Hi Scott, I've watched & studied JM enough now that I'm ready to start picking up some shares at this price level. I recall you've owned it for a while, & I'm curious which shares you own (if you still do?).
Of the options quoted by the brokerage I'm in, the ADR Jmhly and U.S. OTC Jarlf hardly trade at all, the London Jarb ditto, & the Singapore version J36 is plenty liquid but kinda expensive to trade, as I'm thinking DCA over a fairly long period of time. Any other angles you know of both with liquidity and that aren't so expensive if you want to spread out the buying?
Or is it Jardine Strategic you own? Just remembered that's an option too.
Thanks in advance, AJ
Comments
That said, I still like emerging markets as a long-term holding, but do not have the level of stock or bond fund exposure that I did a couple of years ago. What I have remaining is a smallish position in Pimco EM All-Asset, a small position in another EM broad fund and small "foothold" positions in Matthews (MSMLX, which is closed and MACSX.)
The largest EM position remaining is Jardine, although I now have both the ADR for Strategic (JSHLY) and Jardine Matheson's foreign ordinary (JARLF). I can't seem to purchase the foreign ordinary for Strategic. I'd be fairly interested in holding the Singapore shares, but don't have a way to do so and I'd imagine the trading would be expensive.
It's really a matter of having a belief in Asia's long-term growth. I've said before that that's going to encounter some bumps in the road and I think you're seeing that now - and I think it could get worse (not that it's going to be rosy elsewhere, either, in that scenario) before it's over.
That said, I wanted to own a specific EM company that I felt was a very strong long-term holding and I thought Jardine, with its mixture of businesses and fascinating history, was a perfect fit. I've held it for a while (well, for me) now - I still have no plans to sell and if things turn further South around the world, you could see it go down further.
Matheson, in the meantime, does at least offer a mild dividend. I do continue to look at the various businesses and I think they're quite interesting, but then you dig down further and find more and more. If you look at subsidiary Dairy Farm, then you look at its 50% ownership of leading restaurant chain Maxim's, then you look further and Maxim's owns the entire equity of Starbucks in Hong Kong and Macau and opened the first Starbucks in HK. You can see an overview of their restaurants here: http://www.maxims.com.hk/en/about/cat_01_a.asp
Additionally, while a number of stats suggest a China slowdown, you still have signs of growth, such as Yum Brands dumping Long John Silvers and A & W this week in order to focus more on growing its brands in China. In terms of Yum Brands and Pizza Hut, Jardine Restaurant Group is one of the largest international Pizza Hut franchisees and also runs KFCs in some outlets.
Of particular interest to me is Dairy Farm's interest in IKEA stores in Hong Kong and Taiwan. But there's a lot more to it, including hotels (Mandarin Oriental), real estate, etc. It's really a very large in scope play on Asia.
The other one that I looked at was Swire, which I think also has a terrific collection of businesses, but has not done as well and that stock has - over the long-term - been quite a bit more volatile, possibly due to its large holding in Cathay Pacific Airlines.
Definitely do research, but overall, I still see Jardine as a long-term holding. I do not plan on adding anymore, but I don't plan on selling.
The Singapore shares are avail. thru Vanguard for $50 a transaction plus a 0.475% Singapore transaction tax - a bit rich for what I had in mind - and the ADR and OTC versions go for days at a time with really minimal trading. I really don't like illiquid investments. So, the dilemma ...
Thanks for your thoughts.