SUMMARY PROSPECTUS | |||||||
FRANKLIN TEMPLETON SMACS: SERIES H | |||||||
Franklin Strategic Series | |||||||
January 1, 2024 | |||||||
TICKER: FQTHX
Before you invest, you may want to review the Fund’s prospectus, which contains more information about the Fund and its risks. You can find the Fund’s prospectus, statement of additional information, reports to shareholders and other information about the Fund online at www.franklintempleton.com/prospectus. You can also get this information at no cost by calling (800) DIAL BEN/342-5236 or by sending an e-mail request to prospectus@franklintempleton.com. The Fund’s prospectus and statement of additional information, both dated January 1, 2024, as may be supplemented, are all incorporated by reference into this Summary Prospectus.
FRANKLIN
TEMPLETON SMACS: SERIES H
SUMMARY PROSPECTUS
Investment Goal
To seek to provide investors with a high current yield exempt from federal income taxes. Its secondary goal is capital appreciation to the extent possible and consistent with the Fund's principal investment goal.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
The table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund.
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
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|
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Management fees1 |
| None |
Distribution and service (12b-1) fees |
| None |
Other expenses2 |
| 1.98% |
Acquired fund fees and expenses |
| 0.06% |
Total annual Fund operating expenses3 |
| 2.04% |
Fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement4 |
| -2.04% |
Total annual Fund operating expenses after fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement |
| 0.00% |
1. The investment manager does not charge the Fund a fee for its investment management services. The Fund is part of a wrap fee program or other program advised or sub-advised by the investment manager or its affiliates, clients of which often pay a single aggregate fee to the program sponsor for all costs and expenses of the program (including investment management and custody fees). You are strongly encouraged to read carefully the wrap fee brochure or other disclosures provided to you in connection with the program account.
2. Other expenses have been restated to reflect fees and expenses for the current fiscal year. Consequently, the total annual Fund operating expenses differ from the ratio of expenses to average net assets shown in the Financial Highlights.
3. Total annual Fund operating expenses differ from the ratio of expenses to average net assets shown in the Financial Highlights, which reflect the operating expenses of the Fund and do not include acquired fund fees and expenses.
4. The investment manager has agreed to waive fees and/or reimburse operating expenses (excluding certain non-routine expenses or costs, such as those relating to litigation, indemnification, reorganizations and liquidations) for the Fund so that the ratio of total annual fund operating expenses will not exceed 0.00% until December 31, 2024. During the term, the fee waiver and expense reimbursement agreement may not be terminated or amended without approval of the board of trustees except to add series or classes, to reflect the extension of the termination date or to lower the waiver and expense limitation.
Example
This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of the period. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund's operating expenses remain the same. The Example reflects adjustments made to the Fund's operating expenses due to the fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements by management for the 1 Year numbers only. The Example does not include the fees and expenses (including investment management fees) paid in the wrap programs or certain other
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FRANKLIN
TEMPLETON SMACS: SERIES H
SUMMARY PROSPECTUS
programs advised or sub-advised by the investment manager or its affiliates. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
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| 1 Year |
| 3 Years |
| 5 Years |
| 10 Years |
Franklin Templeton SMACS: Series H |
| $0 |
| $441 |
| $908 |
| $2,205 | |
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Portfolio Turnover
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual Fund operating expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund's performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 11.82% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies
Under normal market conditions, the Fund invests substantially all of its net assets in securities whose interest is free from federal income taxes, including the federal alternative minimum tax. Although the Fund attempts to invest all of its assets in tax-free securities, it is possible that a portion of the Fund’s net assets may be invested in securities that pay interest that may be subject to the federal alternative minimum tax and in securities that pay interest subject to other federal or state income taxes.
The Fund may invest in municipal securities rated in any rating category (or unrated or short-term rated securities of comparable credit quality), including municipal securities rated A or lower by one or more U.S. nationally recognized rating services (or unrated or short-term rated securities of comparable credit quality), below investment grade securities (or "junk bonds") and defaulted securities. The Fund may invest in securities of any maturity or duration.
