Global asset management company Franklin Templeton on Monday announced the establishment of 7 new feeder funds for the UAE retail market domiciled in the Dubai Financial Centre (DIFC).
Amar Mehta, head of retail for Gulf, Eastern Mediterranean and Africa at Franklin Templeton, said with these new feeder funds, the UAE retail investors will now have local access to a wide range of asset classes, sectors and geographies, including multi-asset income, global and regional fixed income, technology as well as Shariah-compliant strategies.
He added that the sole objective of new feeder funds is to invest in Franklin Templeton’s respective Luxembourg and Ireland-domiciled UCITs funds. The underlying master funds Franklin Global Sukuk Fund, Franklin Gulf Wealth Bond Fund and Franklin Shariah Global Multi-Asset Income Fund have exposure to the GCC.
“The minimum subscription amount is $1,000 (Dh3,670). There is no cap on the maximum investment amount. Investors will have a wide range of choices and best-in-class strategies available to them from Franklin Templeton. They will also experience increased ease of access to strategies run by long-tenured investment teams,” Mehta added.
“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 the 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,“ said Mehta.
“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,“ said Jaspal Sagger, head of global product strategy, Franklin Templeton.
In addition, it also announced two new DIFC-domiciled fund ranges – Franklin Templeton Investments Feeder Funds and Franklin Templeton Shariah Feeder Funds.
“As one of the first global asset managers to domicile funds in the DIFC, introducing 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,” said Sandeep Singh, Head of CEEMEA & India, Franklin Templeton.
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.