Fund Evaluator:

Templeton Ins Foreign Smaller Co Ser Adv Overview

Templeton Ins Foreign Smaller Co Ser Adv (TFSCX) is an actively managed International Equity Foreign Small/Mid Blend fund. Franklin Templeton Investments launched the fund in 2002.

The investment seeks long-term capital growth. Under normal market conditions, the fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in investments of smaller companies located outside the U.S., including emerging markets. For purposes of this 80% policy, smaller companies are defined as those with market capitalizations that do not exceed $4 billion. The fund may invest more than 25% of its assets in the securities of issuers located in any one country.

About Templeton Ins Foreign Smaller Co Ser Adv (TFSCX)

There are 3 members of the management team with an average tenure of 4.81 years: David Tuttle (2021), Katie Ylijoki (2022), Kyle Denning (2022). Management tenure is more important for actively managed funds than passive index funds.

The fund has 2 primary benchmarks: MSCI ACWI Ex USA NR USD index with a weighting of 100% and MSCI ACWI Ex USA Small NR USD index with a weighting of 100%. Templeton Ins Foreign Smaller Co Ser Adv has 69 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 29.3% 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.

Templeton Ins Foreign Smaller Co Ser Adv is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the International Equity fund group. Templeton Ins Foreign Smaller Co Ser Adv has 89.3% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 5.4%. There is 89.3% 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). Templeton Ins Foreign Smaller Co Ser Adv has 5.4% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $17 million in total assets, which is below the $540 million average for the Foreign Small/Mid Blend 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.

TFSCX 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 Ins Foreign Smaller Co Ser Adv expense ratio is high compared to funds in the Foreign Small/Mid Blend category. Templeton Ins Foreign Smaller Co Ser Adv has an expense ratio of 1.26%, which is 11% 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 Ins Foreign Smaller Co Ser Adv has a portfolio turnover rate of 90%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 63% for the Foreign Small/Mid Blend category.

Recently, in the month of July 2026, Templeton Ins Foreign Smaller Co Ser Adv returned -2.1%, which earned it a grade of D, as the Foreign Small/Mid Blend category had an average return of -1.3%. 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 Ins Foreign Smaller Co Ser Adv has a trailing yield of 7.38%, which is above the 2.74% category average.

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 Ins Foreign Smaller Co Ser Adv Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned 7.5%, 2.1 percentage points worse than the category, which translates into a grade of D. The fund has returned 9.0% over the past year (grade of F), 5.9% over the past three years (grade of F) and 0.0% per year over the past five years (grade of F) and 5.1% per year over the past 10 years (grade of F).

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