U.S. Stock Buying Starts Overseas

(Bloomberg Opinion) -- If you want to become a better investor in U.S. stocks, it helps to understand overseas equities. So says Rajiv Jain, this week's guest on Masters in Business, and the founder and chief investment officer of GQG Partners, a three-year old firm that now manages $24 billion in assets.

The 2012 Morningstar International Manager of the Year notes that investing overseas has made him a much better U.S. investor, a statement supported by his track record in U.S. funds. He explains why international investing demands a top-down macro view to focus on geographies, married to a bottom-up approach when selecting individual stocks from within those regions.

India has become his single biggest portfolio holding. After spending 20 years as a bear on Russia equities, he said he recently turned bullish. Jain also explains why international corporate bonds are a great tell for related equities. Perhaps most challenging are the adjustments needed to account for the local politics and variables of each country.

His favorite books are here; the transcript of our conversation is here.

You can stream/download the full conversation, including the podcast extras on Apple iTunes, Bloomberg, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Overcast and Stitcher. All of our earlier podcasts on your favorite pod hosts can be found here.

Next week, we speak with Danny Blanchflower, professor of economics, Dartmouth College, a former member of the Monetary Policy Committee at the Bank of England, and author of "Not Working: Where Have All the Good Jobs Gone?"

To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Greiff at jgreiff@bloomberg.net

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

Barry Ritholtz is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. He founded Ritholtz Wealth Management and was chief executive and director of equity research at FusionIQ, a quantitative research firm. He is the author of “Bailout Nation.”