New Fund Focusing on Tech and Healthcare for Growth

Tech and life science names make up a bulk of the investment focus in a fund now available to retail investors from Franklin Resources (NYSE:BEN).

On Monday (February 24), the investment firm Franklin Templeton unveiled the Franklin Focused Growth Fund, managed by Matthew Moberg, senior vice president and portfolio manager with Franklin Equity Group. The fund was driven by larger attention to companies in the technology, healthcare and consumer discretionary industries.

In its statement, the investment company indicated investors can expect to see mostly large-cap names. However, the fund “may also invest in small- and mid-capitalization companies,” according to Franklin Templeton.

In an email to the Investing News Network (INN), a spokesperson for Franklin Templeton said the fund holds no mandate in terms of the specific balance between large-cap companies and those with smaller valuations. All exposure decisions for the fund are left up to the fund manager, according to the spokesperson. The fund was first set up back in April 2016.

“Fundamental research, focused on a long-term view of duration and pace of growth, drive our idea generation,” Moberg said in a statement.

Besides the hint at investment in smaller names for these spaces, the investment company indicated the fund can invest up to 25 percent of its net assets in emerging market foreign equity securities.

The biggest names in the pool, based on the percentage of the weight for the fund, include Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) with a leading 9.75 percent weight, Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) with an 8.95 percent weight and ServiceNow (NYSE:NOW) with a 5.02 percent weight.

On the healthcare front, here are the top three names attached to the fund: Danaher (NYSE:DHR) with a weight of 3.41 percent, Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG) at 2.37 percent weight and Idexx Laboratories (NASDAQ:IDXX) at 2.01 percent.

“We consider many factors when selecting investments, including a company’s strategic positioning in its industry, its historical and potential growth in free cash flow, and an assessment of the strength and quality of management,” Moberg said.

The indicated weights are accurate as of the most recent holding’s document from Franklin Templeton.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Bryan Mc Govern, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.