Ian Bezek - Emerging Value

The Business Brew

Ian Bezek stops by The Business Brew to discuss his thesis on why emerging markets, specifically Colombia and Mexico, might be extraordinary value today. Ian is best known for his investment writing, which supports his day to day life.

His primary focus is Latin America. So much so that he moved from New York to Guatemala. He now resides in Colombia, which gives him unique perspective on the political landscape in that country.

Mentioned in the episode:

John Hempton on “averaging down” - http://brontecapital.blogspot.com/2017/01/when-do-you-average-down.html

Ian’s Twitter account - @irbezek

Ian’s Seeking Alpha Page - https://seekingalpha.com/author/ian-bezek

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Detailed Show Notes

4:40 – Ian’s background

5:23 – Why Ian moved to South America (specifically Guatemala)

11:30 – Are emerging markets inherently lower quality than the US?

13:40 – Why Colombia, why now?

25:40 – How Ian is thinking about specific companies in Colombia

30:30 – What is the Colombian banking market structure?

36:50 – Memories of March 2020

40:20 – Why Ian prefers the airports to the rest of aerospace

46:50 – Thoughts about Mexico as a market

51:50 – Home country bias

58:05 – What Ian’s writing enables for his investments

1:05:50 – In many ways Latin America might be what the US was after WW2

1:10:35 – More discussion on Zoom vs. Qurate

1:16:20 – How Ian and Bill have evolved as investors and then chit chat