Investment royalty passes on

We’d be remiss if we didn’t mark the passing of one of the greats. Sir John Templeton died Tuesday at the age of 95. For anyone who’s observed Franklin Templeton‘s 50 year track record of success, and more importantly, Sir John’s legendary philanthropic efforts, he will be sorely missed. According to the Wall Street Journal , a $10,000 investment in the storied Templeton Growth Fund in 1954 would have grown to $2 million by 1992, when Sir John sold his company to Franklin Resources, the San Mateo, Calif.-based fund giant, for $913 million. That translates to an annualized 14.5 percent return. In 1999, Money Magazine called Sir John “arguably the greatest global stock picker of the century.” To be called the best of anything in one year would be an achievement; to be called the best in a century, even better. We had the pleasure of interviewing former Templeton global equity head Jeff Everett for our September 2006 mutual fund resource guide. He told a number of interesting stories about Sir John. It can be found at http://www.boomermarketadvisor.com.