Kravis: 'No better time than now to be making investments'

Kolhberg Kravis Roberts co-founder Henry Kravis struck a bullish tone in a speech in Monaco this week, dismissing talk of a “hard landing” in Asia, suggesting that the American consumer was regaining confidence and highlighting the opportunities for the industry in light of the problems in the banking sector.

“There's probably no better time than now to be making investments,” Kravis told the crowd of fund managers and high-net-worth investors. “Interest rates are very low, there's not a lot of capital… So if you have capital, there's a real opportunity. If you pick the right industries and make companies better, I promise you, you'll be pleasantly surprised.”

The co-founder of KKR, which is making an assault on real estate investing led by New York-based global head of real estate Ralph Rosenberg, did sound a note of caution, however. He said the biggest potential threat to all this is the sovereign debt crisis in Europe. “My concern is: do the governments have the will and the backbone to do what's needed?” All politicians want to be re-elected, he pointed out – so the imminent elections in France and Germany could complicate matters.”

Still, Kravis pointed out he was more optimistic than some. “I do not expect a complete collapse – unless there's a run on one of the major banks,” he said. He argued that Europe's biggest problem was that some of its banks were under-capitalised – and in many cases (like Unicredito in Italy) – they had “missed the window” to raise money cheaply.

Kravis was much more bullish on China, however, where KKR has set up a $140 million joint venture investment fund with Beijing partner, Sino-Ocean Land Holdings, to invest in property projects. Following a recent visit to the country, he explained: “I went out there thinking they were going to have a hard landing… But I came away after meeting with government people, banking heads and some corporate CEOs thinking: hard landing, soft landing – why any landing at all? I think they'll continue on.”

With 37 percent of global growth expected to come from Asia this year, Kravis believes there are huge opportunities as Chinese savers start to become spenders – although this will only happen when the government provides more of a safety net.

As for the US, Kravis said KKR's ownership of First Data, which processes about 50 percent of credit card transactions at point of sale, gave him a great insight into consumer spending. In recent months, he said, people had started using credit cards more, after cutting down at the start of the downturn. However, although the number of transactions is up, the amount spent is broadly flat. “That means one of two things: either they're feeling better and are willing to take on more debt. Or they've run out of money.”

Kravis also said that private equity was a very different world these days. “Today, the idea of financial engineering is long over.” He recalled the acquisition of Safeway, the US supermarket chain, where KKR put up $120 million of equity for a $5.6 billion deal. “Those days were nice, but they're gone… These days you put up a dollar of equity and borrow maybe a dollar of debt, maybe two”.

That doesn't mean you can't make great returns, Kravis countered, as long as you “pick the right companies, take the long view and remember that our job begins on the day we buy the company. I always say: don't congratulate us on buying a company, any fool can [do that]. Congratulate us when we've done something to make it a better business – that is growing better, has better margins, is better positioned globally – and you're ready to return more money to your investors than they paid in.”