Skip to main content
MENU
Subscribe
  • Subscribe
  • Account
  • LOGIN
  • Topics
    • Alternatives
    • Consultants
    • Coronavirus
    • Courts
    • Defined Contribution
    • ESG
    • ETFs
    • Hedge Funds
    • Industry Voices
    • Investing
    • Money Management
    • Opinion
    • Partner Content
    • Pension Funds
    • Private Equity
    • Real Estate
    • Russia-Ukraine War
    • SECURE Act 2.0
    • Special Reports
    • White Papers
  • Rankings & Awards
    • 1,000 Largest Retirement Plans
    • Top-Performing Managers
    • Largest Money Managers
    • DC Money Managers
    • DC Record Keepers
    • Largest Hedge Fund Managers
    • World's Largest Retirement Funds
    • Best Places to Work in Money Management
    • Excellence & Innovation Awards
    • WPS Innovation Awards
    • Eddy Awards
  • ETFs
    • Latest ETF News
    • Fund Screener
    • Education Center
    • Equities
    • Fixed Income
    • Commodities
    • Actively Managed
    • Alternatives
    • ESG Rated
  • ESG
    • Latest ESG News
    • The Institutional Investor’s Guide to ESG Investing
    • ESG Sustainability - Gaining Momentum
    • Climate Change: The Inescapable Opportunity
    • Impact Investing
    • 2022 ESG Investing Conference
    • ESG Rated ETFs
  • Defined Contribution
    • Latest DC News
    • DC Money Manager Rankings
    • DC Record Keeper Rankings
    • Innovations in DC
    • Trends in DC: Focus on Retirement Income
    • 2022 Defined Contribution East Conference
    • 2022 DC Investment Lineup Conference
  • Searches & Hires
    • Latest Searches & Hires News
    • Searches & Hires Database
    • RFPs
  • Performance Data
    • P&I Research Center
    • Earnings Tracker
    • Endowment Returns Tracker
    • Corporate Pension Contribution Tracker
    • Pension Fund Returns Tracker
    • Pension Risk Transfer Database
    • Future of Investments Research Series
    • Charts & Infographics
    • Polls
  • Careers
  • Events
    • View All Conferences
    • View All Webinars
    • 2022 Retirement Income Conference
    • 2022 Managing Pension Risk & Liabilities
    • 2022 WorldPensionSummit
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. MONEY MANAGEMENT
April 30, 2020 10:42 AM

Franklin Resources AUM slides 16.9% in first quarter

Christine Williamson
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    Bloomberg
    A monitor displays Franklin Resources Inc. signage on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., on Monday, May 7, 2018.

    Franklin Resources managed $580.3 billion as of March 31, the second quarter of the company’s fiscal year, down 16.9% from Dec. 31 and down 18.5% from March 31, 2019, Franklin’s earnings report issued Thursday showed.

    The $118 billion decline in the three-months ended March 31 was due to $98.2 billion of performance losses and distributions and net outflows of $25.4 billion.

    Total net outflow for Franklin in the quarter ended Dec. 31 was $12.3 billion and net outflow was $6.3 billion in the quarter ended March 31, 2019.

    Franklin said in a commentary accompanying the earnings report that net outflows were “slightly offset” by the acquisition in March of Athena Capital Advisors, a registered investment adviser with assets of $5.6 billion, by the firm’s Fiduciary Trust Co. International unit.

    U.S. and international institutional investor combined net flows were down $10.2 billion in the current quarter vs. being down $10.8 billion in the prior quarter and down $13.6 billion in first quarter 2019.

    “Flows were significantly impacted by industrywide pressures that resulted in significantly elevated redemptions this quarter ... however, we are encouraged by the rebound in long-term sales, particularly in U.S. retail, which had its best quarter in nearly three years,” according to the commentary.

    Compare fund flows and AUM of publicly traded money managers with P&I's Earnings Tracker

    Assets under management in each of Franklin Resources’ asset classes were down in the quarter and year ended March 31, except for cash management, where assets totaled $10.7 billion as of March 31, up 2.9% over the previous quarter and 20.2% for the year.

    Combined U.S. and internal equities totaled $207.4 billion as of March 31, down 26.1% in the quarter and down 26.9% for the year.

    Fixed-income strategies fell 9.9% to $244 billion in the quarter ended March 31 and were down 14.3% for the year.

    Multiasset/balanced portfolios, which totaled $118.2 billion, including the $5.6 billion from the firm’s acquisition of Athena, were down 13.4% in the current quarter and down 12.2% from the same date a year ago.

    Regarding the performance and flows into and out of the firm’s strategies, Jennifer M. Johnson, president and CEO, told analysts during Franklin’s earnings call Thursday that performance overall is improving after “taking a hit in March” adding “today’s market dislocation is tomorrow’s alpha.”

    By way of a bright spot in the first quarter, Ms. Johnson said the firm’s private credit manager, Benefit Street Partners, attracted $1.3 billion in the first three months of the year and continues to see strong interest in its credit-oriented strategies given market conditions.

    The firm also won two large institutional mandates totaling about $2 billion in the first quarter that “helped offset gross flows,” Ms. Johnson said. She did not identify the investors or the strategies they invested in.

    Ms. Johnson assured analysts during the call that Franklin Resources’ acquisition of Legg Mason is on track for completion later this year.

