Franklin Templeton said on 29 July it has become one of the first global asset management firms to establish feeder funds for the onshore UAE retail market.
This has been achieved through its two new Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) – domiciled fund ranges namely, the Franklin Templeton Investments Feeder Funds (FTIFF) and Franklin Templeton Shariah Feeder Funds (FTSFF).
Jaspal Sagger, head of global product strategy, Franklin Templeton, said: "The UAE’s changing regulatory landscape offers Franklin Templeton a compelling opportunity to better service our clients.
"Following the announcement of the new regulations, we engaged early with regulators, clients and service providers in the UAE to ensure we could continue to meet the needs of our valued clients.
"With these new funds, UAE retail investors can benefit from one of the firm’s key competitive advantages, which is having
access to a robust global platform combined with its deep knowledge and expertise in the local market."
Amar Mehta, head of retail, Gulf, Eastern Mediterranean & Africa, Franklin Templeton, added: “We are delighted to launch these seven new feeder funds in the DIFC. UAE retail investors will now have local access to Franklin Templeton’s breadth of investment capabilities across a wide range of asset classes, sectors and geographies.
The introduction of these funds is timely given increasing demand for multi asset income, global and regional fixed income, technology as well as Shariah-compliant strategies. We will also continue to monitor trends in the local market and the evolution of investors‘ appetite to expand our offerings in the future.”
UAE retail investors can now access feeder funds which have the sole objective of investing in Franklin Templeton’s Luxembourg and Ireland domiciled UCITs funds. The feeder funds will be distributed in the UAE by locally licensed promoters, including onshore, conventional and Shariah-compliant consumer banks.
Sandeep Singh, head of CEEMEA & India, Franklin Templeton, commented: “As one of the first global asset managers to domicile funds in the DIFC, the introduction of these two new fund ranges reflects our ongoing commitment and desire to build closer partnerships with our clients.
"Our main priority was to ensure that investors had ease of access to the firm’s solutions as building blocks for their portfolio allocations and to its wide range of specialized investment managers.”
Franklin Templeton Investments (ME) Limited is regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority. Franklin Templeton has been operating in the UAE for almost 25 years.
Based in the DIFC, its office includes investment and research professionals across MENA Fixed Income and Global Sukuk, Frontier and MENA Equities, and MENA Private Credit and Private Equity teams.
