Franklin Templeton Investments announced that after more than 30 years with Franklin Templeton, Mark Mobius, Ph.D. has announced his plans to retire from the company on January 31, 2018.
“There is no single individual who is more synonymous with emerging markets investing than Mark Mobius. My colleagues and I are deeply grateful to have had the opportunity to work alongside a legend, and we thank Mark for his many years of dedicated service and tremendous contributions to the firm,” said Chairman and CEO Greg Johnson.
“Mark has been an investor through historically transformational times in emerging markets and later frontier markets. Over the last three decades, Mark has built a team of talented research analysts and portfolio managers around the world, and has generously shared his experiences with an audience that spans the globe. We wish him all the very best in his future endeavors, as we do not expect retirement will slow him down very much,” Johnson continued.
Mobius has spent more than 40 years working in emerging markets all over the world. He was hired by the late Sir John Templeton in 1987 to launch one of the first mutual funds dedicated to emerging markets.
Mobius oversaw Templeton’s emerging markets team from 1987 to 2016.
Mobius commented, «I feel very fortunate to have spent most of my career at Franklin Templeton Investments. I have had the great privilege of working with an emerging markets team that includes some of the most talented and passionate people in the business, a number of whom have been with me for decades. I leave with great confidence in the Templeton Emerging Markets team and leadership at Franklin Templeton.”
Over the past several years, Franklin Templeton has evolved its emerging markets equity investment team structure, and succession planning for Templeton Emerging Markets Group (TEMG) has been a key component in that process. In early 2016, Stephen Dover, CFA was named chief investment officer of TEMG. Mobius transitioned the day-to-day management of the group to Dover and day-to-day management of the funds to other senior members of TEMG.
As Mobius transitioned away from managing the team and management of the funds over the past couple of years, he has continued to share his insights and perspectives with the Templeton team and the market at large. Most recently, Mobius’ primary responsibility has been focused on serving as an external spokesperson for the group, sharing macro views on emerging markets.
“Mark was instrumental in building the very experienced bench of investment talent within our emerging markets team, and he is leaving the various emerging markets funds and strategies launched under his leadership in very capable hands,” said Dover. “We do not expect Mark’s retirement to cause any disruption to our clients, and Templeton Emerging Market Group’s time-tested philosophy and disciplined approach will remain the same.” Templeton Emerging Markets Group has approximately 50 experienced investment professionals in 20 offices and over US$28 billion in assets under management as of September 30, 2017