Kent Shepherd, CFA, CIC

Kent Shepherd, CFA is based in Franklin Templeton's San Ramon, California office, where he reports to and works directly with the Franklin Income Investors (FII) portfolio management team, led by Ed Perks. When not in research meetings or communicating with clients, Kent spends most of his time on the FII trading desk, alongside the team's trader's, portfolio managers and risk-management personnel.

Kent joined Franklin Templeton in 1991 and has over 34 years of industry experience, including lead portfolio management roles with various asset class investment teams within the firm. He is currently a member of the Franklin Income Investors (FII) Team for which he serves as Senior Institutional Portfolio Manager for all FII income-related strategies, including the Franklin Income Fund, Franklin Managed Income Fund, Franklin Income SICAV Fund, and Franklin Income SMA's (Separately Managed Accounts).

Prior to his current position, Mr. Shepherd was lead portfolio manager of various equity strategies with Franklin's Core-Hybrid Group for 15 years, including mutual funds & mandates for some of the world's largest pension funds, governmental agencies and other institutional clients. Prior to that, he was a portfolio manager & analyst for 5 years with the Templeton Global Equity Group in Nassau, Bahamas. Prior to Templeton, Kent was a portfolio manager & analyst with Franklin's San Mateo high-yield fixed income group. Before joining Franklin Templeton, he spent three years with investment banking firm Drexel Burnham Lambert in their New York & San Francisco offices.

Mr. Shepherd holds an M.B.A. from UCLA's Anderson School of Business and a bachelor's degree in economics from Northwestern University. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), a Chartered Investment Counselor (CIC), and a member of the International Society of Financial Analysts. While living in the Bahamas Kent served as Executive Director of various philanthropic programs on behalf of The John Templeton Foundation - a role that afforded him the opportunity to work directly with Sir John Templeton while overseeing some of his foundation's local charitable endeavors. He also served as president of the Bahamas Chapter of the International Society of Financial Analysts, and curriculum creator & instructor for CFA Exam Preparation Courses.