Franklin Templeton Turns to $84.1 Billion of Inflows

The Tip Desk · November 6, 2026 · 4 min read

Preliminary net income was $380.1 million, or $0.72 a share, for the quarter ended September 30, 2026, as long-term net inflows of $20.8 billion lifted AUM to $1.8 trillion.

Franklin Templeton, Inc. (BEN) reported preliminary net income of $380.1 million, or $0.72 a share, for the quarter ended September 30, 2026, compared with $117.6 million, or $0.21 a share, a year earlier.

The asset manager’s fourth-quarter long-term net inflows of $20.8 billion reversed an $11.9 billion net outflow in the year-ago quarter and brought full-year long-term net inflows to $84.1 billion, versus net outflows of $97.4 billion in the prior fiscal year. Chief Executive Officer Jenny Johnson said the firm recorded positive net flows in every quarter of the fiscal year across all regions and in both retail and institutional channels.

Ending assets under management were $1,795.1 billion, up 8% from $1,661.2 billion a year earlier. Average AUM was $1,801.8 billion. The quarter’s $3.5 billion increase in AUM came from the $20.8 billion of long-term net inflows, offset by $11.3 billion of net market change, distributions and other and $6.0 billion of cash-management net outflows.

Operating revenues were $2,434.9 million, up 4% from $2,343.7 million a year earlier. Investment management fees were $1,945.5 million, up 4%. Sales and distribution fees were $403.9 million, up 6%. Shareholder servicing fees were $75.2 million, down 5%. Other operating revenue was $10.3 million, down 26%.

Preliminary operating income was $355.8 million, versus $85.4 million in the prior-year quarter, lifting operating margin to 14.6% from 3.6%. Total operating expenses fell to $2,079.1 million from $2,258.3 million a year earlier. That included a $202.2 million impairment of intangible assets in the prior-year quarter that did not recur and amortization of intangibles of $42.0 million versus $69.2 million. Compensation and benefits were $1,009.5 million, up 0%. Sales, distribution and marketing were $560.2 million, up 8%.

Other income, net, was $278.2 million, up 65% from $168.9 million a year earlier, driven by investment and other income of consolidated investment products of $236.2 million, up 92% from $123.1 million.

Preliminary adjusted net income was $493.4 million, or $0.94 a share, versus $357.5 million, or $0.67 a share, a year earlier. Preliminary adjusted operating income was $598.6 million, versus $472.4 million a year earlier, with adjusted operating margin at 31.8%. The company said it is increasing adjusted operating margin ahead of plan.

Alternative AUM reached $304.6 billion, up from $263.9 billion a year earlier. Fourth-quarter alternative long-term net flows were $9.5 billion versus $3.2 billion a year earlier. For the fiscal year, the company said alternative fundraising was $48.7 billion, including $43.2 billion in private markets. Equity AUM was $763.8 billion versus $686.2 billion a year earlier, with fourth-quarter equity long-term net flows of $4.0 billion versus net outflows of $6.9 billion. Fixed-income AUM was $427.6 billion versus $438.7 billion, with fixed-income long-term net outflows of $0.6 billion versus $12.6 billion a year earlier. Multi-asset AUM was $223.5 billion versus $193.9 billion, with multi-asset long-term net inflows of $7.9 billion versus $4.4 billion. Cash-management AUM was $75.6 billion versus $78.5 billion.

U.S. AUM was $1,272.3 billion versus $1,171.5 billion a year earlier. Total international AUM was $522.8 billion versus $489.7 billion. The company said international long-term net inflows were $29.0 billion for the fiscal year.

For the fiscal year, the company said ETF AUM increased 73% to $84.6 billion, retail SMA AUM grew 19% to $196.3 billion and Canvas AUM doubled to $32.6 billion. The institutional pipeline of won-but-unfunded mandates was $22.0 billion as of September 30, 2026.

Cash and cash equivalents and investments were $6.0 billion, or $7.4 billion including direct investments in CIPs, after returning $1.2 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases for the fiscal year. The company repurchased 2.5 million shares for $86.1 million in the fourth quarter and had 512.5 million shares outstanding.