Tap into global growth with Yum

Article Excerpt

World stock market investing remains risky. That’s because many emerging countries have language barriers, weak investor-protection laws, less commitment to openness, fairness and so on. A better way for North American investors to profit from rapid overseas growth is by investing in well-established, multinational U.S. companies. These firms’ well-known brands put them in a good position to enter new markets and quickly win over new customers. A great example of a U.S. company with a knack for successfully expanding overseas is Yum Brands, one of our long-time favourites. Yum entered China in 1987, and is now that country’s largest fast-food-restaurant operator. Its experience in China is also helping it enter other markets, like India, Russia and Africa. YUM! BRANDS INC. $53 (New York symbol YUM Aggressive Growth Portfolio; Consumer sector; Shares outstanding: 460.5 million; Market cap: $24.4 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.1; Dividend yield: 2.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.yum.com) operates 38,000 fast-food restaurants in over 110 countries. Its main banners include KFC (fried chicken),…