Franklin Templeton has completed the closing of its first structured investment vehicle in private markets, a CFO (Collateralized Fund Obligation), after raising 1.5 billion dollars (around 1.28 billion euros) from international investors, the manager communicated this Thursday.
The structure, called Franklin Templeton Structured Solutions 2026, L.P., concentrates in a single instrument the exposure to various private market strategies of the firm, with the aim of providing clients with a diversified portfolio through a single solution.
This vehicle integrates both secondary investments in private equity and continuation vehicles managed by Lexington Partners, a firm specialized in the secondary private equity market and co-investments, as well as direct loans to mid-sized U.S. companies managed by Benefit Street Partners (BSP), the Franklin Templeton subsidiary focused on alternative credit.
"We are seeing a growing demand from clients to access differentiated private market strategies through efficient and scalable structures," said the global director of Operations of Wealth Management Private Markets at Franklin Templeton, George Stephan, who emphasized that this first CFO responds to that demand by bringing together the expertise of the various private market managers of the firm in a single proposal.
For his part, the co-director of Private Markets Product at Franklin Templeton, Jake Williams, stated that the operation demonstrates how structured solutions can combine different capabilities of private markets to meet the needs of institutional portfolios.
NEW CAPITAL RAISING CHANNEL
Franklin Templeton Investment Solutions (FTIS), the investment solutions platform of the group, will act as the manager of the CFO's guarantees and will make available to the vehicle its experience in portfolio construction, liquidity management, and risk control in both public and private markets, as detailed by the entity.
With the closing of this operation, Franklin Templeton opens a new capital raising channel for its private markets platform, which aims to progressively expand its investor base.
The manager anticipates that this type of structure will be able to reach a broader spectrum of investors, including registered investment advisors (RIA), family offices, insurance companies, and wealth management solution distributors.
Evercore has acted as structuring advisor and placement agent for the transaction, while Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP has served as legal advisor to the issuer. The company has also specified that the operation is already completely closed and does not allow new subscriptions.