MC Exclusive: Rahul Goswami joins Franklin Templeton as head of Fixed Income

Rahul Goswami is the new head of Franklin Templeton (FT) India’s fixed income team.

Rahul Goswami on August 1 took over as the head of Franklin Templeton (FT) India’s fixed income team, the company confirmed to Moneycontrol, which wrote about the change almost one-and-a-half months ago.

Goswami, who returns to the company after 19 years, joined as the Chief Investment Officer (CIO) and Managing Director of India’s fixed income business. He takes over from Santosh Kamath who will head the fund house’s newly set up alternatives business.

Moneycontrol was the first to report on June 17, 2023 about Goswami’s new role at FT India and Kamath’s move to the alternatives business.

The appointment also marks the close of a painful chapter for Franklin India AMC which in April 2020 decided to wind up six of its debt schemes due to extreme illiquidity in the fixed income markets following the Covid-19 outbreak in the country.

For Goswami, it is a bit of a homecoming. He worked at Franklin Templeton India between October 2002 and July 2004 before he moved to ICICI Prudential AMC. He left ICICI Prudential in November 2009 to work at Standard Chartered Bank for three years. He went back to ICICI Prudential towards the end of 2012, where he was the CIO of fixed income.

A new chapter

While winding up the six schemes, Franklin Templeton said the decision was to buy time to find the best price for its assets, most of which had turned illiquid due to the freeze in India’s credit markets.

Nearly three years down the line, the fund house has paid off more than 100 percent of the then-prevailing corpora of the six schemes.

“All six funds have returned over 100 percent of the reported AUM value at the time of the winding up decision on April 23, 2020. The total amount disbursed so far ranges between 100.03 percent and 113.40 percent of the respective reported AUM values of the six funds as of April 23, 2020,” a Franklin Templeton spokesperson said.

As of July 31, 2023, these funds had distributed Rs 27,109.34 crore to investors.

With Goswami's appointment and Kamath's shift to the alternates business, Franklin Templeton has clearly demarcated the funds that will be available to investors, based on their risk profiles.

Goswami's fixed income team will continue to cater to retail investors and offer schemes that will be managed conservatively.

"The India Alternatives business led by Santosh will initially focus on alternative credit, covering listed and unlisted corporate bonds and structured credit. This will complement and expand Franklin Templeton’s global alternatives capabilities and allow for more diverse solutions to meet the evolving needs of clients in India," the Franklin Templeton spokesperson said.