Franklin Templeton’s investments in Saudi Arabia could double if the country allows foreign investors unfettered access to its stock market, Mark Mobius, the executive chairman of the US asset manager’s emerging markets group, said yesterday.
Saudi authorities have been studying opening the market for years. Direct investment is currently restricted to locals, although foreigners can get exposure to it indirectly through swap contracts introduced in 2008. Mobius, who manages Franklin Templeton’s emerging markets portfolios, said at a press conference that the firm had about $400mn in Saudi, but that the nature of the swap contracts put limits on further investment.
“When and if Saudi Arabia opens so that we can freely invest, despite the fact that we have so much now already, we would probably double that if the market was fully opened,” he said.
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