TORONTO, July 24, 2013 /CNW/ - Franklin Templeton Investments Corp.
today introduced a balanced fund for Canadian investors who are looking
for U.S. equity growth and the stability of income. Franklin Income
Fund will provide a diversified portfolio of primarily U.S.
dividend-paying stocks, bonds and convertible securities.
"Many Canadians have a home-country bias and continue to be reluctant
about getting back into the equity markets due to concerns about
volatility," said Ronice Barlow, head of Strategic Planning & Business
Development - Canada, Franklin Templeton Investments Corp. "To help
investors ease back into the U.S. equity markets in a diversified way
with an income component, Franklin Income Fund takes an active approach
to investing in dividend-paying stocks and fixed income."
The lead manager of Franklin Income Fund is industry veteran, Ed Perks,
who has 20 years of industry experience and has managed the US$74
billion* Franklin Income Fund for U.S. investors from San Mateo,
California since 2002. The fund's management team also includes
Franklin Equity Group portfolio managers, Alex Peters with 21 years of
investment industry experience and Matthew Quinlan with 18 years of
experience.
"We take a strategic approach and look for the most attractive
investment opportunities that will provide income in today's
yield-scarce environment," said Perks, director of portfolio
management, Franklin Equity Group. "This fund helps ensure investors
are provided a regular stream of income, diversification and stability
in uncertain markets."
Two Corporate Class offerings are available for investors who are
seeking tax deferral and currency hedging: Franklin Income Corporate
Class and Franklin Income Hedged Corporate Class. Franklin Templeton's
Corporate Class structure allows investors to switch between funds and
portfolios while deferring any taxable dispositions until they redeem
from the structure. Franklin Income Hedged Corporate Class seeks to
minimize the potential impact of exchange rate fluctuations between the
Canadian and U.S. dollars by adding a USD-CAD currency overlay using
forward contracts.
Franklin Income Fund may invest in a variety of financial instruments to
provide diversification and stability:
-
corporate bonds with attractive yields;
-
convertible bonds that may participate in equity pricing when markets
rebound;
-
government bonds which allow for high-quality asset preservation;
-
preferred stocks with higher yields and higher status on the capital
structure; and
-
dividend-paying common stocks.
Franklin Income Fund has a flexible investment strategy, allowing it to
invest in a wide array of instruments with no set proportions for its
allocations. Active security selection, driven by bottom-up fundamental
research, allows the portfolio manager to look across the capital
structure to identify the best opportunities that offer the most
compelling risk-reward profiles to meet the fund's objective as market
conditions change.
Income distributions to Franklin Income Fund unitholders will be made
monthly using a variable distribution rate.
About Franklin Templeton Investments
Franklin Templeton Investments Corp. is a wholly owned subsidiary of
Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE: BEN), a global investment management
organization operating as Franklin Templeton Investments. Franklin
Templeton Investments provides global and domestic investment
management solutions managed by its Franklin, Templeton, Mutual Series,
Bissett, Fiduciary Trust, Darby, Balanced Equity Management and K2
investment teams. The San Mateo, CA-based company has more than 65
years of investment experience and US$815 billion (over C$856 billion)
in assets under management as of June 30, 2013. For more information,
please visit franklintempleton.ca.
*The Franklin Income Fund AUM is as of June 30, 2013.
SOURCE: Franklin Templeton Investments Corp.
