Family Saga Shows Brazil Student Funds Curb Joblessness

Matthew Malinowski and Anna Edgerton – Bloomberg News, 8/27/2014

Francisco Melo started working at age seven to help feed his 10 brothers and sisters on a Brazilian farm and went to school for only a few days. Jefferson, his 17-year-old son, never worked and attends technical school.

Their saga ties in with the story of 11 million Brazilians who gained access to higher education through state-funded initiatives in the past decade. It’s behind the longest contraction in Brazil’s labor force in at least 12 years, explaining how the unemployment rate is at a record low under President Dilma Rousseff even as job creation slows.

Programs that provide free work training, scholarships and subsidized student loans are buoying Rousseff’s campaign as she runs for re-election in October after delivering the slowest growth of any Brazilian president in more than two decades. The initiatives are creating a windfall for education providers and are shielding Rousseff from attacks that her economic stewardship has failed as rivals creep up in polls.

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J.P. Morgan asset management rebuts gloomy Brazil scenarios

Mathew Cowley – The Wall Steet Journal, 06/12/2013

Investors are too pessimistic about Brazil, and, although broad economic growth has disappointed, there are still plenty of opportunities to make money, according to J.P. Morgan JPM -0.27% Alternative Asset Management.

“The sentiment pendulum has swung too far,” said Robert Klein, president of the hedge fund business, in an interview. At 3.0% to 3.5% growth in Brazil “there are still interesting opportunities.”

A consumer that is still in good shape, more reasonable asset valuations and a vast, diverse geography are some of the advantages highlighted in a new report published by J.P. Morgan and its Brazilian asset management arm Gavea Investimentos.

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