Laura Valdez

Laura Valdez is a vice president of Franklin Templeton Distributors, Inc., and is responsible for business development of Franklin Templeton Investments' Liberty Shares franchise, specifically developing and maintaining relationships with research, model and due diligence teams at many of the firm's largest retail relationships. Ms. Valdez's responsibilities include establishing relationships and helping communicate Franklin Templeton's investment insights to research teams at various broker dealers in the United States.

Prior to joining Franklin Templeton Investments in 2018, Ms. Valdez was a Vice President in BlackRock's US Offshore Wealth Division focused on advisory platform development. In this role Ms. Valdez was charged with driving new research list recommendations and discretionary model allocations on top tier broker/dealer platforms. Before that, Ms. Valdez was dedicated to growing the offshore retail business at AllianceBernstein; and prior to beginning her career in finance, she spent two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Central America, partnering with multiple international NGOs.

Ms. Valdez holds a B.S. in finance from the University of Texas at Dallas and an M.B.A from the Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College. She is also a Chartered Alternatives Investment Analyst (CAIA) charterholder.