Franklin Templeton Investments Corp. announces streamlining of fund lineup

    TORONTO, May 16 /CNW/ - Franklin Templeton Investments Corp. announced
today that securityholders have voted in favour of several changes to its fund
lineup. The following changes will take effect as of the close of business on
or before June 13, 2008:

    Change to fund investment objectives

    Bissett Income Trust and Dividend Fund's investment objective will change
to an equity mandate to gain capital appreciation by investing primarily in
dividend paying or income producing Canadian securities, including common
shares, income trust units and preferred shares. This will give the fund the
flexibility to invest in a broader universe of companies, outside of income
trusts. Concurrent with the investment objective change, the fund's name will
change to Bissett Canadian Dividend Fund.
    Franklin U.S. Small-Mid Cap Growth Fund will change its investment
objective to gain capital appreciation by investing primarily in U.S. equities
demonstrating accelerating growth, increasing profitability, or above average
growth or growth potential compared to the overall economy. This will provide
the manager the flexibility to take advantage of a broader range of growth
opportunities. Concurrent with the change in investment objective, the name of
the fund will change to Franklin Flex Cap Growth Fund.

    Corporate Class funds invest in trust fund units

    The investment objectives of Templeton European Corporate Class,
Franklin World Growth Corporate Class, Franklin Japan Corporate Class and
Franklin Flex Cap Growth Corporate Class will change from investing directly
in issuers' securities to investing in units of underlying unit trust funds,
which have investment objectives that are consistent with each Corporate Class
fund's current investment objective. The new investment objectives are as
follows:

    Templeton European Corporate Class: Long-term capital appreciation by
investing substantially all of its assets in units of Templeton European Fund;
    Franklin World Growth Corporate Class: Long-term capital appreciation by
investing substantially all of its assets in units of Franklin World Growth
Fund;
    Franklin Japan Corporate Class: Long-term capital appreciation by
investment substantially all of its assets in units of Franklin Japan Fund;
and
    Franklin Flex Cap Growth Corporate Class: Long-term capital appreciation
by investing substantially all of its assets in units of Franklin Flex Cap
Growth Fund.

    Fund mergers

    Franklin U.S. Small-Mid Cap Growth Corporate Class will merge into
Franklin Flex Cap Growth Corporate Class. The current objective of
Franklin Flex Cap Growth Corporate Class is to invest in U.S. equities
demonstrating accelerating growth, increasing profitability, or above average
growth or growth potential compared to the overall economy. As referenced
earlier, Franklin Flex Cap Growth Corporate Class will be changing its
investment objective to invest substantially all of its assets in units of
Franklin Flex Cap Growth Fund.
    Bissett Large Cap Fund will merge into the Bissett Canadian Equity Fund.
Bissett Canadian Equity Fund's objective is long-term capital appreciation by
investing in a diversified portfolio of mid- to large-capitalization Canadian
equities.
    Templeton Global Balanced Fund will merge into Templeton Global Income
Fund. Templeton Global Income Fund's objective is current income while
maintaining prospects for capital appreciation by investing primarily in debt
and equity securities issued around the world.
    Templeton Balanced Fund will merge into Templeton Canadian Asset
Allocation Fund. Templeton Canadian Asset Allocation Fund's objective is high
long-term total return from interest, dividends and capital gains by investing
primarily in a mix of Canadian equities and fixed-income securities.
Concurrent with the merger, the name of Templeton Canadian Asset Allocation
Fund will change to Templeton Canadian Balanced Fund.
    Securityholders of Franklin U.S. Small-Mid Cap Growth Corporate Class,
Bissett Large Cap Fund and Templeton Global Balanced Fund will receive
securities of the respective continuing funds on a dollar-for-dollar and
series-by-series basis. Securityholders of Templeton Balanced Fund will
receive Series F units of Templeton Canadian Asset Allocation Fund on a
dollar-for-dollar basis.
    More information about these mutual funds is available at
www.franklintempleton.ca.

    Franklin Templeton Investments Corp. is a wholly owned subsidiary of
Franklin Resources, Inc., a global investment organization operating as
Franklin Templeton Investments. In Canada, Franklin Templeton Investments
provides global and domestic investment advisory services to the Franklin,
Templeton, Bissett and Mutual Series funds and institutional accounts.
Franklin Templeton Investments Corp. has more than 700 employees providing
services to more than 1.8 million unitholder accounts and more than 200
pension funds, foundations and other institutional investors. Franklin
Templeton Investments Corp. can be found at www.franklintempleton.ca.

    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, Fiduciary Trust, Darby and
Bissett investment teams. The San Mateo, CA-based company has more than 60
years of investment experience and more than US$617 billion (C$621 billion) in
assets under management as of April 30, 2008.

For further information: Media contact: Sarah Powley, Franklin Templeton
Investments Corp., (416) 957-6191