Franklin Templeton Investments launches Shariah-compliant funds offering Global Sukuk, Global Equity and Asian Growth Strategies (English)

Dubai, UAE; 18 March 2013 – Franklin Templeton Investments is pleased to announce the introduction of three Shariahcompliant, Luxembourg-domiciled SICAV funds, aimed at investors seeking investments that follow Islamic investing principles.

“We’ve seen growing interest in Shariah compliant-investment products driven by the need for portfolio diversification as well as the economic appeal of Islamic investing principles,” said Vijay Advani, executive vice president of Global Advisory Services for Franklin Templeton. “With the launch of these new funds, Franklin Templeton brings to bear its specialized expertise and extensive global resources to offer a wide range of strategies aligned with Shariah principles.”

The following three funds will be available to international investors from 25 March 2013.

• Franklin Templeton Global Sukuk Fund is managed by Mohieddine (Dino) Kronfol, Dubai-based chief investment officer for MENA Fixed Income and Global Sukuk, and Stephen Dover, international chief investment officer of Franklin Templeton Local Asset Management Group. The fund focuses on fixed and floating rate Shariah-compliant securities issued by government, government-related and corporate entities. The fund may include both investmentgrade and non-investment grade securities and allocations to developed and emerging markets. The fund’s portfolio team is one of the most experienced in the MENASIA region and has been managing Sukuk investment since 2008.
• Templeton Shariah Global Equity Fund, managed by Alan Chua, executive vice president, portfolio manager and research analyst with Templeton Global Equity Group, leverages the group’s worldwide value expertise in a fund that seeks to invest in the most undervalued opportunities globally regardless of country, benchmark or style.
• Templeton Shariah Asia Growth Fund is managed by Mark Mobius, executive chairman, and supported by Dennis Lim and Allan Lam, senior managing directors and portfolio managers of the Templeton Emerging Markets Group. The fund is designed to uncover compelling opportunities in the largest emerging markets in the world by investing at least 80% of its net assets in securities of companies located in the Asia region (excluding Australia, New Zealand and Japan).

Franklin Templeton’s Shariah capabilities

As of 31 December 2012, Franklin Templeton managed over $1 billion in Shariah-compliant assets for a wide range of clients globally. The Sukuk mandates draw on the company’s dedicated Shariah investing expertise in Singapore, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates and Malaysia, while equity mandates draw on the focused investment expertise of specialized teams that manage a wide range of strategies, including global, regional and local equities. Franklin Templeton is also one of the few foreign asset managers to have stand-alone Shariah operations in Malaysia, the world’s largest issuer of Sukuk.

To help ensure compliance with Shariah guidelines, Franklin Templeton leverages best-in-class technology utilizing criteria established by our Shariah screening provider. Approximately 40,000 global securities are screened using a rigorous process that drills down to the business activities of every company at a granular level, and selected financial ratios are evaluated according to prescribed algorithms to help ensure Shariah compliance. In addition, each of our portfolio management teams employs a highly disciplined investment process designed to comprehensively measure and manage risk, while also leveraging analysis and insight from Franklin Templeton’s worldwide network of locally-based risk management specialists.

“As a global player with an established presence in Dubai, Franklin Templeton recognises the increased demand from investors for solutions that adhere to Islamic investment principles.” said Adam Quaife, Senior Director for Central & Eastern Europe and the Middle East. “The launch of a dedicated Shariah-compliant umbrella and these three new Shariah-compliant funds now brings that capability to our investors in the region. This event is quite opportune as it comes at a time when a number of markets across the Middle East are taking demonstrable steps towards developing their infrastructure to support the growth of Islamic products.”

Global Sukuk, Global Equity and Asian Growth Funds

All three Franklin Templeton Shariah funds are independently reviewed and endorsed by the Amanie International Shariah Supervisory Board, highly regarded for its extensive Shariah and technical understanding. The Amanie Scholars provide initial approval on investment objectives and strategy, as well as on going supervisory and monitoring services to ensure continuous adherence to internationally accepted Shariah principles and standards.

Mohieddine (Dino) Kronfol, portfolio manager of the Franklin Templeton Global Sukuk Fund, commented, “Islamic investors are seeking greater diversification, and exposure to Sukuk can reduce volatility while adding value to any Shariah-compliant equity or real estate portfolio. Franklin Templeton has been managing institutional Sukuk strategies for several years so we’re excited to be offering this asset class to a broader audience through a new SICAV fund. Notably, our Global Sukuk fund is the first fund in this essential category ever launched in the UCITS1 space.”

