http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-0 ... -2009.html
Mobius Finds Argentine Frontier Stocks Cheap
Mark Mobius, who manages $45 billion at Templeton Emerging Markets Group, is buying Argentine stocks that are trading at their cheapest levels in almost three years.
“Although the political environment is not very good, the companies are very cheap so we’re looking closely,” Mobius, the firm’s executive chairman, said by telephone from Santiago. “We continue to add selectively as more money comes into the fund.”
Argentina’s Merval stock index (MERVAL) fetches 6.8 times estimated earnings, the lowest level since May 2009, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The gauge plunged 30 percent last year, more than the MSCI EM Latin America Index’s 22 percent drop, as gross domestic product increased 8.3 percent, more than other major Latin American economy, according to the median estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.
So-called frontier markets such as Argentina, Nigeria and Kenya offer faster growth than other emerging markets, Mobius said during a trip to Latin America this week.
“There’s lots of volatility and lots of problems in trying to get your research done, but I think these frontier markets are really interesting,” he said.
Argentina became the only major Latin America market classified as “frontier” in June 2009 when MSCI Inc. removed the country from its benchmark emerging-market index, citing capital controls. The demotion also followed President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner’s seizure of about $24 billion in assets held by private pension funds, the country’s biggest stockholders. New York-based MSCI classifies its markets based on size, liquidity and economic development.
