BAD NEWS IS GOOD NEWS FOR DR.MOBIUS AND HIS 60 BILLION THAI BAHT
It's enough to make you want to grab some spare cash and invest it in the Stock Exchange of Thailand.
Interviewing legendary emerging markets investor Dr. Mark Mobius at Saturday's event at the Sasin Graduate Institute of Business Administration was truly a pleasure and inspiration.
Putting things into perspective, Dr. Mobius has been invested in Thailand for more than 20 years, and even before the current stock exchange was in place.
Right now he has more than 60 billion baht (at least US$ 2 billion) investment in Thailand. He's someone that demands to be listened to. He's into banks, energy and the telecommunications sectors; those three represent more than half of the total industries. In Thailand he's here for the long term and it not overly concerned. Actually he sees that as a great opportunity to be cheap stocks with relatively cheap money.
I joked on stage that Dr. Mobius has the best job, flying around the world and spending (investing) other people's money. Quite rightly he pointed out it's a lot of responsibility too.
Read coverage here, here and here about Dr. Mobius in Thailand.
9 comments:
No doubt Mobius has achieved quite something, his current Thai-related Templeton funds are down down down.
There's a lot of marketing involved with his "appearance."
Quite frankly I wouldn't buy into his funds. Not only are their yearly fees quite expensive compared to the competition. The past months/years seem to be proof that Mobius made no better choices than others.
Markets around the world are down - that's a fact, and Thailand is around 25% up from its bottom late last year (which is less than the average in other Emerging Markets).
He manages at least a dozen funds that have Thailand as a part of the overall investment. He's a big fan of Thailand - he must be to have 10% of his total investments in the kingdom.
I think regardless of whether you buy his funds or not, what he says carries weight and is based on 40 years of experience.
Finally, I would disgree about the marketing. He was here for just two days and made only one public appearance, at an event for specially invited high-net-worth clients. Ours was the only other event - and it was free to attend.
I would agree he's the 'go-to' guy for media quotes about emerging markets but he and Templeton don't go out of their way to market him.
No war about it Andrew, but someone who is ALWAYS positive about something that by most analysts has been considered as something ALSO NEGATIVE is not too credible in my understanding.
I've never heard Mobius utter a negative word about Thailand. Words of caution would enhance his credibility. Every year though he repeats the same.
I get the feeling he's living in a world of passed fame. Back then he had the right timing.
He didn't foresee anything of what has happened to Thailand in the passed two years or so.
There are emerging markets funds out there with Thailand in it with a much more solid performance, even during these difficult times.
No war, thanks. And yes - it's in his interest to talk up the market. But what he said on Saturday was different to last year, and also different to what he had been quoted as saying that same day in both The Bangkok Post and The Nation. It certainly was not all positive, and some of the answers questions from the audience were enlightening too.
Would be nice to read more (or even see a video) of the event and of what he said...
Keralitee, thanks for your comments.
We had many print and television journalists there so I expect there to be some reports over the next few days. Money Channel might be one place to look.
Mobuis spoke a lot of sense at the event and was looking forward not back.
No spamming intended, but here's what he said last year - my wild guess is he said mostly similar thins this year:
http://absolutelybangkok.com/dr-mark-mobius-guru-on-thailand-oil/
Dan, it's hard to actually recall what he said but I will check the video and pick out some specific quotes.
But yes, as a medium-long terms investor in Thailand his views are unlikely to change much. Despite the downturn he seems to have increased his weighting in Thailand as an overall percentage in his various funds since last year. He also descrived the process his team goes through when selecting a stock for investment, and talked about other countries he's excited about.
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