Mark Mobius, portfolio manager of the Templeton Shariah Asian Growth Fund, said, “Shariah-compliant strategies are an important and growing market in many parts of the developing world, and Templeton is pleased to bring its emerging markets expertise to bear on this new offering for Shariah investors globally.”

Alan Chua, portfolio manager of the Templeton Shariah Global Equity Fund said, “With the launch of the Templeton Shariah Global Equity Fund, Templeton brings a premier global equity strategy, a value investment style and a research process that has been tested over 70 years to investors seeking Shariah-compliant investing.” For More Information For more information on the Franklin Templeton Shariah Funds, please visit www.franklintempletongem.com

 

- END -

 

¹ UCITS = Undertakings For The Collective Investment Of Transferable Securities - a public limited company that coordinates the distribution and management of unit trusts amongst countries within the European Union.

 

Notes to Editors:

Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE: BEN) is 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 over $813 billion in assets under management as of 28 February 2013.

Franklin Templeton Global Sukuk Fund, Templeton Shariah Global Equity Fund and Templeton Shariah Asia Growth Fund are subfunds of Franklin Templeton Shariah Funds (FTSF) a Luxembourg-domiciled SICAV range. This document is intended to be of general interest only and does not constitute legal or tax advice nor is it an offer for shares or invitation to apply for shares of the Luxembourgdomiciled SICAV Franklin Templeton Shariah Funds (the “Fund”). Nothing in this document should be construed as investment advice.

Subscriptions to shares of the Fund can only be made on the basis of the current prospectus, the relevant Key Investor Information Document, accompanied by the latest available audited annual report and the latest semi-annual report if published thereafter. The value of shares in the Fund and income received from it can go down as well as up, and investors may not get back the full amount invested. Past performance is not an indicator or a guarantee of future performance. Currency fluctuations may affect the value of overseas investments. When investing in a fund denominated in a foreign currency, your performance may also be affected by currency fluctuations. An investment in the Fund entails risks which are described in the Fund’s prospectus and the relevant Key Investor Information Document.

In emerging markets, the risks can be greater than in developed markets. Investments in derivative instruments entail specific risks that may increase the risk profile of the fund and are more fully described in the Fund’s prospectus and in the relevant Key Investor Information Document.

The investment activities will be undertaken in accordance with the Shariah Guidelines. As a consequence, the performance of a Fund may possibly be lower than other investment funds that do not seek to strictly adhere to the Islamic investment criteria. The requirement to “purify” cash holdings or dividend income will likely result in payments being made to charities. The return to investors will be reduced by the amount of such payments. No shares of the Fund may be directly or indirectly offered or sold to nationals or residents of the United States of America. References to particular industries, sectors or companies are for general information and are not necessarily indicative of a fund’s holding at any one time.

Shares of the Fund are not available for distribution in all jurisdictions and prospective investors should confirm availability with their local Franklin Templeton Investments representative before making any plans to invest.

This press release is intended to be of general interest only, and does not constitute professional advice. Franklin Templeton Investments and its management groups have exercised professional care and diligence in the collection and processing of the information in this press release. Franklin Templeton Investments makes no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy of this document. Franklin Templeton Investments shall not be liable to any user of this report or to any other person or entity for the inaccuracy of information contained in this press release or for any errors or omissions in its contents, regardless of the cause of such inaccuracy, error or omission. Any research and analysis contained in this document has been procured by Franklin Templeton Investments for its own purposes.

For more information, please contact: Franklin Templeton Investments, The Gate, East Wing, Level 2, Dubai International Financial Centre, P.O.Box 506613, Dubai, U.A.E., Tel.: +9714-4284100 Fax:+9714-4284140.

For more information on our funds please visit our website: http://www.franklintempletongem.com/

Issued by Franklin Templeton Investment Management Limited in Dubai (“FTIML”). FTIML is authorized and regulated in the UK by the Financial Services Authority and the FTIML Dubai branch is regulated in Dubai by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (“DFSA”).

Copyright © 2013. Franklin Templeton Investments. All rights reserved.