IN BANGKOK
THERE was a particularly enjoyable lunch talk at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand (FCCT) on Thursday – featuring the legendary Dr Mark Mobius.
Dr Mark Mobius: "It won't be a double dip recession." ST PHOTO: Nirmal Ghosh
The energetic Dr Mobius, one of the first US fund managers to move to Hong Kong, spent time in Thailand in the 1970s (staying at Soi Sawasdee off Sukhumvit).
Several awards, a few books, and billions of dollars later, he has achieved the status of emerging market Guru.
He joined Franklin Templeton Investments in 1987 as president and portfolio manager of the Templeton Emerging Markets Fund, Inc.
Currently, he directs the Templeton research team based in 16 global emerging markets offices and manages emerging markets portfolios.
As he came into the crowded clubhouse, someone remarked wryly, "You have to be a celebrity to be able to wear a white suit."
Indeed, Dr Mobius — who turned 74 this week — was impeccably dressed in an un-rumpled cream coloured suit over a pale yellow shirt. I couldn't see what kind of watch he was wearing but it had a broad white band.
Dr Mark Mobius warned against derivatives during his talk at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand (FCCT) on Thursday. ST PHOTO: Nirmal Ghosh
As he ate a quick lunch before taking the podium, we chatted about his life. He is American-born, but took up German nationality, and now lives mostly in Hongkong and Singapore.
But he travels almost constantly. When I asked him where he called "home", he said: "Everywhere; sometimes a hotel room!"
He seemed to have a constant twinkle in his eye. And when the conversation veered to Thailand the seemingly ever-ebullient investor said: "We've been in Thailand so long investing, nothing fazes us."
"Everybody thought Thailand was going down the tubes," he said, recalling how six months ago he was looking at leasing office space in Bangkok just before the political clashes of April-May — but the building was burned down.
"We've been investing throughout this whole period," he said. "In fact a lot of clients were asking us why ... (but) we've been increasingly investing here. If you look at our total global assets in the emerging markets group, it's about US$37 billion (S$50 billion), nearly nine per cent is in Thailand."
"Having lived here, having experienced all these changes of government, we've seen the improvements. A lot of people miss that fact, I think, it's only if you've been here for a long time and lived here, that you're able to see the improvements taking place.
"In that sense it's been very gratifying, because patience and fortitude pay off. This year and last year, Thailand has been, after Indonesia, the best performing market."