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Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund (FTMF) has turned out to be India’s worst-performing asset management company in the financial year ended March 2021 if one were to go by its assets under management (AUM).
Data show that FT is the only large MF in India that did not witness any growth in its AUM during the last financial year despite a historic rise in India’s stock markets when benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty gave 100 per cent returns.
A sharp de-growth
As per data collated by Outlook Asia Capital, a Mumbai-based data analytics firm, FTMF is the only fund among the top 20 players whose AUM witnessed a sharp de-growth between March 2020 and March 2021.
As of March 2021, FTMF’s total AUM stood at ₹60,799 crore against its March 2020 AUM of ₹1,16,323 crore – a whooping 47.7 percent fall. In comparison, the top 20 MFs in India witnessed a growth of between 10 to 95 per cent in their AUM numbers.
SBI MF crossed ₹5-lakh crore mark in terms of AUM for the first time, followed by HDFC MF (₹4.15-lakh crore), ICICI MF (₹4.05-lakh crore) and Aditya Birla (₹2.69-lakh crore).
In January, FT was labelled the world’s worst-selling MF by the media, since it was also marred by heavy redemptions globally. As per Outlook Asia, this AUM data of FTMF in India excludes the AUM of its six debt schemes, where redemptions have been suspended. These six debt schemes have investor wealth worth around ₹26,000 crore locked in as of the AUM of April 2020. However, even if one considers the assets of the six debt schemes, FTMF still shows a fall in its overall performance in terms of AUM. Also, it is far from clear if the nearly 3 lakh investors of FTMF’s six debt schemes would be getting a 100 per cent refund of their investments.
Debt scheme fiasco
Experts say the debt scheme fiasco has eroded investor trust in FTMF and there have been large-scale redemptions even in equity schemes. FTMF is currently under investigation by market regulator SEBI and money laundering agency, Enforcement Directorate. The Supreme Court has asked SBI MF to liquidate assets of the six debt schemes of FTMF and distribute money to investors.
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