Franklin’s debt schemes were in red months ahead of shutdown
March 08, 2021
Disclosures, court filings reveal 91% of investments of the schemes were in ‘illiquid securities’
Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund (FTMF) was in trouble several months ahead of its actual decision to shut the six debt schemes. Data accessed by BusinessLine from disclosures made by FTMF and court filings by investors reveal that even as of September 2019, over 91 per cent of the investments of the six debt schemes were into ‘illiquid securities’ from which it was difficult to retrieve money.
FTMF closed six debt schemes on April 22, 2020 giving the Covid-induced economic slowdown as the key reason for the losses.