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Riding on the back of an aggressive fund mobilisation strategy coupled with an increased focus on retail investors, Franklin Templeton Investments has become the second private sector mutual fund (MF) player to have crossed the Rs 10,000 crore in assets under management (AUM) mark. The leader is Prudential ICICI Asset Management Company, (AMC).

Templeton Asset Management (India) Pvt Ltd’s chief investment officer (Fixed Income) Nilesh Shah said: “Our fund house has arrived at this coveted spot following a single-minded focus on providing superior financial solutions for our investors. It is a matter of great satisfaction to us, that we have been able to provide solutions for an ever growing family of investors which stands at 8,76,000 investors today.”

Elaborating on the achievement, Mr Shah, said: “Our consistent performance across all categories is evident from the fact our various schemes were awarded CPR1 ratings in all the five categories for the quarter-ended December 2002. This follows the bagging of four awards out of five categories at the Crisil Best Fund Awards 2002. Besides giving investors superior risk-adjusted investment performance, customer service and transparency are two areas in which Franklin Templeton has concentrated.”

Looking ahead, Mr Shah opined that the increasing complexities of markets and variable rates on traditional saving products are making investors increasingly rely on professional fund managers to nurture their hard earned money. “In the light of this metamorphosis, Franklin Templeton, which offers products in almost all asset classes and with different investment styles, under a single roof, is ideally positioned to cater to the investment requirements of Indian investors”, he added.

MF analysts remain optimistic about the future performance of the AMC, considering the expertise of fund managers in both the debt as well as the equity side, post-takeover of Pioneer.

Further, the increased focus on building a good network of distribution and relentless efforts at distributor and investor training has also borne fruit for the fund house, in recent times, analysts said.

Speaking about the superior performance of the Templeton India Gilt Fund, analysts opined that this 4-star fund, with an asset base of Rs 608.15 crore and the second-oldest fund in the category, has rarely slipped from the peak. Also the Prima Plus and its Income Fund have been constant performers, analysts said.