Portuguese to English Social Sciences Economics Finance

Estes fluxos cruzados de investimento direto, de expansão do crédito e, mais tarde, de aplicações de portfólio, estimularam o crescimento muito rápido do comércio entre os países da região, sobretudo mediante as transações intrafirmas.

This is an academic text in political economy. This particular passage is dealing with finance and development in Asia in the 90s (the "Asian miracle").

I understand "aplicações" here as "investments" based on this thread: http://www.proz.com/kudoz/portuguese_to_english/finance_gene...

So it seems like "investment portfolio" or simply "portfolio" would be a reasonable translation. I'd just like confirmation.

Obrgado desde já!
Adam