China: 2 images worth 2,000 words

With kids heading back to school this week, it’s a good time to reflect on what they’re learning about entrepreneurship. This week a Chinese-American entrepreneur penned an op-ed that really resonated...

Amen of the Week:

“You’d think that a profit-and-loss forecast would be a bedrock concept for a program teaching people to start their own businesses. You’d be wrong. I’ve mentored graduate students at prestigious universities who couldn’t tell me how they were going to cover things like payroll taxes, workers’ compensation and other basic costs... Too many U.S. business schools are focused on producing future leaders for big corporations and Wall Street firms—not equipping people to venture out on their own. The story is very different in China, where I was born and educated before coming to the U.S. in 1994. Business schools there focus on the basics of running a small business and how to create a profitable company.”

- Ken Kuang, founder of Torrey Hills Technology LLC "Teaching Entrepreneurs to Do More than Dream" Wall Street Journal (8/17/2015)

Speaking of China, folks are finally beginning to recognize the issues that Fielder has been highlighting to our clients since 2011. This debt-fueled real estate party will end badly. These two images are worth 2,000 words…

For an eye-opening example of our Field Research, you can watch a short video here of my real estate tour across five Chinese cities in 2011. Fielder values front-line perspective like this because it gives us the context and conviction necessary to navigate uncertain times.

Despite my near-term bearish view on China, I am incredibly bullish long-term (on its people at least). Over the past seven years, I’ve visited a dozen cities there and established many wonderful relationships. It feels like the US must have felt a century ago: messy, volatile, uncertain. Yet, people were determined to make progress one way or another, just like those I’ve met in China.

So buckle your seat belts, folks. The ride is likely to get bumpy -- even here. China matters. Just be sure you’re driving in the right direction: toward opportunity, not just away from scary places.

Yours in the Field,

Frank Byrd, CFA

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