June 2009

In this 2 part series.. We will venture into the last frontiers. Developed world treasuries are yielding close to nothing; US, UK, Japan etc are all yielding sub 1% returns.. but the emerging markets and the more riskier ones at that, are returning some high yields, of course, this will be pricing in the risk appetite for the investor.

In Part 1, I will look at Iraq then in part 2 we visit our brothers and sisters in Zimbabwe where the economy is now dollarised. i.e. the US dollar is also acceptable as legal tender.

In Iraq, there is a new $10 Million hedge fund; called Babylon Fund which is investing exclusively in Iraqi quoted companies or Iraqi exposed companies(i.e. companies which earn most of their income from Iraq reliant activities) The Iraqi Stock Market has a market capitalisation of around $2 Billion , with 75% of this being financial services industry.

The Market has around 80 listed securities, and yes these are more than in Kenya. If you are wondering what about the Oil companies, there are no listed Oil companies because the government owns the oil companies and they are not publicly traded. The Iraqi Stock Exchange trades for only two-and-a-half hours a day, twice a week, on Mondays and Wednesdays. During these sessions, Only about a quarter of the roughly 80 companies listed on the exchange trade, with a total turnover of between US$2 million and US$4 million.

For more information click on below links: Hedge Week and Final Alternatives