Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund (MF) on Wednesday said it has returned over Rs 21,000 crore to unitholders of six shuttered debt schemes till date. This amounts to 84 percent of assets under management (AUM) as of April 23, 2020, when the fund house announced to shut its six debt mutual fund schemes, citing redemption pressures and lack of liquidity in the bond market.

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Further, cash to the tune of Rs 1,111 crore was available for distribution as of July 31 this year, Franklin Templeton Asset Management (India) Pvt Ltd President Sanjay Sapre said in a letter to investors. The six schemes, Franklin India Low Duration Fund, Franklin India Dynamic Accrual Fund, Franklin India Credit Risk Fund, Franklin India Short Term Income Plan, Franklin India Ultra Short Bond Fund, and Franklin India Income Opportunities Fund, together had an estimated Rs 25,000 crore as assets under management (AUM).

A total of Rs 21,080 crore has been disbursed by SBI Funds Management Pvt Ltd (SBI MF) to the unitholders of six shuttered schemes in five tranches. SBI MF was appointed as the liquidator for the schemes under winding up by the Supreme Court.

Under the first disbursement in February, investors received Rs 9,122 crore, while Rs 2,962 crore were paid to investors in April, Rs 2,489 crore in May, Rs 3,205 crore in June and Rs 3,303 crore in July. According to Sapre, the average net asset value (NAV) at which the five tranches have been disbursed for each of the six schemes is higher than the NAV as of April 23, 2020.

"We believe this supports the decision made by the Trustee in consultation with the AMC and its investment management team to wind up the six schemes in order to preserve value for our unitholders," he added.

In March, the Supreme Court accepted the standard operating procedure (SOP) finalised by SBI MF to monetise assets and distribute the proceeds to unitholders of the six debt schemes of Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund.