Franklin Templeton on Monday said it has appointed Ajay Argal and Venkatesh Sanjeevi as portfolio managers in a bid to strengthen its Emerging Markets Equity - India team.

Effective October 12, 2021, Argal and Sanjeevi have joined the firm as portfolio managers and both are based at the Franklin Templeton offices in Chennai, reporting to Anand Radhakrishnan who heads up the Emerging Markets Equity – India team, the fund house said in a statement.

Argal will be the designated portfolio manager for Franklin India Focused Equity Fund and Franklin Build India Fund. He has worked with asset management firms such as Barings in Hong Kong, Aditya Birla Mutual Fund and UTI Mutual Fund. Sanjeevi will manage Franklin India Bluechip Fund & Franklin India Equity Advantage Fund in his role. He was previously a senior investment manager at Pictet Asset Management in London, where he was the co-lead portfolio manager for the Pictet Indian Equities Fund.

He has also worked as portfolio manager at ICICI Prudential AMC and Edelweiss Asset Management, Mumbai.

''Investing in our equity capabilities has been a strategic priority for us and over time we have built a deep bench of talent,'' Anand Radhakrishnan, MD and CIO – Emerging Markets Equity - India, Franklin Templeton, said.

''We are delighted to welcome Ajay and Venkatesh to our team and believe their extensive experience in India and abroad will be valuable in identifying investment opportunities and managing our flagship offerings for our investors,'' he added.

In addition, after more than 16 years with the firm, Roshi Jain, Portfolio Manager, will be leaving the company effective October 31, 2021, for personal reasons. Going forward, Jain's portfolio responsibilities will be managed by Argal and Sanjeevi, supported by other investment managers and experienced analysts of Franklin Templeton Emerging Markets Equity – India.