Thailand is the next big place for investing in emerging markets, especially the country’s banking stocks, Templeton Asset Management Managing Director Mark Mobius told CNBC Wednesday.
While India and China remain the two major emerging-market areas, prices of Thai stocks are much more attractive than those in Singapore, Malaysia, or even Indonesia, Mobius said.
“If you look at our Asia growth fund, Thailand is actually bigger than China,” he said. “The price appreciation was greater recently and, of course, we did emphasize Thailand more, although in terms of money spent we put more in to China.”
Banks are “very strong” in Thailand, said Mobius, who added he likes commodities, property, land and housing as well.
Looking to china, Chinalco is “an obvious pick,” as are coal, iron and steel companies.
Investors should be cautious with Chinese banks, though, as some may have bad loan problems.