Franklin Resources NYSE: BEN reported positive long-term net inflows across every asset class and geography during its fiscal third quarter ended June 30, 2026, as the asset manager cited broad demand for public markets, private markets, exchange-traded funds and customized portfolio solutions.
Chief Executive Officer Jenny Johnson said the company generated $18.4 billion of long-term net inflows in the quarter, bringing fiscal year-to-date long-term net inflows to $63.3 billion. Long-term inflows reached a record $122 billion, while assets under management rose to a record $1.8 trillion.
“This was another strong quarter for Franklin Templeton that demonstrated our strategy is working,” Johnson said, pointing to positive flows across all asset classes and geographies and record assets in alternatives, ETFs, retail separately managed accounts and Canvas, its custom portfolio platform.
Private-Market Fundraising Exceeds Original Target
Alternatives AUM reached a record $294 billion after $3 billion of realizations and distributions. The company raised $11.8 billion across its alternatives platform during the quarter, including $10.3 billion in private markets. Fiscal year-to-date fundraising totaled $33 billion, exceeding Franklin’s original full-year private-markets fundraising target of $25 billion to $30 billion.
Johnson said the company expects to end the fiscal year with about $40 billion in private-markets fundraising. She said Lexington Partners accounted for roughly 40% of quarterly private-markets fundraising, with contributions from its flagship, middle-market, continuation and perpetual strategies. However, she emphasized that more than 30 strategies across secondaries, real estate, private credit and venture capital contributed to fundraising.
Franklin’s Evergreen platform, which includes secondary private equity, private credit and real estate strategies for wealth-management clients, grew to $8.9 billion in AUM. Wealth management represented about 20% of private-markets fundraising year to date across Evergreen and drawdown vehicles.
Co-President and Chief Commercial Officer Daniel Gamba said the wealth channel raised $3 billion for alternative strategies during the quarter and $6.6 billion year to date. He added that 29% of alternative sales came from international markets, including 18% from Europe and the Middle East and 11% from Asia-Pacific.
Public Markets and Credit Platform Draw Inflows
Equities returned to positive net flows of $2 billion, supported by demand for U.S. large-cap value and core, international equity, infrastructure and systematic strategies. The global fixed-income platform posted $2.6 billion in net inflows, driven by enhanced liquidity, municipal, multi-sector and stable-value strategies, as well as customized institutional mandates.
Excluding Western Asset, Franklin Templeton Fixed Income reported its 10th consecutive quarter of positive net flows, totaling $3.5 billion. Johnson said Franklin is integrating its liquid and private credit capabilities more closely, with $520 billion in fixed-income AUM and more than $100 billion in private-credit AUM.
Gamba said the company won a U.S. public-pension multi-asset credit mandate and is participating in additional requests for proposals. Franklin has also repositioned a target-date strategy, Retirement Advantage Plus, to include between 2% and 8% in private real estate and private credit, he said.
Multi-asset solutions generated $4.7 billion of positive net flows, led by Canvas, the Franklin Income Fund and Franklin Templeton Investment Solutions.
ETF, SMA and Canvas Businesses Set Records
Franklin’s ETF business ended the quarter with a record $75.6 billion in AUM and $7.1 billion in net inflows. Active ETFs accounted for 61% of ETF net flows, according to Johnson.
Retail SMA AUM reached $187.6 billion after $4.4 billion of net inflows. Canvas, which provides custom portfolio and tax-overlay capabilities, reached $30.3 billion in AUM and recorded $3.7 billion of net inflows.
Johnson said Canvas has expanded from $2 billion in AUM when Franklin acquired it to $30 billion. Gamba said the platform added 26 partners during the quarter, bringing its total to 220. The company also introduced a preferred-partner program that allows strategic partners to use Canvas’s tax-overlay technology with their active investment strategies.
Profitability, Capital Returns and Corporate Name Change
Adjusted operating income was $508.9 million, up 7% sequentially and 35% from a year earlier. Johnson attributed the increase to higher average AUM, expense management and efficiency initiatives.
Chief Financial Officer Matt Nicholls said Franklin expects its effective fee rate to remain in the mid-to-high 37 basis-point range in the fiscal fourth quarter. The company expects to be near a 30% operating margin in the fourth quarter and at least in the mid-27% range for fiscal 2026. Nicholls said Franklin expects a full-year operating margin of roughly 29% to 30% in fiscal 2027, assuming flat markets.
The company returned $521.5 million to shareholders during the quarter, including $348.1 million in share repurchases. Nicholls said the repurchase total included an opportunistic transaction with Great-West Lifeco, which sold more than 1% of Franklin’s outstanding shares above its previously disclosed 4.9% long-term strategic investment.
Franklin also said it will change its corporate name from Franklin Resources Inc. to Franklin Templeton Inc. effective Aug. 17, 2026. The company said the change will not affect its capital structure, shares, CUSIP number or shareholder rights, and its stock will continue trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the BEN ticker.
Digital Assets and AI Investments
Digital-asset AUM ended the quarter at $3.2 billion, including $2.4 billion in tokenized funds and about $600 million in crypto ETFs. Franklin completed its acquisition of 250 Digital, launched Franklin Crypto, and announced partnerships with MoonPay and Payward, Kraken’s parent company, to expand access to tokenized investment products.
Johnson said Franklin’s Microsoft-supported Intelligence Hub has helped territories increase client visits or contacts by 25% and sales by more than 11%. The company is also using artificial intelligence across investment research, operations, marketing, risk management and other functions, while tracking the costs and expected productivity benefits of its AI initiatives.
About Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN)
Franklin Resources, Inc, doing business as Franklin Templeton, is a global investment management organization that offers a wide range of asset management solutions to institutional and individual investors. The firm's core focus is on delivering active portfolio management across equities, fixed income, multi-asset strategies and alternative investments. Franklin Templeton's product lineup includes mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), closed-end funds, separately managed accounts and sub-advisory services designed to meet varying risk-return objectives and income needs.
Founded in 1947 by Rupert H.
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