“Where am I going to find the next Airbnb or Uber? The next big investment opportunity?”
That’s the question I hear time and again in this recovering economy. Yes, the latest U.S. jobs report was underwhelming. The supply chain crisis has finally hit the world’s most valuable company: Apple. And inflation has even arrived in deflation-prone Japan.
But a recovery — choppy as it may be — is no doubt underway, at least in the corporate world. The global recovery after the 2008 financial crisis was uneven, but some of the hottest companies on the planet right now arose out of that era because they picked up on trends that would dominate the next decade.
“An unintended consequence of the housing crisis is that we created an entire generation of people who didn’t want to own things,” said Leah Bennett, president of Westwood Wealth Management. “That’s when Airbnb and Uber took off.”
So, what are the unintended consequences of Covid-19? Where do you invest?
We asked five veteran money managers about their best investment ideas for people who have $10,000 to put into the market right now in the latest edition of our quarterly “Where to Invest $10,000” series.
Russ Koesterich, a portfolio manager with BlackRock Global Allocation Fund, says that U.S. consumers are in the best shape they’ve been in decades.
Some experts think it’s time to push further into equities. One strategist has his eye on Asian stocks, whose valuations are already pricing in more potential bad news from the region. Another sees promise in Latin American equities, particularly those in Chile. Find out why.
And the next Uber? Bennett, of Westwood Wealth Management, has good feelings about commercial kitchens and restaurants. The space is rapidly moving toward automation and has been highly disrupted. Sound appetizing to you? — Charlie Wells
Don’t Miss
Opinion
In Bloomberg Opinion this week, Mark Gilbert says hedge funds are feasting on ESG’s profit leftovers:
Asset managers are under increasing pressure to stop investing in companies that worsen the climate emergency through heavy carbon emissions. But recent events suggest that engaging with these companies beats disinvestment as a strategy to improve their environmental performance.
Read his full argument here.
You Ask, We Answer
I’m in my mid-20s. Ever since graduating from undergrad, I’ve been thinking about pursuing a masters in either information systems or an MBA. For those of you who have a masters, was it worth going into debt for? Did you get a big enough pay increase? Did it open up more job opportunities for you? — Imani Porter, 25, Washington D.C.
Think of the Masters in Information Systems as a technical specialization and the MBA as a career versatility degree. If you love IT, then the best MIS programs provide high placement rates into a faster-than-average-growth sector, with average starting salaries of around $85,000. Given annual tuitions of $19,000-$25,000, the ROI on your one-to-two-year in this field is good. If you seek broader career options, then the most prestigious MBA programs offer high job placement rates, excellent average starting salaries above $150,000 (increasing 1%-7% annually), and a broader range of employers. Top MBAs cost much more than MIS degrees, roughly $100,000 annual total cost for a two-year degree – but high salaries mean top salary-to-debt ratios of two-to-one and thus good ROI. But keep in mind that getting into a top program and landing a high-paying job is no easy feat in any economy. — Paul Bodine, Founder & President, Admitify.com
Send us questions about your own financial dilemmas to [email protected].
Coming up
- It’s a bumper week for bank earnings. Wells Fargo, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley report today. Goldman Sachs reports tomorrow.
- The deadline for U.S. taxpayers who got an extension this year is Friday. Looking at you, Lisa.
- That’s the same day the contactless card payment limit increases to 100 pounds ($137) in Britain.
