GOF P18 05/21

 

 

SUPPLEMENT DATED MAY 21, 2021

TO THE CURRENTLY EFFECTIVE PROSPECTUSES

OF EACH OF THE FUNDS LISTED BELOW

 

Franklin Alternative Strategies Funds

Franklin K2 Alternative Strategies Fund

Franklin K2 Long Short Credit Fund

Franklin California Tax-Free Income Fund

Franklin California Tax-Free Trust

Franklin California Intermediate-Term Tax-Free Income Fund

Franklin Custodian Funds

Franklin DynaTech Fund

Franklin Focused Growth Fund

Franklin Growth Fund

Franklin Income Fund

Franklin U.S. Government Securities Fund

Franklin Utilities Fund

Franklin Federal Tax-Free Income Fund

Franklin Fund Allocator Series

Franklin Corefolio Allocation Fund

Franklin Global Allocation Fund

Franklin LifeSmart™ Retirement Income Fund

Franklin LifeSmart™ 2020 Retirement Target Fund

Franklin LifeSmart™ 2025 Retirement Target Fund

Franklin LifeSmart™ 2030 Retirement Target Fund

Franklin LifeSmart™ 2035 Retirement Target Fund

Franklin LifeSmart™ 2040 Retirement Target Fund

Franklin LifeSmart™ 2045 Retirement Target Fund

Franklin LifeSmart™ 2050 Retirement Target Fund

Franklin LifeSmart™ 2055 Retirement Target Fund

Franklin LifeSmart™ 2060 Retirement Target Fund

Franklin Conservative Allocation Fund

Franklin Moderate Allocation Fund

Franklin Growth Allocation Fund

 

