- Franklin Templeton announces that its Mutual Fund is now on the Stellar Blockchain.
- Roger Bayston, Head of Digital Assets at Franklin Templeton explains that the decision was influenced by the wide array of benefits of blockchain technology.
Franklin Resources, Inc, a global investment management organization that has subsidiaries operating as Franklin Templeton, has announced that the Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund’s transfer agent maintains the official record of share ownership through the proprietary blockchain integrated systems that run on the Stellar Blockchain network. It exists as the first US-registered Fund to process transactions and record share ownership using a public blockchain.
According to the press release, the Fund represents a possible integration between blockchain technology and traditional financial institutions. With the recent call for interoperability in the financial world, this initiative demonstrates a huge step in that regard. The Fund has currently surpassed $270 million in assets under management (AUM) as of March 31, 2021.
Roger Bayston, Head of Digital Assets at Franklin Templeton explains that blockchain technology can lower operational costs and provide greater transparency in the financial world.
We believe that blockchain technologies have the potential to reshape the investment management industry by providing greater transparency and lower operational costs for traditional financial products. Blockchains like Stellar’s are important to the investment process of the future, and assets built on blockchain rails, like the Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund, will eventually be interoperable with the rest of the digital asset ecosystem.
The press release further describes the Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund as a regulated 1940 Act Fund that provides a competitive yield. In addition, it invests not less than 99.5 percent of its assets in “government securities, cash and repurchase agreements collateralized fully by government securities or cash.”
Franklin Templeton making more progress
Furthermore, it ensures that investors have access to a high level of income in line with the preservation of shareholders’ capital and liquidity. A share of the Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund is said to be equivalent to one BENJI token. Using the Benji Investments app, investors can be largely exposed to the fund in digital wallets. According to the Stellar Foundation, they continuously take note of the functions and potential application of these tokens in the virtual world.
Denelle Dixon, CEO and Executive Director of the Stellar Development Foundation commented:
Stellar is built and optimized for asset tokenization, and the Franklin OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund exemplifies the blockchain’s usability. Stellar is evolving traditional financial products and processes, making markets more accessible, and empowering more people.
Franklin Templeton claims to have made a significant expansion since its inception by offering services to clients in over 155 countries. Franklin Templeton has offices in over 30 countries and has around 1300 investment professionals, and $1.4 trillion in assets under management as of March 31, 2023.
As part of its services, Franklin Templeton offers boutique specialization on a global scale, multi-asset solutions, and alternative, fixed income, and also offers extensive capability in equity through its specialist investment managers.
Recently, the Stellar-enabled digital wallet Decaf announced that it is integrating with the global on/off-ramp service for digital wallets backed by MoneyGram and the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF). This is to enable Decaf users to switch between cash and digital currency.
