Satyendra Pathak
Doha
Qatar’s market has been very resilient in the face of challenges posed by the blockade and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, veteran emerging markets investor Mark Mobius said on Sunday.
Speaking at the ‘Fireside chat with Mark Mobius’ hosted by Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) as part of its webinar series, Mobius said that the government and the people of Qatar have withstood these challenges effectively.
Mobius, who left Franklin Templeton after more than three decades in 2018 to set up Mobius Capital Partners, said that there are tremendous opportunities for investors in markets like Qatar in the Middle East region.
"What I find in the Middle East region is a number of very good companies that are quite resilient and are doing a very good job. While currently, we have limited exposure in the Middle East market, we will continue to invest as we do feel that this region will do quite well going forward,” he said.
He said that the economic impact of COVID-19 will eventually be over because of the realisation that lockdown is not the answer. "You have got to allow people to work and to live,” he said.
Praising Qatar’s government for providing support to the local market in the current scenario, he said, "It’s a welcome move.”
He, however, said that the real revival will happen when economies are open.
Mobius said that listed companies in the region need to be more transparent to attract investors.
Highlighting the importance of environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards in the current market scenario, he said, "Investors focus on companies that have the potential to deliver improvements in ESG standards. We believe companies with strong track records of corporate governance today may be better prepared for the future.”
"During my career as an emerging markets investor, I have always advocated about corporate governance issues,” he said.
While discussing the performance of sharia compliant Al Rayan Index and QE Index, Mobius explained that there are a lot of similarities between sharia complaint investing and ESG investing.
"That’s why Qatar’s sharia index tends to do better than others,” he said.
Moderated by QSE Marketing and Communication Director Hussain Al Abdullah and QSE Product and Market Development Director Mohsin Mujtaba, the webinar saw large participation from officials of listed companies in Qatar.
Revealing his pecking order in the emerging market, Mobius said, "In terms of weight, the Indian market has the largest weight in our portfolio. We have found more opportunities in India than in other countries. Some of the Indian stocks that we own have been doing quite well. We are very interested in doing more in India. The next biggest market is China and after that it’s Brazil. We also have holdings in Turkey, South Africa, Taiwan and Korea also.”
"We are emphasising on anything to do with medical care. We are emphasising infrastructure equipment or infrastructure suppliers. Education would be another area that we are looking at more closely and, of course, anything related to technology, particularly cloud technology,” he said.
Going forward, he said, emerging markets are expected to rise much faster than the developed markets.
"The US markets have done very well up to now. Going forward, it will be the turn of the emerging markets. If you look at the performance of the emerging markets, you will notice that they have kept pace with what’s happening in the US and the world markets,” he said.
Reply to a query as to how does he see gold as an investment option, he said, "Gold already has had an incredible rally. I do think that the rise has been perhaps a little bit too rapid. But I still feel that at least 10 percent of one’s investment should be in physical gold.”
About the impact of the upcoming US presidential elections on the global market, he said, "If there’s any chance of Donald Trump not getting in, the market will do very badly. Globally, it will be a very bearish scenario. There’s a high correlation between what happens in the US and what happens in other countries around the world.”
QSE Marketing and Communication Director Hussain Mohammed Al Abdullah highlighted QSE’s achievement as one of the best performing stock markets in the region.
Doha
Qatar’s market has been very resilient in the face of challenges posed by the blockade and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, veteran emerging markets investor Mark Mobius said on Sunday.
Speaking at the ‘Fireside chat with Mark Mobius’ hosted by Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE) as part of its webinar series, Mobius said that the government and the people of Qatar have withstood these challenges effectively.
Mobius, who left Franklin Templeton after more than three decades in 2018 to set up Mobius Capital Partners, said that there are tremendous opportunities for investors in markets like Qatar in the Middle East region.
"What I find in the Middle East region is a number of very good companies that are quite resilient and are doing a very good job. While currently, we have limited exposure in the Middle East market, we will continue to invest as we do feel that this region will do quite well going forward,” he said.
He said that the economic impact of COVID-19 will eventually be over because of the realisation that lockdown is not the answer. "You have got to allow people to work and to live,” he said.
Praising Qatar’s government for providing support to the local market in the current scenario, he said, "It’s a welcome move.”
He, however, said that the real revival will happen when economies are open.
Mobius said that listed companies in the region need to be more transparent to attract investors.
Highlighting the importance of environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards in the current market scenario, he said, "Investors focus on companies that have the potential to deliver improvements in ESG standards. We believe companies with strong track records of corporate governance today may be better prepared for the future.”
"During my career as an emerging markets investor, I have always advocated about corporate governance issues,” he said.
While discussing the performance of sharia compliant Al Rayan Index and QE Index, Mobius explained that there are a lot of similarities between sharia complaint investing and ESG investing.
"That’s why Qatar’s sharia index tends to do better than others,” he said.
Moderated by QSE Marketing and Communication Director Hussain Al Abdullah and QSE Product and Market Development Director Mohsin Mujtaba, the webinar saw large participation from officials of listed companies in Qatar.
Revealing his pecking order in the emerging market, Mobius said, "In terms of weight, the Indian market has the largest weight in our portfolio. We have found more opportunities in India than in other countries. Some of the Indian stocks that we own have been doing quite well. We are very interested in doing more in India. The next biggest market is China and after that it’s Brazil. We also have holdings in Turkey, South Africa, Taiwan and Korea also.”
"We are emphasising on anything to do with medical care. We are emphasising infrastructure equipment or infrastructure suppliers. Education would be another area that we are looking at more closely and, of course, anything related to technology, particularly cloud technology,” he said.
Going forward, he said, emerging markets are expected to rise much faster than the developed markets.
"The US markets have done very well up to now. Going forward, it will be the turn of the emerging markets. If you look at the performance of the emerging markets, you will notice that they have kept pace with what’s happening in the US and the world markets,” he said.
Reply to a query as to how does he see gold as an investment option, he said, "Gold already has had an incredible rally. I do think that the rise has been perhaps a little bit too rapid. But I still feel that at least 10 percent of one’s investment should be in physical gold.”
About the impact of the upcoming US presidential elections on the global market, he said, "If there’s any chance of Donald Trump not getting in, the market will do very badly. Globally, it will be a very bearish scenario. There’s a high correlation between what happens in the US and what happens in other countries around the world.”
QSE Marketing and Communication Director Hussain Mohammed Al Abdullah highlighted QSE’s achievement as one of the best performing stock markets in the region.