Franklin Templeton Investments Appoints William Yun to Head Alternative Strategies

Date: Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Author: Businesswire.com

SAN MATEO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Franklin Resources, Inc. (operating as Franklin Templeton Investments) (NYSE:BEN) today announced that William Yun, CFA, has been named executive vice president of Alternatives Strategies, a new role dedicated to overseeing Franklin Templeton’s specialized and alternative investment business which includes local asset management, joint ventures, real estate, fund of funds and dedicated private equity. In addition, Vijay Advani has been named executive vice president of Global Distribution, with oversight of both retail and institutional distribution.

“Our business continues to expand in markets worldwide and we believe that establishing a dedicated alternative investments platform for our specialized investment groups will best position us to capitalize on the strong growth and interest we have seen in these areas. Additionally, we believe a unified global approach to distribution is a strategy that will allow us to build on the success we have had in leveraging our global platform,” said Greg Johnson, chief executive officer of Franklin Resources, Inc.

“As our specialized and alternative investment capabilities become more diversified and continue to gain traction in the market, we recognize the need for more dedicated resources in this area. Bill Yun’s investment management background and extensive global experience with institutional markets and investors make him a natural fit to guide and lead the growth of our business in this space,” said Johnson. “In addition, as the traditional lines between institutional and retail markets continue to blur, this new unified global approach to distribution will enable us to strengthen our capabilities and realize efficiencies across borders. Vijay Advani has a deep understanding of the global markets and we are very pleased to have him take on this expanded role.”

In his new role, Yun, leveraging his investment background and extensive global experience with institutional markets and investors, will head the company’s specialized and alternative investment groups and will oversee the local asset management investment teams. In addition, Yun will have responsibility for overseeing both the investment and business sides of the company’s asset management joint ventures, which currently include joint ventures in Vietnam, China and Dubai. Over the past decade, the company has established wholly-owned local asset management groups in Brazil, Canada, India, Japan and Korea. In addition, the emerging markets private equity and mezzanine finance capabilities of Darby Overseas, the fund of funds business of Franklin Templeton Managed Investment Solutions, and the global property offerings of Franklin Templeton Real Estate Advisors will fall under the alternative strategies umbrella.

“We see tremendous opportunity for growth in the specialized and alternative strategies space,” said Yun. “The number of investors looking for added alpha as well as increased diversification for their portfolios through a broad range of asset classes, including alternatives, has grown exponentially. We offer an outstanding investment platform to help our clients achieve their investment objectives, and we support that platform with the broad operational capabilities that we possess as a global firm. We are committed to growing this space and are dedicating the resources and attention to meet evolving client needs.”

In his expanded role, Advani, who has served as executive vice president of the company’s retail-focused Global Advisor Services since 2005, will lead Franklin Templeton’s intermediary-based and institutional businesses, including sales and marketing.

“The integration of our sales and marketing efforts across channels globally is an extension of the success we have had as an organization in leveraging our global platform. At the same time, I would emphasize that this does not change our approach and commitment to providing the dedicated and specialized servicing that our institutional and retail clients require,” said Advani. “Our goal is to continue to identify synergies in our business and to seek opportunities to better service our clients. We also continue to focus on creating opportunities for our employees and maximizing our internal talent around the world.”

Yun, newly appointed executive vice president of Alternatives Strategies, is an officer of Franklin Resources, Inc. Yun joined the organization with Fiduciary Trust Company International in 1992 and was a portfolio manager for eight years, becoming executive vice president overseeing Fiduciary Trust’s global equity division. In 2000, shortly before the firm’s acquisition by Franklin Templeton, Yun was named president of Fiduciary Trust, and served in this role until 2005. In 2002, he also became president of Franklin Templeton Institutional, the global business development group responsible for Franklin Templeton’s institutional, defined benefit and investment-only separate account businesses. Prior to joining Fiduciary Trust, Yun worked in both asset management and investment banking at Blyth Eastman Paine Webber, First Boston and CB Commercial Holdings. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Charterholder and a member of the New York Society of Security Analysts. He earned an M.B.A. from The Amos Tuck School of Business Administration at Dartmouth College, and a B.A. from Harvard University.

Advani, newly appointed executive vice president of Global Distribution, is an officer of Franklin Resources, Inc. Advani joined Franklin Templeton Investments in 1995 as president of Templeton Asset Management (India) Pvt. Ltd., in Mumbai (Bombay) and later served as regional managing director, Product Development, Sales & Marketing for Asia, Eastern Europe and Africa. He relocated to the company’s San Mateo, California headquarters in 2002 and was appointed executive managing director of International Retail Development. In 2005, he became executive vice president of Global Advisor Services, responsible for Franklin Templeton's global retail initiatives, marketing and product development. Prior to joining Franklin Templeton, Advani worked as senior investment officer at the World Bank Group in Washington, DC. He has worked in several emerging economies in the former Soviet Union, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. He received an M.B.A. from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a bachelor's degree in accounting and finance from the University of Bombay (now the University of Mumbai), India.

Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN), is a global investment management organization operating as Franklin Templeton Investments. Franklin Templeton Investments provides global and domestic investment management solutions managed by its Franklin, Templeton, Mutual Series, Fiduciary Trust, Darby and Bissett investment teams. The San Mateo, CA-based company has more than 60 years of investment experience and approximately $623 billion in assets under management as of May 31, 2008. For more information, please visit franklintempleton.com.