Asia’s Low Rollers
This week as part of the monitoring and review process of our outside equity managers, we had the representative from the San Francisco based Matthews Funds in our office. Matthews was one of the very early firms that saw what could happen in the Asia economies if their markets were opened to outside capital. At the meeting we discussed all the normal economic and valuation issues that surround the markets. Matthews believes one of the driving forces behind investing capital in the emerging countries is the growing number of their populations that are moving from the farms to the factory creating the rise of a new “Middle Class.” When we pressed our Matthews representative on what the number one “thing” that is desired by this new middle class, the answer was surprising. It wasn’t a new car or a bigger home but a desire for more leisure time. A surprising answer coming from a group where work weeks of 60 hours are the norm and where the workers are demanding even more hours of work time. How is the number one desire for leisure time compatible with a desire to work more hours?