The Templeton Emerging Markets Group has announced that beginning 3 April 2017, it will initiate a series of portfolio manager appointments as part of the ongoing evolution of the Group. The appointments will happen in two rounds, the first effective 3 April 2017, and the second effective 31 May 2017, subject to further regulatory approval. Mark Mobius’ name will be removed from 12 of the firm’s strategies.
We think that Templeton Emerging Markets Group is heading in the right direction and investors should not be concerned about the announced portfolio manager appointments. This latest announcement is a sensible step in further paving the way for Mobius to step back, and there are no immediate Morningstar Analyst Rating implications following this change.
For quite some time, Mark Mobius has not been involved in the day-to-day management of the strategies he is now stepping down from, and in most cases the newly named portfolio managers have been doing the heavy lifting for a long time. For example, Allan Lam, who will officially be named the lead portfolio manager on Templeton Asian Growth fund, has been the final decision maker of the strategy since 1999. This development therefore improves accountability at the portfolio manager level, providing better transparency to investors.
Templeton Emerging Markets Group has been gradually setting the stage for Mobius to step back over the past few years, notably, replacing Mobius with Stephen Dover as the Group’s CIO on 15 April 2016. Dover has begun positive changes to the Group, such as appointing capable portfolio managers Chetan Seghal and Carlos Hardenberg to take over the Templeton Emerging Markets strategy. As a result, we have also increased our conviction in the fund.
