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Franklin Templeton Welcomes New EU SFDR and Announces Fund Disclosures

  • Circa 160 Funds integrating ESG risk per Article 6; 29 Funds categorised per articles 8 or 9

Franklin Templeton1 welcomes the new EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), which is an important step in driving forward transparency and authenticity in how investors approach ESG and sustainability.

Julian Ide, Head of EMEA distribution, Franklin Templeton, commented: “We believe the implementation of SFDR will be a game changer and will transform the playing field for the financial services industry, enabling more transparency for clients as well as providing more sustainable investment choices for investors. At Franklin Templeton, we aim to move beyond just complying with the regulation, we want to become sustainability leaders in the industry.”

With the new regulation coming into effect today, Franklin Templeton is delighted that its phased approach to implementing SFDR has resulted in a robust level of preparedness for its high conviction ESG funds.

Initially, the firm has concentrated its efforts on Phase I, which focused on meeting level 1 requirements of SFDR by 10 March 2021. As result, Franklin Templeton is pleased to announce that:

  • Almost all Franklin Templeton and Legg Mason funds (circa 160), and separate and sub-advisory accounts (21) within the scope of SFDR consider sustainability risks to be relevant, per Article 6 of the Regulation, and integrate consideration of these risks into the investment process.
  • In addition, Franklin Templeton will offer 24 strategies, which have been disclosed as compliant with Article 8 and 5 strategies disclosed as compliant with Article 9 for its European clients. Both categories are subject to higher standards of disclosure. Under the new Regulation, Article 8 products are classified as those, which have binding environmental and social characteristics, whilst Article 9 products have a specific sustainable investment objective.
  • Franklin Templeton’s Article 8 and 9 offerings represent a list of high conviction ESG funds that have been prioritised for Phase I of SFDR implementation based on the integrity of the funds’ ESG investment process.

Ide added: “Following the acquisition of Legg Mason, we are very fortunate to be able to offer a diversity of ESG approaches from across our autonomous specialist investment managers including Brandywine Global, ClearBridge Investments and Martin Currie.”

In accordance with its strong commitment to ESG and sustainability, Franklin Templeton said that in Phase II, it is actively working towards broadening the list of funds disclosed as Article 8 and 9 compliant.

“As a global investment manager with a rich history of over 70 years of stewarding clients’ assets, we are firmly committed to offering a diversified range of ESG investment solutions that meet the highest standards of governance and transparency,” Ide concluded.

Franklin Templeton and Legg Mason Disclosed as Article 8 Funds

  1. FTIF Franklin Euro Government Bond Fund
  2. FTIF Franklin Euro Short Duration Bond Fund
  3. FTIF Franklin European Total Return Fund
  4. FTAF Franklin K2 Electron Global UCITS Fund
  5. Franklin Liberty Euro Short Maturity UCITS ETF
  6. Franklin LibertyQ Global Equity SRI UCITS ETF
  7. FTIF Templeton Emerging Markets Sustainability Fund
  8. FTIF Templeton Global Bond (Euro) Fund
  9. FTIF Templeton Global Bond Fund
  10. FTSIF Templeton Global Bond Plus SIF
  11. Legg Mason Brandywine Global Income Optimiser Fund
  12. Legg Mason ClearBridge US Aggressive Growth Fund
  13. Legg Mason ClearBridge US Appreciation Fund
  14. Legg Mason ClearBridge Large Cap Growth Fund
  15. Legg Mason ClearBridge Global Growth Fund
  16. Legg Mason ClearBridge US Equity Sustainability Leaders Fund
  17. Legg Mason ClearBridge Value Fund
  18. Legg Mason ClearBridge Infrastructure Value Fund
  19. Legg Mason Martin Currie Asia Pacific ex Japan Real Income Fund
  20. Legg Mason Martin Currie Asia Long Term Unconstrained Fund
  21. Legg Mason Martin Currie European Unconstrained Fund
  22. Legg Mason Martin Currie European Absolute Alpha Fund
  23. Legg Mason Martin Currie Global Emerging Markets Fund
  24. Legg Mason Martin Currie Global Long Term Unconstrained Fund

Franklin Templeton and Legg Mason Disclosed as Article 9 Funds

  1. Franklin Liberty Euro Green Bond UCITS ETF
  2. Franklin S&P 500 Paris Aligned Climate UCITS ETF
  3. Franklin STOXX Europe 600 Paris Aligned Climate UCITS ETF
  4. Franklin Templeton Social Infrastructure Fund S.C.A. SICAV-SIF
  5. FTIF Templeton Global Climate Change Fund

- ENDS –

For more information please visit www.franklintempleton.lu.

Contact:
Dorine Johnson
Head of Corporate Communications EMEA
Franklin Templeton Investments
Tel: 07919532079
Email: [email protected]

Notes to Editors:

  1. Franklin Resources, Inc. [NYSE:BEN] is a global investment management organisation 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, alternatives and custom multi-asset solutions. With offices in over 30 countries and 1,300 investment professionals, the California-based company has more than 70 years of investment experience and over $1.5 trillion in assets under management as of February 28, 2021. For more information, please visit www.franklintempleton.lu and follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

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.

Issued by Franklin Templeton International Services S.à r.l.

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