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Buy 3 Franklin Templeton Mutual Funds for Superior Returns

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Franklin Temple­ton, a renowned global investment firm, manages assets worth $1.4 trillion as of Apr 30, 2023. With over 600 inve­stment professionals spread across 25 countries, Franklin Temple­ton offers a wide range­ of mutual funds. These funds cover various cate­gories like equity, fixe­d-income and sector-specific investments. Franklin Templeton remains a trusted investment choice to build a diversified portfolio owing to its strong emphasis on research and risk management.

Nonetheless, investing in Franklin Templeton mutual funds seems prudent as of now. Also, mutual funds, in general, diversify portfolios without several commission charges that are mainly associated with stock purchases and trim transaction costs (read more: Mutual Funds: Advantages, Disadvantages, and How They Make Investors Money).

We have, thus, chosen three Franklin Templeton mutual funds that investors should buy now for the long term. These funds have a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy), positive three-year and five-year annualized returns, minimum initial investments within $5000 and expense ratios considerably lower than the category average. So, these funds have provided a comparatively stronger performance and carry a lower fee.

Franklin Income Fund (FKINX - Free Report) invests in diverse portfolio of both debt and equity securities, which include common stock, fixed, floating and variable rate instruments, including secured and unsecured bonds, bonds convertible into common stock, senior floating rate and term loans, mortgage-backed securities and other asset-backed securities, debentures, and shorter-term instruments. 

Edward D. Perks has been the lead manager of FKINX since Apr 30, 2002. Most of the fund’s holdings were in companies like Chevron Corp (1.4%), Texas Instruments Inc (1%) and Bank of America Corp (0.9%) as of Jun 30, 2023.

FKINX’s 3-year and 5-year annualized returns are 8% and 4.7%, respectively. Its net expense ratio is 0.61% compared to the category average of 0.84%. FKINX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #1.

To see how this fund performed compared to its category, and other 1 and 2 Ranked Mutual Funds, please click here.

Franklin Small Cap Value Fund (FVADX - Free Report) seeks long-term total return by investing in a small capitalization companies. FVADX also invest in equity securities that the fund's advisors believe are currently undervalued and have the potential for significant capital appreciation. 

Nicholas Karzon has been the lead manager of FVADX since Dec 31, 2019. Most of the fund’s holdings were in companies like ACI Worldwide, Inc. (1.4%), McGrath RentCorp (1%) and Crescent Point Energy Corp (0.9%) as of Jul 31, 2023.

FVADX’s 3-year and 5-year annualized returns are 13.3% and 5.2%, respectively. Its net expense ratio is 0.72% compared to the category average of 1.16%. FVADX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #1.

Mutual European Fund (MEURX - Free Report) invests its assets in securities of European companies. MEURX advisors also invest in securities related to merger arbitrage as well as investments in both debt and equity issued by financially challenged or distressed companies.

Timothy Rankin has been the lead manager of MEURX since May 1, 2023. Most of the fund’s holdings were in companies like Shell PLC (3.6%), DENSO Corp (3.5%) and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (3.3%) as of Jun 30, 2023.

MEURX’s 3-year and 5-year annualized returns are 13.1% and 4.7%, respectively. Its net expense ratio is 1% compared to the category average of 1.03%. MEURX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #1.

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