Matt and I have a year-end tradition:
On the Sunday after Thanksgiving, while our NYC office is still quiet, we sit in the lounge chairs by our big, south-facing windows...
As we gaze over lower Manhattan towards the Statue of Liberty, we ask ourselves an important question about the year ahead:
“Where should we be looking for big investment opportunities?”
But this year, instead of keeping our thoughts to ourselves, we’d like to share some of our ideas with you.
Here are the top three sectors we’ll be focusing on in 2015:
Growth Sector #1: The “Private Stock Market”
If you’re a longtime Crowdability reader, you already understand why the Private Stock Market is at the top of our list:
Investing in early-stage, private companies has proven to be the most profitable asset class in history. The 5 most profitable investments of all time were made in companies when they were just getting off the ground.
This has been true for well over 80 years...
And we believe this trend will continue.
Groundbreaking technological innovations, combined with new financial regulation like the JOBS Act, will create more opportunities for early-stage companies...
And in turn, more opportunities for investors to profit.
Growth Sector #2: Going Global
For the last five years, the U.S. equities market has been a fantastic place to invest. Since early 2009, the market has nearly tripled.
We’d be thrilled if that sort of performance continued...
But we’re not counting on it.
Instead, we’re placing bets on other markets around the globe...
Markets where hyper levels of growth are far more likely.
I’m talking about emerging and “frontier” markets… places that are only just beginning to modernize and attract foreign investment.
As one example, look at the country of Myanmar...
Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, was once primarily known for its role in the global heroin trade.
But as the country has modernized, and global sanctions have been lifted, many experts believe Myanmar could become the next East Asian growth market.
The Financial Times recently called it the “lurking Asian tiger.”
Its GDP is expected to grow at roughly 8% per year for the next 5 years – compare that to the 1.9% GDP growth we saw in the US in 2013.
On top of that, the IMF expects foreign direct investment in the country to double in the same time period.
Combine that with the country’s excellent location for trade and its low cost of labor, and Myanmar could become a manufacturing hub for much of East Asia.
So in 2015, in addition to private equity opportunities, we’ll be looking at making investments in Frontier Markets like Myanmar.
Growth Sector #3: Hidden Gems
Matt and I aren’t active traders...
We don’t use charts or technical analysis to make investment decisions.
Instead, we rely on in-depth, fundamental research.
And we generally focus our research on innovative technology companies.
That’s what makes us well suited for private market investing.
However, this type of analysis also helps us when we invest in the public markets...
Especially when it comes to small-cap stocks.
We’ve written about these types of opportunities before… we call them “Public Venture” opportunities.
Generally, these are small-to-mid-cap companies with “disruptive” technologies – the type of game-changing technologies that haven’t gone mainstream yet.
These opportunities fly under the radar, and they can generate tremendous returns for early investors.
According to Morningstar, since 1926, small-caps have outperformed large-caps by roughly 50% each year.
And that’s just the average.
As we move into the new year, we’ll actively be looking for high-potential small-cap technology opportunities.
A Holiday Gift For You
As part of our 2015 planning exercise, we’ve compiled hundreds of pages of internal research notes on the growth opportunities we mentioned above – as well as a few more opportunities we haven’t mentioned yet.
And as a way of saying “Happy Holidays” to you and our other loyal readers, we’d like to share some of our research with you.
As soon as we get a sense of which opportunity you’re most interested in, we’ll put together a free, in-depth Crowdability Research Report on it.
The report will contain a thorough opportunity analysis, as well as actionable ideas to give your portfolio a boost in 2015.
To let us know what you’re most interested in, just take this single-question survey.
We’ll put together a report on whichever opportunity receives the most votes.
Click here to take this short survey now »
Happy investing.
Best Regards,
Founder
Crowdability.com