Franklin Global Trust

Franklin International Growth Fund

Franklin International Small Cap Fund

Franklin Gold and Precious Metals Fund

Franklin High Income Trust

Franklin High Income Fund

Franklin Investors Securities Trust

Franklin Adjustable U.S. Government Securities Fund

Franklin Convertible Securities Fund

Franklin Equity Income Fund

Franklin Floating Rate Daily Access Fund

Franklin Low Duration Total Return Fund

Franklin Managed Income Fund

Franklin Total Return Fund

Franklin Managed Trust

Franklin Rising Dividends Fund

Franklin Municipal Securities Trust

Franklin California High Yield Municipal Fund

Franklin Mutual Series Funds

Franklin Mutual Beacon Fund

Franklin Mutual European Fund

Franklin Mutual Financial Services Fund

Franklin Mutual Global Discovery Fund

Franklin Mutual Quest Fund

Franklin Mutual Shares Fund

Franklin New York Tax-Free Income Fund

Franklin New York Tax-Free Trust

Franklin New York Intermediate-Term Tax-Free Income Fund

Franklin Real Estate Securities Trust

Franklin Real Estate Securities Fund

Franklin Strategic Mortgage Portfolio

Franklin Strategic Series

Franklin Biotechnology Discovery Fund

Franklin Growth Opportunities Fund

Franklin Natural Resources Fund

Franklin Small Cap Growth Fund

Franklin Small-Mid Cap Growth Fund

Franklin Strategic Income Fund

Franklin Tax-Free Trust

Franklin Federal Intermediate-Term Tax-Free Income Fund

Franklin High Yield Tax-Free Income Fund

Franklin Massachusetts Tax-Free Income Fund

Franklin New Jersey Tax-Free Income Fund

Franklin Alabama Tax-Free Income Fund

Franklin Florida Tax-Free Income Fund

Franklin Georgia Tax-Free Income Fund

Franklin Louisiana Tax-Free Income Fund

Franklin Maryland Tax-Free Income Fund

Franklin Missouri Tax-Free Income Fund

Franklin Municipal Green Bond Fund

Franklin North Carolina Tax-Free Income Fund

Franklin Virginia Tax-Free Income Fund

Franklin Arizona Tax-Free Income Fund

Franklin Colorado Tax-Free Income Fund

Franklin Connecticut Tax-Free Income Fund

Franklin Michigan Tax-Free Income Fund

Franklin Minnesota Tax-Free Income Fund

Franklin Ohio Tax-Free Income Fund

Franklin Oregon Tax-Free Income Fund

Franklin Pennsylvania Tax-Free Income Fund

Franklin U.S. Government Money Fund

Franklin Value Investors Trust

Franklin Mutual U.S. Value Fund

Franklin Small Cap Value Fund

Templeton China World Fund

Templeton Developing Markets Trust

Templeton Funds

Templeton Foreign Fund

Templeton World Fund

Templeton International Climate Change Fund

Templeton Global Investment Trust

Templeton Emerging Markets Small Cap Fund

Templeton Global Balanced Fund

Templeton Global Smaller Companies Fund

Templeton Growth Fund, Inc.  

Templeton Income Trust

Templeton Emerging Markets Bond Fund

Templeton Global Bond Fund

Templeton Global Total Return Fund

Templeton International Bond Fund

 

Effective August 2, 2021, the prospectus of each Fund is amended as follows:

I. In the first chart under the “Your Account – Choosing a Share Class” section, the disclosure in the last row under “Class C” is replaced with the following:

Higher annual expenses than Class A due to higher distribution fees. Automatic conversion to Class A shares after approximately eight years, reducing future annual expenses.

II. The last bullet under the “Your Account – Choosing a Share Class – Sales Charges – Class A – Sales Charge Waivers – Waivers for certain investors” is replaced with the following (references to Class C1 shares are only applicable to the Templeton Global Balanced Fund):

•       Class C [and C1] shareholders whose shares are converted to Class A shares after eight (8) years under the Class C shares’ conversion feature.

III. The section “Your Account – Choosing a Share Class – Sales Charges – Class C [& C1] – Automatic Conversion of Class C Shares to Class A Shares After 10-Year Holding Period” is replaced with the following (references to Class C1 shares are only applicable to the Templeton Global Balanced Fund):

Automatic Conversion of Class C Shares to Class A Shares After 8-Year Holding Period

Effective August 2, 2021, the Class C conversion feature provides that Class C [or Class C1] shares that have been held for eight (8) years or more will automatically convert into Class A shares and will no longer be subject to Class C [or C1] shares’ Rule 12b‑1 fees (but will be subject to Class A share’s Rule 12b‑1 fee, if any) (the “Conversion Feature”).   Prior to August 2, 2021 the Class C Conversion Feature had a 10-year holding period.  The first 8-year conversion will occur on August 16, 2021. Thereafter, Class C [and C1] shares of the Fund will convert automatically to Class A shares of the Fund on a monthly basis in the month of, or the month following, the 8-year anniversary of the Class C [or Class C1] shares’ purchase date.  The monthly conversion date typically occurs around the middle of every month and generally falls on a Friday.

Terms of the Conversion Feature.

Class C [or C1] shares that automatically convert to Class A shares of the Fund convert on the basis of the relative net asset values of the two classes. Shareholders do not pay a sales charge, including a CDSC, upon the conversion of their Class C [or C1] shares to Class A shares pursuant to the Conversion Feature. The automatic conversion of the Fund’s Class C [and C1] shares into Class A shares after the 8-year holding period is not expected to be a taxable event for federal income tax purposes. Shareholders should consult with their tax advisor regarding the state and local tax consequences of such conversions.

To the extent that you own Class C [or C1] shares and Class A1 shares of the same Fund, please note that, after the 8-year holding period described above, your Class C [or C1] shares will automatically convert into the Fund’s Class A shares (not the Fund’s Class A1 shares) and will be subject to Class A shares’ Rule 12b‑1 fee. In some cases, you may be able to request the exchange of the Class A shares that you receive after the conversion into your existing Class A1 shares account; however, not all intermediaries can accommodate such requests. Please contact your financial intermediary for more information.

