Power of Capital

Chapter 9The Next Half: The Queens of Wall Street: The Largest Emerging Market Is Women

On a warm summer evening in Boston, I sat across from UN Ambassador Madeleine Albright. I shared my experiences as an early investor in Saudi Arabia, where deliberate building of the stock market has resulted in economic change at lightning speed. She too had observed economic progress, and she suggested it extended to social norms as well. She quipped, “Dealing with men in Saudi Arabia is nothing compared to dealing with the men in Washington.” In guiding American foreign policy with the Saudis, the ambassador found them to approach women with less gender bias than senior men here in the United States. We laughed at the irony, but we knew the underlying truth: across the globe, women represent an underappreciated segment. Despite comprising more than half the world's population, women are undervalued. This is why today women represent the largest emerging market in the world.

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As technological advancements enable companies to cross borders seamlessly and global markets keep check on governance systems, the historical boundaries of geography and political regimes are increasingly disappearing. No longer enough to evaluate a company's country of domicile in today's economy by its political leaders and macro economy, we must also account for its global influences, including sales footprint and global investor base.

An emerging market investor increasingly has to identify novel opportunities, ...