You’ve heard of a diversified portfolio. Your financial advisor may have even encouraged you to invest in foreign stocks — usually Europe and China.
But how many people have shopped for real estate in Uzbekistan? How many Americans could even find Uzbekistan on the map?
But that’s exactly what Ladislas Maurice, known professionally as “The Wandering Investor,” considered doing when he passed through three years ago.
“Uzbekistan is in Central Asia between Kazakhstan and Afghanistan,” Maurice said to Ricci Truong of the CamaPlan podcast. “I know , it sounds bad, but it’s actually really exciting from an investment point of view.”
There was almost no data available, because … well, it’s Uzbekistan. To know, you actually have to go. Maurice went, hoping to take advantage of $1,200/square meter real estate prices in the booming capital city of Tashkent — incredibly cheap compared to the booming capital cities of nearby Europe.
He didn’t end up buying property in Tashkent, but he did buy some stocks from the Uzbekistani stock exchange (yes, that’s a thing). Buyer beware — there is a lot of corruption and not much transparency. But the numbers were attractive enough that Maurice thought it was worth a little financial risk.
“Some of these companies had P ratios of three,” he said, “no debt on their balance sheets.
They were spitting out dividend yields of 15, 20% a year, and they were growing like 40, 50, 60% a year.”
The Opportunity Cost of a Full-Time Job
It all started when, having spent his entire 20s working for Nestle in Africa, Maurice decided to kick off his 30s with a road trip from Oman to Paris, crossing little-known corners of Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia.
On this eye-opening trip — which passed through the likes of Iran, Armenia, Georgia, Greece, Bulgaria, and Ukraine — Maurice began to understand what he refers to as “the opportunity cost of a full-time job.”
“The opportunity cost of having a full-time job,” he said, “is that you do not have enough time to dedicate to your own, to manage your own money and to opportunities on the side.”
So Maurice took his time, meeting lawyers, brokers, and real estate professionals at every stop. Over time, he began to acquire a truly global portfolio of assets under his direct control. He has done real estate deals in Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Central Europe, the Balkans, the Middle East, and Africa.
The US? “I’m not active in that market anymore,” Maurice said. “And now I’m looking increasingly at Latin America as well.”
Taking the Good with the Bad
It doesn’t always work out. Sending your money overseas always entails risk. Maurice was reminded of this fact abruptly when he invested in Russian stocks, thinking the country would stop short of a complete invasion of Ukraine.
Well … he was wrong, and as part of their aggressive actions Russia froze foreign investments. His Russian stocks remain in limbo, unable to be sold.
So why does Maurice love spreading his assets across borders? For one thing — diversification. A crisis that wrecks the economy of one country may not even touch its neighbor country. And while Maurice isn’t all gloom-and-doom about “The West,” he doesn’t think it hurts to prepare for the possibility that the balance of global power might shift in the future.
“Maybe the West right now, maybe we’re number one in the world,” he said, “but maybe in three generations, maybe we won’t be anymore. I don’t know. Like things change a lot, you know, and empires come and go.”
Becoming a Global Citizen
It’s not just a diversification of assets — it’s a diversification of options. Property in multiple countries means multiple hideouts where you can live. In some of these countries, property ownership buys you permanent resident status — even citizenship. For example, for only $400,000 in real estate investment, you can become a citizen of Turkey.
But there’s a third, often-overlooked reason Maurice invests all over the world — pleasure. It’s a pleasure he hopes to help others discover, providing on his website — www.thewanderinginvestor.com — a free list of his favorite local lawyers, real estate agents, and investment professionals in his favorite cities to help them jump-start their research.
It’s the joy of owning a piece of history in a thousand-year-old city — like Maurice’s apartment in the gorgeous city of Budapest.
“It’s part of my core portfolio,” he said. “I don’t sell. I’m just very happy to own it. And it brings me a lot of pleasure.”
