Natura, a company that sells cosmet-ics door-to-door Avon-style, started the fashion. Its initial public offering (IPO) in May 2004 was the first in Brazil in more than two years. Since then, 18 companies have made their debuts on Sao Paulo's stockmarket, the Bovespa. Another score are expected to do so by the middle of this year. The newcomers are not only adding variety to a market ruled by banks, extractors of raw materials and state-owned companies; more important, they herald a change in Brazil's investment culture. Equities are gaining space in a market dominated by government bonds. And old-style corporate governance, in which holders of small financial stakes monopolise voting shares, is yielding to shareholder democracy, where an investment's size and its voting power go hand in hand.
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