Disbursed Rs 14,572 crore to investors of six shuttered schemes, says FT

In two of the schemes, the disbursement was over 75% of AUM in April 2020, when fund houses wound up the schemes

Franklin Templeton (FT) Mutual Fund announced that its six shuttered debt schemes had distributed Rs 14,572 crore to investors as on May 3.

 

In the letter to the investors, Sanjay Sapre, president, Franklin Templeton Asset Management (India), said that 58 per cent of the April 2020 assets under management (AUM) had been returned so far. In the case of two schemes, the disbursement was over 75 per cent of AUM of April 2020, when fund houses wound up the six schemes.

 

In the first disbursement on February 12, investors received Rs 9,122 crore, while in the second, on April 9, the fund house paid Rs 2,692 crore. In the latest disbursement on April 30, investors were paid Rs 2,489 crore.

 

Sapre reiterated that the decision to wind up the schemes was the right decision in order to preserve value for unit holders. FT wound up six debt schemes with combined assets of Rs 25,800 crore on April 23, 2020, citing severe market dislocation and illiquidity caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) took conventional and unconventional measures to support growth. It ensured adequate systemic liquidity while maintaining an accommodative policy stance. “RBI also periodically announced a slew of measures to support the economy and give an impetus to growth. This led to benign spreads across the yield curve and provided stability to the fixed income market. We believe that the RBI would continue with the prevailing monetary policy stance till the current pandemic wave subsides and the vaccination drive reaches a critical mass during the second half of 2021-22,” Sapre added.