Franklin Templeton Canada Announces Plans to Simplify Fund Line-up

TORONTO, Aug. 30, 2019 /CNW/ - Franklin Templeton Canada today announced plans to streamline its fund line-up, including 11 proposed mutual fund mergers and five mutual fund terminations.

"Our firm is focused on simplifying our mutual fund offerings to make it easier for advisors and investors to select a suitable fund from a streamlined range of investment options," said Duane Green, president and CEO, Franklin Templeton Canada. "We continue to focus on providing high quality investment solutions to deliver better outcomes for Canadians."

Proposed mutual fund mergers

The proposed mergers will be voted on at special meetings of investors to be held on or around November 1, 2019 in Toronto.

Pending regulatory and investor approval, each terminating fund will be merged into the corresponding continuing fund on or around the proposed merger date, as indicated in the table below.

Terminating Funds	Continuing Funds	Proposed Merger Date (2019)
Franklin Quotential Fixed Income Portfolio	Franklin Bissett Core Plus Bond Fund	November 15
Templeton Asian Growth Corporate Class^1 Templeton Frontier Markets Corporate Class	Templeton Emerging Markets Fund	November 15
Franklin Bissett Canadian All Cap Balanced Fund Franklin Bissett Canadian All Cap Balanced Corporate Class	Franklin Bissett Monthly Income and Growth Fund	November 22
Franklin Bissett Energy Corporate Class	Franklin Bissett Canadian Equity Fund	November 22
Franklin Bissett Microcap Fund Franklin Bissett Small Cap Corporate Class	Franklin Bissett Small Cap Fund	November 22
Franklin Select U.S. Equity Fund^2	Franklin U.S. Opportunities Fund	November 15
Franklin Mutual U.S. Shares Fund^3 Franklin Mutual U.S. Shares Corporate Class^3	Franklin U.S. Rising Dividends Fund	November 22

^1	Investors in series A, F and I of this fund also need to vote at the series level due to the different fee structures of these series in the continuing fund.
^2	Previously announced via press release on June 25, 2019.
^3	Series I of both funds will be liquidated after the close of business on or around November 15, 2019, regardless of whether these mergers take place.

The Independent Review Committee of the funds has reviewed the proposed mergers and determined that each merger, if implemented, will achieve a fair and reasonable result for the terminating fund.

As of the close of business today, each terminating fund will cease distribution of its securities to new investors until the applicable merger date listed above. 

At the beginning of October, investors who hold any of the terminating funds will be able to access an information circular detailing the proposed mergers on Franklin Templeton's website.

Each terminating fund whose merger does not receive the requisite investor and regulatory approvals will be terminated, with the exception of Franklin Bissett Microcap Fund, on or around the merger date specified.

Fund terminations

In addition to the proposed fund mergers, Franklin Templeton will terminate the following five funds on or around November 15, 2019:

• Franklin Global Small-Mid Cap Fund
• Franklin Mutual European Fund
• Franklin Target Return Fund
• Templeton Asian Growth Fund
• Templeton Frontier Markets Fund

As of the close of business today, each terminating fund will cease distribution of its securities to current and new investors. If an investor would prefer to switch into any of Franklin Templeton's other funds or redeem their investment ahead of the fund's termination date, they are advised to work with their financial advisor to submit their instructions on or before November 14, 2019. 

Fee reductions

In conjunction with the proposed fund mergers, the firm is also reducing administration fees for certain series of Franklin Bissett Monthly Income and Growth Fund on November 22, 2019, as detailed in the table below.

		CURRENT					NEW
Series		Mgmt. Fee	Admin. Fee	Total		Mgmt. Fee	Admin. Fee	Total
A and T		1.75%	0.19%	1.94%		1.75%	0.16%	1.91%
F		0.75%	0.19%	0.94%		0.75%	0.16%	0.91%
I		1.35%	0.19%	1.54%		1.35%	0.16%	1.51%

For information on the proposed fund mergers and terminations, please visit:  franklintempleton.ca/en-ca/investor/products/mergers-and-terminations.

Investors are encouraged to speak to their financial advisor about these changes. Franklin Templeton's client service team is also available at 1-800-387-0830 or [email protected].

About Franklin Templeton  
Franklin Templeton Investments Corp. (known as Franklin Templeton Canada) is a subsidiary of Franklin Resources, Inc. [NYSE:BEN], a global investment management organization operating as Franklin Templeton. Franklin Templeton's goal is to deliver better outcomes by providing global and domestic investment management to retail, institutional and sovereign wealth clients in over 170 countries. Through specialized teams, the company has expertise across all asset classes, including equity, fixed income, alternatives and custom multi-asset solutions. The company's more than 600 investment professionals are supported by its integrated, worldwide team of risk management professionals and global trading desk network. With employees in over 30 countries, the California based company has more than 70 years of investment experience and approximately US$709 billion (C$936 billion) in assets under management as of July 31, 2019. For more information, please visit franklintempleton.ca.  

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Copyright © 2019. Franklin Templeton. All rights reserved.

SOURCE Franklin Templeton Investments Corp.

Media Contact: Sarah Kingdon, Corporate Communications, Franklin Templeton, 416.957.6191, [email protected]

Related Links

http://www.franklintempleton.ca