Franklin Templeton launches Shari'ah compliant range
Franklin Templeton Investments is pleased to announce the introduction of three Shariah-compliant, Luxembourg-domiciled SICAV funds, aimed at investors seeking investments that follow Islamic investing principles. The fund house today launched the Franklin Templeton Global Sukuk Fund, Templeton Shariah Global Equity Fund and the Templeton Shariah Asian Growth Fund targeted at local investors in South Africa.
“We have seen growing interest in Shariah compliant-investment products driven by the need for portfolio diversification as well as the economic appeal of Islamic investing principles,” said Jo-Anne Bailey, Sales Director & Country Manager for Africa, Franklin Templeton Investments. “With the launch of these new funds, Franklin Templeton brings to bear its specialized expertise and extensive global resources to offer a wide range of strategies aligned with Shariah principles.”
Franklin Templeton Global Sukuk Fund is managed by Mohieddine (Dino) Kronfol, Dubai-based chief investment officer for MENA Fixed Income and Global Sukuk, and Stephen Dover, international chief investment officer of Franklin Templeton Local Asset Management Group. The fund focuses on fixed and floating rate Shariah-compliant securities issued by government, government-related and corporate entities. The fund may include both investment-grade and non-investment grade securities and allocations to developed and emerging markets. The fund’s portfolio team is one of the most experienced in the MENASIA region and has been managing Sukuk investments since 2008.
Templeton Shariah Global Equity Fund, managed by Alan Chua, executive vice president, portfolio manager and research analyst with Templeton Global Equity Group, leverages the group’s worldwide value expertise in a fund that seeks to invest in the most undervalued opportunities globally regardless of country, benchmark or style.
Templeton Shariah Asian Growth Fund is managed by Mark Mobius, executive chairman, and supported by Dennis Lim and Allan Lam, senior managing directors and portfolio managers of the Templeton Emerging Markets Group. The fund is designed to uncover compelling opportunities in the largest emerging markets in the world by investing at least 80% of its net assets in securities of companies located in the Asia region (excluding Australia, New Zealand and Japan).
Franklin Templeton’s Shariah capabilities
As of 30 September 2014, Franklin Templeton managed about $2 billion in Shariah-compliant assets for a wide range of clients globally. The Sukuk mandates draw on the company’s dedicated Shariah investing expertise in Singapore, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates and Malaysia; while equity mandates draw on the focused investment expertise of specialized teams that manage a wide range of strategies, including global, regional and local equities. Franklin Templeton is also one of the few foreign asset managers to have stand-alone Shariah operations in Malaysia, the world’s largest issuer of Sukuk.
To help ensure compliance with Shariah guidelines, Franklin Templeton leverages best-in-class technology utilizing criteria established by our Shariah screening provider. Approximately 40,000 global securities are screened using a rigorous process that drills down to the business activities of every company at a granular level, and selected financial ratios are evaluated according to prescribed algorithms to help ensure Shariah compliance. In addition, each of our portfolio management teams employs a highly disciplined investment process designed to comprehensively measure and manage risk, while also leveraging analysis and insight from Franklin Templeton’s worldwide network of locally-based risk management specialists.
“As a global player with an established presence in South Africa, Franklin Templeton recognises the increased demand from investors for solutions that adhere to Islamic investment principles” added Jo-Anne. “The launch of a dedicated Shariah-compliant umbrella and these three new funds now brings that capability to our investors in the region. This event is quite opportune as it comes at a time when a number of markets across the region are taking demonstrable steps towards developing their infrastructure to support the growth of Islamic products.”
Global Sukuk, Global Equity and Asian Growth Funds
All three Franklin Templeton Shariah funds are independently reviewed and endorsed by the Amanie International Shariah Supervisory Board, highly regarded for its extensive Shariah and technical understanding. The Amanie Scholars provide initial approval on investment objectives and strategy, as well as on going supervisory and monitoring services to ensure continuous adherence to internationally accepted Shariah principles and standards.
Mohieddine (Dino) Kronfol, Chief Investment Officer for MENA Fixed Income and Global Sukuk, commented, “Islamic investors are seeking greater diversification and exposure to Sukuk can reduce volatility while adding value to any Shariah-compliant equity or real estate portfolio. Franklin Templeton has been managing institutional Sukuk strategies for several years and we are excited to be offering this asset class to a broader audience through a new SICAV fund. Notably, our Global Sukuk fund is the first fund in this essential category ever launched in the UCITS# space.”
Mark Mobius, portfolio manager of the Templeton Shariah Asian Growth Fund, said, “Shariah-compliant strategies are an important and growing market in many parts of the developing world, and Templeton is pleased to bring its emerging markets expertise to bear on this new offering for Shariah investors globally.”
Dylan Ball, Executive Vice President, Portfolio Manager, Research Analyst, Templeton Global Equity Group said, “With the launch of the Templeton Shariah Global Equity Fund, Templeton brings a premier global equity strategy, a value investment style and a research process that has been tested over 70 years to investors seeking Shariah-compliant investing.”
