Franklin Templeton has promoted Sonal Desai to chief investment officer of the fixed income group, which oversees $157bn of assets under management.
Desai will assume the role on 31 December, replacing current CIO Chris Molumphy who will step down after 30 years at the firm.
Desai (pictured), who joined Franklin Templeton in 2009, has worked closely with Michael Hasenstab, chief investment officer of Templeton Global Macro, in leading the team’s research agenda, focusing on regional and country-specific macroeconomic analysis, as well as valuation modeling of interest rates, exchange rates and credit risks.
She is currently director of research for Templeton Global Macro but will step down from this role and on several portfolios, including the Templeton Global Bond and Templeton Global Total Return funds.
Hasenstab said Desai has been an “outstanding contributor”, as well as a strong leader. “It is very fulfilling to see her taking on this new CIO role for the firm.”
In her new role, Desai will oversee the firm’s corporate credit, emerging markets debt, bank loan, global aggregate, securitised, money market, multi-sector, municipal and local fixed income strategies and teams.
Jenny Johnson, president and chief operating officer of Franklin Templeton Investments, said: “Sonal Desai brings tremendous thought leadership and well-rounded expertise, cultivated through her experience in academia, with the IMF, and as an economist, combined with her many years of managing portfolios and leading our global macro research team.
“We are extremely fortunate to have such an accomplished leader ready to take the helm when Chris retires.”
Successors
Current deputy director of research Calvin Ho will assume Desai’s role and will take over her previous portfolio management responsibilities alongside Hasentab.
Ho is one of the longest-serving members of the Templeton Global Macro team and has worked closely with Hasenstab for more than 13 years, joining the team as a research analyst in 2005.
He was the lead analyst on Templeton Global Macro’s successful investments in Ireland from 2011 to 2016 and has overseen dozens of other sovereign debt investments over his tenure. Ho continues to serve as Templeton Global Macro’s lead analyst on foreign exchange modelling.
Hasenstab added: “I am equally excited to have Calvin step up into the director of research position for Templeton Global Macro.
“Calvin has worked alongside me from the beginning and has been a demonstrated leader within the team, driving our fundamental bottom-up research, deep country analysis and macro modeling that enable us to identify high-conviction investment opportunities for our clients.”
Desai will also replace Molumphy on Franklin Templeton’s executive committee, a team of the company’s senior leaders responsible for shaping the firm’s overall strategy.
The committee includes Hasenstab, CIO for multi-asset solutions Ed Perks and head of equities Stephen Dover.
Johnson added: “Under Chris Molumphy’s steadfast leadership, Franklin Templeton has become one of the premier fixed income managers in the industry. We sincerely thank him for his three decades of dedicated service to the firm and wish him the very best in his retirement.”
