Franklin Resources, Inc. BEN

Franklin Resources, Inc., incorporated on November 28, 1969, is a holding company. The Company, along with its subsidiaries, operates as Franklin Templeton Investments. The Company is a global investment management company that provides investment management and related services to retail, institutional and high net-worth clients in jurisdictions around the world. The Company offers its investment products and services under the Franklin, Templeton, Franklin Mutual Series, Franklin Bissett, Fiduciary Trust, Darby, Balanced Equity Management, K2 and LibertyShares brand names. The Company's products include investment funds and institutional, high net-worth and separately managed accounts (collectively, sponsored investment products (SIPs)). The Company offers various types of SIPs, such as the United States funds, cross-border funds, local/regional funds, and other managed accounts, alternative investment products and trusts.

The Company's investment funds include the United States-registered funds, non-United States-registered funds and unregistered funds. In addition to investment management, its product services include fund administration, sales, distribution, marketing, shareholder servicing and other fiduciary services. The Company's Franklin LibertyShares platform of strategic beta and actively managed exchange-traded funds (ETFs) generally seeks to provide investors with additional investment options versus traditional market capitalization weighted index products. The Company also offers registered closed-end funds that issue a set number of shares to investors in a public offering and the shares are then traded on a public stock exchange.

Investment Management Services

The Company provides its investment management services pursuant to agreements in effect with each of its SIPs and the products for which it provides sub-advisory services. The Company's investment management services include services to managed accounts for which it has investment discretion, and to advisory accounts for which it has no investment discretion. The Company's services include fundamental investment research and valuation analyses, including original economic, political, industry and company research, and analyses of suppliers, customers and competitors. The Company's subsidiaries that provide discretionary investment management services for its SIPs and sub-advised products either perform or obtain investment research and determine which securities the SIPs or sub-advised products will purchase, hold or sell under the supervision and oversight of the funds' boards of directors or trustees, as applicable.

The Company's subsidiaries that provide non-discretionary investment management services perform investment research for its clients and make recommendations as to which securities the clients purchase, hold or sell, and may or may not perform trading activities for the products. The Company's subsidiaries either provide or arrange for the provision of office space, telephone, office equipment and supplies; trading desk facilities; authorization of expenditures and approval of bills for payment; preparation of registration statements, proxy statements and annual and semi-annual reports to fund shareholders, notices of dividends, capital gains distributions and tax credits, and other regulatory reports; the daily pricing of fund investment portfolios, including collecting quotations from pricing services; accounting services, including preparing and supervising publication of daily net asset value quotations, periodic earnings reports and other financial data; services to ensure compliance with securities regulations, including recordkeeping requirements; preparation and filing of tax reports; the maintenance of accounting systems and controls, and other administrative services. Its services also include management of its strategic beta and actively managed ETFs.

Alternative Strategies Investment Management

The Company offers and supports alternative investment strategies, products and solutions through various subsidiaries as alternatives to its traditional equity and fixed income products, and related management services for its clients. The Company's alternative investment products include, among other capabilities, hedge funds, private equity funds, real estate funds and commodities funds. Its subsidiary, K2 Advisors Holdings LLC (K2), is a fund of hedge funds solutions provider, which offers and supports alternative investments and multi-asset solutions platforms for institutional and other qualified investors. K2 provides risk management, manager selection and asset allocation capabilities in various global jurisdictions. Its subsidiary, Templeton Asset Management Ltd., sponsors and manages various investment funds that also invest primarily in emerging markets in Asia, Latin America and Central/Eastern Europe. Franklin Templeton Institutional, LLC manages investment partnerships that invest in funds with exposure to global real estate opportunities. Franklin Advisers, Inc. manages various privately offered funds with strategies that include the use of fixed income and other financial instruments, as well as derivatives across the global interest rate, currency and credit markets.

Institutional Investment Management

The Company provides a range of investment management services to institutional clients, which include corporations, endowments, charitable foundations, and pension and defined contribution plans. The Company's subsidiaries offer a range of equity, fixed income and alternative strategies through various investment vehicles, including separate accounts, registered open-end and closed-end funds, and unregistered funds. In the United States, the Company generally operates its institutional business under the Franklin Templeton Institutional trade name.

High Net-Worth Investment Management, Trust and Custody

The Company, through its subsidiary, Fiduciary Trust Company International (Fiduciary Trust), provides investment management and related services to high net-worth individuals and families, foundations and institutional clients, among others. Through Fiduciary Trust Company of Canada, the Company provides services and offers SIPs to high net-worth individuals and families, and institutional clients in Canada. Fiduciary Trust offers investment management and advisory services across different investment styles and asset classes. Through its various trust company subsidiaries, including Fiduciary Trust, it also provides trust, custody and related services, including administration, performance measurement, estate planning and tax planning. The Company provides planned giving administration and related custody services for non-profit organizations, including pooled income funds, charitable remainder trusts, charitable lead trusts and gift annuities, for which it may or may not act as trustee.