10 Things You Need to Know: Recent Performance in Latin America Looks Promising

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Latin American funds were good investments for Americans in 1999. The average fund was up about 69% for the year just ended, while the average diversified U.S. equity fund returned less than half that, according to Lipper, which monitors and ranks mutual funds.

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Funds that were heavily weighted in Mexican and Brazilian blue-chip stocks fared best, gaining as Mexico's benchmark Bolsa Index rose 80% in 1999 and Brazil's Bovespa soared 152% for the year. "The issue for strategists is now which of these two big markets do you favor over the other," says Geoffrey Dennis, Latin American strategist at Salomon Smith Barney.

The best-performing Latin American funds in 1999 were the (RLAEX)ABN Amro Latin American Equity fund, the (MILAX)Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Institutional Fund: Latin America, the (MALTX)Merrill Lynch Latin American fund, class A and class D, and the (MSLAX)Van Kampen Latin American fund. All reported 68%-plus gains last year.

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