她的评论出现在更广泛的抛售潮期间，这波抛售发生于高度曝险于软体资产的私募股权与私募信贷集团，而较疲弱的公开市场估值正使既定退出计划与费用实现更为复杂。收购基金正考虑延后处分资产，而当收购债务在3到4年内到期时，信贷放款人面临再融资风险。Johnson也指出，续存载体的使用增加可作为分配承压的证据，并表示主权财富基金与退休基金等主要配置者并未释出将大幅提高私募市场配置的讯号。
Franklin 自身的策略同时显示出调适与压力：过去 7 年间，公司透过收购扩展另类投资版图，包含 Benefit Street Partners、Alcentra、Apera、Lexington Partners 与 Clarion，同时试图抵消传统基金的流失。该公司聘任 Daniel Gamba 担任共同总裁与首任首席商务长，以加速私募基金销售并改善机构客户覆盖，但其 Western Asset 部门自 SEC 在 2024 年提出案件以来已出现近 $150bn 的资金流出，该案涉及约 $600mn 的涉嫌交易择时。近期的组织调整包括区域销售整并、新的保险通路领导安排，以及亚洲的临时管理架构；随著对价值达数兆美元的保险公司一般帐户委托竞争加剧，压力也同步升高。
Franklin Templeton CEO Jenny Johnson warned that new AI coding models could undermine the long-term economics of enterprise software, despite strong current profits, adding to investor anxiety after a decade-long tech-led market rally. Johnson, who leads a $1.7tn asset manager, said tools such as Anthropic’s Claude (including Opus 4.6, which she tested in February) force a basic question about whether enterprise software companies can keep thriving, even if recent share declines may reflect short-term overselling.
Her comments arrived during a broader sell-off in private-equity and private-credit groups heavily exposed to software assets, where weaker public valuations are complicating planned exits and fee realization. Buyout firms are considering delaying disposals, and credit lenders face refinancing risk when acquisition debt matures in 3 to 4 years. Johnson also pointed to rising use of continuation vehicles as evidence of strained distributions, and noted that major allocators such as sovereign wealth funds and pension funds are not signaling dramatic increases in private-markets allocations.
Franklin’s own strategy shows both adaptation and pressure: over the past 7 years it expanded in alternatives via acquisitions including Benefit Street Partners, Alcentra, Apera, Lexington Partners, and Clarion, while trying to offset legacy fund erosion. The firm hired Daniel Gamba as co-president and first chief commercial officer to accelerate private-fund sales and improve institutional coverage, but its Western Asset unit has seen nearly $150bn in outflows since the SEC’s 2024 case tied to alleged trade cherry-picking involving about $600mn. Recent organizational changes include regional sales consolidation, new insurance-channel leadership, and an interim management setup in Asia, as competition for insurer general-account mandates worth trillions of dollars intensifies.