Sir John Templeton
About
John Templeton was a pioneer of global investing at a time when most American investors barely looked past their own borders.
In 1939, with Europe descending into war and stocks in a panic, he famously borrowed money and bought $100 worth of every US stock trading at $1 or less — a portfolio that made him a fortune as the market recovered.
He founded the Templeton Growth Fund in 1954, one of the first funds explicitly built around international investing, and spent decades hunting bargains everywhere from Japan to emerging markets.
- "The time of maximum pessimism is the best time to buy."
- "The four most dangerous words in investing are: 'this time it's different.'"
- Search worldwide. The best bargains are almost never in the country everyone is talking about.
From the record
Historical positions — for education, not a current portfolio.
- 1939 — famously bought shares of roughly a hundred NYSE-listed companies trading under $1 apiece. Most recovered strongly.
- Postwar Japan — an early, and successful, American investor in Japanese equities when few dared look.
Read Sir in their own words
Investing the Templeton Way
A close look at Templeton's global contrarian process from those who knew it best.
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Templeton showed that the best bargains are rarely where the crowd is looking — and made global, contrarian value investing a respectable discipline.