The Fund does not necessarily focus its investments in a particular state or territory and will not invest more than 30% of its total assets in municipal securities of any one state or territory. The Fund may invest up to 15% of its total assets in municipal securities issued by U.S. territories.
The Fund is a "non-diversified" fund, which means it generally invests a greater proportion of its assets in the securities of one or more issuers and invests overall in a smaller number of issuers than a diversified fund.
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FRANKLIN
TEMPLETON SMACS: SERIES H
SUMMARY PROSPECTUS
Although the investment manager searches for investments across a large number of municipal securities that finance different types of projects, from time to time, based on economic conditions, the Fund may have significant positions in municipal securities that finance similar types of projects.
The investment manager selects securities that it believes will provide the best balance between risk and return within the Fund’s range of allowable investments and typically invests with a long-term time horizon. This means it generally holds securities in the Fund’s portfolio for income purposes, although the investment manager may sell a security at any time if it believes it could help the Fund meet its goal. With a focus on income, individual securities are considered for purchase or sale based on various factors and considerations, including credit profile, risk, structure, pricing, portfolio impact, duration management, restructuring, opportunistic trading and tax loss harvesting opportunities.
When selecting securities for the Fund’s portfolio, the investment manager may consider existing market conditions, the availability of lower-rated securities, and whether the difference in yields between higher and lower-rated securities justifies the higher risk of lower-rated securities. Thus, there may be times when the Fund has a majority of its investments in securities that are considered investment grade.
Principal Risks
You could lose money by investing in the Fund. Mutual fund shares are not deposits or obligations of, or guaranteed or endorsed by, any bank, and are not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Reserve Board, or any other agency of the U.S. government.
Interest Rate: When interest rates rise, debt security prices generally fall. The opposite is also generally true: debt security prices rise when interest rates fall. Interest rate changes are influenced by a number of factors, including government policy, monetary policy, inflation expectations, perceptions of risk, and supply of and demand for bonds. In general, securities with longer maturities or durations are more sensitive to interest rate changes.
Credit: An issuer of debt securities may fail to make interest payments or repay principal when due, in whole or in part. Changes in an issuer's financial strength or in a security's or government's credit rating may affect a security's value. A change in the credit rating of a municipal bond insurer that insures securities in the Fund’s portfolio may affect the value of the securities it insures, the Fund’s share price and Fund performance. The Fund might also be adversely impacted by the inability of an insurer to meet its insurance obligations.
Liquidity: The trading market for a particular security or type of security or other investments in which the Fund invests may become less liquid or even illiquid.
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FRANKLIN
TEMPLETON SMACS: SERIES H
SUMMARY PROSPECTUS
Reduced liquidity will have an adverse impact on the Fund’s ability to sell such securities or other investments when necessary to meet the Fund’s liquidity needs, which may arise or increase in response to a specific economic event or because the investment manager wishes to purchase particular investments or believes that a higher level of liquidity would be advantageous. Reduced liquidity will also generally lower the value of such securities or other investments. Market prices for such securities or other investments may be relatively volatile.
Tax Legislative and Political Changes: The municipal securities market could be significantly affected by adverse political and legislative changes or litigation at the federal or state level. The value of municipal bonds is closely tied to the benefits of tax-exempt income to investors. Significant revisions of federal income tax laws or regulations revising income tax rates or the tax-exempt character of municipal bonds, or even proposed changes and deliberations on this topic by the federal government, could cause municipal bond prices to fall. For example, lower federal income tax rates would reduce certain relative advantages of owning municipal bonds, and lower state income tax rates could have similar effects. In addition, the application of corporate minimum tax rates to financial statement income may have the effect of reducing demand for municipal bonds among corporate investors, which may in turn impact municipal bond prices.
Tax-Exempt Securities: Failure of a municipal security issuer to comply with applicable tax requirements may make income paid thereon taxable, resulting in a decline in the security’s value. In addition, there could be changes in applicable tax laws or tax treatments that reduce or eliminate the current federal income tax exemption on municipal securities or otherwise adversely affect the current federal or state tax status of municipal securities.
