It's time to invest overseas
If you're like the majority of people, your search engine of choice is likely Google. You probably use Microsoft Word to create documents, and the company's Hotmail or Outlook services for email, unless you use Google's Gmail.
You fondly remember Johnson & Johnson baby shampoo, you likely (occasionally) drink a product from The Coca-Cola Company. Your computer is probably a Hewlett Packard, Lenovo or Samsung.
You likely have an Apple iPhone in your pocket, bag or nearby. 75% of the food in your pantry is almost certainly made by a company that isn't based in Australia.
Your car is made by an overseas company. As are the planes that fly overhead. You've likely used Amazon, Netflix or Google to watch a movie or make a purchase.
Your credit card company is foreign, as is PayPal, which many people use when they shop online.
Your petrol comes from Exxon Mobil, BP or Royal Dutch Shell. Your antibiotics come from an overseas-based company, as do your pain relief tablets.
Invest in the global village
I'm sure you're getting the picture by now. We live in an internationalised, global world. Goods, services and money flow back and forth almost oblivious to national borders.
There's one exception, though — investors.
As people, we're a patriotic bunch. And that's to the good. But as investors, patriotism isn't a great trait. And it's not the only thing that keeps us from investing overseas.
We don't instinctively know the companies as well. The timezones are different. The currency.
But ask yourself: Do you really know CSL better than Microsoft? Do you know BHP better than Coca-Cola? Is your experience of Apple's products really inferior to your understanding of Santos' operations?
I didn't think so.
Don't get me wrong… there are some wonderful companies listed right here on the ASX. You should absolutely buy shares in the best value, highest quality Australian businesses you can find. But don't just stop there.
Going for growth
Two tech businesses, Google and Netflix, boomed overnight. Google's share price jumped more than 10% in after-hours trading, and Netflix was up 18% during market hours.
These might be tech businesses, but they're two of the most globalised and easily understood companies in the world. I'd guess that 75% of Australians use Google regularly, and there are already 1.4 million Aussies who watch Netflix.
You eat, use and interact with hundreds of products each day — products which are owned by companies listed overseas. The companies, especially those listed in the US, have the same sort of regulation and oversight we do.
Their annual reports are just as available as those of Australian companies. And, as I mentioned earlier, you probably know the products better than those made by most Australian companies.
Ignore borders
Do you know any large, well known ASX companies whose shares shot up 10% or 18% yesterday? I didn't think so. That's the other benefit of investing overseas — especially in the US. There just aren't a sufficient number of ASX-listed businesses with that sort of growth potential.
That's not to say there are none at all — but avoiding the likes of Netflix or Google (and plenty of others besides) just because they're listed on a different exchange is, well, kind of nuts, to be plain.
Yes, I understand the barriers.
But if, say, Woolworths was listed on the NSW exchange and traded in NSW dollars, and if BHP was listed on the Victorian exchange and quoted in Victorian dollars, would anyone seriously suggest Victorians shouldn't buy Woolies or that New South Welshmen shouldn't look at BHP?
And yet, that's what we do when we ignore some of the high quality businesses (and great investment candidates) on overseas markets.
We can help change that.
98% of the world's investment opportunities are overseas. It's time for more Australians to take the opportunity — especially if the Aussie dollar keeps falling, as many currency analysts are predicting.
