Templeton Mutual Funds.

Mr. Don Reed is executive vice president of parent company Templeton Worldwide, president and director of Templeton Investment Counsel and president and CEO of Templeton Canada.

The seminar was hosted by local investment advisors, Emerald Financial and the Bermuda Commercial Bank.

Templeton is said to have had the best record, in terms of returns to its clients, of any investment manager in the world over the last 30 years.

But one reason for that maybe that Templeton was the first global player.

Mr. Reed said: "If you look for bargains in many countries of the world, you are likely to find more bargains.'' Globe-trotting Mr. Reed, 49, a Canadian born in Montreal and residing in Fort Lauderdale and Toronto, racks up 190,000 miles a year in travel as the front man in many of the very emerging markets that is the new wave of investment.

It is only one of the reasons why Templeton's funds boast investment in 42 countries around the world, up from just eight 13 years ago. They are projecting to be in 60 countries by next year.

David Bolden, president of Emerald Financial Group, said: "If you are Canadian and you only invest in Canada, you are investing in just three percent of your opportunities. Bermudians who are only investing in Bermuda will find that there are still 99 percent of other investment opportunities left around the world.'' Mr. Reed said: "I like to go to the various countries and see the different companies that we are investing in, and look for new situations. "I can't say I enjoy the travelling, it's just part of my business. I love my job. There are a lot of developing countries that are realising their need to increase their standard of living. There's always a new challenge. It is an exciting era for people in my business.'' Templeton merged two years ago with Franklin Resources, making it the world's largest publicly traded mutual fund company with over $109 billion under management.It was founded more than fifty years ago when Sir John Templeton pioneered the concept of investment outside of the US.

Mr. Reed, himself, personally manages several hundred million dollars in equities for the firm.

"The media has made the world a much smaller place,'' he said. "People are more inclined now to think about investing outside of their own country.

The public is getting more sophisticated and more discriminating about their investments.

"They realise even in the United States that if you buy treasury bills, after taxation and inflation, you can be losing. I'm not saying that there is no place any more for fixed income investments, just that there needs to be more diversification in your portfolio.'' Mr. Don Reed.