The strategy utilizes Franklin’s extensive municipal research capabilities and relative value approach in an effort to maximize risk adjusted returns.
Strategy Overview
Active, Diversified, Customizable
Seeks to provide investors with a diversified portfolio focused on the Taxable municipal market.
Given the depth and breadth of Franklin’s municipal platform, the strategy is fully customizable to seek a wide variety of risk and duration targets.
Our Investment Process
The Franklin Municipal Bond strategy is predominantly bottom-up, with security selection the primary determinant of industry/sector allocation. Over time, we would expect 80% to 90% of returns to be driven by bottom-up factors.
Top-down considerations tend to be more risk focused, for example, ensuring portfolios are diversified across different risk factors, and that portfolio positioning is aligned with the investment team’s macroeconomic views and understanding of market technicals (demand/supply dynamics).
This is a general depiction of the investment team's methodology and may not reflect the exact investment process for any particular strategy.
Meet the Team
Franklin Municipal Bond team
Active research matters
An active, research-driven approach is critical given the vast size and complexity of the municipal bond market. Our deep team of research analysts conduct comprehensive analysis of every opportunity across all sectors in the municipal bond universe, covering the quality spectrum in both primary and secondary markets.
Seek to take advantage of relative value opportunities
We seek to identify and capture competitive relative value opportunities across the municipal bond landscape by carefully analyzing and managing yield curve positioning, credit spreads, coupon structures and call structures, aiming to provide attractive risk-adjusted returns.
Emphasis on risk management
Our team places a premium on risk management which is incorporated fully within our deep credit research process, portfolio construction process and with an independent risk management team, enabling us to better understand, quantify and optimize where we allocate risk across our portfolios.
US$54+
Billion in municipal bond assets under management1
23
Investment professionals
26
Years of financial experience, on average
60+
Product offerings, including national and state-specific tax-free funds, actively managed ETFs, separately managed accounts and institutional separate accounts
Management Team
James Conn, CFA*
Senior Vice President / Portfolio Manager
Industry since 1986
Ben Barber, CFA*
Senior Vice President / Portfolio Manager
Industry since 1990
Jeff Snyder
Vice President / Director of FTPA Portfolio Management
Industry since 1996
*CFA® and Chartered Financial Analyst® are registered trademarks owned by CFA Institute.
WHAT OUR MANAGERS THINK
