Templeton's Way with Money

Called the "greatest stock picker of the century" by Money magazine, legendary fund manager Sir John Templeton is remembered as one of the world's foremost investors, known for his pioneering insights and phenomenal investment performance over a professional career which spanned more than half a century.

Templeton’s Way with Money provides a unique, professional 21st century appraisal of what made this formidable investor the success he was—and why his methods remain as valid today as they were during his long and successful lifetime.

Written by two investment experts, one of whom worked closely with Sir John for ten years, and drawing on previously unpublished documents, the book explains in detail how John Templeton's simple but effective investment philosophy of riding out the ups and downs of the market cycle continues to be as relevant as ever for professional and private investors alike.

Key features include:

• A fresh and detailed reappraisal, drawing on a number of previously unpublished documents, of the philosophy which Templeton applied to the two phase of his investment career—first as an investment counsel, and latterly as the most successful global fund manager of his generation
• A detailed and original study of the performance of the Templeton Growth Fund, demonstrating in detail how Templeton achieved the Holy Grail of investment—above average returns with below average risk
• First hand accounts from former colleagues of their experience in working with Templeton—including those of author Alasdair Nairn's ten-year career working with and for the investment management organization that was Templeton's life work
• Proprietary and original research which explains why Templeton's seemingly simple investment philosophy is sure to produce exceptional returns if implemented effectively

Current market conditions make Templeton's contrarian investment method of profiting from pessimism particularly relevant today, and this book a must-read for anyone working with investments.

Introduction vii

Chapter 1 The Man and His Life 1

Chapter 2 Investment Counsel 29

Chapter 3 Fund Manager 65

Chapter 4 Philosophy in Action 101

Chapter 5 Why the Templeton Method Works 131

Chapter 6 Past, Present, and Future 161

Appendix John Templeton’s Advice to Investors 185

Notes 235

Selected Bibliography 241

Acknowledgments 243

About the Authors 245

Index 247

"All investors should read this book... the tips, as well as the story of how he made his billions, are well worth the book's price." (Money Week, 20th April 2012)

JONATHAN DAVIS is the founder and chairman of Independent Investor, a specialist financial publishing venture, and a well-known columnist and investment writer. A former business and financial journalist on The Times of London, The Economist, and The Independent, he is a regular columnist for the Financial Times, author of three other books on investment, and a director of three investment companies.

DR. ALASDAIR NAIRN has been managing global equity portfolios for twenty-five years. He is the founder and CEO of Edinburgh Partners, a specialist fund management firm based in Edinburgh, Scotland, which manages $14 billion in assets using Templeton's principles. Earlier in his career, he spent ten years working for Templeton Investment Management, latterly as Director of Global Equity Research, working closely with Templeton himself. His previous book, Engines That Move Markets, was a study of technology booms and busts in financial markets.

Sir John Templeton is universally acknowledged as one of the most successful money managers of the twentieth century, best known for his trailblazing approach as a global equity investor, fearlessly hunting for stock market bargains in places where few professionals had ventured before. While much has been written about this giant of the investment world, Templeton's Way with Money: Strategies and Philosophy of a Legendary Investor offers a fresh and independent analysis of the man and his methods, exploring his personal history and explaining in layman's language why his insights are still so relevant today.

An inspiration for thousands of investors, Templeton is a member of a small professional elite, money managers who attain the ultimate goal of stock market investment—consistently above average returns with below average risk. Drawing from an extensive selection of sources (many of them published here for the first time), investment experts Jonathan Davis and Alasdair Nairn take a new and unbiased look at the long career of a true master of the game, one who excelled both as investment counsel and manager of a mutual fund that broke all records for its sustained and consistent market outperformance over a period of nearly four decades. This timely book sifts through some of the myths surrounding Templeton's career to demonstrate, using personal interviews and original analytical research, why Templeton's methods worked, why they are so often misunderstood, and what investors must do to take advantage of his key ideas and insights.

Part biography, part investment advice, Templeton's Way with Money skillfully dissects Templeton's life, career, investment philosophy, and the track record of his first mutual fund, and sketches out the opportunities open to investors for following in his footsteps. The authors conclude by using Templeton's methods to offer a compelling analysis of the threats and opportunities facing investors as they seek to make more informed investment decisions in today's troubled financial environment.

Sir John Templeton is universally acknowledged as one of the most successful money managers of the twentieth century, best known for his trailblazing approach as a global equity investor, fearlessly hunting for stock market bargains in places where few professionals had ventured before. While much has been written about this giant of the investment world, Templeton's Way with Money: Strategies and Philosophy of a Legendary Investor offers a fresh and independent analysis of the man and his methods, exploring his personal history and explaining in layman's language why his insights are still so relevant today.

An inspiration for thousands of investors, Templeton is a member of a small professional elite, money managers who attain the ultimate goal of stock market investment—consistently above average returns with below average risk. Drawing from an extensive selection of sources (many of them published here for the first time), investment experts Jonathan Davis and Alasdair Nairn take a new and unbiased look at the long career of a true master of the game, one who excelled both as investment counsel and manager of a mutual fund that broke all records for its sustained and consistent market outperformance over a period of nearly four decades. This timely book sifts through some of the myths surrounding Templeton's career to demonstrate, using personal interviews and original analytical research, why Templeton's methods worked, why they are so often misunderstood, and what investors must do to take advantage of his key ideas and insights.

Part biography, part investment advice, Templeton's Way with Money skillfully dissects Templeton's life, career, investment philosophy, and the track record of his first mutual fund, and sketches out the opportunities open to investors for following in his footsteps. The authors conclude by using Templeton's methods to offer a compelling analysis of the threats and opportunities facing investors as they seek to make more informed investment decisions in today's troubled financial environment.