Fund Evaluator:

Templeton Sustainable Em Mkts Bd R Overview

Templeton Sustainable Em Mkts Bd R (FEMBX) is an actively managed Taxable Bond Emerging-Markets Local-Currency Bond fund. Franklin Templeton Investments launched the fund in 2013.

The investment seeks current income with capital appreciation as a secondary goal. Under normal market conditions, the fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in a non-diversified portfolio of bonds issued by “emerging market countries.” The bonds in which the fund invests consist of treasuries and government debt typically backed by the full faith and credit of the government and issued for the purpose of financing the emerging market country’s general growth and development. It is non-diversified.

About Templeton Sustainable Em Mkts Bd R (FEMBX)

There are 4 members of the management team with an average tenure of 7.55 years: Calvin Ho (2018), Michael Hasenstab (2013), Vivian Guo (2021), Jaap Willems (2021). Management tenure is more important for actively managed funds than passive index funds.

The fund has 2 primary benchmarks: Bloomberg Global Aggregate TR USD index with a weighting of 100% and JPM GBI-EM Global Diversified TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. Templeton Sustainable Em Mkts Bd R has 112 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 52.4% of the fund’s assets. The fund meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a nondiversified fund. The fund is considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

Templeton Sustainable Em Mkts Bd R is part of the Fixed Income global asset class and is within the Taxable Bond fund group. Templeton Sustainable Em Mkts Bd R has 81.3% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 0.0%. There is 0.0% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.0% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 81.3% (0.0% domestic bond, 81.3% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). Templeton Sustainable Em Mkts Bd R has 18.7% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $22 million in total assets, which is below the $141 million average for the Emerging-Markets Local-Currency Bond category. Normally, lower assets under management translates to higher average expense ratios, and greater total assets are desired. However, for some investment categories, such as small-cap investing, it may be difficult for the manager to fully employ the desired active strategy if assets grow too large or too quickly.

FEMBX Performance and Fees

The expense ratio measures how much of a fund’s assets are used for administrative expenses and operating expenses, including adviser fees and fees for the transfer agent and custodial services. The Templeton Sustainable Em Mkts Bd R expense ratio is high compared to funds in the Emerging-Markets Local-Currency Bond category. Templeton Sustainable Em Mkts Bd R has an expense ratio of 1.41%, which is 20% higher than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a D. While it is difficult to predict returns, it is known that high annual expense ratios reduce your rate of return, and excessive fees are difficult to overcome. Active management normally comes with higher expense ratios than passive index management. Certain investment categories such as small company and foreign also normally have higher expense ratios. It is best to compare fund expense ratios against the category averages for meaningful assessments.

High portfolio turnover can translate to higher expenses and lower aftertax returns. Templeton Sustainable Em Mkts Bd R has a portfolio turnover rate of 50%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 93% for the Emerging-Markets Local-Currency Bond category.

Recently, in the month of July 2026, Templeton Sustainable Em Mkts Bd R returned 0.0%, which earned it a grade of D, as the Emerging-Markets Local-Currency Bond category had an average return of 0.1%. The letter grades of A, B, C, D and F are based upon relative rankings within the investment category. A grade of A, for example, would indicate that the return is in the highest 20% for that time period compared to all funds in that category.

Templeton Sustainable Em Mkts Bd R has a trailing yield of 9.39%, which is above the 6.47% category average. The fund normally distributes its income quarterly and its capital gains annually.

It’s natural to seek the best-performing investments, but you must consider the relationship between risk and return and the impact of costs and taxes on your realized returns.

Templeton Sustainable Em Mkts Bd R Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned 3.1%, 0.9 percentage points better than the category, which translates into a grade of A. The fund has returned 13.2% over the past year (grade of A), 8.6% over the past three years (grade of A) and 3.7% per year over the past five years (grade of B) and 2.1% per year over the past 10 years (grade of F).

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