Mark Mobius, a money manager who made billions as one of the first investors focused on finding financial opportunities in emerging markets, died on April 15 in Singapore. He was 89.

            In 1987, Mr. Mobius joined the investment banking firm Franklin Templeton, where he soon started one of the first investment funds anywhere dedicated to emerging markets — countries in Asia Africa, Latin America and Eastern Europe. Gaining a reputation as the brilliant, swashbuckling “Indiana Jones” of his field, he helped change the perception of emerging markets. Over time, more investors began including them in their portfolios.

            Franklin Templeton’s emerging markets group handled $100 million when Mr. Mobius started. By the time he retired from the firm in 2018, his fund held over $40 billion in investments spread across some 70 countries. “The world belongs to optimists” Mr. Mobius said.