In uncertain economic times, even the most bullish of executives are willing to bet only that the worst might be over but not when the recovery might gain more traction, reports Reuters.
Social Media
“If you want the quick answer, I would invest it in Twitter,” said Tim Draper, managing director of venture capital firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson. “I’m sorry that we weren’t in it. I don’t know where it’s going and it would be a fun ride.”
Biz Stone, co-founder of the fast-growing microblogging site Twitter, said he would invest in some of his friends’ start-ups, such as travel website Trazzler.
“I would love to work more with some of these interesting start-ups like kiva.org that are developing interesting and innovative ways to create micro-lending programs for folks around the world,” he added.
When asked if there were any public companies he would pick, Stone said, “I’m not a real big stock guy. Maybe a little Apple AAPL.O, a little Google GOOG.O — companies I use every single day, so why not invest in them?”
Energy, health care, financials
Some executives like Sybase Inc SY.N Chief Executive John Chen and AT&T Inc T.N Mobility President Ralph de la Vega recommended the health care sector.
“The pharmaceutical companies have been beaten down a lot,” Chen said. “As the population ages, everybody needs more medical help. Pharmaceuticals, drugs are a big part of it.”
Quite a few other executives, including Nvidia Corp NVDA.O Chief Executive Jen-Hsun Huang and Konica Minolta Holdings Inc 4902.T Senior Executive Officer Shoei Yamana liked alternative energy, counting on long-term growth.
“Green energy, absolutely. Biodiesel. I think it’s got the best upside,” said Symantec Corp SYMC.O Chief Executive Enrique Salem.
Only one executive, Dell Inc DELL.O enterprise chief Steve Schuckenbrock, was bold enough to venture into the battered financial industry. But he hedged his bet by splitting his $1 million three ways: in financial services, technology and natural resources.
“The financial sector will come back. I think some smart investment in the financial sector makes sense,” he said.
Corning Inc GLW.N CFO Jim Flaws urged diversification as well, saying, “Because I’m 60, I would probably put half in corporate bonds, spread them around, get a nice interest rate on them. And I would probably put some into energy because I am a long-term believer that energy costs are going to continue to climb, and I think they’ve gotten depressed.”
Electronic readers
With consumer demand seeming to show a little more strength than corporate spending, some executives suggested putting money in consumer plays.
“I like very much these electronic readers,” said SanDisk Corp SNDK.O Chief Executive Eli Harari. He called Amazon’s AMZN.O Kindle a step in the right direction, but said there was still room for a lot of innovation in that space.
“It’s got to be like a $49.95 product, not a $300 or $400. It’s got to be for the masses. It’s got to bring educational qualities to kids in the Amazon, 1,000 miles away from civilization,” Harari said.
Gree Inc 3632.T CEO Yoshikazu Tanaka picked Apple Inc, a favorite with past summit guests: “Apple’s ability to develop products is incomparably better than others.”
But given the economic turmoil, it’s no surprise that some executives chose to play it safe,
“I’d put it in the bank probably. Definitely not in the automotive industry,” said Marvell Technology Group Ltd MRVL.O CEO Sehat Sutardja.
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Source: Reuters
