The World’s Top 100 Non-Financial MNEs from Developing and Transition Economies Ranked by Foreign Assets

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The World’s Top 100 Non-Financial MNEs from Developing and Transition Economies based on Foreign Assets in 2018* are listed in the table below:

* – Data corresponds to the financial year from 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019.

Source: World Investment Report 2020, UNCTAD

A few observations:

  • 44 out of the 100 firms listed above are from China (incl. HongKong)
  • The small country of Taiwan is represented by 7 firms mostly from the computer and tech hardware sector

Disclosure: No Positions

Travel and Tourism – Economic Impact 2020: Infographic

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During this global pandemic it seems silly to discuss about travel and tourism. But it is important to understand the impact of this industry on the economy of many countries. While travel has plunged heavily this year in normal times tourism is a major contributor to the GDP and provided jobs to millions of people. In some tiny countries, tourism is the only industry to speak of.

The following infographic shows some of the important economic impacts of travel and tourism in 2019:

Click to enlarge

Source: World Travel & Tourism Council

Stock Market Participation by Retail Investors is Rising in Brazil

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Individual investors are participating more in the Brazilian equity market according to an article by Claus Born at Franklin Templeton. He notes that low-interest rate is driving more people looking for yield to the equities. Currently the short-term interest rate, the selic, is at just 2% relative to about 14% four years ago.

So it is not just in the US where people are indirectly forced to invest in stocks with interest on savings earning practically 0%. In Brazil also low-interest rate is leading more savers to invest in the stock market.

From the article:

In this low-yield environment, many of them have started turning to the equity market. The number of trading accounts has been increasing exponentially. Brazil’s stock exchange has seen a surge from around 600,000 accounts in 2008-2017 to nearly three million accounts today.2 (See chart below)

Is this the peak of the trend? In our view, probably not. With a population of more than 210 million inhabitants, still less than 1.5% of Brazilians are currently engaged in the stock market. However, new investors are discovering the potential opportunities. Not only are more women investing in Brazil’s market, up from 22% in 2018 to 25% today, but it is attracting growing interest among the younger generations of both genders.3 More than 70% of investors are aged 46 and under, representing more than 25% of value invested in the stock market.4

Notes:

2. Source: Brasil, Bolsa, Balcão (B3). Number of individual trading accounts in Brazil, as of July 30, 2020.

3. Source: B3, as of August 2020.

4. Ibid.

Source: Local Investors Discover Brazilian Stocks, Franklin Templeton

Also see:

China’s Economic Growth After Coronavirus: WSJ Video

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The economy of China grew 3.2% in second quarter relative to last year. WSJ notes that China could be the only major economy to grow in 2020. While other countries including the US and developed Europe are struggling to contain the corona virus, China is able to focus on economic growth as it first brought the virus under control. For instance, a recent article noted that Wuhan, the original epi-center of the virus has seen air traffic and passenger volumes reach pre-pandemic levels recently. This is surprising indeed given that Wuhan seemed to collapse earlier this year.


Source: WSJ

The World’s Top 100 Non-Financial MNEs based on Foreign Assets 2019

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The World’s Top 100 Non-Financial Multi-National Enterprises (MNEs) based on Foreign Assets in 2019 are listed in the table below:

Source: World Investment Report 2020, UNCTAD

A few observations:

  • Among the top five firms are oil majors Royal Dutch Shell(RDS-A), Total(TOT) and BP(BP).
  • Japan-based multinational conglomerate Softbank Group took the fourth spot.
  • China has the largest representation from emerging markets with a total of 9 firms.
  • Overall the list is dominated by companies from the US, developed Europe and Japan.

Disclosure: No Positions