Fund Evaluator:

Franklin Mutual U.S. Mid Cap Value A Overview

Franklin Mutual U.S. Mid Cap Value A (FRBSX) is an actively managed U.S. Equity Mid-Cap Value fund. Franklin Templeton Investments launched the fund in 1990.

The investment seeks high total return, of which capital appreciation and income are components. Under normal market conditions, the fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in U.S. mid cap companies. Under normal market conditions, it invests primarily in equity securities (including securities convertible into, or that the investment manager expects to be exchanged for, common or preferred stock) of U.S. companies that the investment manager believes are available at market prices less than their value based on certain recognized or objective criteria (fundamental value).

About Franklin Mutual U.S. Mid Cap Value A (FRBSX)

There are 3 members of the management team with an average tenure of 7.25 years: Grace Hoefig (2012), Oliver Wong (2025), Srini Vijay (2019). Management tenure is more important for actively managed funds than passive index funds.

The fund has 2 primary benchmarks: Russell 3000 TR USD index with a weighting of 100% and Russell Mid Cap Value TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. Franklin Mutual U.S. Mid Cap Value A has 68 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 28.7% of the fund’s assets. The fund meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a diversified fund. The fund is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

Franklin Mutual U.S. Mid Cap Value A is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the U.S. Equity fund group. Franklin Mutual U.S. Mid Cap Value A has 6.6% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 91.0%. There is 6.6% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.0% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 0.0% (0.0% domestic bond, 0.0% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). Franklin Mutual U.S. Mid Cap Value A has 2.4% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $669 million in total assets, which is above the $647 million average for the Mid-Cap Value 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.

FRBSX 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 Franklin Mutual U.S. Mid Cap Value A expense ratio is high compared to funds in the Mid-Cap Value category. Franklin Mutual U.S. Mid Cap Value A has an expense ratio of 0.91%, which is 12% lower than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a C. 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. Franklin Mutual U.S. Mid Cap Value A has a portfolio turnover rate of 48%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 50% for the Mid-Cap Value category.

Recently, in the month of June 2026, Franklin Mutual U.S. Mid Cap Value A returned 3.3%, which earned it a grade of C, as the Mid-Cap Value category had an average return of 3.2%. 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.

Franklin Mutual U.S. Mid Cap Value A has a trailing yield of 0.95%, which is above the 0.90% category average. The fund normally distributes its income annually 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.

Franklin Mutual U.S. Mid Cap Value A Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned 10.3%, 3.5 percentage points worse than the category, which translates into a grade of D. The fund has returned 12.8% over the past year (grade of F), 10.9% over the past three years (grade of F) and 6.4% per year over the past five years (grade of F) and 9.0% per year over the past 10 years (grade of D).

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