It's been a rough patch for the $83B Franklin Income Fund (MUTF:FKINX) as bets on energy-sector junk bonds have suffered. In August, investors pulled nearly $1.5B from the fund, the largest exit in its 67-year history, excepting October 2008. So far this year, investors have pulled about $3.8B.
Parent Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN) is off 30.5% this year.
Fund manager Ed Perks responded by buying another $2B of energy-sector high-yield, and the fund's $25B in junk is more than any other mutual fund.
Somewhat concerning is what effect an even quicker run from the fund by investors may have - roughly 21% of the bonds held as of March 31 would not be sellable within seven days, based on average daily trading volume through H1, according to the WSJ. Franklin disagrees with the analysis, and says by SEC guidelines just 0.14% of the portfolio constituted illiquid securities.
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