Andrew Sisson, who sold his Balanced Equity Management to Franklin Resources Inc. on June 21, said he expects to spend the rest of his career at the $735 billion asset manager.
“I envisage working at Templeton to the end of my working life,” says Sisson, 58. His portfolio managers Steven Fahey and Andrew McGann are committed to Templeton for as long as six years.
Sisson will not move into Templeton’s Melbourne office. Balanced Equity, founded in September 1988, will retain its name and become Templeton’s Australian equity product. Sisson’s institutional clients have not pulled any money from the $10.3 billion fund, that invests in the 50 biggest Australian stocks, following the Templeton takeover.
From June 2001 to June 2011 Sisson’s fund has made annual gross returns minus fees but before tax credits of 8 per cent. The ASX 50 Index has risen 6.75 per cent per year during the same period.
Sisson and Templeton declined to disclose how much Balanced Equity was sold for. Another company had sought to buy Balanced Equity. Templeton began negotiations in January.
“We did not have an Australian equities capability and this acquisition gives a larger scale to the business,” says Maria Wilton, Templeton’s head of Australia.
