Goldman Sachs has launched a fund that places a bet on the future growth of four emerging market behemoths.
The new fund,
called the Goldman Sachs BRIC Fund, is an all-cap, style-neutral fund
that seeks long-term capital appreciation through equity investments in
Brazil, Russia, India and China, or in issuers that substantially
participate in these markets, according to Goldman.
The company says
its faith in the future growth of these countries is grounded in hard
data. Goldman issues a research paper calling these countries future
"economic powerhouses" in 2001. The company's economists project the
combined economies of the four countries will surpass the G6-the United
States, Japan. Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Italy-by 2040.
Among the facts
cited by in the company's reports is that the four "BRIC" economies
account for about 43% of the world population and 9% of the world GDP,
yet currently only make up 4% of market capitalization.
"This is very low
compared to developed markets and suggests significant market
appreciation to come," Goldman stated in a press release.
"[Goldman Sachs]
was investing in BRIC and other emerging market countries long before
we pioineered the BRIC concept, so we belive we can offer key
advantages to investors," said Maria Gordon, one of the fund's four
portfolio managers.