Market: The market values of securities or other investments owned by the Fund will go up or down, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably. The market value of a security or other investment may be reduced by market activity or other results of supply and demand unrelated to the issuer. This is a basic risk associated with all investments. When there are more sellers than buyers, prices tend to fall. Likewise, when there are more buyers than sellers, prices tend to rise.
The global outbreak of the novel strain of coronavirus, COVID-19 and its subsequent variants, has resulted in market closures and dislocations, extreme volatility, liquidity constraints and increased trading costs. The long-term impact on economies, markets, industries and individual issuers is not known. Some sectors of the economy and individual issuers have experienced or may experience particularly large losses. Periods of extreme volatility in the financial markets; reduced liquidity of many instruments; and disruptions to supply chains, consumer demand and employee availability, may continue for some time.
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FRANKLIN
TEMPLETON SMACS: SERIES H
SUMMARY PROSPECTUS
High-Yield Debt Securities: Issuers of lower-rated or “high-yield” debt securities (also known as “junk bonds”) are not as strong financially as those issuing higher credit quality debt securities. High-yield debt securities are generally considered predominantly speculative by the applicable rating agencies as their issuers are more likely to encounter financial difficulties because they may be more highly leveraged, or because of other considerations. In addition, high yield debt securities generally are more vulnerable to changes in the relevant economy, such as a recession or a sustained period of rising interest rates, that could affect their ability to make interest and principal payments when due. The prices of high-yield debt securities generally fluctuate more than those of higher credit quality. High-yield debt securities are generally more illiquid (harder to sell) and harder to value.
If the issuer of a debt security in the Fund's portfolio defaults, the Fund may have unrealized losses on the security, which may lower the Fund's net asset value. Defaulted securities tend to lose much of their value before they default. Thus, the Fund's net asset value may be adversely affected before an issuer defaults. An investment in defaulted debt securities is generally considered speculative and may expose the Fund to similar risks as an investment in high-yield debt.
States: The Fund’s portfolio is generally widely diversified among issuers of municipal securities. However, to the extent that the Fund has exposure from time to time to the municipal securities of a particular state, events in that state may affect the Fund’s investments and performance. These events may include economic or political policy changes, tax base erosion, unfunded pension and healthcare liabilities, constitutional limits on tax increases, budget deficits and other financial difficulties, and changes in the credit ratings assigned to municipal issuers of the state. The same is true of events in U.S. territories, to the extent that the Fund has exposure to any particular territory at any given time.
Focus: The Fund may invest more than 25% of its assets in municipal securities that finance similar types of projects, such as utilities, hospitals, higher education and transportation. A change that affects one project, such as proposed legislation on the financing of the project, a shortage of the materials needed for the project, or a declining need for the project, would likely affect all similar projects, thereby increasing market risk.
Income: The Fund's distributions to shareholders may decline when prevailing interest rates fall, when the Fund experiences defaults on debt securities it holds or when the Fund realizes a loss upon the sale of a debt security.
Prepayment: Prepayment risk occurs when a debt security can be repaid in whole or in part prior to the security's maturity and the Fund must reinvest the proceeds it receives, during periods of declining interest rates, in securities that pay a lower rate of interest. Also, if a security has been purchased at a premium, the value of
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FRANKLIN
TEMPLETON SMACS: SERIES H
SUMMARY PROSPECTUS
the premium would be lost in the event of prepayment. Prepayments generally increase when interest rates fall.
Non-Diversification: Because the Fund is non-diversified, it may be more sensitive to economic, business, political or other changes affecting individual issuers or investments than a diversified fund, which may negatively impact the Fund's performance and result in greater fluctuation in the value of the Fund’s shares.
Management: The Fund is subject to management risk because it is an actively managed investment portfolio. The Fund's investment manager applies investment techniques and risk analyses in making investment decisions for the Fund, but there can be no guarantee that these decisions will produce the desired results.
