Hunting profits 'round the globe: go on. Join the crowd of investors whose portfolios have wings.

Go on. Join the crowd of investors whose portfolios have wings.

You've heard of the armchair traveler - a homebody who conjures up elephant treks through Thailand and dinner atop la Tour Eiffel. Well, with economic activity heating up abroad, 1994 may well be the year of the armchair investor. Places on the itinerary to watch: Latin America, Southeast Asia, Continental Europe - even Turkey and the Netherlands.

Financial planners concur that a properly diversified portfolio includes a good dose of international holdings - anywhere from 10% to 30%. This rule holds especially fast today, given a bloated U.S. stock market.

Just where should you steer your wallet, and why? Falling interest rates in many parts of the world, including Spain and Turkey, signal opportunity. Declining rates push money into the market, making it easier for companies to invest, points out Vivian Lewis, editor of Global Investing in New York City. And because these countries are mainly exporters of goods, they benefit even more when their currencies decline.

Investors within Latin America, specifically Mexico, stand to benefit from the anticipated free-trade agreement. With a stock market that's 40% cheaper than ours, "there's great long-term potential there," explains James Clunie, portfolio manager at Murray Johnstone International, a global investment firm in Chicago.

And while many pros contend that Asian hotbeds such as Japan and Hong Kong are tapped out for the moment, they cite Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand as hot prospects. "The whole [Pacific Basin] region is growing internally," observes Clunie, at a rate of 7% to 8% - or double that of the U.S. economy.

Also, continental European countries such as France are seeing the privatization of banks and industrials - encouraging investment from natives and spurring them to produce quality products.

Buying stock in foreign companies may be too costly for the average investor. Your best route abroad: mutual funds. In the six months leading up to Oct. 1, 1993, investors swept over $17 billion dollars into international funds. Here are four BE picks that are profitably perched on the international scene:

Fidelity Latin America banks on the telephone, gas and cement industries of Mexico, Brazil and Argentina. Just nine months old, this fund has already returned 32.8% to investors (800-544-8888; minimum investment, $2,500).

Templeton Foreign hedges its bets between Europe, Asia and Latin America and favors utilities and financial concerns (800-237-0738; up 28.7% $100 min.).

Scudder International, another growth leader, has designs on Euroep's blue-chip financials, as well as retailers and utilities in the Pacific Basin (800-225-2470; up 29.2%; $1,000 min.).

Up by an astounding 44.43%, Fidelity Emerging Markets has more than half of its assets tucked in the fast-growing textile, phone and cement companies of Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and Mexico (800-544-8888; $2,500 min.).