Franklin Resources Inc. is an American holding company that, together with its subsidiaries,
is referred to as Franklin Templeton Investments; it is a global investment firm originally
founded in New York in 1947 as Franklin Distributors, Inc.
It is listed on the NYSE under the ticker BEN, in honor of Benjamin Franklin, who was
admired by founder Rupert Johnson, Sr. In 1973 the company's headquarters moved from
New York to San Mateo, California.
Today, Franklin Templeton Investments is one of the world's largest asset management groups
with over US$844.7 billion in assets under management on behalf of over 25 million private,
professional and institutional investors, as at September 30, 2013, up $29.7 billion
or 4% during the 4th quarter.
History The company was founded in 1947 in New York
by Rupert H. Johnson, Sr., who ran a successful retail brokerage firm from an office on Wall
Street.
He named the company for US founding father Benjamin Franklin because Franklin epitomised
the ideas of frugality and prudence when it came to saving and investing.
The company's first line of mutual funds, Franklin Custodian Funds, was a series of
conservatively managed equity and bond funds designed to appeal to most investors.
After Rupert Sr. retired, his son, Charles B. Johnson, took over as president and chief
executive officer in 1957 at age 24.
There were only a handful of employees at that time and the funds had total assets under
management of US$2.5 million.
Franklin was swimming against the tide because insurance companies dominated the middle class
investing markets, but Charlie was convinced that he had a good story to tell.
By the early 1960s Charlie and his team's persistence was paying off and the company
was growing albeit slowly.
It was a struggle to keep up with the day-to-day demands of the business and Charlie continued
to wear many hats—mutual fund manager, wholesaler, accountant.
Rupert Johnson, Jr., Charlie's brother, joined the company in 1965 and also took on multiple
roles.
Franklin went public in 1971, which gave Charlie and team the capital needed to grow the business
and position it for the future.
In 1973, the company acquired Winfield & Company, a San Mateo, California-based investment firm,
and moved Franklin's offices from New York to California.
The combined organisation had close to US$250 million in assets under management and approximately
60 employees.
In 1979, Franklin Money Fund began a growth surge that made it Franklin's first billion-dollar
fund and launched the company's tremendous asset growth in the 1980s.
Starting in 1980, the company's total assets under management doubled every year for the
next six years.
The company's stock began trading on the New York Stock Exchange in 1986 under the ticker
symbol "BEN".
In the same year, the company opened its first office outside North America in Taiwan.
In 1988, Franklin acquired L.F. Rothschild Fund Management Company.
Assets under management for Franklin grew from just over US$2 billion in 1982 to more
than US$40 billion in 1989.
In October 1992, Franklin acquired Templeton, Galbraith & Hansberger Ltd. for a reported
cost of $913 million, leading to the common name Franklin Templeton.
Mutual fund pioneer Sir John Templeton was the owner of Templeton, Galbraith & Hansberger
Ltd together with his son Dr. John Templeton and John Galbraith who together owned 70%
of the firm.
In November 1996, Heine Securities Corporation, known for the Mutual Series of funds, merged
into the Franklin Templeton complex.
In October 2000, Franklin acquired Bissett Funds to increase its Canadian presence, and
Bissett remains a key brand from Franklin in the Canadian market.
The Fiduciary Trust Company was acquired by Franklin Templeton in April 2001.
Fiduciary Trust Company, a member of the Franklin family, maintained an office of over 650 employees
in Two World Trade Center during the September 11 attacks.
87 employees died in the collapse.
Ann Tat­lock, the CEO of Fidu­ciary Trust Co.
Inter­na­tional was at Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha for a charity event hosted by
Warren Buffett.
The firm specializes in conservatively managed mutual funds.
It offers products under the Franklin, Templeton, Mutual Series and Fiduciary brand names.
Like other large investment companies, the firm offers a wide variety of funds but is
traditionally best known for bond funds under the Franklin brand, international funds under
the Templeton brand, and value funds under the Mutual Series brand.
As of July 31, 2008, Franklin Resources, Inc. managed over $570 billion in total assets
worldwide.
In April 2007, Franklin Resources was 445th in the Fortune 500, and 7th overall among
securities companies.
In April 2007, USA Today listed BEN stock as the top stock pick for the last 25 years
based on returns, claiming it is up 64,224% since 1982.
In February 2009, Barron's Magazine called Franklin Templeton "King of the Decade" among
fund families over the ten-year period ending in 2008.
The company sponsored a tennis tournament, the Franklin Templeton Classic.
The firm continues to make strategic investments and acquisitions, including asset managers
in Australia and the UK, that further broaden and diversify its capabilities.
Today, Franklin Templeton is one of the largest independent global asset management firms
in the world with offices in 35 countries and clients in more than 150.
In 2013, Charlie Johnson retired as chairman and Greg Johnson became chairman of the board,
CEO and president.
Mutual funds Franklin Templeton has over 200 different
open-ended mutual funds and 7 closed-end funds in the fund family.
Included in these are 36 state and federal tax free income funds, an area of investment
pioneered by Franklin.
Prominent funds in the fund family include the world's largest equity fund Templeton
Growth Fund, Inc., the Mutual Shares fund, and the Mutual Discovery Fund and the Templeton
Growth Fund A.
The Franklin Income Fund is a mutual fund in Morningstar's "conservative allocation"
category and "large/value" style box.
The fund was created in 1948 and has paid uninterrupted dividends for 60 years.
The Franklin Income Fund is constructed primarily of dividend-paying stocks and bonds.
Regulatory issues In 2004, Franklin Templeton paid fines to
the State of California, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and the U.S. Securities
and Exchange Commission to settle issues regarding questionable practices including market timing.
The plan for distribution of settlement monies of $50 million was completed in September
2006, and all distributions have been completed as of December 2008.
A settlement was also completed with the Ontario Securities Commission concerning Bissett Funds
in September 2005.
See also
References
External links Official website
Yahoo Franklin Resources, Inc.
Profile Fiduciary Trust memorial page for employees
who died in 9-11