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Templeton mops up $450 mn in new equity scheme
Franklin Templeton said it had attracted about $450 m from 150,000 customers in 50 Indian cities and towns for its Flexi-Cap Fund.
Franklin Templeton Investments said on Monday it had attracted about $450 million with the launch of a new equity fund in India, at least 50 per cent more than it had anticipated.
The arm of Franklin Resources Inc took in money from 150,000 customers in 50 Indian cities and towns for the Franklin India Flexi Cap Fund, its head of Asian retail business, Rajiv Vij told Reuters in an interview.
Vij said more and more people were being drawn to mutual funds in India because markets had been strong for several years.
"People have had some positive experiences. There are enough advisers to sit with you and explain why you should buy a fund and there's a lack of alternative choices," he said.
The fund, which will aim for medium-term to long-term capital appreciation by investing in stocks across the spectrum in Asia's fourth-biggest economy, was launched on January 17 and the initial public offering closed on February 9.
It will be re-opened on March 7.
Singapore-based Vij said the amount initially raised exceeded the group's expectations of an inflow of up to $300 million.
With a robust economy and a soaring stock market, investors have been snapping up Indian mutual fund offerings over the past 12 months. The main Bombay 30-share index -- Sensex rose to a lifetime high of 6,719.17 on Monday.
Local media have said a fund floated by the mutual fund arm of the Tata group, India's second-largest industrial conglomerate, raised $173 million in December.
Franklin Templeton already runs 34 funds in India with total assets of about $4 billion. It has an 11.5 per cent share of the $35 billion market, its main competitors being state-owned Unit Trust of India and a joint venture of Prudential Plc and ICICI Bank.
