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Can you give us a sneak peek into your 2022?
The year 2022 was challenging but at the same time satisfying as well. I took over as the President of FT India in June 2022 with a mandate to rebuild the Franklin Templeton brand in India. The first thing I decided to do on taking over was to meet our distribution partners as well as my colleagues in our branches. I firmly believe that rebuilding relationships starts with engagement. With that belief in mind, I set out to meet our distribution partners on, what we fondly call, #FTBharatDarshan. So far, I have covered 25 cities and met over 3500 distribution partners to directly hear their views, address their concerns and reiterate that our commitment to India remains steadfast.
Another highlight for us was the launch of an NFO in the Franklin India Balanced Advantage Fund in August. This is our first fund launch in four years, which received an overwhelming response and collected around Rs. 750 crores from over 30,000 investors.
We then hosted Perspectives 2022, FT’s signature annual event for our partners in September 2022 in Mumbai which saw around 800 attendees and over 25 internal and external well-known speakers. A successful NFO followed by Perspectives has once again proven that comebacks are always stronger than setbacks.
On the personal front, shifting back to India has been one of the most important decisions I have made, and I am very excited to work in India after 26 years to take on this new and challenging role.
What trends do you think that the MF industry should watch for in 2023?
The key theme that has emerged over the last 3 years is global funds which offer a good diversification of risk and performance. The rise of global funds started in 2020 when their AUM tripled from Rs.10,000 crore to over Rs.30,000 crore in 2021. These funds touched a peak AUM of Rs.40,000 crore in December 2021. Currently, there is an embargo on investing in global funds as the industry has hit the investment cap of USD7bn. However, the trend is likely to pick up momentum once the cap is enhanced by the government.
Another theme garnering attention is ESG or Environment, Social and Governance though India is still at an early stage. The momentum of this theme is likely to build up with time as the environment remains the focus across governments while investors too feel the need to contribute their bit by investing in ESG focussed funds.
The third big trend is the rise of passives with the AUM of passive funds doubling in less than 2 years from Rs.2.86 lakh crore in Dec 2020 to Rs.5.80 lakh crore in Sep 2022. Their AUM market share has risen from 2% in 2015 to 15% in 2022. We are also likely to see the emergence of smart beta funds, which offer a blend of active and passive investing but have lower fees than actively managed funds.
What are the two key lessons that the year 2022 taught you?
I am a firm believer that in-person meetings are key to building relationships. Nothing beats it. This was re-enforced during #FTBharatDarshan during which I was able to connect with a cross section of distribution partners and investors who were more forthcoming and provided some good ground level feedback.
When I took up the India role, I knew that change can be daunting but it can also be a good thing to happen. However, once you’ve identified a change that’s needed, it is important to execute it quickly which has always been my endeavour and the message to my team.
What are your aspirations for the coming year?
My aspiration is to regain our lost market share with our strategy of rebuilding our business under three main pillars viz. 1) Re-engagement with our partners and clients, 2) investment in our brand, people and physical assets and 3) bringing new products that match the expectations of our investors and partners.
What are the new things that you would like to implement in your professional and/or personal life?
I am an avid reader, but I haven’t been able to keep pace with reading owing to the elevated travel schedule in recent months. This year, I consciously aim to increase the number and variety of books I read.
