A masterclass with the adventure capitalist

Jonathan Davis talks to globetrotting investment guru Jim Rogers about the bull market in commodities, China’s rise to superpower status — and how America lost the plot

‘What do they know of England who only England know?’ Kipling’s question, with its powerful message that true knowledge of a locality can only come with the perspective that foreign travel provides, has important echoes for the modern investor. In today’s global markets, virtually no overseas country is closed to the armchair investor. In less than a minute at the computer, you can buy an index fund that tracks the performance of the stock market in Korea, Brazil or even Kazakhstan, or shares in the largest companies in Turkey, South Africa or Ecuador.

Yet can you realistically expect to understand the risks and potential returns of stocks without any specific knowledge of the countries and cultures in which they operate? Jim Rogers does not think so.