Franklin Templeton India Mutual Fund to repay investors of two debt funds: Report

Franklin Templeton India mutual fund will repay an amount of ₹178.06 crore to investors of Franklin India Short Term Income Plan (FISTIP), and Franklin India Credit Risk Fund (FICRF), according to a report in Moneycontrol. 

SBI Mutual Fund will disburse the payments electronically to all eligible unitholders starting June 14, the report stated.

In April 2020, Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund announced the winding of six debt schemes-- Franklin India Low Duration, Franklin India Dynamic Accrual, Franklin India Credit Risk, Franklin India Short Term Income Plan, Franklin India Ultra Short Bond Fund, and Franklin India Income Opportunities Fund.

In November 2020, capital markets regulator Sebi issued a show-cause notice to the company following its April 2020 decision to wind up six debt schemes having ₹25,000 crore of assets under management (AUM) from 3 lakh investors, citing liquidity challenges because of the pandemic.

The company was asked to pay ₹5 crore as a penalty, return over ₹450 crore collected as 22-month investment management and advisory fees, and was banned from launching new debt schemes for alleged irregularities in running the six debt schemes.

Inflow in equity mutual funds hit 6-month low in May

In other news, the inflow in equity mutual funds plunged to ₹3,240 crore in May, data released by the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi) showed on Friday.

Amfi CEO N Venkatesh said that the industry has seen an uptick even in the midst of volatile markets.

Going by the data, equity mutual funds attracted ₹3,240 crore in May, much lower than ₹6,480 crore inflow seen in April and ₹20,534 crore in March.

Inflow in May was the lowest since November 2022, when equity mutual funds witnessed an infusion of ₹2,258 crore.

However, SIP (Systematic Investment Plan) inflows are back above the ₹14,000 crore mark and reached an all-time high of ₹14,749 crore last month, after a brief dip to ₹13,728 crore in April, with investors continuing their disciplined investing that started more than two years ago.