Franklin's (BEN) December AUM Rises 3.1% on Favorable Markets
Franklin Resources, Inc. BEN reported a preliminary asset under management (AUM) balance of $1.46 trillion for December 2023. This reflected a 3.1% increase from $1.41 trillion as of Nov 30. The rise in the AUM balance was primarily due to the impacts of positive markets and long-term net inflows.
Total month-end fixed-income assets were $511.7 billion, up 3.4% from the prior month’s level. Equity assets of $467.5 billion increased 4.4% from November 2023. BEN recorded $154.6 billion in multi-asset class, up 3.8% sequentially. However, alternative assets aggregated $256.2 billion, down marginally from the last month.
Cash-management funds totaled $65.5 billion, which increased 3.6% from last month’s level.
Franklin's robust position in the global market and efforts to diversify its revenue base appear to be beneficial for growth. Additionally, it is growing through strategic acquisitions. These are supporting the company in improving and expanding its alternative investments and multi-asset solutions.
However, BEN’s AUM is exposed to market fluctuations, foreign exchange translations, regulatory changes and a sudden slowdown in overall business activities, which are likely to act as near-term headwinds. Going forward, changes in AUM may hurt investment management fees and adversely impact Franklin’s financials.
Over the past three months, shares of BEN have gained 27.2% compared with the industry's growth of 21.2%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
BEN currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
A Competitive Landscape
Victory Capital Holdings VCTR reported an AUM of $166.6 billion for December 2023. This reflected a 4.4% rise from the $159.6 billion reported as of Nov 30, 2023.
By asset classes, at the end of December, VCTR’s U.S. Mid Cap Equity AUM rose 5.3% from the November level to $30.6 billion. The U.S. Small Cap Equity AUM of $15.96 billion grew 9.4%. The U.S. Large Cap Equity AUM increased 3.6% to $12.64 billion. The Global/Non-U.S. Equity AUM rose 3.9% to $16.77 billion.
Invesco IVZ has announced a preliminary AUM for December 2023. The company’s month-end AUM of $1.59 trillion represented a 2.8% increase from the previous month.
IVZ reported net long-term inflows of $5.1 billion in the month. Further, the company’s December AUM was positively impacted by market returns, which increased the AUM balance by $39 billion. Also, foreign exchange and reinvested distributions resulted in a rise in AUM by $13.3 billion.
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