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Franklin Templeton Expands Liquid Alternatives Fund Range With Two New Fund Launches For European Clients
Luxembourg and London, 18 June 2021 – Franklin Templeton1 today announced the launch of the Franklin K2 Cat Bond UCITS Fund2 and Franklin K2 Athena Risk Premia UCITS Fund2, the latest additions to its Luxembourg-domiciled Franklin Templeton Alternatives Funds (FTAF)2 range. These new funds bring the total number of liquid alternative strategies within the FTAF range to eight. After the launch, both funds will be registered in 11 European countries, including Germany, France, Italy and the UK.
The investment objective of the Franklin K2 Cat Bond fund is to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns and compelling current income over time with limited correlation to other asset classes through investment in a portfolio of natural catastrophe bonds. Meanwhile, the Franklin K2 Athena Risk Premia fund aims to achieve long-term capital appreciation with lower volatility relative to broader equity markets and substantially less correlation to traditional asset classes over a full market cycle by pursuing various risk premia strategies.
Bill Santos, Senior Managing Director, K2 Advisors, commented: “We are delighted to be adding the Franklin K2 Cat Bond and Franklin K2 Athena Risk Premia funds to the FTAF range. Since the launch of our flagship fund in 2013, we have experienced growing demand for K2 Advisors’ full suite of investment research and management capabilities, along with risk and performance analytics services, in a transparent and liquid UCITS structure. We are continuing to see client demand for advisory, portfolio completion and hedge fund manager access services.”
The Franklin K2 Cat Bond fund is managed by Jonathan Malawer, Managing Director, Head of ILS, Commodities and Environmental Strategies. New York-based Malawer joined K2 Advisors in 2007 and leads its insurance linked securities, commodities and environmental strategies. He is also responsible for the evaluation and selection of hedge fund managers in these strategies. Meanwhile, the Franklin K2 Athena Risk Premia fund is managed by Paul Fraynt, Head of Alternative Risk Premia. Fraynt, also based in New York, joined K2 Advisors in 2017 and has almost two decades of buy- and sell-side experience specialising in alternative investments, including systematic risk premia strategies research, portfolio construction, asset allocation and risk management.
Julian Ide, Head of EMEA distribution, Franklin Templeton, said: “The launch of the Franklin K2 Cat Bond and Franklin K2 Athena Risk Premia funds is another milestone in our commitment to broadening our UCITS range of liquid hedge strategies and alternative investment capabilities. As one of the biggest providers of alternative solutions globally with $131 billion in AUM3, our goal is to provide a choice of differentiated strategies within our cost-effective product range of liquid alternative solutions to European clients. We believe these new funds may be attractive for investors seeking to reduce volatility and improve portfolio returns, especially in today’s uncertain environment.”
The two new funds follow the recent launch of the Franklin K2 Emso Emerging Markets UCITS Fund2 in December 2020. The FTAF range was initially launched in October 2019 and offers European investors access to a robust range of liquid alternative strategies in a UCITS format with daily liquidity and transparency from K2 Advisors, one of the pioneers in the development and use of low fee liquid hedge funds, through their Managed Accounts Platform (MAP).
K2 Advisors provides integrated hedge fund and alternative product solutions covering multiple strategies to institutional and high net worth investors as well as liquid alternative fund offerings for retail investors worldwide, with over $12 billion in assets under management as of May 31, 2021. Products and services offered include single investor custom-tailored investment programs, commingled funds of hedge funds, strategic advisory relationships, and multi- and single-strategy retail mutual funds.
Based in Stamford, Connecticut, K2 Advisors has a global presence with offices in New York, London, Tokyo and Sydney.
For more information, please visit www.franklintempleton.lu.
Contacts:
| Rachel Cashmore Corporate Communications Manager Franklin Templeton Cannon Place, 78 Cannon Street London EC4N 6HL Tel: 07754968037 Email: |
Dorine Johnson |
| [email protected] | [email protected] |
Notes to Editors:
1. Franklin Resources, Inc. [NYSE:BEN] is a global investment management organization with subsidiaries operating as Franklin Templeton and serving clients in over 165 countries. Franklin Templeton’s mission is to help clients achieve better outcomes through investment management expertise, wealth management and technology solutions. Through its specialist investment managers, the company brings extensive capabilities in equity, fixed income, multi-asset solutions and alternatives. With offices in more than 30 countries and approximately 1,300 investment professionals, the California-based company has over 70 years of investment experience and approximately $1.5 trillion in assets under management as of May 31, 2021. For more information, please visit franklintempleton.lu and follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.
Franklin Templeton’s Alternatives capabilities comprise a broad range of strategies with $131 billion in assets under managements as of May 31, 2021. This includes alternative credit strategies that span private credit, special situations/distressed, structured credit and commercial real estate debt. In addition, the firm offers private equity, hedge strategies, real assets and venture capital strategies.
2. Franklin K2 Cat Bond, Franklin K2 Athena Risk Premia and Franklin K2 Emso Emerging Markets UCITS funds are sub-funds of Franklin Templeton Alternatives Funds (FTAF), a Luxembourg-domiciled SICAV. 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 Luxembourg-domiciled SICAV Franklin Templeton Alternatives Funds. Nothing in this document should be construed as investment advice. Opinions expressed are the author’s at publication date and they are subject to change without prior notice.
Subscriptions to shares of FTAF can only be made on the basis of the current prospectus, and, where available, 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 FTAF 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. In emerging markets, the risks can be greater than in developed markets.
An investment in FTAF entails risks, which are described in the FTAF’s prospectus and, where available, the relevant Key Investor Information Document. Investments in derivative instruments entail specific risks that may increase the risk profile of the fund and are more fully described in FTAF’s prospectus and where available in the relevant Key Investor Information Document. 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.
No shares of FTAF may be directly or indirectly offered or sold to nationals or residents of the United States of America. Shares of FTAF 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.
3. Data as of May 31, 2021.
Any research and analysis contained in this document has been procured by Franklin Templeton for its own purposes and is provided to you only incidentally.
Please consult your financial advisor before deciding to invest. A copy of the latest prospectus, and, if available for this product, the relevant Key Investor Information Document, the annual report and semi-annual report, if published thereafter can be found, on our website www.ftidocuments.com or can be obtained, free of charge, from Franklin Templeton International Services S.à.r.l. supervised by the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier -8A, rue Albert Borschette L-1246 Luxembourg - Tel: +352-46 66 67-1 - Fax: +352-46 66 76.
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