Franklin Templeton makes big bets on Malaysian bonds

Singapore

FRANKLIN Templeton, whose contrarian bets made profits in Ireland and face losses in war-torn Ukraine, has been buying debt in Malaysia as global funds flee. The San Mateo, California-based money manager which oversees about US$855 billion, has over the past two years become the largest holder of Malaysian government local-currency bonds due in the next 30 months among funds that make their quarterly filings public, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Its various funds added an aggregate RM9.64 billion (S$3.2 billion) this year to holdings maturing from September 2015 to February 2018, taking the firm's total claim to RM23.1 billion, the data show. Malaysia's currency and bonds are slumping as probes into donations to Prime Minister Najib Razak cloud the outlook for an economy rocked by plunging oil prices and a selloff in emerging markets.