[Sources : The Financial
Times,
Extract from Mark Mobius,
the Franklin Templeton Investments fund manager]
After hitting record highs in 2006, emerging markets
continue to make strong gains overall in this year. While
some markets like China and Venezuela have suffered setbacks,
others have continued to scale new peaks. One of the pioneers
of emerging markets, Mark Mobius argues that the strong
run should continue.
For more than 40 years, Dr Mobius has ridden the
ups and downs of emerging markets in search of undervalued
companies that benefit from long-term growth of their economies.
Though technically based in Singapore, Mobius has led the
way as an itinerant investor in the era of market globalisation.
He is constantly on the move, spending an average of 200
days a year jetting around the world from Mexico to the
Middle East in search of undervalued companies.
Dr Mobius says expectations of a soft landing in the
US economy, a pause in US interest rate rises and an improved
global environment should support emerging markets.
"The role of emerging markets in the global economy
has grown significantly in recent years and we expect this
trend to continue in the future. While companies have recorded
significant price appreciation, corporate earnings have
also increased allowing valuations to remain attractive,"
he says. "The opportunities are plentiful with strong
fundamentals supporting the long-term uptrend of these markets.
Moreover, many companies are experiencing strong growth
and there are many upcoming IPOs in markets such as China
and Russia which warrant attention."
Dr Mobius says correction in oil prices in the last few
months has affected oil-exporting markets such as Russia
and Mexico. However, he expects oil prices to remain
firm because of geopolitical and bottleneck problems.
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