New competitive pricing from initial qualification rewards higher levels of investment, while making access to lower fees easier
TORONTO, Sept. 12, 2016 /CNW/ - Franklin Templeton Investments Corp. today announced proposed enhancements to simplify the firm's product pricing structure that will take effect this fall, pending regulatory receipt of disclosure documents.
"In consulting dealers and advisors across the country to discuss ways to make it easier to do business with us, we have identified our pricing structure as a key area that could benefit from a fresh look," said Duane Green, managing director of Canada for Franklin Templeton Investments Corp. "The new Simplicity Pricing program that we are introducing is intended to make it easier for advisors to recommend the most appropriate fund series and will benefit investors by offering them the best value for their investment dollars."
Franklin Templeton's new Simplicity Pricing program will introduce several features for advisors and investors, including a lower investment minimum for certain series, expanded dealer compliance support, simplified series naming conventions and asset class pricing alignment. In addition, it will facilitate the aggregation of family assets through account linking.
"Our simplified pricing offers a single flat fee structure that enables investors to access better fees without the need for multiple switches or management fee distributions," said Dennis Tew, head of Canada operations for Franklin Templeton Investments Corp. "Advisors and investors can be assured that they are receiving the best pricing available to them with our new Simplicity Pricing."
Furthermore, effective October 3, 2016, accessing Franklin Templeton's fee-based solutions will be made easier with the addition of Series M and W for select mutual funds and purchase options.
More specifically, key features of Simplicity Pricing for qualified investors include:
One low flat fee with accessible minimums
The new pricing recognizes and rewards higher levels of investment by implementing a competitively priced flat fee, beginning at $100,000 for fee-based accounts and $200,000 for commission-based accounts, with no minimum for managed accounts. For commission-based accounts, this flat fee will apply to assets up to $2.5 million, with additional fee breaks available at $2.5 million and over $5 million, making Franklin Templeton's fees among the most competitive in the industry. In addition, for both fee-based and commission-based accounts, advisors will be able to link investors' related accounts, and also the accounts of family members, in order to more quickly meet the minimums needed to qualify for fee savings.
Support for dealer compliance
Starting this December, both commission-based and fee-based advisors in Series A, F and their return of capital (ROC) versions will receive automatic notifications on client qualification for lower fee series on a monthly basis. If deemed suitable, commission-based advisors can move clients into the applicable lower-fee series at any time. For fee-based advisors, the series switch will occur automatically for qualified clients beginning in December 2016, pending receipt of a regulatory exemption.
Simplified series naming for Series M, R, S and W
Effective October 3, 2016, fund series naming conventions will use multiple characters to call out key series attributes: "Preferred pricing" and "Fee-based" and "Tax-efficiency". Series M will be renamed to Series PF to denote that it is the preferred pricing version of Series F. Each ROC distributing series will now include the letter T (for tax-efficiency) in its name.
| Account Type |
Investment |
Non-Return of Capital |
Return of Capital |
|||
| Existing |
Effective |
Existing |
Effective |
|||
| Commission-based |
$500 |
A |
T |
|||
| $200,000 |
O |
R |
OT |
|||
| Fee-based |
$500 |
F |
S |
FT |
||
| $100,000 |
M |
PF |
W |
PFT |
||
Pricing re-alignment between Series M, W, O and R
In order to offer simplicity in our pricing continuum for both commission-based and fee-based models, pricing is being realigned for Series M and W of certain funds. Such changes will be implemented through a combination of adjustments to management fees and/or the fixed administration fee.
Effective November 30, 2016, investors in 29 funds offering Series M and W will experience a change in management fee, fixed administration fee or both. Of these funds, following the pricing changes, investors in Series M and W in 21 of the funds will experience a decrease or no change in their aggregate fees. In the remaining eight funds, namely Franklin Bissett Canadian Balanced Corporate Class, Franklin Bissett Canadian Dividend Corporate Class, Franklin Bissett Canadian Equity Corporate Class, Franklin Bissett Monthly Income and Growth Fund, Franklin Quotential Balanced Growth Corporate Class Portfolio, Franklin U.S. Monthly Income Corporate Class, Franklin U.S. Monthly Income Hedged Corporate Class and Templeton International Stock Corporate Class , most investors in Series M will experience an average increase in their aggregate fees of 0.01 per cent, with Series M investors in Templeton International Stock Corporate Class experiencing an increase of 0.05 per cent. But even when there is an aggregate fee increase, the series will still be competitively priced relative to most similar funds in the Canadian market. The Independent Review Committee for these funds considered the fee changes and determined that they would achieve a fair and reasonable result for investors of the applicable series.
