``Total assets under our management have risen from Rs 253 crore as on March 31 this year to over Rs 375 crore. The increase has been largely in our debt fund,'' Templeton Asset Management Company's vice president marketing Rajiv Vij said.

The excellent performance in the first two and half months is expected to continue during the remaining months, because of the expansion and the greater acceptance of the mutual fund industry, he said.

However, the major share of collections has come through its debt fund, as against the general industry trend which is witnessing a sharp rise in collections under the growth schemes.

On the reasons for this, Vij said worldwide, Templeton follows a policy of investing in value stocks with long-term potential rather than growth or fancied stocks.

Citing a US study hesaid, value stocks and growth stocks move in opposite direction and since the Indian capital market is witnessing a sharp rise in growth stocks, Templeton's growth fund whose portfolio comprises of only value stocks has not been accepted well by the investors.

Investors, Vij said, generally tend to compare the various options available in the market and thus choose the one giving the best returns at a point of time.

Other growth funds in the market had significant exposure to the three fancied sectors of fast-moving consumer goods, information technology and pharma, Vij said.

Referring to the recent spurt in stock prices including that of value stocks, Vij said, ``The net asset value of the Templeton India Growth Fund has risen from Rs 6.95 as on March 1999 to 9.15 as on June 15 1999.'' This conforms the success of our investment policy, he said.