If you previously owned Class C [or C1] shares of any Franklin Templeton Fund that were later merged or exchanged into the Fund, the time you held such shares counts towards the 8-year period for automatic conversion to Class A shares. Class C [or Class C1] shares of the Fund acquired through automatic reinvestment of dividends or distributions convert to Class A shares of the Fund on the conversion date pro rata with the converting Class C [or C1] shares of the Fund that were not acquired through reinvestment of dividends or distributions.

Class C [or C1] shares held through a financial intermediary in an omnibus account automatically convert into Class A shares only if the intermediary can document that the shareholder has met the required holding period. In certain circumstances, when shares are invested through retirement plans, omnibus accounts, and in certain other instances, the Fund and its agents may not have transparency into how long a shareholder has held Class C [or Class C1] shares for purposes of determining whether such Class C [or C1] shares are eligible for automatic conversion into Class A shares and the financial intermediary may not have the ability to track purchases to credit individual shareholders’ holding periods. This primarily occurs when shares are invested through certain record keepers for group retirement plans, where the intermediary cannot track share aging at the participant level. In these circumstances, the Fund cannot automatically convert Class C [or C1] shares into Class A shares as described above. In order to determine eligibility for conversion in these circumstances, it is the responsibility of the shareholder or their financial intermediary to notify the Fund that the shareholder is eligible for the conversion of Class C [or C1] shares to Class A shares, and the shareholder or their financial intermediary may be required to maintain and provide the Fund with records that substantiate the holding period of Class C [and C1] shares. In these circumstances, it is the financial intermediary’s (and not the Fund’s) responsibility to keep records and to ensure that the shareholder is credited with the proper holding period. Please consult with your financial intermediary about your shares’ eligibility for this conversion feature.

 

New accounts or plans may not be eligible to purchase Class C shares of the Fund if it is determined that the intermediary cannot track shareholder holding periods to determine whether a shareholder’s Class C shares are eligible for conversion to Class A shares. Accounts or plans (and their successor, related and affiliated plans) that have Class C [or Class C1] shares of the Fund available to participants on or before October 5, 2018, may continue to open accounts for new participants in that share class and purchase additional shares in existing participant accounts. The Fund has no responsibility for overseeing, monitoring or implementing a financial intermediary’s process for determining whether a shareholder meets the required holding period for conversion.

A financial intermediary may sponsor and/or control accounts, programs or platforms that impose a different conversion schedule or different eligibility requirements for the conversion of Class C [or C1] shares into Class A shares. In these cases, Class C [or C1] shareholders may convert to Class A shares under the policies of the financial intermediary and the conversion may be structured as an exchange of Class C [or C1] shares for Class A shares of the Fund. Financial intermediaries will be responsible for making such exchanges in those circumstances. Please consult with your financial intermediary if you have any questions regarding your shares’ conversion from Class C [or C1] shares to Class A shares.

IV. The section “Your Account – Exchanging Shares – Exchange Privilege – Class A, C & R – Exchange Effects on Class C Conversion Feature” is replaced with the following (references to Class C1 shares are only applicable to the Templeton Global Balanced Fund):

Exchange Effects on Class C Conversion Feature   If you exchange your Class C [or C1] shares for the same class of shares of another Franklin Templeton fund, the time your shares are held in the initial Fund will count towards the 8-year period for automatic conversion to Class A shares.

V. The last sentence of the footnote regarding a dealer’s eligibility to receive Class C 12b-1 fees [and Class C1 12b-1 fees] under the table(s) in the section “Your Account – Account Policies – Dealer Compensation” is replaced with the following (references to Class C1 shares are only applicable to the Templeton Global Balanced Fund):

After approximately 8 years, Class [C/C1] shares convert to Class A shares and dealers may then be eligible to receive the 12b‑1 fee applicable to Class A.

Please keep this supplement with your prospectus for future reference.