Franklin Templeton Investments Launches Franklin Global Listed Infrastructure Fund for US Investors

SAN MATEO, CA--(Marketwired - Sep 12, 2013) - Franklin Templeton Investments today introduced Franklin Global Listed Infrastructure Fund, providing investors with access to a growing market driven by the global need to build or replace aging infrastructure.

"We believe the fund offers investors a compelling opportunity to participate in the current growth potential of the global listed infrastructure market," said Wilson Magee, the fund's co-lead portfolio manager and director of Global Real Estate and Infrastructure Securities for Franklin Templeton Real Asset Advisors (FTRAA). "Many developed countries have aging infrastructure that requires repair or complete replacement. In emerging markets, by contrast, there is a need for new infrastructure to meet population growth, economic expansion and urbanization trends. And, across all regions, we are seeing that growing public fiscal constraints are opening the door for private listed infrastructure involvement."

Franklin Global Listed Infrastructure Fund seeks total investment returns, consisting of income and capital appreciation, by investing in the securities of infrastructure-related companies whose principal business is the ownership, management, construction, operation, utilization or financing of infrastructure assets around the world.

Global listed infrastructure securities have exhibited strong growth and returns over the last decade with a low correlation to bonds. Additionally, infrastructure companies have historically produced attractive levels of income, even during bear markets, due to the long-term nature of their projects' cash flows, which can last 5 to 20 years, or longer.

Magee and his co-lead portfolio manager Jack Foster, head of Real Assets for FTRAA, are supported by an experienced team of five regional research analysts focused on Europe, Asia, Australia, the US and the Americas. FTRAA's research and local expertise will shape the fund's investment universe, which would include companies across the infrastructure-related sectors of utilities, transportation and energy. As a result of FTRAA's broad-based, bottom-up research, the fund's opportunity set may extend beyond the securities reflected in an index. The investment team also leverages the broader resources of Franklin Templeton Investments, including risk management and trading professionals.

"We are pleased to launch the fund because it provides a greater number of investors access to what has traditionally been an illiquid market," said Foster. "The infrastructure market has previously been limited to institutional investors who could invest large sums of capital. Retail investors can now have a similar opportunity to potentially earn income and capital appreciation through the growing publically-traded listed-infrastructure market, but at a much lower entry point."

Franklin Templeton Real Asset Advisors has been investing globally since 1984 and counts among its clients leading institutions and retail investors from around the world. The team strives to provide investors with an efficient alternative for investing globally in private real estate funds, private infrastructure and real resources funds and listed real estate and infrastructure securities.

All investments involve risks, including possible loss of principal. Investments in infrastructure-related securities involve special risks, such as high interest costs, high leverage and increased susceptibility to adverse economic or regulatory developments affecting the sector. Investments in utility company securities, if purchased for dividend yield, involve additional interest rate risks. When interest rates have risen, the stock prices of these companies have tended to fall. Thus, as the prices of utility company stocks in the fund adjust to a rise in interest rates, the fund's share price may decline. By focusing on an industry or group of industries, the fund carries much greater risk of adverse developments and price movements in such industries than a fund that invests in a wider variety of industries. Special risks are associated with foreign investing, including currency rate fluctuations, economic instability and political developments. The risks of foreign investing may be greater in developing or emerging markets.

Investors should be comfortable with fluctuations in the value of their investment, as small and mid-sized-company stocks can be volatile, especially over the short term. Smaller or relatively new or unseasoned companies can be particularly sensitive to changing economic conditions, and their prospects for growth are less certain than those of larger, more established companies. The fund's use of derivatives and foreign currency techniques involve special risks as such techniques may not achieve the anticipated benefits and/or may result in losses to the fund. These and other risk considerations are discussed in the fund's prospectus.

Investors should carefully consider a fund's investment goals, risks, charges and expenses before investing. To obtain a summary prospectus and/or prospectus, which contains this and other information, talk to your financial advisor, call us at (800) DIAL BEN /(800)342-5236 or visit franklintempleton.com. Please carefully read a prospectus before you invest or send money.

About Franklin Templeton
The fund's principal underwriter is Franklin Templeton Distributors, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE: BEN), 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, Bissett, Fiduciary Trust, Darby, Balanced Equity Management and K2 investment teams. The San Mateo, CA-based company has more than 65 years of investment experience and approximately $817 billion in assets under management as of August 31, 2013. For more information, please call 1-800/DIAL BEN^® or visit franklintempleton.com.

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