(March 31): Mark Mobius, a money-management icon who popularized emerging-markets investing, will pass on his responsibilities of overseeing the Templeton Emerging Markets Group to Stephen Dover as he steps down from day-to-day management.

Dover will become chief investment officer of the group and take over some of Mobius’s responsibilities on April 15, the company said in a statement. Mobius will remain chairman of the emerging-markets group. The 79-year-old investor announced in July that he will retire as the lead manager of the Templeton Emerging Markets Investment Trust, one of the oldest developing-nation stock funds, and Carlos Hardenberg was selected to take over from October.

“Mark Mobius is a giant in the field of finance,” Tim Condon, Singapore-based head of Asian research at ING Groep NV, said in an interview. “He was a creator of the emerging-market asset class.”

Mobius, who has been investing in emerging-market nations for about four decades, developed a reputation for sniffing out stocks that are undervalued relative to their growth potential and built on that by consistently delivering outsized returns earlier in his career. He has struggled in recent years as poorly timed investments in commodity and mining companies led to losses.

Flagship underperforms
His flagship US$4.4 billion ($5.6 billion) Templeton Asian Growth Fund lost 27 percent in 2015, compared with an 8.9 percent drop in the benchmark and underperforming 99 percent of its peers, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Dover, who has more than 20 years of experience in emerging-market investments, currently oversees the team which manages products in 14 markets around the world, from Brazil to China to Poland and Vietnam. He will remain the CIO at Franklin Local Asset Management. The decision brings the Franklin Local Asset Management team and the Emerging Markets Group under one umbrella, according to the statement.

Mobius’ Call
Many emerging-market fund managers have floundered as China’s expansion slows and former standouts such as Brazil and Russia post disappointing growth amid a rout in commodities.

Emerging markets are at a turning point with a reversal in sight, Mobius told Bloomberg this month, signaling optimism after the worst annual rout in four years. The "turnaround potential" for Asia is great amid growth in the region, Mobius said in a speech in Kuala Lumpur on March 15. It "makes me happy" that investors are underweight on emerging markets, he said.

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index has rallied 21 percent from a 2009 low in January, while a gauge of developing-nation currencies rebounded 8.4 percent from a low on Jan. 20. Demand for riskier assets is rising as oil’s rebound from a 13-year low and cheaper valuations are outweighing concerns about China’s economic slowdown and the end of near-zero interest rates in the U.S.

Mobius earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Boston University. He went on to get his doctorate from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1964, specializing in developing economies. After his studies, Mobius worked as a door-to-door researcher for companies looking to market products in Asia, including soy milk for Monsanto Co., cosmetics for Avon Products Inc. and tallow for the National Renderers Association Inc., he has said in interviews.

He joined Templeton, Galbraith & Hansberger in 1987, when investing in developing countries was still a novel idea. He was tapped by firm founder John Templeton to manage the Templeton Emerging Markets Fund, the company’s first foray into that territory.