In Brazil, the recovery passes through FinTech

In Brazil, there are a surprising number of companies that are going public right now. More than 40 companies plan to go public this year, after 28 IPOs in 2020, the highest number since 2007. “Such a level of activity is remarkable when you consider that Brazil is the largest economy in a region. which was among the most affected by the pandemic ”. Words that come from the Report edited by Pablo Riveroll, Head of Latin American Equities at Schroders. The companies of the new economy are setting an agenda linked to renewables, e-commerce and fintech, leaving behind the sectors of the old economy, such as raw materials: “Some of these areas have benefited from the change in consumption linked to the pandemic and our conviction on the new economy has been strengthened by the emergence of new, more agile players ”. Examples of the Brazilian new economy that have been listed in the last six months include: Aeris, the leading wind turbine manufacturer in Latin America, founded in 2010, has partners around the world, including Vestas and General Electric. It should benefit not only from the growth of the wind sector, but also from the outsourcing of blade production by larger turbine groups. Mosaico, an online price comparison platform born in 2010 and which recently signed a partnership with Btg Pactual, the Brazilian investment bank, to manage a digital portfolio. This will allow it to participate in the growth of the digital payments sector, one of the major global trends, accelerated by Covid-19. Another structural element, the report notes, “is the growth of retail investors in the Brazilian market. A survey carried out in December showed that in the first 10 months of 2020 the number of individual investors grew by 88%, to 32 million, compared to 2019 “. Looking ahead, the IPO trend is expected to continue in the state-owned segment: “The government’s declared commitment to relinquish control makes these businesses potentially more attractive. Caixa Seguridade, the insurance branch of the Caixa Economica development bank, went public at the end of April, raising almost 890 million dollars ”. Obviously the horizon is not completely clear and some clouds remain. Public spending linked to the pandemic last year amounted to 17% of GDP, and led to higher debt, around 100% of GDP, excluding dollar reserves, based on IMF data. With the elections expected for 2022, “we will once again have to balance conventional fiscal policy and political convenience. An efficient vaccination campaign will be essential for economic recovery, but looking beyond the pandemic it seems that a structural change is taking place in Brazilian equities ”.