Investing in Flawed Democracies

Given that I am steering away from investing in Emerging Markets, I still need to look for opportunities in countries where democracy exists, though far from perfect. Here is the criteria:

• Companies are domiciled in countries defined as “Flawed Democracies” by The Economist Intelligence Unit Democracy Index 2021 – Economist Intelligence Unit (eiu.com)
• No Over the Counter Stocks
• No Mining Stocks
• No MLPs
• No REITs
• Actively Traded
• Financially Healthy
  • Positive Operating Cash Flow (TTM)
  • Positive Net Income
  • Current Ratio is greater than 1.5
  • Debt to Equity Ratio is less than 0.4
• Average Return on Equity is greater than 15%, or
  • Average Return on Investment is greater than 12%
• Cash Flow Analysis based on sales growth

This approach usually yields around three companies, and averages a total return of 24.05% since the beginning of 2017. Here are the passing companies as of March 4, 2022:

• Wipro Limited (NYSE: $WIT) operates as information technology (IT), consulting, and business process services company worldwide. It operates through three segments: IT Services, IT Products, and India State Run Enterprise Services (ISRE). The IT Services segment offers IT and IT-enabled services, including digital strategy advisory, customer-centric design, technology consulting, IT consulting, custom application design, development, re-engineering and maintenance, systems integration, package implementation, infrastructure, analytics, business process, research and development, and hardware and software design services to enterprises. It serves customers in various industry sectors, such as healthcare and medical devices, consumer goods and life sciences, retail, transportation and services, communications, media and information services, technology products and platforms, banking, financial services and insurance, manufacturing, hi-tech, energy, and utilities. The IT Products segment provides a range of third-party IT products comprising enterprise platforms, networking solutions, software and data storage products, contact center infrastructure, enterprise security, IT optimization technologies, video solutions, and end-user computing solutions. It serves enterprises in various industries primarily in the India market, which comprise the government, defense, IT and IT-enabled services, telecommunications, manufacturing, utilities, education, and financial services sectors. The ISRE segment offers IT services to entities and/or departments owned or controlled by the Government of India and/or various Indian State Governments. Wipro Limited has a collaboration agreement with FEV Europe GmbH to develop and market software defined vehicles; and IP Infusion to deliver validated disaggregated networking solutions, as well as has strategic partnerships with Apptio, Inc. and DataRobot, Inc. The company was incorporated in 1945 and is based in Bengaluru, India.
• AudioCodes Ltd. (NASDAQ: $AUDC), together with its subsidiaries, provides advanced communications software, products, and productivity solutions for the digital workplace. It offers solutions, products, and applications for enterprise unified communications environments, work-from-home agents and contact centers, voice and telephony AI-based applications, and service provider business services. The company's products include IP phones and meeting room solutions, session border controllers (SBC), media gateways, multi-service business routers and universal customer premises equipment, VoIP network routing solutions, media servers, value added applications, life cycle management solutions, and professional services, as well as survivable branch appliances and CCE; device manager; CloudBond 365, an adaptable solution; and User Management Pack 365, a user lifecycle and identity management application. It also provides management solutions, such as voice network management solution, the One Voice Operations Center, call routing and policy management tool, and AudioCodes Routing Manager. In addition, the company offers AudioCodes Live for Microsoft Teams, a portfolio of managed services that removes complexity from the integration of Teams collaboration, unified communications, and enterprise telephony; and VoiceAI Connect Cloud Edition, a cloud-based service enabling the bot development ecosystem to develop an array of voice-bot use cases via trials and proof of concept projects, as well as provides a range of value-added voice applications comprising SmartTAP, Voca, VoiceAI Connect, Meeting Insights, and management application services. It primarily markets and sells its products through a direct sales force and sales representatives to original equipment manufacturers, system integrators and distributors, and network equipment providers in the telecommunication and networking industries. The company primarily operates in the Americas, Europe, the Far East, and Israel. AudioCodes Ltd.
• Infosys Limited (NYSE: $INFY), together with its subsidiaries, provides consulting, technology, outsourcing, and next-generation digital services in North America, Europe, India, and internationally. It provides application development and management, independent validation, product engineering and management, infrastructure management, enterprise application management, and support and integration services. The company's products and platforms include Finacle, a core banking solution; Edge suite of products; Infosys Nia, an artificial intelligence platform; Infosys McCamish – an insurance platform; Wingspan, a customizable learning platform; Stater mortgage servicing platform; Panaya automation suite; and Skava, an e-commerce suite. The company serves clients in the financial services and insurance, life sciences and healthcare, manufacturing, retail, consumer packaged goods and logistics, hi-tech, communications, telecom OEM, media, energy, utilities, resources, services, and other industries. It has collaboration agreements with Rolls-Royce, BP plc, Newmont Corporation, RXR Realty, Majesco Limited, and Centre for Accessibility Australia; and a strategic partnership with The Economist Group Limited to enable and enhance sustainability solutions through a business-to-business model. The company was formerly known as Infosys Technologies Limited and changed its name to Infosys Limited in June 2011. Infosys Limited was incorporated in 1981 and is headquartered in Bengaluru, India.

I hope it works it.