The Franklin Brazil Opportunities Fund was launched as part of the company’s Luxembourg Sicav range last week, and is currently awaiting Financial Services Authority approval for UK investors.
Franklin Templeton said the managers will seek to “maximise total returns” which will be combination of capital appreciation, income and currency gains, by investing across the “entire range of available investment opportunities linked to Brazil”. It will invest in both equities and bonds linked to the country, with the managers adopting an allocation process utilising a combination of top-down economic and sector analysis and bottom-up research.
The new fund will be managed by San Mateo-based Stephen Dover, managing director and international chief investment officer of Franklin Templeton Investments’ local asset management group, as well as Sao Paulo-based Marco Freire and Frederico Sampaio, the company’s chief investment officers for Brazil fixed income and Brazil equities, respectively.
“The Franklin Brazil Opportunities Fund, we believe, offers investors a new approach to investing in Brazil, providing a flexible multi-asset class strategy that seeks high, sustainable returns and minimal volatility in all market environments,” said Dover
“The Fund also seeks to generate a large portion of its total return from income – an important feature in a world that is increasingly hungry for yield and low correlations to traditional asset classes. In addition, the Fund builds on the solid track record of Franklin Templeton Investments’ Brazilian local management funds, bringing the first offering of its kind to the cross-border Sicav space. In building our Brazil Local Asset Management business, we have focused on developing institutional quality research and investment capabilities, which has led to broad industry recognition and now, our ability to offer these unique local investment capabilities to investors around the world.”
