Franklin Resources BEN has announced preliminary assets under management (AUM) by its subsidiaries of $690.6 billion for August 2019. Results display 2.7% decrease from the $709.5 billion recorded as of Jul 31, 2019. Slight net outflows and net market declines led to this downside. Further, the reported figure went down 4.4% year on year.Month-end total equity assets came in at $266.9 billion, down 3.5% from the previous month and 14.7% year over year. Of the total equity assets, around 58% were from international sources, while the remaining 42% came in from the United States.Total fixed income assets were $280.8 billion, down 2.5% from July 2019 but up 7.8% from the prior year. Overall, tax-free assets accounted for only 24% of the fixed-income assets, while the remaining 76% was taxable.Franklin recorded $133.2 billion in hybrid assets, which was 1.6% down from the $135.4 billion witnessed in the previous month and 4.7% from the $139.8 billion reported in August 2018.Cash management funds came in at $9.7 billion, up from the prior-month figure of $9.6 billion and $9.3 billion recorded in the previous year.Though regulatory restrictions and sluggish economic recovery might mar AUM growth, and escalate costs, the company’s global footprint is an exceptionally favorable strategic point as its AUM is well diversified.Currently, Franklin carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Shares of the company have lost around 4.1% year to date as against 14.2% growth recorded by the industry. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.Among other asset managers, Invesco Ltd. IVZ, T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. TROW and Legg Mason Inc. LM are expected to release preliminary AUM results for August, later this week.Looking for Stocks with Skyrocketing Upside?Zacks has just released a Special Report on the booming investment opportunities of legal marijuana. Ignited by new referendums and legislation, this industry is expected to blast from an already robust $6.7 billion to $20.2 billion in 2021. Early investors stand to make a killing, but you have to be ready to act and know just where to look. See the pot trades we're targeting>>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Invesco Ltd. (IVZ): Free Stock Analysis Report Franklin Resources, Inc. (BEN): Free Stock Analysis Report Legg Mason, Inc. (LM): Free Stock Analysis Report T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (TROW): Free Stock Analysis Report To read this article on Zacks.com click here.