The World’s Top 100 Non-Financial MNEs by Foreign Assets from Transition and Developing Economies 2016

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I posted the list of The World’s Top 100 Non-Financial MNEs by Foreign Assets 2016 yesterday from the World Investment Report 2017 published by UNCTAD.

In this post, let us take a quick look at the top 100 MNE by foreign assets from transition and developing economies. The attached Excel below also shows how much revenue the top MNEs generate from foreign countries relative to total revenue.

The World’s Top 100 Non-Financial MNEs by Foreign Assets from Transition and Developing Economies in 2015 are shown in the table below:

Source: World Investment Report 2017, UNCTAD

Two observations:

  • Firms from China dominates the above list. This is not surprising since China is the largest developing economy.
  • Gazprom(OGZPY) and Lukoil (LUKOY) the only Russian firms that appear in this ranking are from the energy industry.

Download:  The World’s Top 100 Non-Financial MNEs by Foreign Assets from Transition and Developing Economies 2016(in Excel)

Disclosure: No Positions

The World’s Top 100 Non-Financial MNEs by Foreign Assets 2016

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The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) released its annual World Investment Report 2017. This report includes a wealth of information on global trade.

One section of the report that discusses about Multi-National Companies (MNCs) (or Multi-National Enterprises (MNEs)) is of interest to global investors. The attached Excel below also shows how much revenue the top MNCs generate from foreign countries relative to total revenue.

The World’s Top 100 Non-Financial MNEs based on foreign assets in 2016 are shown in the table below:

Source: World Investment Report 2017, UNCTAD

Two observations:

  • Most of the 100 companies are from the developed world as these firms hold leadership positions in their respective industries and have substantial operations around the world.
  • A few emerging markets firms such as Vale(VALE), America Movil(AMX), CNOOC (CEO) from China have made it to this list.

Download: The World’s Top 100 Non-Financial MNEs by Foreign Assets 2016 (in Excel)

Disclosure: No Positions

The World’s Top 20 Dividend Payers in Q1, 2017

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The World’s Biggest 20 Dividend Payers in the first quarter of this year was published in the recently released Janus Henderson Global Dividend Index – June 2017 report by  Janus Henderson Investors, These giants alone paid out $57.81 billion in dividends.

Sources: 

Global growth boosts dividends in first quarter, CityWire UK

Janus Henderson Global Dividend Index – June 2017,  Janus Henderson Investors

A few observations:

  • Of the total $218 paid out in dividends globally, US firms accounted for nearly half the amount (or about $107 billion).
  • While the oil sector retained its top position as the dividend payer in the US market, the banking sector is catching up well with Bank of America(BAC) and Citigroup(C) boosting dividends.
  • Among the European firms listed above, the usual suspects are notably missing. The presence of Nordea Bank(NRBAY) of Sweden shows its strength and resilience in the banking sector.

Disclosure: No positions

On The Long-Term Performance Of Pakistan Stock Market

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Pakistan used to a frontier market according to MSCI classification. However on June 1, 2017 the index provider reclassified the country as an emerging market and now the country is a constituent of the MSCI Emerging Markets Index.

I recently came across an article in the BBC that discussed the story of Mattias Martinsson’s investment adventures in the country’s equity market. From the article:

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index is made up of 23 high-growth economies including India, China and Brazil.

Pakistan’s main index, the KSE 100 has consistently outperformed the index.

If you had invested $100 into the KSE in January last year, it would now be worth $164. If you had put it into the MSCI, it would only be worth $137. That’s a success that helped make the case for it to be included.

KSE vs MSCI graph

Being in the Emerging Markets Index is a reputational reassurance to investors about the growth prospects and transparency of companies in that country.

Pakistan used to be a part of the index, but was downgraded to frontier market because of the exchange’s decision to shut down for four months in late 2008 after prices dropped dramatically. That meant foreign investors couldn’t get their money out.

“We were kicked out in 2008 after the financial crisis because of measures Pakistan took at the time to stop foreign funds from fleeing the country. Obviously foreign investors got a rude shock,” says Nadeem Naqvi, the Karachi Stock Exchange’s managing director.

“We did a lot of lobbying and reforms to get re-included again into this index,” he tells me from Karachi. And he assures me and investors, that the KSE will be a liquid market.

“Parliament passed the Pakistan Stock Exchanges Act in 2012, which has improved corporate governance and reforms to prevent a reoccurrence of what happened in 2008,” he says.

Source: A long term view: The man who took a chance on Pakistan, The BBC, June 1, 2017

The KSE-100 Index is the benchmark index of Pakistan. It has soared from under 1,300 in 2002 to close at 48,555 on June 2nd. The long-term return of the index shown in local currency is indeed astonishing.

Click to enlarge

Source: FT

The addition of Pakistan into the MSCI Emerging Market will provide addition spotlight and exposure of the domestic equities to global investors.

Currently only one Pakistani company trades on the OTC market. Pakistan Petroleum seems to trade rarely under the ticker PKKKY.

For US investors, looking to gain exposure to Pakistan, the Global X MSCI Pakistan ETF (PAK) offers a simple and easy option.The fund has an asset base of just $27 million and offers exposure to 41 of the largest and most liquid firms. Similar to other emerging countries, financials have the largest weighting in the fund with about one-third of the assets allocated to this sector.

Download: Global X MSCI Pakistan ETF Factsheet (in pdf)

Disclosure: No positions