A Dose of Healthy Scepticism
Of course, this is Brazil we're talking about, not Switzerland. Let's not get carried away. Investing in emerging markets is a game of managing risk, not avoiding it. Currency fluctuations can wipe out gains overnight, and political headlines can send markets into a tailspin for reasons that have little to do with corporate performance. The path is unlikely to be a smooth, upward curve. Anyone telling you otherwise is probably trying to sell you something.
However, the argument here is that by focusing on the foundational infrastructure, an investor might insulate themselves from the fickle tastes of fashion consumers. Whether H&M’s new line is a hit or a miss is almost irrelevant to the payment processor or the e-commerce platform. They get paid either way. That, to me, is a far more compelling long-term proposition. The question for any investor, then, isn't whether H&M will sell a lot of tops. It's who stands to profit from every single transaction, regardless of what's in the shopping bag.