Franklin Templeton history

Rupert Johnson, Jr., Charlie's brother, joined the company in 1965.

Franklin went public in 1971.

In 1973, the company acquired Winfield & Company, a San Mateo, California-based investment firm, and moved Franklin’s offices from New York to California.

Starting in 1980, the company's total assets under management doubled (or nearly doubled) every year for the next six years.

By 1984, the state fund had grown to $825 million, doubling the assets that Franklin managed to $2 billion.

Greg had grown up in the business and worked his way through the organisation beginning on the trading desk at age 24 in 1985.

The company's stock began trading on the New York Stock Exchange in 1986 under the ticker symbol "BEN". In the same year, the company opened its first office outside North America in Taiwan.

In 1987, while stocks were rising, Franklin stocks slipped, but when the market crashed in the fall, Franklin barely dropped, and its low-risk funds became a popular place to protect savings.

In 1988, Franklin acquired L.F. Rothschild Fund Management Company.

By 1990, these two funds would account for half of Franklin's $49 billion in mutual fund assets.

In October 1992, Franklin acquired Templeton, Galbraith & Hansberger Ltd. for a reported cost of $913 million, leading to the common name Franklin Templeton.

In November 1996, Heine Securities Corporation, known for the Mutual Series of funds, merged into the Franklin Templeton complex.

In October 2000, Franklin acquired Bissett Funds to increase its Canadian presence, and Bissett remains a key brand from Franklin in the Canadian market.

The Fiduciary Trust Company was acquired by Franklin Templeton in April 2001.

In 2005, Gregory E. Johnson (Greg), Charlie's son, became chief executive officer, assuming overall responsibility for leading Franklin Templeton.

Until around 2006, Franklin India’s debt schemes’ performances were in line with those of most other fund houses.

In April 2007, Franklin Resources was 445th in the Fortune 500, and 7th overall among securities companies.

As of July 31, 2008, Franklin Resources, Inc. managed over $570 billion in total assets worldwide.

After the 2009 credit crisis, he refocused many of Templeton’s debt schemes to look at corporate bonds.

In 2011, Franklin launched the Templeton India Corporate Bond Opportunities Fund (TCBF), which changed the way the mutual funds industry viewed and invested in corporate bonds.

In 2012, the firm acquired a majority stake in K2 Advisors, a provider of integrated hedge fund and alternative investment products and solutions, to expand the firm’s alternative capabilities.

In 2013, Charles Johnson retired as chairman and his son Greg Johnson became chairman of the board, CEO and president.

In 2014, Franklin Templeton offered its first exchange-traded fund (ETF) to provide access to the firm’s investment expertise in a low-cost, transparent vehicle.

In fact, some distributors Moneycontrol spoke to point out that Templeton ought to have cleaned up its portfolio in 2016, when the Franklin Templeton Asset Management bought its schemes’ entire holding in Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) after a series of downgrades.

In 2018, Franklin Templeton acquired Edinburgh Partners, an established global value investment management firm.

In 2019, the firm acquired Benefit Street Partners, an alternative credit investment group.

In May of 2020, the firm acquired leading digital wealth management platform provider, AdvisorEngine.