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Franklin Resources
Last year, U.S. individual investors poured $158 billion into mutual funds, and 93% of that money went to international products, a specialty of Franklin Resources. The money manager, which also runs funds under the Templeton brand name, grabbed $16 billion from individuals and institutions in 2006, pushing assets to a record $553 billion. In money management, increasing scale helps bolster margins, and Franklin’s operating margins were a healthy 32% last year, up from 23% five years ago. CEO Greg Johnson, grandson of Franklin’s founder, has been aiming to get more customers outside of the U.S. Last year more than 42% of Franklin’s sales came from non-U.S. investors, almost double the share from five years ago. Johnson is expanding this year in both Brazil, where the company is taking full control of a joint venture there, and India, where a major bank signed up to distribute Franklin funds.
| Overall Grade | A- |
|
| Market Data | BEN | |
| Market Value (2/28/2007) |
$29.7 Billion |
|
| Profitability* | 26.3% | B |
| Sales Growth Rate** | 23.3% | B |
| 12-Month Sales | $5.3 Billion |
|
| 12-Month Net Income | $1.4 Billion |
|
| Total Return | Past 12 Months14.8% | Past 36 Months117.2% |
| Economic Sector | Financials | |
| Industry | Asset Management & Custody Banks | |
The overall sector letter grade reflects how the weighted average of the return on income, or return on equity, and sales growth grades compare with others in the same sector. For the overall grade as well as the ROE/ROI and sales growth grades, an "A" places a company in the top 7% of its sector and an "A-" in the top 14% of the sector. The actual ranking was done using the underlying numerical measures. Grades are for information only.
* For nonfinancial companies, three-year average pretax operating profit before interest and special items as a percentage of average invested capital. For financial companies, pretax profits as a percentage of average shareholder's equity.
*Three-year average annual sales growth based on the most recently reported 36 months, calculated using the least-squares method.
