Putnam Taps Into Consumerism Abroad

While American consumers are accustomed to traveling by air and buying new cars, travel and leisure sectors have become a real growth area in many developing countries, and a trend Putman’s Shigeki Makino and Bradford Greenleaf bet will continue, according to MarketWatch.   The co-managers of the Putnam Global Equity Fund have $2.1 billion, or roughly half of their portfolio, invested in U.S. companies, with the remainder abroad, mirroring the MSCI World Index. Only a small portion, 4%, is invested in emerging markets.   Lipper data shows the fund has gained 14.6% on average annually in the past three years, compared to 13.7% among its peers.   In the past 12 months, the portfolio’s A-shares are up 23.5%, compared to 20.6% average gains among its peers.   Makino likes Air France-KLM  airlines, which had many routes between Europe and various emerging markets.   “Their planes are very full, and the outlook for supply and demand is positive,” he said. “We like all airlines around the world, and Air France-KLM is one of the largest with a strong balance sheet, and the company is bringing down costs and is one of the cheapest on valuation,” Makino said.   The fund also has a stake in Petroleum Geo-Services, a geo-physical company in Norway that makes seismic maps used by oil drillers.   “Oil prices are high, and with the lack of previous exploration, companies are now scrambling for new reserves,” he said.   Likewise, automobile companies, which have been struggling here in the U.S., are enjoying better growth abroad. Suzuki Motors, for example, he said, depends upon emerging markets including India and Indonesia for about half of all sales, he said.   The staff of Money Management Executive ("MME") has prepared these capsule summaries based on reports published by the news sources to which they are attributed. Those news sources are not associated with MME, and have not prepared, sponsored, endorsed, or approved these summaries.