China Update – Day 4
It’s Tuesday morning here in Beijing — last day of the conference. Yesterday was awesome — the day began with some opening from Rodman & Renshaw’s Chairman of the Board, Wesley Clark, who introduced keynote speaker Colin Powell (by the way, how many of you knew Powell’s middle name is “Luther”?).
It doesn’t get much better than Colin Powell! He gave a fun, thoughtful, self-deprecating talk, but despite his down-to-earth demeanor, you could feel a deep level of compassion and gravitas. I had the opportunity to shake his hand and get a quick picture and I whispered to him that I was also of Jamaican descent (on my Mom’s side), and he gave me a quick smile.
The Rodman event itself is not unlike other investor conferences I’ve attended — an executive from the company presents a brief overview on the business, key metrics, and other details on the business. As all of these companies are public, there are additional details and filings with the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC).
Two general comments: First, it sure is interesting to see capitalism and the entrepreneurial spirit alive and well in China! And second, there are definitely some interesting value plays of Chinese companies trading on American public markets. Some of the better deals have substantially lower P/E ratios than comparable American companies. I only have positions in 4 Chinese companies (see link), but come away from this event feeling very good about expanding my Chinese portfolio.