Franklin Templeton Investments launched today the Templeton Frontier Markets Fund, an emerging markets fund to be managed by investing guru Mark Mobius and his team.

The fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets in frontier markets—countries with smaller economies that are in the early stages of development. These 61 countries show strong economic growth and include Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Azerbaijan, Romania, Jordan, Tunisia, Columbia, Paraguay, Kenya and Zambia.

“To capitalize on a changing world, Franklin Templeton’s global team looks at countries that are similar to what China or India were like two decades ago,” said Mobius, lead manager of the fund. “Between 2001 and 2010, nine of the 10 fastest-growing economies in the world were frontier markets, places such as Kazakhstan, Nigeria and Mozambique.”

A frontier markets portfolio often has lower volatility because there is little correlation between the vastly different economies, he said. For example, Estonia is little affected by events in Lebanon, and vice versa.

“In an era of mature growth in developing countries, Canadians need to look to new frontiers for investment opportunity,” Mobius said. “Step one is understanding which markets will rise, and step two is getting in on the ground floor.”

The new fund is also available in a corporate class structure.

The fund’s launch follows Franklin Templeton research that shows Canadian investors believe emerging markets represent the greatest investment opportunity over the next decade. More than one third of Canadians (38%) cite emerging markets, particularly Asia, as the best place to invest.

“Investors have a growing appetite for emerging markets,” Don Reed, president and CEO of Franklin Templeton Investments Corp. said today at the annual Franklin Templeton Investment Forum at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto. The forum is Canada’s longest-running educational event for the investment community.

“Franklin Templeton is seeing investment opportunities that span the globe, from frontier and emerging markets to the developed economies of Europe and North America,” said Reed at the forum.