perspective.