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BEN's AUM Falls 1.9% in September: Can Diversification Sustain Growth?
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Key Takeaways
Franklin's AUM fell 1.9% sequentially to $1.79 trillion as of Sept. 30, 2026.
BEN's alternatives AUM rose to $303 billion in September, up from $301.3 billion in August.
BEN's $6 billion in preliminary long-term inflows reflected continued client demand amid market volatility.
Franklin Templeton, Inc. (BEN - Free Report) has been diversifying its assets under management (AUM) through alternatives, private markets and digital assets. Despite declines in fiscal 2022 and 2025, its AUM recorded a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.2% over the past five fiscal years (ended fiscal 2025), with the rising trend continuing in the first nine months of fiscal 2026. However, recent market weakness has weighed on its overall asset base. As of Sept. 30, 2026, preliminary AUM declined 1.9% to $1.79 trillion sequentially.
Market volatility remained elevated in September, as fluctuations across equity and fixed-income markets influenced asset values and investor activity. During the month, the company’s equity AUM declined 1.5% to $763.4 billion, while fixed-income AUM fell 2.9% to $427.6 billion sequentially. Its multi-asset AUM also decreased 1.5% to $221.1 billion, while cash-management assets declined 11.2% to $75.4 billion. Despite the challenging market environment, it generated $6 billion in preliminary long-term net inflows, reflecting continued client demand.
The company’s alternatives business continued to provide a source of resilience, with alternative AUM increasing to $303 billion in September from $301.3 billion in August and remaining well above the $263.9 billion recorded a year earlier. This growth reflects BEN's efforts to diversify its AUM mix across traditional and alternative asset classes. Its 2025 acquisition of Apera Asset Management strengthened its European private-credit capabilities, while its real estate investment management arm, Clarion Partners, is expanding its European real-assets platform through an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Stoneshield Capital. The transaction, expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026, will further broaden BEN’s European real estate and infrastructure capabilities. The deal is also expected to support further growth in alternatives AUM and create additional opportunities to expand fee-earning AUM across institutional and wealth-management channels.
Beyond alternatives, digital assets represent another potential growth avenue for Franklin. In June 2026, the acquisition of 250 Digital and launch of Franklin Crypto expanded the company's capabilities across institutional crypto strategies, separately managed accounts and tokenization. Meanwhile, partnerships with MoonPay in June 2026 and Payward in May 2026 have further expanded access to tokenized money-market funds and institutional digital-asset services.
However, concerns surrounding private credit could moderately slow BEN’s near-term AUM growth amid investor concerns about liquidity, valuations and credit quality. Still, the company’s diversified asset mix, strategic acquisitions and expanding digital-asset capabilities are expected to support long-term AUM growth and offset weakness in traditional asset classes.
AUM Performance of BEN’s Peers
Apollo Global Management’s (APO - Free Report) AUM witnessed a CAGR of 19.6% over the past three years (2022-2025), with the rising trend continuing in the first half of 2026. AUM reached $1.05 trillion as of June 30, 2026, up 25% year over year, driven by strong capital formation and Retirement Services inflows.
The increase in APO’s AUM is also supported by fundraising across credit and equity strategies and continued growth from Athene.
Similarly, Lazard, Inc. (LAZ - Free Report) has been expanding its AUM base over the years. Although AUM declined in 2022, the metric recorded a CAGR of 2.8% during 2016-2025, with the upward trend continuing in the first half of 2026.
Strong net inflows and strategic acquisitions, including the addition of $1 billion in AUM from its acquisition of a controlling interest in Elaia Partners, are supporting LAZ’s efforts to expand its AUM base.
BEN’s Price Performance & Zacks Rank
The company’s shares have gained 40.5% in the past six months compared with the industry’s 7.6% rise.
View the Zacks #1 Rank List
Image: Bigstock
BEN's AUM Falls 1.9% in September: Can Diversification Sustain Growth?
Key Takeaways
Franklin Templeton, Inc. (BEN - Free Report) has been diversifying its assets under management (AUM) through alternatives, private markets and digital assets. Despite declines in fiscal 2022 and 2025, its AUM recorded a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.2% over the past five fiscal years (ended fiscal 2025), with the rising trend continuing in the first nine months of fiscal 2026. However, recent market weakness has weighed on its overall asset base. As of Sept. 30, 2026, preliminary AUM declined 1.9% to $1.79 trillion sequentially.
Market volatility remained elevated in September, as fluctuations across equity and fixed-income markets influenced asset values and investor activity. During the month, the company’s equity AUM declined 1.5% to $763.4 billion, while fixed-income AUM fell 2.9% to $427.6 billion sequentially. Its multi-asset AUM also decreased 1.5% to $221.1 billion, while cash-management assets declined 11.2% to $75.4 billion. Despite the challenging market environment, it generated $6 billion in preliminary long-term net inflows, reflecting continued client demand.
The company’s alternatives business continued to provide a source of resilience, with alternative AUM increasing to $303 billion in September from $301.3 billion in August and remaining well above the $263.9 billion recorded a year earlier. This growth reflects BEN's efforts to diversify its AUM mix across traditional and alternative asset classes. Its 2025 acquisition of Apera Asset Management strengthened its European private-credit capabilities, while its real estate investment management arm, Clarion Partners, is expanding its European real-assets platform through an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Stoneshield Capital. The transaction, expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026, will further broaden BEN’s European real estate and infrastructure capabilities. The deal is also expected to support further growth in alternatives AUM and create additional opportunities to expand fee-earning AUM across institutional and wealth-management channels.
Beyond alternatives, digital assets represent another potential growth avenue for Franklin. In June 2026, the acquisition of 250 Digital and launch of Franklin Crypto expanded the company's capabilities across institutional crypto strategies, separately managed accounts and tokenization. Meanwhile, partnerships with MoonPay in June 2026 and Payward in May 2026 have further expanded access to tokenized money-market funds and institutional digital-asset services.
However, concerns surrounding private credit could moderately slow BEN’s near-term AUM growth amid investor concerns about liquidity, valuations and credit quality. Still, the company’s diversified asset mix, strategic acquisitions and expanding digital-asset capabilities are expected to support long-term AUM growth and offset weakness in traditional asset classes.
AUM Performance of BEN’s Peers
Apollo Global Management’s (APO - Free Report) AUM witnessed a CAGR of 19.6% over the past three years (2022-2025), with the rising trend continuing in the first half of 2026. AUM reached $1.05 trillion as of June 30, 2026, up 25% year over year, driven by strong capital formation and Retirement Services inflows.
The increase in APO’s AUM is also supported by fundraising across credit and equity strategies and continued growth from Athene.
Similarly, Lazard, Inc. (LAZ - Free Report) has been expanding its AUM base over the years. Although AUM declined in 2022, the metric recorded a CAGR of 2.8% during 2016-2025, with the upward trend continuing in the first half of 2026.
Strong net inflows and strategic acquisitions, including the addition of $1 billion in AUM from its acquisition of a controlling interest in Elaia Partners, are supporting LAZ’s efforts to expand its AUM base.
BEN’s Price Performance & Zacks Rank
The company’s shares have gained 40.5% in the past six months compared with the industry’s 7.6% rise.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Currently, the company carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.