Franklin Templeton Goes Passive with Lowest Cost Country and Regional ETFs

Franklin Templeton Investments announced the launch of its first suite of passive exchange traded funds, with 16 funds targeting single countries, with fees that are lower than almost any other ETFs in the market with similar exposures.

The ETFs will target developed countries at an expense ratio of 0.09 percent and emerging markets at 0.19 percent.

Patrick O'Connor, head of Global ETFs for Franklin Templeton Investments, explained, “Our goal is to provide investors with the flexibility to construct diversified portfolios across active, smart-beta and passive ETF strategies. Our new suite of passive ETFs will provide a cost-effective way to access beta solutions, further rounding out our offerings for U.S. investors.”

Franklin Templeton is known for being a proponent of active management, though last year it launched the Franklin LibertyShares ETF platform which currently offers an actively managed suite of equity and fixed income ETFs, and a smart-beta suite covering U.S. and International equity markets, with some $938 million in assets. This is the firm’s first foray into passively managed ETFs.

“We continue to see significant interest from our clients in passive and smart-beta strategies that complement our active fund management capabilities,” added Jenny Johnson, president and COO of Franklin Resources, Inc. “Franklin Templeton remains committed to offering a comprehensive suite of investment strategies and solutions that will provide clients with broad access across investment styles, asset classes and geographies. This is an exciting new chapter in our 70-year history as we evolve our capabilities to address our clients’needs in the ETF arena.”

Johnson and O'Connor, along with a group of Franklin Templeton executives, will ring the NYSE opening bell on November 6, 2017 to mark the commencement of trading this suite of passive ETFs, one of the largest simultaneous listings on the NYSE in the last decade.