May 2 (Reuters) - Investment manager Franklin Templeton BEN.N on Friday reported a decline in second-quarter profit, as a tariff-driven slump in the equity market hurt its fee income.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

U.S. stocks grappled with broad weakness as President Donald Trump's sweeping tariff imposition on the country's trade partners triggered economic turmoil.

As a result, investors rushed to park their money in safer assets such as treasury bonds and gold instead of equities, which are a riskier bet to make at a time when the markets are volatile.

BY THE NUMBERS

Franklin Templeton's assets under management stood at $1.54 trillion at the end of the second quarter, down 6% from a year ago.

The company's total investment management fees, the largest contributor to its total operating revenue, fell 2% to $1.67 billion during the quarter.

Excluding one-time costs, Franklin Templeton's quarterly profit was $254.4 million, or 47 cents per share, compared with $306.6 million or 56 cents a share a year earlier.

The company's total long-term net outflows were $26.2 billion in the second quarter.

(Reporting by Jaiveer Singh Shekhawat in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya Biswas)

((JaiveerSingh.Shekhawat@thomsonreuters.com;))