Three new sub-funds of the Luxembourg-domiciled Franklin Templeton Investment Funds (FTIF) range will be registered for distribution in more than 10 European countries, including Germany, Italy and Spain.
These are the Franklin Disruptive Commerce Fund, Franklin Genomic Advancements Fund and Franklin Intelligent Machines Fund.
Matthew Moberg, Portfolio Manager, Franklin Equity Group, said: "These three new strategies aim to capture powerful, multi-industry, and distinct long-term trends that we believe should have a large impact on our economy and our daily lives.
Franklin Templeton has been investing in innovation for over half a century and what sets us apart is our belief that innovation exists across all sectors of the economy and that seeking out the right companies requires an active management approach."
Each of the new funds seeks long-term capital appreciation by investing primarily in equity securities of companies that are relevant to the fund's respective investment theme:
Franklin Disruptive Commerce Fund will invest in companies benefitting from or facilitating advancements in emerging areas of the e-commerce space including the sharing economy, that are enabling more convenient, customised, secure and time-efficient transactions for both consumers and businesses.
Franklin Genomic Advancements Fund will invest in companies benefitting from or facilitating advancements of new genomic-based research techniques and technologies designed to extend and enhance the quality of human and other life, driven by the advent of cost-effective and rapid gene sequencing.
Franklin Intelligent Machines Fund will invest in companies benefitting from or facilitating advancements of machine learning technologies in areas like robotics, driverless vehicles and algorithmic data analysis.
Julian Ide, head of EMEA distribution, Franklin Templeton, said: "We are delighted to launch these new thematic funds which are underpinned by a strong innovation-focused investment philosophy and managed by a tenured investment team.
In Europe, we have seen increasing interest in thematic funds as clients continue to look for strategies that tap into the structural, longer-term investment opportunity that innovation offers. We are pleased to offer our European investors access to additional choices to help diversify and support their long-term wealth creation goals."
The funds are managed by Matthew Moberg, who is based in San Mateo, California and part of the Franklin Equity Group.
Moberg is vice president and lead portfolio manager for the new funds and has been with Franklin Templeton for more than 20 years. After spending several years in equity research, covering areas including internet, media and software, he began managing portfolios focused on investing in innovation in 2004, and he is supported by more than 30 research analysts within the Franklin Equity Group.
Thefunds' documents are available in English, Arabic, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish and Swedish.