Cybersecurity: Cybersecurity incidents, both intentional and unintentional, may allow an unauthorized party to gain access to Fund assets, Fund or customer data (including private shareholder information), or proprietary information, cause the Fund, the investment manager, and/or their service providers (including, but not limited to, Fund accountants, custodians, sub-custodians, transfer agents and financial intermediaries) to suffer data breaches, data corruption or loss of operational functionality or prevent Fund investors from purchasing, redeeming or exchanging shares or receiving distributions. The investment manager has limited ability to prevent or mitigate cybersecurity incidents affecting third party service providers, and such third party service providers may have limited indemnification obligations to the Fund or the investment manager. Cybersecurity incidents may result in financial losses to the Fund and its shareholders, and substantial costs may be incurred in an effort to prevent or mitigate future cybersecurity incidents. Issuers of securities in which the Fund invests are also subject to cybersecurity risks, and the value of these securities could decline if the issuers experience cybersecurity incidents.
Because technology is frequently changing, new ways to carry out cyber attacks are always developing. Therefore, there is a chance that some risks have not been identified or prepared for, or that an attack may not be detected, which puts limitations on the Fund's ability to plan for or respond to a cyber attack. Like other funds and business enterprises, the Fund, the investment manager, and their service providers are subject to the risk of cyber incidents occurring from time to time.
Performance
The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows changes in the Fund's performance from year to year. The table shows how the Fund's average annual returns for 1 year, 5 years,
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FRANKLIN
TEMPLETON SMACS: SERIES H
SUMMARY PROSPECTUS
10 years or since inception, as applicable. The Fund's past performance is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. You can obtain updated performance information at franklintempleton.com or by calling (800) DIAL BEN/342-5236.
Performance information does not include the fees and expenses (including investment management fees) paid in the wrap programs or certain other programs advised or sub-advised by the investment manager or its affiliates.
Annual Total Returns
Best Quarter: | 2020, Q3 | 4.30% |
Worst Quarter: | 2022, Q2 | -7.34% |
As of September 30, 2023, the Fund’s year-to-date return was 1.00%. |
Average Annual Total Returns
For periods ended December 31, 2022
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| 1 Year |
| Since Inception |
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Franklin Templeton SMACS: Series H |
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| Return before taxes |
| -14.02% |
| -0.79% | 1 |
| Return after taxes on distributions |
| -14.02% |
| -0.79% | 1 |
| Return after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares |
| -6.99% |
| 0.19% | 1 |
Bloomberg Municipal Bond Index (index reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes) |
| -8.53% |
| 0.07% | 1 | |
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1. | Since inception June 3, 2019. |
8 | Summary Prospectus | franklintempleton.com |
FRANKLIN
TEMPLETON SMACS: SERIES H
SUMMARY PROSPECTUS
Investment Manager
Franklin Advisers, Inc. (Advisers or investment manager)
Portfolio Managers
Ben Barber, CFA
Senior Vice President of Advisers and portfolio manager of the Fund since August 2020.
Daniel Workman, CFA
Vice President of Advisers and portfolio manager of the Fund since inception (2019).
Francisco Rivera
Vice President of Advisers and portfolio manager of the Fund since inception (2019).
James Conn, CFA
Senior Vice President of Advisers and portfolio manager of the Fund since 2020.
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
Shares of the Fund are used exclusively for separately managed accounts advised or sub-advised by Advisers or its affiliates and decisions as to whether to purchase or redeem shares of the Fund for a separately managed account will be made by the investment manager of the separately managed account. Shares of the Fund may be redeemed on any business day that the New York Stock Exchange is open. In addition, shares will be redeemed when you terminate your managed account. There is no minimum investment for purchases.
Taxes
The Fund's distributions are primarily exempt from regular federal income tax. A portion of these distributions, however, may be subject to federal alternative minimum tax and state and local taxes. The Fund may also make distributions that are taxable to you as ordinary income or capital gains.
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Franklin Distributors, LLC One Franklin Parkway San Mateo, CA 94403-1906 franklintempleton.com Franklin Templeton SMACS: Series H | |
Investment Company Act file #811-06243 © 2024 Franklin Templeton. All rights reserved.
| 3002 PSUM 01/24 |