Mark Mobius, a renowned investor widely recognized as a pioneer in emerging markets investing, passed away on Wednesday in Singapore at the age of 89, according to a statement posted on his LinkedIn page.

Mobius invested in emerging markets for decades and was actively promoting new investment opportunities as recently as January of this year. His convictions influenced a generation of fund managers and helped channel significant capital into an area once considered a peripheral market.

Serving as the executive chairman of Templeton Emerging Markets Group, Mobius was associated with the firm for over three decades. In 1987, hired by John Templeton, a pioneer in encouraging US investors to look abroad, Mobius founded one of the first mutual funds dedicated specifically to fast-growing emerging markets. He continued to manage the Templeton Emerging Markets Group until 2016 and served as the lead portfolio manager for the Templeton Emerging Markets Investment Trust until 2015. Mobius announced his retirement in January 2018.

Data shows that the closed-end fund achieved an average annual return of 13.4% from its inception in 1989 until Mobius's retirement. Since the launch of the MSCI Emerging Markets Index in 2001, the fund outperformed the benchmark index by an average of 1.9 percentage points per year.

Mobius Capital Partners stated that following Mobius's passing, the firm's two partners, John Ninia and Eric Nguyen, will assume leadership responsibilities.