Specific fee changes are listed below, and a legal notice will be mailed to investors in these funds on or around September 28, 2016, to outline these changes.
|
FUNDS |
CURRENT FEES |
NEW FEES |
||||
| Mgmt |
Admin |
Total |
Mgmt |
Admin |
Total |
|
| Franklin Global Small-Mid Cap Fund |
0.75% |
0.30% |
1.05% |
0.90% |
0.15% |
1.05% |
| Franklin High Income Fund |
0.65% |
0.21% |
0.86% |
0.70% |
0.10% |
0.80% |
| Franklin Mutual European Fund |
0.75% |
0.28% |
1.03% |
0.80% |
0.15% |
0.95% |
| Franklin Mutual Global Discovery Corporate Class |
0.75% |
0.33% |
1.08% |
0.80% |
0.15% |
0.95% |
| Franklin Strategic Income Fund |
0.65% |
0.21% |
0.86% |
0.70% |
0.10% |
0.80% |
| Franklin U.S. Monthly Income Corporate Class |
0.65% |
0.19% |
0.84% |
0.70% |
0.15% |
0.85% |
| Franklin U.S. Monthly Income Hedged Corporate Class |
0.65% |
0.19% |
0.84% |
0.70% |
0.15% |
0.85% |
| Franklin U.S. Rising Dividends Corporate Class |
0.65% |
0.28% |
0.93% |
0.75% |
0.15% |
0.90% |
| Templeton Global Balanced Fund |
0.65% |
0.23% |
0.88% |
0.70% |
0.15% |
0.85% |
| Templeton Global Bond Fund |
0.65% |
0.22% |
0.87% |
0.70% |
0.10% |
0.80% |
| Templeton Global Bond Fund (Hedged) |
0.65% |
0.22% |
0.87% |
0.70% |
0.10% |
0.80% |
| Templeton Growth Corporate Class |
0.60% |
0.35% |
0.95% |
0.80% |
0.15% |
0.95% |
| Templeton Growth Fund, Ltd. |
0.60% |
0.35% |
0.95% |
0.80% |
0.15% |
0.95% |
| Templeton International Stock Corporate Class |
0.55% |
0.35% |
0.90% |
0.80% |
0.15% |
0.95% |
| Franklin Quotential Balanced Growth Corporate Class Portfolio |
0.65% |
0.24% |
0.89% |
0.75% |
0.15% |
0.90% |
| Franklin Quotential Balanced Income Corporate Class Portfolio |
0.60% |
0.20% |
0.80% |
0.65% |
0.15% |
0.80% |
| Franklin Quotential Diversified Equity Corporate Class Portfolio |
0.65% |
0.35% |
1.00% |
0.80% |
0.15% |
0.95% |
| Franklin Quotential Diversified Income Corporate Class Portfolio |
0.63% |
0.17% |
0.80% |
0.65% |
0.15% |
0.80% |
| Franklin Quotential Growth Corporate Class Portfolio |
0.65% |
0.25% |
0.90% |
0.75% |
0.15% |
0.90% |
| Franklin Bissett Canadian Balanced Corporate Class |
0.60% |
0.19% |
0.79% |
0.65% |
0.15% |
0.80% |
| Franklin Bissett Canadian Dividend Corporate Class |
0.65% |
0.22% |
0.87% |
0.75% |
0.15% |
0.90% |
| Franklin Bissett Canadian Equity Corporate Class |
0.65% |
0.23% |
0.88% |
0.75% |
0.15% |
0.90% |
| Franklin Bissett Canadian Short Term Bond Fund |
0.45% |
0.15% |
0.60% |
0.50% |
0.10% |
0.60% |
| Franklin Bissett Core Plus Bond Fund |
0.45% |
0.15% |
0.60% |
0.50% |
0.10% |
0.60% |
| Franklin Bissett Corporate Bond Fund |
0.45% |
0.15% |
0.60% |
0.50% |
0.10% |
0.60% |
| Franklin Bissett Dividend Income Corp. Class |
0.70% |
0.16% |
0.86% |
0.70% |
0.15% |
0.85% |
| Franklin Bissett Energy Corporate Class |
0.65% |
0.35% |
1.00% |
0.85% |
0.15% |
1.00% |
| Franklin Bissett Monthly Income and Growth Fund |
0.60% |
0.19% |
0.79% |
0.65% |
0.15% |
0.80% |
| Franklin Bissett U.S. Focus Corporate Class |
0.65% |
0.28% |
0.93% |
0.75% |
0.15% |
0.90% |
About Franklin Templeton Investments
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 to retail, institutional and sovereign wealth clients in over 180 countries. Through specialized teams, the company has expertise across all asset classes—including equity, fixed income, alternative and custom solutions. The company's more than 600 investment professionals are supported by its integrated, worldwide team of risk management professionals and global trading desk network. With offices in 35 countries, the California–based company has more than 65 years of investment experience and over US$739 billion (over C$965 billion) in assets under management as of July 31, 2016.
For more information, please visit franklintempleton.ca or connect with Franklin Templeton on Twitter (@FTI_Global) and read the Beyond Bulls & Bears blog featuring perspectives from Franklin Templeton investment professionals around the world.
Copyright © 2016. Franklin Templeton Investments. All rights reserved.
SOURCE Franklin Templeton Investments Corp.
please visit franklintempleton.ca or contact Amie Lauder, Corporate Communications at: (416) 957-6560.
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