Ian Wilkins, UK country head at Franklin Templeton explained that the newly renamed UK Rising Dividends Fund is “well-placed” to meet the needs of investors looking that are “looking to protect the real value of their income”.
According to Franklin Templeton, the refocused multi-cap fund will sit alongside the group’s UK Equity Fund and will invest primarily in UK equities that are “financially stable and have paid consistently rising dividends”.
Colin Morton will continue to manage the renamed fund, while Ben Russon and Mark Hall will remain on the fund’s investment team, the group said.
According to Morton, stock selection will be focused on companies that have increased dividend payments in eight out of the last 10 years, and that have not cut their dividend during this period.
“In addition, the Fund will primarily invest in UK companies that have paid out less than 65% of current earnings in dividends, in order to enable them to reinvest remaining earnings for future growth.”
He added: “It is likely that the Franklin UK Rising Dividends Fund will have a bias towards FTSE 100 companies as many of the stocks that currently meet the criteria are large cap stocks. However, the Fund will be unconstrained by market cap, and will therefore have exposure to UK companies from across the market cap spectrum with the aim of delivering a steadily growing income for investors. Though some changes will be made to the portfolio, a significant proportion of holdings will remain unchanged when the Fund refocus takes place in January.”
The changes take effect from 30 January 2015.
