Concentrating solely on Europe is not an alternative.
(Photo: imago images/Mattias Christ)
Asia and above all China have been booming for years with double-digit growth rates. With the economy there, the share of sales of the Dax companies also grew. For a long time, these profited enormously because they had followed the new markets early on.
This is another reason why stocks such as Puma and Merck have achieved price increases of more than 1,000 percent over the past 20 years. And in the almost equally highly globalized MDax, Fuchs Petrolub even gained more than 2,000 percent in value with its lubricant products available worldwide.
Anyone who concludes today, in times of completely new global conflicts, that German corporations have relied too one-sidedly on the Far East and have neglected other regions, should consider the following: With a turnover share of more than 40 percent, Europe still accounts for the largest share in the 40 Dax Corporations, followed by America, where almost a third of the products and services are sold.
The Greater Asia-Pacific region follows only behind with a share of almost one-fifth.
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That is the starting point in the Taiwan conflict and the threatening gestures from Beijing towards the free democracies in the West. The fact is: The potential is greatest in Asia, where almost four and a half billion people live, and therefore three out of five possible customers. Measured against this, it is understandable that BASF & Co. are holding on to billions in investments in the Far East in order to increase their share of earnings there in the long term.
The Dax companies have already defied Donald Trump
It was difficult in the recent past in another major region. In America, where a few years ago ex-President Donald Trump openly berated the German economy with its foreign trade surpluses and threatened companies with tariffs, German companies stuck to the country by undauntedly investing locally.
This is proving to be a blessing today, because the growth rates for German companies are currently highest in the USA.
In the end, the balanced mix should be the right way for a strongly export-oriented economy. Despite all the risks in many countries and regions.
In any case, concentrating solely on Europe and the home market is not an alternative. Most Dax companies have long since become much too big for this. You and your shares can only increase in value and thus exist internationally if you take risks. This includes investing in regions that contradict our values.
More: Almost like in boom times – what the many higher group forecasts in the Dax mean for investors