Power of Capital

Explore and understand how investment capital is transforming the world’s most critical emerging markets

In Power of Capital: An Adventure Capitalist’s Journey to a Sustainable Future, distinguished author and Chief Investment Officer at Global Delta Capital, Asha Mehta, shares a simultaneously daring and heartening exploration of rapidly evolving emerging markets. Delivering equal doses of business discussion and geopolitical insight, the author examines the changes gripping the globe and why the average person—and investor—should care.

The book provides an on-the-ground perspective informed by the author’s personal experiences and visits to far-flung regions of the world. It also shares incisive commentary on issues crucial to continuing global economic growth, including terrorism and instability, corruption and autocracy, and sustainable investing.

Power of Capital offers:

• Illuminating insights of China’s new role as a global economic powerhouse
• Pioneering perspectives of how sustainable investing delivers both alpha and impact
• Explorations of how globalization and technology disrupt companies and sectors
• In-depth discussions of data’s new and central role as the primary store and creator of value in the modern economy
• The case for women as the greatest emerging market in the world

A page-turning read from a singular and worldly generational leader, Power of Capital: An Adventure Capitalist’s Journey to a Sustainable Future offers a unique and thought-provoking trip to the globe’s most fascinating emerging markets.

Adventure Capital: An Introduction 1

What Is an Emerging Market? 2

Power of Capital 4

Technology: AI for Alpha and Impact 6

What Does the Future Hold? 8

1 What Is an Emerging Market?: China: The Opportunities and Risks Within the World’s Second-Largest Economy 11

She Will Shake the World 13

Hot Stocks in the Heart of Capital 14

All Rules Are Off 17

Trade War or Tech War 19

Sino- Sustainability: How China Went Woke 22

The Next Center of the Universe 25

2 Gem on the Pacific Rim: Vietnam: From a War-Torn Past to a Sizzling Future 27

The Fall of Saigon 28

Dairy Queen: Innovation in the South Pacific 30

Turbulence 33

The Silver- Tongued Minister 36

Environmental and Social Risks at the Red River Delta 38

His Eyes Are Always Watching 41

3 Global Flows: Spotlight on Saudi Arabia: The Greatest Story That Nobody Knows 43

The Commodities Rut 46

Woman in a Strange Land 49

Opening the Doors 51

Crown’s Jewel 55

Gleam of Success 58

4 Submerging Markets? Corruption and Autocracy: Romania’s Unexpected Rise and the Role of Capital Markets 61

A Sinister Beauty 63

From Hard Communism to Hard Capitalism 66

Sustainable Markets 69

Financial Returns and Financial Inclusion 71

Biutiful Bucharest 73

Castle in the Sky? 75

5 Terrorism and Instability: When Markets Become Uninvestable: North Africa and the Middle East 77

Buying When There’s Blood in the Streets 80

Capital as a Weapon of War 83

The Cost of Divestment 85

Investing in Change 87

The Long Road Out of the Ruins 88

6 Harnessing Domestic-Driven Demand: India’s Unique Opportunity for Sustainable Growth 91

Microfinance: The Original Impact Investing 93

Responsible Investing Is Born 97

Clear Skies Behind the Smog 100

SDG Integration and the Role of Technology 103

Transforming Wonderland 106

7 Data Is the New Oil: Africa Needs (Venture Funding), China Feeds (Seed Capital) 109

East Africa’s Silicon Savannah 110

Powered Up in South Africa 114

Africa Needs, China Feeds 118

Can Crypto Save Nigeria? 123

From Gray to Green: Data Is the Oil 126

8 Twenty-First-Century Investing: Transforming Economies and Livelihoods from Bogotá to Brasilia 129

Doing Good and Doing Well in Colombia 130

The Role of Business in Argentina’s Society 135

From Destruction to Disruption in Brazil 139

Chile: Accelerating into the Future 143

Greenlighting Latin America 146

9 The Next Half: The Queens of Wall Street: The Largest Emerging Market Is Women 149

Vast Segment with Productive Capacity 150

Whispers of Opportunity 152

Untapped Potential 155

Structural Barriers 159

Why Now? 162

Queens of Wall Street 167

Conclusion 171

Fellow Travelers 173

Money Changes Everything 175

Reimagined Capitalism 177

Mint and Honey 178

Notes 181

Acknowledgments 195

About the Author 197

Index 199

ASHA MEHTA, CFA, is Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Global Delta Capital. Named a “Brilliant Quant” and Top 10 Women in Asset Management, she has managed and deployed some of the largest and most pioneering investment strategies in emerging markets and sustainable investing.

Power of Capital takes readers on a fascinating journey through some of the world’s most dynamic and rapidly evolving financial markets.

From China to Chile, accomplished investing professional Asha Mehta takes readers on a trip around the world as she travels with her family in search of investment insight. In this book, she delivers daring and inspiring stories along with a discussion of the relevant business and geopolitical happenings. She examines why investors—and people generally—should care about the changes gripping the globe.

Readers will discover an on-the-ground perspective from far-flung regions. The insightful commentary she shares about issues crucial to continuing global economic growth, including terrorism and instability, China’s role as an economic powerhouse, corruption, autocracy, and sustainability, is an indispensable addition to any informed discussion of global finance. You’ll find pioneering perspectives of how sustainable investing drives both alpha and impact. From India’s emerging opportunities in clean energy to Africa’s opportunities in food security, the reader will walk the world to find profitable opportunities that reduce poverty and promote equality.

As you walk around the world, you’ll discover how technology’s tendency to shape markets is just as strong in the emerging markets as it is anywhere else, as data takes the place of natural resources as the world’s primary store and creator of value.

An essential treatment of the importance of emerging markets on the world’s economic stage, Power of Capital is a singularly engaging and insightful take on a subject that has the potential to reshape the world many times over.

PRAISE FOR POWER OF CAPITAL

“Most investors miss opportunities in new markets simply because they are unaware of them. Asha will tell you how to make money in these markets before they have even emerged.”
—JIM ROGERS, International Investor & Author of Street Smarts

“Asha Mehta demonstrates not only why we need to invest in women, but also how our industry benefits from the rigor and global understanding that women investors, like Asha, bring to the table.”
—AMANDA PULLINGER, CEO of 100 Women in Finance

“Asha Mehta provides a powerful exposition of how our global sustainability challenges are also the biggest opportunities for capital markets to fund the needed solutions.”
—GEORGE SERAFEIM, Award-Winning Scholar, Harvard Business School, Author of Purpose and Profit

“In her epic journey from UP to the UN, Asha Mehta presents a brave and bold vision that investors and business leaders alike should consider.”
—VIJAY ADVANI, Former CEO of Nuveen & Board Member of Global Impact Investing Network

“A revolution is occurring in the emerging world. Geopolitics, technology, and sustainability are upending the established order. Provocative and pioneering, Power of Capital will help you make sense of it all.”
— SELORM ADADEVOH, CEO of MTN Ghana

“A fascinating book by a pioneer of sustainable finance in emerging market economies.”
— HARINDER KOHLI, Former Director, World Bank; Founding Director, Emerging Markets Forum

“This book tells the story of a headstrong young woman traveling the world—from India with no male chaperone to Saudi Arabia with no head covering. You won’t want to put it down once you pick it up.”
— CHURCHILL FRANKLIN, Co-Founder & CEO Emeritus, Acadian; Executive Chair, Intech

“We live in an era of unremitting geopolitical crises alongside vast institutional wealth. Optimistic and perceptive, Power of Capital reveals the opportunity to build a sustainable ecosystem that we dare not waste.”
—AJMAL AHMADY, Former Governor of the Afghanistan Central Bank