Mark Mobius, an experienced investor and pioneer in identifying and investing in developing economies, died on Wednesday, April 15, at the age of 89. The news of his death was shared in a post on his LinkedIn page attributed to his spokesperson, Kylie Wong.
According to John Ninium, a partner at Mobius Investments, Mobius died in Singapore. He was a popular figure among traders and investors because he traveled extensively and gained first-hand knowledge of markets that others mostly overlooked, Bloomberg reported.
“John Ninia, partner at Mobius Investments, and Eric Nguyen, partner at Mobius Investments, will assume leadership responsibilities. The firm will continue to operate with no changes to its investment approach or day-to-day operations,” the LinkedIn post said, although it did not mention the cause of death.
Why was Mobius known as the “Indiana Jones of emerging markets”?
Mark Mobius earned the nickname “Indiana Jones of Emerging Markets” for his unusually adventurous approach to on-the-spot investing, especially at a time when most investors avoided developing economies.
Like Indiana Jones, he was known for traveling to unknown and often high-risk areas in Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America and Africa. According to Reuters, he visited a dozen countries each year and claimed to have traveled to at least 112 countries.
As Executive Chairman of the Templeton Emerging Markets Group, where he served for more than 30 years, Mobius built a reputation for bold and well-timed investment calls in global markets.
He correctly predicted the start of the bull market that began in 2009, took advantage of undervalued opportunities during the Asian financial crisis after Thailand introduced its currency in 1997, and bought Russian stocks amid panic selling during the country’s 1998 financial crisis.
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In addition to profiting from crises, he was also one of the first institutional investors to identify Africa as a promising frontier market, founding the Templeton Africa Fund in 2012, Bloomberg reported.
After decades of investing in emerging markets, Mobius was actively looking for new opportunities as early as January. He wrote of Venezuela: “With the departure of (President Nicolas) Maduro, we can see a new political and economic order and the country could reopen to investors.
From Education to Personal Life — All About Mark Mobius
A seasoned investor, he earned a doctorate in political science and economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1964. After graduation, he took a job with International Research Associates, conducting surveys and other consumer research in Thailand and Korea for a year.
He then ended up in Hong Kong, where he set up his own industrial research consultancy. Mobius has also written a dozen books on investing and economics, including The Investor’s Guide to Emerging Markets (1994) and Passport to Profits (1999).
He never married. In his book Passport to Profits, he wrote that being a “full-time nomad” has its costs and benefits, referring to his frequent travels around the world. “Although some people probably pity me for having no home, no family, no home life to speak of,” he wrote, “my somewhat eccentric lifestyle offers untold opportunities for variety, stimulation, and creativity.”
(With wired inputs)
