INVESTOR’S NOTEBOOK: Wild ride on the frontier
Bank listings dominate in the majority of less-developed stock exchanges
We used to refer to developing countries as the Third World and a few cruel commentators referred to really poor countries as the Fourth World. Templeton’s Mark Mobius and his peers realised back in the 1980s that neither of these terms was marketable, invoking as they did famine, helplessness and in general countries which could not stand on their own two feet. So emerging markets were born from the ashes of the Third World. And many of these countries now have companies which are indistinguishable from those in developed economies (think Samsung and Tata Motors) — they are well covered by Western analysts and traded regularly by conventional global funds. A lot of the excitement has gone out of the emerging markets class, which is fine for most investors, but not those who invested with Mobius on the promise that he would be "the Indiana Jones of investment", giving an exciting ride in unexplored territories.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.