Franklin Templeton Australia is rebranding and restructuring its global equity offering by delegating management to Putnam Investment Management, lowering fees, and adopting a more diversified approach to meet rising investor demand for cost-effective strategies.
Franklin Templeton Australia is reshaping one of its global equity offerings by handing responsibility for the Franklin Global Growth Fund to Putnam Investment Management and renaming it the Franklin Putnam Global Core Equity Fund. The change, which is due to take effect on or around 14 October, will also cut the fund’s management fee from 0.90% a year to 0.60%, the company told advisers and investors.
The switch marks a broader shift in portfolio style. Franklin Templeton said the fund will move from a concentrated growth approach to a more diversified core global equity strategy, while remaining actively managed. The unhedged and hedged classes will continue to benchmark against the MSCI World ex Australia Index – NR and the MSCI World ex Australia (Hedged to AUD) – NR, respectively, and the fund’s ARSN, legal structure and responsible entity will stay the same.
In its notice, Franklin Templeton pointed to rising demand for lower-cost, more diversified global share strategies. The firm said Putnam was chosen for its research strength, stock-picking discipline and approach to risk control, all of which it sees as a fit for the fund’s new positioning.
The move also fits a wider pattern since Franklin Templeton completed its purchase of Putnam Investments in January 2024. Since then, the US group has pushed more Putnam-branded strategies into the market, including active ETFs launched in 2025 and a Putnam US Research Fund that passed US$1 billion in assets under management in January 2026. In March 2026, Franklin Templeton also announced plans to wind up several Putnam ETFs, underlining its willingness to trim and refocus parts of the business as it aligns products with investor demand.
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