Mark Mobius Warns of Nationalization Under Argentina’s Fernandez

(Bloomberg) -- Argentine opposition frontrunner Alberto Fernandez could turn to nationalization to fulfill campaign promises, according to emerging-market veteran Mark Mobius.

“I’m not saying it could be a Venezuelan scenario, but you never know,” he told Bloomberg TV on Friday. “We haven’t seen that before in Argentina, but we have to look very, very carefully at what his people are saying.”

If Argentines complain of high power prices, for example, it’s possible the administration would take over a national electricity firm in order to slash rates, said Mobius, who set up Mobius Capital Partners last year after three decades at Franklin Templeton Investments. “That’s what worries me: possible nationalization of companies,” he said. “That’s what you have to watch for.”

Fernandez is widely expected to win Sunday’s landmark presidential election and inherit a struggling economy. Mobius said there are plenty of investors who are willing to bet on Argentina if the price is right, and its debt will still have a market as a new administration takes power.

--With assistance from Guy Johnson and Romaine Bostick.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sydney Maki in New York at smaki8@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Carolina Wilson at cwilson166@bloomberg.net, Alec D.B. McCabe

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