now Jim Rogers needs little introduction he's the man behind the Quantum Fund at
one that saw a gain of forty two hundred percent in ten years
the successful hedge funds of all time Jim is an investing legend best-selling
author and a good Ness world record holder so when he speaks smart investors
lessons so we're here to listen to him this morning live in the studio with me
as mr. Jim Rogers Jim a very well very welcome to you I am delighted to be here
but we don't need all that introduction yeah if I remember correctly you were
one of the very first in the world and you told me this in person in your home
in Singapore that to pin for North Korea as a very attractive investment
destination now that was more than four years ago Dina Croatian talks have not
been going so successfully and you know business opportunities and investment
opportunities now do they look as hopeful and optimistic for you how are
you coping with the situation well first of all I'm an American so I'm not
allowed to invest in North Korea so I'm coping the same way I always have but
it's continuing to happen they're continuing to open up more and more
China wants it Russia wants it North Korea wants it south it's going to
happen it will be bumps along the way Japan doesn't want it because Europe and
doesn't want to have to compete with an open Korea because they know they cannot
everybody wants it it's going to happen don't worry but at the moment there's
nothing I can do except watch because I'm a citizen of the land of the free
and in the land of the free we're not very free now what is the some key
opportunities that you see in North Korea
well once it opens everything I mean going on
they don't have anything they don't have ties they don't have chairs they don't
you know they don't have electricity so anything you can do you can go there and
make a fortune tourism is going to be a fabulous
fabulous opportunity for everybody the Korean Peninsula has not been on the
world tourism map ever it will be again and everybody will want to come and they
will see the sights the beaches the temples the food I don't like the food
but a lot of people like the food I love the food but I know you load the for
your Korean I love fried silkworms fried silkworms one of my favorite food
in the whole world all right now you recently raised
a red flag for the Japanese economy you offloaded all your Japanese shares now
why is that how do you foresee this trade flare between South Korea Japan
impacting at the economies first of all I see it as total absurdity what is
Korea and Japan doing you're supposed to be working together to beget yourselves
all prosperous and happy and rich I don't I cannot understand it but I'm not
Korean I'm not Japan so you don't have to listen to me
it certainly is causing things to slow down things are slowing down in the
world that just exacerbates the problem here and then Northeast Asia so why have
you offloaded all your shares all right they went up a whole lot I owned them
for several years they've gone up a whole lot but it's coming to the end you
know you can only print so much money you can only waste so much money
spending money trying to buy shares and buy bonds so I sold I mean Japan has
some serious problems I just published a book in Japan they got serious problems
coming up in my book yeah I say that Japan is peaking and declining and
Korea's on the rise I think that's why I did so well oh is that right yeah yeah
Japanese don't like the Koreans Koreans don't like the Japanese you're crazy
both of you well now Jim so you said that Korea is on the rise how hopeful
are you about the South Korean economy or the economy of the Korean Peninsula
because you know a mythical boat you gave a downturn
South Korea's economy has been slowing as well at the moment South Korea's
having a problem everybody is because trade wars there are many many reasons
that the world is starting to slow down and we're going to have a very very
serious problem in the next year or two but once the 38th parallel opens this is
gonna be the most thing hon bondo you know hon bun dough hon bun dough is
gonna be the most exciting part of the world for the next 10 or 20 years you
have everything going for you once the 38th parallel opens in the meantime
things are not gonna be so good well I guess a million billion dollars question
is when is it going to open up that there should watch Ari on TV
asking me I know everything I know I'll get from our young TV for goodness sakes
absolutely now you not only understand but really you can read between the boom
and the bust of the global business cycle amid the escalating trade tensions
a what should we we be up racing for in the next couple of months I mean what
should we be on the lookout for well you're gonna start seeing bankruptcies
you're even gonna see bankruptcies in China which is gonna shock a lot of
people including me and I just told you it's coming but there's a lot of debt
2008 we had a big problem because of too much debt since then my gosh you know
the debt is skyrocketed everywhere and so we're gonna start seeing bankruptcies
and interest rates rise we're gonna see collapse it's not gonna be fun you
should be very worried I should be worried yes but China is somewhere that
you've bet highly on oh yeah no I moved to Asia because of China my children
speak Mandarin because of China no no it's not a great that yeah but that
doesn't mean China won't have problems America became the most successful
country in the 20th century but along the way we had 15 depressions we had
horrible civil war with no human rights massacres in the streets but still we
became extremely exciting and prosperous China have problems don't worry they're
coming now what are two or three things that make you take notice of an
investment opportunity I mean anything from valuations under performance or
bath headlines like I notice one thing disasters I used to just read the
disasters oh my gosh that's ha but now you know that the Chinese I know you
have a way in in Japan there's word Kiki which means disaster an opportunity to
the same in Chinese its way gee I don't know what the word in Korea is means a
disaster an opportunity you know you've been around a lot longer than we have we
don't have the word in English so when I see a disaster now I learned to say ah
ok this is horrible and terrible but there's an opportunity here somewhere so
that's one of the first places when I see an area on TV I see everybody think
falling apart then I start to say ok what do I do next
so with disaster comes an opportunity always the Asians
learned that centuries ago and that's why you all have words for it we don't
have that we don't have that word in English now a to a legendary investor
like yourself what market sectors of Technology are you right now jump out at
you right now I mean agriculture speaking well Agri Russia's hated
Russia's cheap Agriculture's hated and close been declined for a long remember
how'd you say the word I said way gee Wiggy Wiggy Wiggy
remember Wiggy when there's a disaster there's an opportunity so remember we
learn about Korean tourism because it's going to be a gigantic business in the
next few years all of asian tourism because now the chinese can travel they
can get passports easily they can take money out of the card no agent or is an
especially Korean tourism you at the right place aren't you also investing in
graphene disease yes yes no I mean I have interest in a graphics Korean
graphene company graphene according to the scientists is gonna be as big as the
Internet I mean it's astonishing what the scientists say not me I'm not a
scientist but graphic I have investments in Korean graphene companies Korea's one
of the leaders in the world for this new this new science and by the way North
Korea's graphite mines South Korea has the technology and the ability so what's
the 38th parallel there's going to be many many opportunities in HoN bondo so
you see opportunity there as well as operation there are just artists there
is yes you have to find the right company I hope I found the right
companies but who knows now um so finally no this one is for all the
aspiring to be Jim Rogers out there when you launch your quantum fund in the 1970
obviously the world was a completely different one you didn't have the search
engines or there you know researching internets or whatnot for the assets and
the you know the buying assets that we do right now but you know if you are
starting out in the world in today's world would you start out with a hedge
fund what kind of advice do you have for all my crises to do what you love
whatever is the financial world is not going to
be a great place in the next 10 or 20 years it's gonna be one of the worst
places if you want to go where the action is learn to drive a tractor
farming is going to be great in the next 20 years in the world but if you don't
like farming don't go and you go up or go to a hedge fund
I'm telling you hedge funds and finance is gonna be in decline but if you look
but when I went it was in decline but I loved it so I went so do what you love
don't listen to me don't listen to the TV don't listen to your teachers don't
listen to your parents do what you love listen to your heart listen to your soul
yes Bojan Rogers an investment legend Indiana Jones of Finance best-selling
author there are many ways to explain you but for me it's one of my favorite
interviews many many things here for coming under the studio at such an early
hour and free insights today miss moon I love to come to Arianna be with you
thank you thank you