Franklin Templeton Canada Lists Emerging Markets and Global ETFs From Established In-House ESG Investment Manager

Franklin Templeton Canada is listing Franklin Martin Currie Sustainable Emerging Markets Active ETF (FSEM) and Franklin Martin Currie Sustainable Global Equity Active ETF (FGSG) on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) today, July 26, 2021.

“Martin Currie combines an active, high conviction strategy with robust ESG expertise when investing in global and emerging markets as they have done so for many decades, having invested in global equities since the 1920s and Asian equities since the 1980s,” said Duane Green, president and CEO, Franklin Templeton Canada.

“We continue to focus on providing Canadian investors with a world-class fund line-up1 featuring boutique investment managers with global and sustainability expertise to help them achieve their desired investment outcomes.”

Franklin Martin Currie Sustainable Emerging Markets Active ETF (FSEM) invests primarily in Franklin Martin Currie Sustainable Emerging Markets Fund, which invests in quality emerging market equities with long-term growth potential, while using a fully integrated ESG investment approach.

The portfolio managers seek undervalued stocks with high potential to create shareholder value based on their assessment of a company’s quality, growth prospects, governance and sustainability. The fund's U.S. equivalent is a 5-star Morningstar rated fund.1

Franklin Martin Currie Sustainable Global Equity Active ETF (FGSG) invests primarily in units of Franklin Martin Currie Global Equity Fund, which invests in companies that have a strong history of offering high and sustainable returns on invested capital over time. The portfolio managers take a high-conviction, flexible approach to investing across sectors, geographies and market capitalizations, while seeking to manage risk on an absolute basis. The fund’s U.S. equivalent is a 4-star Morningstar rated fund.1

“As the need for high-conviction funds with genuine stewardship and ESG outcomes becomes ever more important to investors, we are bringing our expertise in sustainable investing to the Canadian market,” said Mel Bucher, co-head of Global Distribution, Martin Currie.

“As Martin Currie continues to expand its global reach, it now has one-third of its assets under management based in North America.”

FSEM and FGSG are the latest additions to the recently announced sustainable ETF listings from Franklin Templeton’s specialist investment managers, which include Franklin Brandywine Global Sustainable Income Optimiser Active ETF (FBGO)Franklin ClearBridge Sustainable Global Infrastructure Income Active ETF (FCII) and Franklin ClearBridge Sustainable International Growth Active ETF (FCSI).

Franklin Templeton’s diverse and innovative ETF platform was built to provide better client outcomes for a range of market conditions and investment opportunities. The product suite offers active, smart beta and passive ETFs that span multiple asset classes and geographies.

1Source: Franklin Martin Currie Global Equity Fund shares the same investment strategy and management as the Martin Currie International Unconstrained Equity Fund, a 4-star Morningstar rated fund in the Foreign Large Growth category with a 5-year track record in the U.S.

Source: Morningstar®. For each mutual fund and exchange traded fund with at least a 3-year history, Morningstar calculates a Morningstar Rating based on how a fund ranks on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure against other funds in the same category. This measure takes into account variations in a fund's monthly performance, and does not take into account the effects of sales charges and loads, placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. The top 10% of funds in each category receive 5 stars, the next 22.5% receive 4 stars, the next 35% receive 3 stars, the next 22.5% receive 2 stars and the bottom 10% receive 1 star. The weights are: 100% 3-year rating for 36-59 months of total returns, 60% 5-year rating/40% 3-year rating for 60-119 months of total returns, and 50% 10-year rating/30% 5-year rating/20% 3-year rating for 120 or more months of total returns. While the 10-year overall star rating formula seems to give the most weight to the 10-year period, the most recent 3-year period actually has the greatest impact because it is included in all three rating periods. Morningstar Rating is for the named share class only; other classes may have different performance characteristics. Past performance is not an indicator or a guarantee of future performance.

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