Marc Faber appears to have bought Argentine real estate after each default/crisis and if it's good enough for the old gloomster who am I to argue.
From Barron's Penta:
If your private banker’s “fresh” investment ideas are beginning to bore, and you are looking for some new angles, the New York City-based Bienville Capital Management might be worth a look. Since opening its doors in 2008, this tiny boutique with nearly $700 million in assets has made some smart plays, in gold during the 2011 rally, and off the 2013-2014 slowdown in the Chinese economy. It’s most recent bet: Argentine regime change.
Penta first heard of Bienville from wealth management consultant John Straus, a partner at FallLine Strategic Advisors. “Bienville caught my eye because it has a very good following of extremely sophisticated money managers, and the guys that run big hedge funds talk to them for their interesting perspectives,” Straus says. A Wall Street heavy himself, Straus previously headed up U.S. private wealth management at UBS, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan.
Still, says Straus, “Bienville is small so they are not trying to be all things to everyone, but certain things they really understand and drill into.” The firm has a minimum account of $5 million and charges 1% but declines to 0.4% for accounts above $10 million.
The benefit of being small is that Bienville can also be nimble in creating investment opportunities for its clients. Consider Argentina. Since 2003, the Kirchners, late husband Nestor and wife Cristina, have held the presidency. Their populist policies have nationalized private industries, instated costly subsidies and meddled with the central bank’s independence. Some have estimated inflation is as high as 30%. In July, Argentina also defaulted on its debt payments and a consortium of hedge funds have sued for payment....MORE
