Franklin Templeton Launches Two New Funds

The Franklin Global Listed Infrastructure Fund will provide investors with access to a growing market driven by the global need to build or replace aging infrastructure. According to Franklin Templeton, the fund seeks total investment returns, consisting of income and capital appreciation, by investing in the securities of infrastructure-related companies whose principal business is the ownership, management, construction, operation, utilization or financing of infrastructure assets around the world.

“We believe the fund offers investors a compelling opportunity to participate in the current growth potential of the global listed infrastructure market,” said Wilson Magee, the fund’s co-lead portfolio manager and director of Global Real Estate and Infrastructure Securities for Franklin Templeton Real Asset Advisors.

The Franklin Global Government Bond Fund will invest in global government bonds with a focus on investment-grade issues. According to Franklin Templeton, the fund seeks to maximize total investment return consisting of a combination of interest income and capital appreciation. It seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing in fixed- or floating-rate debt securities and obligations issued by government and government-related entities located throughout the world, as well as by taking opportunistic exposure to other securities such as corporate bonds and mortgage-backed securities. The fund may also invest in investment-grade obligations issued by emerging market governments and make limited purchases of below investment-grade securities.

“Default rates on investment-grade government debt have remained near zero,” said John W. Beck, the fund’s co-lead portfolio manager and co-director of Franklin Templeton Fixed Income Group’s global fixed income department. “Couple this with the positive trend in global gross domestic product [GDP] growth, the nascent recovery in Europe and the continued fiscal strength of many emerging markets, and we believe this may be an encouraging time for prudent investment in the asset class.”

More information on these funds can be found here.