Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund's shut schemes receive Rs 4,280 crore since closure

Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund's six shut schemes have received Rs 4,280 crore from maturities, pre-payments and coupon payments since the announcement of their closure in April.

The amount has been received without the ability to efficiently monetise assets, Franklin Templeton Asset Management (India) President Sanjay Sapre said in a letter to investors on Wednesday.

The schemes will endeavour to accelerate monetisation post the successful completion of the e-voting exercise and the unitholder meets, he added.

"From April 24 till July 31, 2020, the schemes have received Rs 4,280 crore from maturities, pre-payments, and coupons," Sapre said.

Of the total amount, the schemes received Rs 1,005 crore in July alone.

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Franklin Templeton shut six debt mutual fund schemes on April 23, citing redemption pressure and lack of liquidity in the bond market.

These schemes -- together having an estimated Rs 25,000 crore as assets under management (AUM)-- were Franklin India Low Duration Fund, Franklin India Dynamic Accrual Fund, Franklin India Credit Risk Fund, Franklin India Short Term Income Plan, Franklin India Ultra Short Bond Fund and Franklin India Income Opportunities Fund.

As on July 31, while two schemes were already cash positive, the borrowing levels in the other schemes continued to come down steadily, Sapre said.

Franklin India Low Duration Fund and Franklin India Credit Risk Fund now have an outstanding borrowing of only one percent and four percent of their AUM respectively.

Giving updates on Future Group, Sapre said coupon or part maturity payments were due to be paid by three issuers belonging to the Future group -- Rivaaz Trade Ventures Pvt Ltd (RTVPL), Nufuture Digital (India) Ltd (NDIL), and Future Ideas Co Ltd (FICL)-- as on July 31 on various non-convertible debentures (NCDs) issued by them.

He further said RTVPL met its payment obligations but FICL and NDIL were unable to do so. The securities of FICL and NDIL have been valued at zero due to default in payment.

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The impacted schemes include Franklin India Short Term Income Plan, Franklin India Dynamic Accrual Fund, Franklin India Income Opportunities Fund and Franklin India Credit Risk Fund, he added.

Sapre said the fund house is in the process of initiating appropriate enforcement action to recover dues from Reliance Broadcast Network Limited (RBNL) and other connected parties.

Franklin India Short Term Income Plan and Franklin India Corporate Debt Fund invested in secured NCDs issued by RBNL, having a put option on Reliance Capital.

However, on maturity, the issuer was unable to meet the maturity obligations (including interest), he noted.

With regard to Sebi's audit, Sapre said the fund house continues to fully cooperate with the auditors and provide all assistance to them.