FINANCE FORUM SERIES 2009

Latin America – What’s in it for Australian investors?

with José Carlos Magalhães and Pedro Faria, Tarpon Investimentos

Date and Time: Wednesday 22nd July, 2009, 12.30 - 2.00 pm (sandwich lunch provided)

Venue: Thomson Reuters Markets, Level 43, 80 Collins Street, Melbourne

Brazil is the Latin America’s largest market yet it still waits to be explored by the Australian investors. Our speakers will address the points of most interest to Australian investors, provide an update on economic and political settings, analyse the stock market performance and answer how a local investor can get the most of exposure to Latin America.


Brazil is one of the famed B.R.I.C. economies (Brazil, Russia, India, China) which have been predicted to be drivers of the next wave of global economic growth. Of the four it is perhaps the one least explored by Australian investors yet one which potentially may provide valuable diversification and synergy benefits. The market value of BM&Bovespa listed companies exceeded US$900 billion in May 2009 which, combined with the Brazil’s private corporate market, makes the region worthy of a closer look.

What opportunities exist in the Brazilian market? How is it performing? Are the Brazil and world markets correlated? Of what issues should an Australian investor looking for an exposure to Latin America be aware? What are the important legal and regulatory features? How are the social, governance and environmental questions addressed by Brazilian companies and investors? Finally, how could an Australian investor gain from an allocation to the Latin American market?

Our speakers:

José Carlos Magalhães is the Founder, CIO and Portfolio Manager at Tarpon. He has over 10 years of experience in portfolio management at major investment banks and other financial and industrial firms, and sits on the board of two major Brasilian companies. José Carlos earned his MBA from Fundação Getúlio Vargas in São Paulo.

Pedro Faria is a Partner and Portfolio Manager at Tarpon. Prior to joining Tarpon in 2003, he was the Managing Director of Banco Pátria where he was overseeing companies of a US$250m private equity portfolio and served on several company boards. Pedro majored in Business Administration at the University of Chicago.

Tarpon Investimentos is an independent Brazilian asset manager investing on the public and private markets of South America, with a strong focus on Brazil. As of May 2009, Tarpon had close to US$1.5 billion under management and the Company’s investors base was mainly institutional. Tarpon is an active long-term investor with contrarian approach to investing, aiming to deliver absolute returns to its clients. The company is listed on the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange with a market cap of US$199m.

Our venue sponsor: Thomson Reuters Markets

Melbourne Centre arranges topical "Finance Forums" with the objective of improving industry-academia contacts, identifying research projects and opportunities for research partnerships. It is expected that those attending will be keen to participate in discussion.

There is a limit on the number of attendees but no charge. To attend and participate, please email with the subject header of “Finance Forum – Latin America” by noon on Tuesday 21st July 2009.


Melbourne Centre for Financial Studies

Level 43, 80 Collins Street,
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3000
W: +61 3 9666 1050 Fax: +61 3 9666 1099 www.melbournecentre.com.au

The Melbourne Centre for Financial Studies is a not-for-profit partnership between public and private sectors, and between industry and academe. The Centre was launched with seed funding from the Victorian Government. Members of the consortium are Melbourne, Monash and RMIT Universities, and Finsia. They have joined together to enhance Melbourne’s national and international reputation for excellence in financial practice, research and education. The Centre facilitates knowledge transfer between, and builds research synergies between, industry and academe by undertaking finance research, providing consulting services, and organizing research focused conferences, workshops, public lectures and other educational activities.