Fallen tech darlings are value buys for Franklin Templeton

Franklin Templeton's $1.3 billion India Flexi Cap Fund has outperformed 86% of its peers over the last three years.

Franklin Templeton bought shares of some Indian technology startups after concerns over valuations and higher interest rates shaved more than $20 billion in market value from five high-profile recent market debutants.

“We are looking at new tech companies as their valuations have been reset,” Anand Radhakrishnan, chief investment officer for equities at Franklin Templeton’s India unit, said in an interview. “More importantly, there is data available about their business models.”

World News,tech,Franklin Templeton Ltd. and FSN E-Commerce Ventures Pvt, which owns beauty product e-retailer Nykaa. Paytm suffered the most, with its market capitalization shrinking $12.7 billion.

“We didn’t participate in these IPOs, except Zomato, but now we see a lot more transparency, a lot more discussions with management are happening,” said Radhakrishnan, who overseas assets valued at $7 billion.

The firm, whose $1.3 billion India Flexi Cap Fund has outperformed 86% of its peers over the last three years, recognizes the disruptive nature of some of these businesses and “their medium-to-longer term ability to make money,” he said.