'Regardless of Who Is In Power In Delhi, India Will Grow Rapidly'

Billionaire investor Mark Mobius, the chairman of Mobius Emerging Opportunities Fund, is known by many names, such as the Indiana Jones of Emerging Markets, the Godfather of Emerging Markets and the Pied Piper of Emerging Markets. A recent comic even called him the ‘Bald Eagle’. Mobius particularly likes being called the Indiana Jones of Emerging Markets, perhaps because he is known to go out of his way to find “undervalued stocks” before other investors do. In an interview with Nidhi Sinha, editor, Outlook Money, as part of its Wealth Wizards series, he spoke about his latest book that addresses the younger generation and the potential of the Indian markets, among other things.

- Nidhi Sinha

You are known by many names, such as the Indiana Jones of Emerging Markets, the Godfather of Emerging Markets and the Pied Piper of Emerging Markets. Which one do you like the most and how do you react to these sobriquets?

I get excited when I hear these names, and they are quite amusing. I like the one called Indiana Jones of Emerging Markets. It’s a good one.

You have recently come out with your new book, The Book of Wealth: A Young Investor’s Guide to Wealth and Happiness, which addresses younger investors and their needs. What message do you want to convey to them?

I want to convey to the young people is that it’s (life is) not only about wealth, but it’s about happiness. This (happiness) is, of course, connected to health. It’s important for young people to think about their health over the long term. When you’re young, you feel healthy. But as you get older, you must realise that if you don’t take care of yourself, your life will be shortened, and the best way to get wealthy is to live longer because you have more time to get wealthy.

You know the compounding effect is very important. The longer you are able to stay invested, the richer you become. What is more important is that the longer you live and the healthier you are, the more you can enjoy your wealth.

So, that was one of the things I wanted to put across to the young people that health is wealth, and wealth does not lead to happiness automatically. You have to think about other factors, too.

You have a very interesting example in your book about this gentleman who had acquired a lot of wealth but ended up committing suicide.

Exactly. That’s a good example of when people can have tremendous amount of wealth, but are still not happy with themselves. It’s tragic because they spend all their lives trying to acquire wealth, but forget about their own health, and relationships with other people.