Mark Mobius, photo Courtesy of Templeton Asset Management
Russian stocks have a “tremendous value” and almost anyone can find bargains, according to Mark Mobius, who has over 40 years of experience investing in emerging markets, and is the Chairman of Templeton Emerging Markets Group.
“You could almost be blindfolded and throw a few darts and you’ll hit something that’s cheap,” Mr. Mobius said during an interview on Bloomberg TV with Guy Johnson and Francine Lacqua.
Mobius urged caution on investing in Russia due to an “inexorable march towards more and more sanctions, particularly from the U.S.,” adding that he will not put more money into Russia due to these sanctions.
Mobius said, however, if sanctions were not in place on Russia, he would “absolutely” invest more money into the nation. “That is the key, there is no question about it,” Mobius added.
Russia’s dollar-denominated RTS Index has been the worst performer this year among global equity indexes as it has been battered amid these sanctions, regional tensions, and a recent plunge in oil prices. Year-to-date, the RTS Index has fallen 28% and the nation’s currency, the ruble, has fallen 22% and is the second-worst performing emerging market currency after the Argentine peso.
The benchmark stock index in Russia, the Micex Index, trades at 4.6 times estimated earnings and is the cheapest among all 21 emerging markets that are tracked by Bloomberg.
“It is the cheapest major market in the world today, no question about that,” Mobius said. “There is no other stock market in the world that’s selling like that,” Mobius added.
When asked what he would buy in Russia, Mobius said he would start with the “major stocks, Sberbank, the major oil companies, the supermarket chains, big department store chains, some of the mining companies such as Norilsk Nickel.”
Watch the full Bloomberg TV interview with Mark Mobius
Source: Bloomberg
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