Investing Hall of Fame
Hard work, shrewd judgment, self-discipline, and the belief that excellent investments are to be had overseas have made Sir John Marks Templeton a great investor, while optimism and a deep faith have made him one of the most generous philanthropists of our time.
Templeton learned thrift and enterprise early. Growing up at the turn of the century in Winchester, Tennessee, he started his own business at the age of four, growing beans in a corner of his mother's garden and selling them at the local store. As a teenager, Templeton and a group of friends bought two dilapidated Fords for $10 each and combined their parts into one operating vehicle.
Templeton's approach to investing was just as practical. He honed bargain hunting and stock picking to a science, and devoted every available moment to the research of companies and industries. His search for good buys was what led him to international stocks, the area that he pioneered. Personally, Templeton was so thrifty that in 1969 he moved to the Bahamas, renounced his U.S. citizenship, and became a British subject - all to avoid paying taxes.
Still, his 15 rules for investing are tried and true, to this day. Among them: "Buy low. So simple in concept, so difficult in execution. When prices are high, a lot of investors are buying a lot of stocks. Prices are low when demand is low. Investors have pulled back, people are discouraged and pessimistic. But if you buy the same securities everyone else is buying, you'll have the same results as everyone else. By definition, you can't outperform the market."
His value approach proved quite successful. If dividends were reinvested, an initial investment of $10,000 made when he founded the Templeton Growth Fund in 1954 was worth $3 million - much of that made by investing in unfashionable foreign markets - when the fund was sold to Franklin Resources in 1992.
In 1984, he endowed Templeton College at Oxford University (which he attended as a Rhodes scholar); the graduate program focuses on international business and management.
In 1987, he founded the Templeton Foundation "to encourage a fresh appreciation of the critical importance - for all peoples and cultures - of the moral and spiritual dimensions of life." The Foundation awards grants to researchers studying religious or spiritual subjects, publishing books and newsletters, and cohosts conferences with medical institutions. The Foundation also oversees the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion, which has been given annually since 1973 to a living person who has deepened the world's understanding of God, spiritual life, and service. The cash part of the prize is greater than that of the Nobel Prize.
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Templeton learned thrift and enterprise early. Growing up at the turn of the century in Winchester, Tennessee, he started his own business at the age of four, growing beans in a corner of his mother's garden and selling them at the local store. As a teenager, Templeton and a group of friends bought two dilapidated Fords for $10 each and combined their parts into one operating vehicle.
Templeton's approach to investing was just as practical. He honed bargain hunting and stock picking to a science, and devoted every available moment to the research of companies and industries. His search for good buys was what led him to international stocks, the area that he pioneered. Personally, Templeton was so thrifty that in 1969 he moved to the Bahamas, renounced his U.S. citizenship, and became a British subject - all to avoid paying taxes.
Still, his 15 rules for investing are tried and true, to this day. Among them: "Buy low. So simple in concept, so difficult in execution. When prices are high, a lot of investors are buying a lot of stocks. Prices are low when demand is low. Investors have pulled back, people are discouraged and pessimistic. But if you buy the same securities everyone else is buying, you'll have the same results as everyone else. By definition, you can't outperform the market."
His value approach proved quite successful. If dividends were reinvested, an initial investment of $10,000 made when he founded the Templeton Growth Fund in 1954 was worth $3 million - much of that made by investing in unfashionable foreign markets - when the fund was sold to Franklin Resources in 1992.
In 1984, he endowed Templeton College at Oxford University (which he attended as a Rhodes scholar); the graduate program focuses on international business and management.
In 1987, he founded the Templeton Foundation "to encourage a fresh appreciation of the critical importance - for all peoples and cultures - of the moral and spiritual dimensions of life." The Foundation awards grants to researchers studying religious or spiritual subjects, publishing books and newsletters, and cohosts conferences with medical institutions. The Foundation also oversees the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion, which has been given annually since 1973 to a living person who has deepened the world's understanding of God, spiritual life, and service. The cash part of the prize is greater than that of the Nobel Prize.
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posted by Bob Moser at
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