Franklin Templeton has announced the launch of two active exchange-traded funds (ETFs) – the Franklin Australian Absolute Return Bond Fund (Managed Fund) (ASX: FRAR) and the Franklin Global Growth Fund (Managed Fund) (ASX: FRGG) – on the ASX.
According to the investment manager, the two funds will open new avenues for Australian investors to diversify their portfolios and gain access to global and domestic investment opportunities.
“We are delighted that these market-leading funds are now available to investors via the ASX,” commented Franklin Templeton Australia and New Zealand head Felicity Walsh.
“Listing on the ASX will mean that investors will now be able to access the investment expertise and differentiated performance attributes of these funds through intraday-traded vehicles,” Walsh noted.
“As more of our valued adviser, licensee, and consultant clients build listed portfolios to complement their traditional unlisted portfolios, we want to ensure we are supporting advisers in delivering the best investment solutions possible to their clients.”
Namely, FRGG utilises fundamental bottom-up stock analysis to identify and select quality growth companies, delivering a concentrated yet fundamentally diversified portfolio of stocks driven by secular growth trends.
FRGG’s portfolio manager, Francyne Mu, highlighted the firm‘s focus on financially sustainable business models and proven management teams that target the creation of shareholder value.
“We utilise the results of this analysis to build a concentrated, best-ideas portfolio of 35 to 40 stocks,” Mu said.
Meanwhile, FRAR uses a combination of top-down macroeconomic insights, and bottom-up fundamental research methodologies to craft a portfolio of fixed income strategies targeting absolute returns over market cycles.
“Through the listing of our fund on the ASX, we will be able to offer our unique approach to fixed income investing to a whole new range of investors who may not have been able to access strategies like these until now,” FRAR’s portfolio manager, Chris Siniakov, explained.
According to Walsh, Franklin Templeton aims to “democratise” access to high-quality investment strategies.
“The launch of these ETFs exemplifies our commitment to providing investors with sophisticated yet accessible investment options, backed by our global expertise and deep local market understanding.
“These multi-distributed ETFs will complement our existing range of active ETFs which we manage in partnership with Betashares and further expand access to our premier suite of investment strategies,” Walsh concluded.
Last year, the investment manager also introduced the Franklin K2 Athena Fund, its inaugural alternatives fund in the Australian market.
The fund, which aims to improve access to alternative investment opportunities for Australian retail investors, offers access to uncorrelated risk premia strategies spanning equities, fixed income, and currencies.
