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Continued from previous page
“Emerging Markets” co-panelist Manuel Montero,WG’73, Founder and CEO of SAFTPAY, strongly backed
the region’s economic promise, asserting the presence of untapped
entrepreneurial opportunity. “There’s not much cash
for new entrepreneurship and a lot of cash goes in and out
to Miami very quickly,” he said. “It’s difficult to start from
scratch anywhere except in the U.S., where there is a robust
venture capital market.”
In India, said Aggarwal, “there has been phenomenal performance
in markets. Futures and options markets are only
four years old, and are already four times the size of the cash
stock market. You have to take into account currency depreciation
in some markets, but it’s not a major factor in India.”
Touching on Bassini’s earlier theme, he commented, “A
benefit is the Western legal and accounting systems based on
British laws. It’s easier for many Westerners to do business
there than in some emerging economies.”
There are risks — infrastructure shortfalls, overdependence
on foreign capital. There is political instability as a result of
the coalition government, and from global oil prices.
“We think the market rallied too much and investors need graphic reach, everyone is trying to get the scale to leverage to get realistic. Areas of opportunity include arbitrage, since the power of the institution while maintaining innovation. inefficiencies exist in the market,” Aggarwal said. “All emerging markets have risks, but a lot of the risks I saw in the mid- 1990s have gone away. Currency devaluation never happened in India. One of the problems is that India is bucketed with emerging markets, and if Thailand catches cold, India sneezes.”
Maintaining Competitiveness in Global Market
In an separate panel on “Thought Leadership,” Jerry Wind recommended thinking of outsourcing partners as true partners, not an us-versus-them transactional relationship. “Create the most powerful network of firms and think of yourself as orchestrating a network for the generation of ideas.”
It’s the generation of ideas that will distinguish companies that stay competitive in the global marketplace. Gerald Adolph, Senior Vice President, Booz Allen Hamilton, specializes in strategy and operations for technology-driven businesses. During the “Competitive Strategy” panel, he explained, “Many companies are struggling about how to bring the power of the institution together. Whether its geographic reach, everyone is trying to get the scale to leverage the power of the institution while maintaining innovation. Commodification happens very quickly—drugs, technology, consumer products.”
Investment firm maverick Alfred P. West Jr., WG’66, Founder and Chairman of SEI Investment Company, said, “If you have competition, you change the game to one you can win. You must continue to innovate.” He has found that 90% of value comes from asset allocation rather than stock picking, and more recently, the development of client services has become critical.
Advised West, “We always go after emerging client needs, not just what they tell you. We find that they ask you for something tactical, and we try to give them what they need, not what they ask for.”
Said West, “If you think you are secure you’re at risk. If you accept risk, you’re secure.”
Story: Kelly Andrews with additional reporting by Brandon Dunn, James Yu, and Joanne Spigonardo
Photos: Stuart Watson
Coverage of the 2007 Economic Summit from Knowledge@Wharton
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Character is what counts the most, whether you are scouting for a new quarterback in the NFL draft or hiring a young commodities trader.
(knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?
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