SAN MATEO, Calif., May 01, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Franklin Templeton Investments today announced the addition of three new strategic beta ETFs to its Franklin LibertyShares™ lineup—Franklin LibertyQ U.S. Equity ETF (FLQL), Franklin LibertyQ U.S. Mid Cap Equity ETF (FLQM) and Franklin LibertyQ U.S. Small Cap Equity ETF (FLQS)—expanding its LibertyQ strategic beta ETF suite to now include U.S. equity-focused products.

“Our new U.S. equity strategic beta ETFs reflect our ongoing commitment to investors, by developing best-in-class offerings that seek to achieve better risk-adjusted returns over the long term. Leveraging our firm’s 70 years of active management experience, our quantitative approach targets specific factors for consistent sources of return. In our proprietary approach, we place an emphasis on the ‘quality’ factor,” said Patrick O’Connor, global head of ETFs at Franklin Templeton Investments.

The new strategic beta ETF products are listed on the Bats BZX Exchange (BATS):

  • Franklin LibertyQ U.S. Equity ETF (BATS:FLQL) seeks to provide investment results that closely correspond, before fees and expenses, to the performance of its corresponding index, LibertyQ U.S. Large Cap Equity Index¹. The underlying LibertyQ U.S. Large Cap Equity Index generally includes U.S. mid- and large-capitalization companies that have favorable exposure to four investment style factors: quality, value, momentum and low volatility.
     
  • Franklin LibertyQ U.S. Mid Cap Equity ETF (BATS:FLQM) seeks to provide investment results that closely correspond, before fees and expenses, to the performance of the LibertyQ U.S. Mid Cap Equity Index² (the U.S. Mid Cap Underlying Index). The underlying LibertyQ U.S. Mid Cap Equity Index generally includes U.S. mid- capitalization companies that have favorable exposure to four investment style factors: quality, value, momentum and low volatility.
     
  • Franklin LibertyQ U.S. Small Cap Equity ETF (BATS:FLQS) seeks to provide investment results that closely correspond, before fees and expenses, to the performance of its corresponding underlying index, LibertyQ U.S. Small Cap Equity Index³. The underlying LibertyQ U.S. Small Cap Equity Index includes U.S. small- capitalization companies that have favorable exposure to four investment style factors: quality, value, momentum and low volatility.

“First launched in June 2016, our suite of strategic beta ETFs was developed based on feedback from clients, who wanted to be able to access our expertise in an ETF format. We continue to build on the momentum of the initial launch by adding to our LibertyQ suite, which can serve as attractive long-term portfolio holdings,” O’Connor continued.

The strategic beta suite also includes four ETFs covering emerging, international and global equity strategies. In addition, the firm offers a suite of actively managed ETFs, which includes two equity products and two fixed income products.

Visit Franklin LibertyShares’ Capital Markets Corner for insights on ETF investing.

Franklin LibertyShares platform of strategic beta and actively managed ETFs leverages the investment expertise, active management insights and deep resources of Franklin Templeton Investments, a recognized global leader in asset management with 70 years of experience. Franklin LibertyShares has approximately $623 million in assets under management as of March 31, 2017. For more information, please visit https://www.libertyshares.com.

Important Information about the Funds

All investments involve risks, including possible loss of principal. The market values of stocks owned by the fund will go up or down, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably. Special risks are associated with foreign investing, including currency fluctuations, economic instability and political developments; investments in emerging markets involve heightened risks related to the same factors. To the extent the fund focuses on particular countries, regions, industries, sectors or types of investment from time to time, it may be subject to greater risks or adverse developments in such areas of focus than a fund that invests in a wider variety of countries, regions, industries or sectors or investments. Smaller- and midsize-company stocks have historically experienced more price volatility than larger-company stocks, especially over the short term. There can be no assurance that the LibertyQ ETFs’ multi-factor stock selection process will enhance performance. Exposure to such investment factors may detract from performance in some market environments, perhaps for extended periods. Performance of the LibertyQ ETFs may vary significantly from the performance of an index, as a result of transaction costs, expenses and other factors. The fund’s risk considerations are discussed in the prospectus.

