'Low to medium-duration debt funds better now'

In the past few years, Franklin Templeton India's fixed-income division has undergone a significant transformation under Rahul Goswami, the Chief Investment Officer (CIO) and Managing Director (Fixed income) at Franklin Templeton. Goswami took charge when rebuilding investor trust was crucial. Speaking about the revamp, he emphasises how Franklin is "minimising the probability of errors" and "ensuring investor interest is well protected". In this interview, Goswami also explains why the low to medium-duration segment offers the best risk-reward for investors today and how RBI policies influence his approach to debt fund strategies. Here's an edited transcript of our conversation. You stepped in to lead Franklin Templeton's fixed-income division during a crucial phase. How has the journey been so far? It has been a great learning experience; things have turned out better than most of us initially expected. When I took over, the primary focus was on further strengthening our processes, enhancing risk controls and building a more robust team. The goal is to ensure that we are well-positioned to deliver on expectations entrusted to us by our investors. Over the last few months, we have successfully launched a few new strategies, including the recently introduced Franklin India Low Duration Fund. The response from investors and distributors has been very encouraging. They have been ac