Jamaica can capture investment flows from the US as companies restructure their network of suppliers in response to geopolitical tensions, a Wall Street strategist said.
John Stoltzfus, chief investment strategist at Oppenheimer Asset Management, told investors gathered in Kingston on Tuesday that “reglobalisation” – the realignment of trade relationships – presents opportunities for countries near the US as businesses diversify away from politically sensitive regions.
“Reglobalisation is very simply likely to be exceptionally beneficial for the emerging markets, especially those that are neighbours of the US in the southern hemisphere,” Stoltzfus said at the Jamaica Stock Exchange Investments and Capital Markets Conference. “It would seem to us that countries like Jamaica, especially well positioned as you are philosophically, and with an encouragement of capitalism and entrepreneurism, we think this is just a terrific opportunity.”
He was speaking on the topic ‘Innovative Financial Products Driving Emerging Market Growth’ at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston on January 21.
The remarks came one day after President Donald Trump addressed the World Economic Forum, expressing his expansionary policy of acquiring the nation of Greenland. Denmark, the protectorate of the country, continues to reject Trump’s posturing. It follows the US capture of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife, arising from a military invasion.
Stoltzfus, who has four decades of experience trading global markets, distinguished between deglobalisation – a retreat from interconnected trade – and reglobalisation, which he described as a restructuring of partnerships based on geopolitical alignment rather than cost alone. He didn’t explicitly mention US-China tensions or tariff barriers driving the shift.
He credited technology with expanding both the speed of information and range of investment products available to retail investors.
Stoltzfus praised Jamaica’s regulatory framework and entrepreneurial culture as advantages in attracting capital. “I do believe that the fundamentals remain remarkably good in the US and in different countries around the world, including this one,” he said, citing “proper regulation and support of the capital markets” and recognition that “entrepreneurism is very much alive”.
