The fund, of which Templeton has "seeded" with $10 million dollars, will focus on companies with a market capitalization of $1 billion or less. Templeton currently follows ~17,000 emerging market stocks and ~14,000 of those fall into the "$1 billion or less" category. The fund has already initially invested in about 50 stocks. The World Bank reports that emerging market companies are expected to grow 6% in 2007, compared to only 2.8% for developed economies and for the last 5 years their stocks have out performed the Developed Markets returns. Templeton anticipates initially focusing on emerging companies in India, China, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, and Brazil.

Investing in emerging markets obviously entails higher risk than investing in developed countries. Therefore, it is critical the investment management team have good credentials. Franklin Funds, founded in 1947, substantially improved their global money manager credentials when they purchased the Templeton Family of Funds in 1992. Their name was then changed to Franklin Templeton Investments. Templeton Funds was founded by Sir John Templeton and he launched the now famous Templeton Growth Fund in 1954. John Templeton is widely recognized as one of the early pioneers and proponents of global investing.

The Emerging Markets Small Cap Fund is specifically managed by Dr. Mark Mobius. Mark Mobius, who has achieved a certain level of "fame" among money managers, is often referred to as the Indiana Jones of investing. Mr. Mobius joined Templeton in 1987 and he heads their emerging markets team. In his search for value, like Indiana Jones, he travels to many exotic locales, sometimes trekking through jungles, presumably with machete in hand, to examine in person potential companies for investment.

He estimates that he spends over 200 days each year traveling from one emerging market to another in search of opportunities. His investment team consists of 25 analysts based in 11 emerging markets with major offices in Buenos Aires, Shanghai, and Instanbul. In addition to managing this new Emerging Markets Small Cap Fund, Mr. Mobius is also President of the Templeton China World Fund, Russia Fund, Vietnam Opportunities Fund, and Templeton Dragon Fund.

Our mission here at ManagingMoney.com is not to promote certain investments or strategies, but rather to inform you, our users, readers, viewers and listeners, of many of the higher profile opportunities you may want to be aware of. To get more specific information on the new Franklin Templeton Emerging Markets Small Cap Fund, including fees, expenses, and risk factors, or to order a prospectus, you can visit www.franklintempleton.com.

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