Franklin Templeton raises $250m for global FoF

New York-based Franklin Templeton Real Estate Advisors has closed on $250 million for its third global fund of funds, PERE understands.

The firm ultimately aims to attract $300 million and it is believed that the outstanding targeted capital has already been soft-circled ahead of a final closing scheduled for this autumn. Investors in the fund include institutions from the US and Europe.

In keeping with Franklin Templeton’s typical strategies, the fund is being used to invest in between 12 and 15 underlying funds approximately one third of which will be focussed on US real estate, one third on Europe and a third on Asia. A small part of the capital raised is understood to have already been deployed. The fund is expected to deliver typical value-added returns of about 15 percent from its investments.

Franklin Templeton would not comment on its fundraising activities when contacted but the firm’s senior vice president Dan Fulop, did say the firm’s global investment strategy was proving increasingly attractive among its clients, many of which regarded the model a safer, more conservative route into international real estate investing than through regional strategies.

Exploring Franklin Templeton’s current global investment strategy more, he said the firm is currently targeting both primary and secondary fund investments as well as various types of co-investments, potentially including on single asset deals.

He said: “On the whole, we are very much sticking to our knitting. We’ve been focused on value-added type strategies throughout our history, now, with more of a focus on emerging managers.” Franklin Templeton has made no secret of its increased ambitions to back emerging managers of late, hosting a conference on the subject in Chicago earlier this year.

But despite more of a backing for emerging managers, he added: “We’re not going to bet the ranch on an undiscovered manager without seeing their business plan is put into place.”