Being a Smart Investor In All Kinds of Weather

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The global downturn seems to have sent many fair-weather investors from the West scuttling for the first flight home. I, however, won't be joining them. When my company, Antal International, set up in Moscow in 1994, Russia was one of the most daunting, yet most exciting, markets we'd ever worked in. And the same is still true today.

Let's look at some research put together with the help of the team in Moscow. In the latest Global Snapshot, a quarterly survey of hiring and firing intentions we conduct across more than 30 countries, career prospects for professionals and managers in Russia were well ahead of the global average. Even though Russia's economy had contracted by more than 9 percent in the first quarter, the percentage of businesses currently hiring professionals and managers had actually risen, from 42 percent to 58 percent.

At the same time, the percentage reducing head count had dropped from 58 percent at the beginning of the year to 44 percent now. This is a positive barometer of the underlying strength of the country's economy that cannot be ignored.

Russia remains a good bet for a serious Western investor because the country has learned valuable lessons since the financial crisis of 1998. Take oil, for example. Although Russia still relies too much on oil to drive its economy, the country's leaders made a very wise decision to create a stabilization fund, which has done so much to iron out the fluctuations in the market.

For most of my adult life, I worked in the recruitment field, an industry where the old maxim "people buy people first" is an everyday reality. And that's why I don't just look at a country's economic performance, businesses and infrastructure. I look at the commitment and potential of its people.

Fifteen years of working alongside Russians has been a roller coaster ride to say the least. I've met bureaucrats who seem to have delighted in making my life difficult, but I've also learned that the Russian sense of humor can reduce a foreigner to the verge of tears.

I've also learned that when it comes to resilience, intelligence, motivation and the capacity for hard work, Russians are hard to beat. What is most encouraging for anyone considering taking a stake in the future of the country is the confidence that Russians display themselves. And this is why smart Western investors will be here to stay.

Tony Goodwin is chairman and CEO of London-based Antal International Executive Recruitment.