Franklin Templeton Portfolio Advisors Introduces Mid Cap Growth Strate

    Business Editors

    SAN MATEO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 26, 2005--Franklin Templeton Portfolio Advisors, Inc. (FTPA) today announced the introduction of Franklin Portfolio Advisors (FPA) Mid Cap Growth portfolio. The Mid Cap Growth portfolio seeks long-term capital growth by investing in companies whose market capitalization is typically between $2 billion and $10 billion at the time of investment.
    "We believe that by employing a disciplined, long-term, bottom-up approach to mid cap growth equity investing, backed by fundamental analysis, we can provide favorable results over time," said Frank Felicelli, CFA, chief investment officer of Franklin Portfolio Advisors. "We look for companies that demonstrate distinctive competitive advantages and potential for sustainable growth that may not be reflected in their current valuations."
    The introduction of the FPA Mid Cap Growth portfolio will round out FPA's current lineup of domestic growth portfolios, which includes Small Cap Growth, Multi Cap Growth and Large Cap Core Growth portfolios.
    "As U.S. equity markets gain momentum, we're seeing more interest in our Franklin domestic equity portfolios," said Kent Strazza, president and chief executive officer of FTPA. "By introducing our Franklin Portfolio Advisors Mid Cap Growth portfolio, we can offer more choices for investors who are looking to diversify the equity component of their portfolios by market capitalization."
    The strategy will be managed by Ed Jamieson and Michael McCarthy, CFA, who created FPA's small and mid cap growth discipline, and serve as chief investment officer and director of equity research, respectively, for Franklin Advisers, Inc. Jamieson has over 28 years of experience and McCarthy has 12 years. Jamieson and McCarthy are also part of the team that manages the FPA Small Cap Growth portfolio headed by Zachary Perry, CFA, vice president and portfolio manager with FPA.

    Franklin Templeton Portfolio Advisors, Inc., formerly called Franklin Templeton Private Client Group, was founded in 1979 and offers a wide range of separate account management products and services catering to high net-worth individual, institutional and non-profit organization clients. FTPA is a subsidiary of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN), 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 and Fiduciary Trust investment teams. The San Mateo, CA-based company has more than 50 years of investment experience and over $412 billion in assets under management as of March 31, 2005. For more information, please call 1-800/822-8464 or visit franklintempletonpa.com.

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CONTACT: Franklin Templeton Investments Stacey Johnston, 650-525-7458 franklintempleton.com

KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: BANKING PRODUCT SOURCE: Franklin Templeton Investments

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