    In response to analyst questions, she said the focus for the companies at this point is on integration of their operations and distribution groups rather than on possible consolidation of investment strategies.

    “There is very little overlap between Legg Mason and Franklin strategies,” Ms. Johnson said.

    Institutional investors have expressed confidence regarding the Legg Mason-Franklin merger, she said.

    “In the first conversations (we’ve had) with institutional investors, the reaction has been positive. Franklin has a record of leaving acquisitions alone and investors said they have confidence that we won’t go in and muddle with the investment teams.”

    Franklin Resources produced revenue of $1.3 billion in the quarter ended March 31, down 5.3% from the previous quarter and down 6.7% from a year earlier.

    Related Articles
    Amundi, Janus Henderson suffer AUM declines for Q1
    Artisan Partners AUM tumbles 21% in quarter
    DWS Group Q1 assets hit by coronavirus pandemic
    Recommended for You
    VonHughes_i.jpg
    Calvert hires head of institutional solutions group
    BlackRock CEO Larry Fink
    Tough markets hit active asset managers striving for turnarounds
    Insight Investment brings on head of responsible investment research
    Private Markets
    Sponsored Content: Private Markets

    Reader Poll

    August 10, 2022
    SEE MORE POLLS >
    Sponsored
    White Papers
    Gaining Momentum: Where Next for Trend-Following?
    The market opportunity in U.S. residential mortgage-backed securities
    Credit Indices Evolve with Enhanced Data Inputs
    Hedge Funds 2.0: Back to the future
    How Has 2022's Carnage Reshaped Global Stock and Bond Markets?
    Crossroads: Politics, Inflation, & Bonds
    View More
    Sponsored Content
    Partner Content
    The Industrialization of ESG Investment
    For institutional investors, ETFs can make meeting liquidity needs easier
    Gold: the most effective commodity investment
    2021 Investment Outlook | Investing Beyond the Pandemic: A Reset for Portfolios
    Ten ways retirement plan professionals add value to plan sponsors
    Gold: an efficient hedge
    View More
    E-MAIL NEWSLETTERS

    Sign up and get the best of News delivered straight to your email inbox, free of charge. Choose your news – we will deliver.

    Subscribe Today
    August 1, 2022 page one

    Get access to the news, research and analysis of events affecting the retirement and institutional money management businesses from a worldwide network of reporters and editors.

    Subscribe
    Connect With Us
    • RSS
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn

    Our Mission

    To consistently deliver news, research and analysis to the executives who manage the flow of funds in the institutional investment market.

    About Us

    Main Office
    685 Third Avenue
    Tenth Floor
    New York, NY 10017-4036

    Chicago Office
    130 E. Randolph St.
    Suite 3200
    Chicago, IL 60601

    Contact Us

    Careers at Crain

    About Pensions & Investments

     

    Advertising
    • Media Kit
    • P&I Content Solutions
    • P&I Careers | Post a Job
    • Reprints & Permissions
    Resources
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • FAQ
    • P&I Research Center
    • Site map
    • Staff Directory
    Legal
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Request
    Pensions & Investments
    Copyright © 1996-2022. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • Topics
      • Alternatives
      • Consultants
      • Coronavirus
      • Courts
      • Defined Contribution
      • ESG
      • ETFs
      • Hedge Funds
      • Industry Voices
      • Investing
      • Money Management
      • Opinion
      • Partner Content
      • Pension Funds
      • Private Equity
      • Real Estate
      • Russia-Ukraine War
      • SECURE Act 2.0
      • Special Reports
      • White Papers
    • Rankings & Awards
      • 1,000 Largest Retirement Plans
      • Top-Performing Managers
      • Largest Money Managers
      • DC Money Managers
      • DC Record Keepers
      • Largest Hedge Fund Managers
      • World's Largest Retirement Funds
      • Best Places to Work in Money Management
      • Excellence & Innovation Awards
      • WPS Innovation Awards
      • Eddy Awards
    • ETFs
      • Latest ETF News
      • Fund Screener
      • Education Center
      • Equities
      • Fixed Income
      • Commodities
      • Actively Managed
      • Alternatives
      • ESG Rated
    • ESG
      • Latest ESG News
      • The Institutional Investor’s Guide to ESG Investing
      • ESG Sustainability - Gaining Momentum
      • Climate Change: The Inescapable Opportunity
      • Impact Investing
      • 2022 ESG Investing Conference
      • ESG Rated ETFs
    • Defined Contribution
      • Latest DC News
      • DC Money Manager Rankings
      • DC Record Keeper Rankings
      • Innovations in DC
      • Trends in DC: Focus on Retirement Income
      • 2022 Defined Contribution East Conference
      • 2022 DC Investment Lineup Conference
    • Searches & Hires
      • Latest Searches & Hires News
      • Searches & Hires Database
      • RFPs
    • Performance Data
      • P&I Research Center
      • Earnings Tracker
      • Endowment Returns Tracker
      • Corporate Pension Contribution Tracker
      • Pension Fund Returns Tracker
      • Pension Risk Transfer Database
      • Future of Investments Research Series
      • Charts & Infographics
      • Polls
    • Careers
    • Events
      • View All Conferences
      • View All Webinars
      • 2022 Retirement Income Conference
      • 2022 Managing Pension Risk & Liabilities
      • 2022 WorldPensionSummit