Franklin's (BEN) November AUM Rises 6% on Favorable Markets
Franklin Resources, Inc. BEN reported a preliminary asset under management (AUM) balance of $1.41 trillion for November 2023. This reflected a 6% increase from $1.33 trillion as of Oct 31. The rise in the AUM balance was primarily due to the impacts of positive markets and flat long-term net outflows.
Total month-end fixed-income assets were $494.9 billion, up 5.5% from the prior month’s level. Equity assets of $447.9 billion increased 9% from October 2023. BEN recorded $148.9 billion in multi-asset class, up 5.8% sequentially. Alternative assets aggregated $257.5 billion, up 1.5% from the last month.
Also, cash-management funds totaled $63.2 billion, which increased 5.2% from the last month’s level.
Franklin seems well-poised for growth on the back of a robust foothold in the global market and revenue-diversification efforts. Also, it is growing through strategic acquisitions. These are supporting the company in improving and expanding its alternative investments and multi-asset solution platforms.
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 might hurt investment management fees and adversely impact Franklin’s financials.
The stock has lost 5.6% over the past six months against the industry's 10.6% growth.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
BEN currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
A Competitive Landscape
Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. VRTS recorded a sequential rise of 6.2% in its preliminary AUM balance for November 2023 on the back of favorable market returns. The company reported a month-end AUM of $165.5 billion, which reflected a rise from the Oct 31, 2023 level of $155.8 million.
VRTS offered services to $2.6 billion of other fee-earning assets. This was excluded from the above-mentioned AUM balance.
WisdomTree, Inc. WT reported a total AUM of $98.15 billion as of Nov 30, 2023, which reflected a 4.5% increase from the prior-month level. The rise was primarily due to the impacts of a favorable market move that totaled $4.29 billion.
WT, during November, recorded inflows from the U.S. equity, international developed market equity, emerging market equity, cryptocurrency, alternatives and leveraged and inverse strategies of $85 million, $38 million, $148 million, $10 million, $13 million, and $45 million, respectively.
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