Shareholders of Franklin Templeton Investment Corp.’s China Tax Class Fund have voted in favour of changes that will see the fund invest in Brazil, Russia and India, in addition to China, effective immediately. The fund, which has been re-named Templeton BRIC Tax Class, will continue to be managed by Mark Mobius. “Changing the mandate of the fund to invest in the BRIC nations provides shareholders access to the world’s largest and fastest-growing emerging market economies,” Mobius says. “The BRIC nations offer investment value, with stock valuations roughly 50% cheaper than U.S. equity markets.” All fees and commissions remain
the same. The firm also announced a proposal to merge several of its specialized funds in an effort to streamline its product lineup. They include:
n Franklin U.S. Large Cap Growth, Franklin U.S. Large Cap Growth Tax Class and Franklin Flex Cap Growth will merge into Franklin Flex Cap Growth Tax Class;
n Franklin World Growth will merge into Franklin World Growth Tax Class;
n Franklin World Telecom, Franklin World Telecom Tax Class and Franklin Technology will merge into Franklin Technology Tax Class.
Shareholders will vote on the proposed mergers on Oct. 11.
The mergers will take effect Oct. 21, pending shareholder and
regulatory approval.