What attracts investors, how much does Franklin Templeton charge? – Interview with the FT CEO
Uzbekistan's state-owned companies are offering their shares to international investors. "Our deal generated great interest among investors. We formed a total demand of about 2.9 billion dollars to purchase shares," said Marius Dan, CEO of Franklin Templeton, in an interview with Kun.uz.
What attracts investors, how much does Franklin Templeton charge? – Interview with FT CEO
Uzbekistan is offering shares of state-owned companies to international investors. In this process, increasing their value, strengthening investor confidence, and bringing state assets to the capital market are among the main directions entrusted to Franklin Templeton.
On September 17, a press conference dedicated to the extraordinary general meeting of shareholders of the National Investment Fund of the Republic of Uzbekistan (UzNIF) was held in Tashkent. It discussed the post-IPO results of UzNIF, the Fund's activities, and the development prospects of the Uzbek capital market.
– Along with managing state assets, UzNIF also has obligations to private investors. High dividends from portfolio companies can benefit the state budget, while retaining capital in companies serves their growth. How does UzNIF determine the optimal balance between these two interests?
– At the current stage, in accordance with the policies and procedures in force for UzNIF, portfolio companies must pay at least 50 percent of their profits as dividends. This, in fact, represents the balance between the two aspects you mentioned — the need for companies to reinvest and, at the same time, the return on investment for UzNIF and the shareholders in the portfolio companies.
Of course, we are always ready to work with each company individually. As you mentioned above, if a company has a major investment plan or faces certain difficulties, we, together with the management and supervisory board of that company, will determine the optimal level of dividend payments — this figure can be either lower or higher.
But, in my opinion, the important aspect is that the investors who participated in the fund's IPO did not initially focus primarily on the dividend issue. This issue will become relevant in the next two to three years. Investors were primarily interested, on the one hand, in Uzbekistan, and on the other hand, in the companies in the fund's portfolio and the sectors in which they operate.