ETFs trade like stocks, fluctuate in market value and may trade at prices above or below the ETF’s net asset value. Brokerage commissions and ETF expenses will reduce returns.

ETF shares may be bought or sold throughout the day at their market price, not their Net Asset Value (NAV), on the exchange on which they are listed. Shares of ETFs are tradable on secondary markets and may trade either at a premium or a discount to their NAV on the secondary market. Prior to trading in the secondary market, shares of the Fund are “created” at NAV by market makers, large investors and institutions only in block-size Creation Units. Each “creator” or “Authorized Participant” enters into an authorized participant agreement with Franklin Templeton Distributors, Inc., an affiliate of Franklin Advisers, Inc. Only an Authorized Participant may create or redeem Creation Units directly with the Fund.

Investors should carefully consider a fund’s investment goals, risks, charges and expenses before investing. To obtain a summary prospectus and/or prospectus, which contains this and other information, talk to your financial advisor, call us at (800) DIAL BEN/342-5236 or visit libertyshares.com. Please carefully read a prospectus before you invest or send money.

About Franklin Templeton Investments

The funds’ principal underwriter is Franklin Templeton Distributors, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Franklin Resources, Inc. (NYSE:BEN), a global investment management organization operating as Franklin Templeton Investments. Franklin Templeton Investments provides global and domestic investment management to retail, institutional and sovereign wealth clients in over 170 countries. Through specialized teams, the company has expertise across all asset classes – including equity, fixed income, alternative and custom solutions. The company’s more than 650 investment professionals are supported by its integrated, worldwide team of risk management professionals and global trading desk network. With offices in over 30 countries, the California-based company has 70 years of investment experience and approximately $740 billion in assets under management as of March 31, 2017. For more information, please visit franklintempleton.com.

  1. The LibertyQ U.S. Large Cap Equity Index is a systematic, rules-based proprietary index that is calculated by Frank Russell Company based on the Russell 1000® Index that aims to reflect the performance of Franklin Templeton's desired investment strategy. The Franklin LibertyQ U.S. Equity ETF is not sponsored, endorsed, issued, sold or promoted by, or affiliated with Frank Russell Company. Frank Russell Company does not make any representation regarding the advisability of investing in the Franklin LibertyQ U.S. Equity ETF. The index includes stocks from the U.S. market that have favorable exposure to multiple investment style factors, subject to a maximum 1 percent per company weighting. The LibertyQ U.S. Large Cap Equity Index utilizes a multi-factor selection process that is designed to select equity securities from the Russell 1000® Index that have exposure to four investment style-factors: quality, value, momentum and low volatility –while seeking a lower level of risk and higher risk-adjusted performance than the Russell 1000® Index over the long term.
     
  2. The LibertyQ U.S. Mid Cap Equity Index is a systematic, rules-based proprietary index that is calculated by Frank Russell Company based on the Russell Midcap® Index that aims to reflect the performance of Franklin Templeton's desired investment strategy. The Franklin LibertyQ U.S. Mid Cap Equity ETF is not sponsored, endorsed, issued, sold or promoted by, or affiliated with Frank Russell Company. Frank Russell Company does not make any representation regarding the advisability of investing in the Franklin LibertyQ U.S. Mid Cap Equity ETF. The index includes stocks from the U.S. market that have favorable exposure to multiple investment style factors, subject to a maximum 1 percent per company weighting. The LibertyQ U.S. Mid Cap Equity Index utilizes a multi-factor selection process that is designed to select equity securities from the Russell Midcap® Index that have exposure to four investment style-factors: quality, value, momentum and low volatility –while seeking a lower level of risk and higher risk-adjusted performance than the Russell Midcap® Index over the long term
     
  3. The LibertyQ U.S. Small Cap Equity Index is a systematic, rules-based proprietary index that is calculated by Frank Russell Company based on the Russell 2000® Index that aims to reflect the performance of Franklin Templeton's desired investment strategy. The Franklin LibertyQ U.S. Small Cap Equity ETF is not sponsored, endorsed, issued, sold or promoted by, or affiliated with Frank Russell Company. Frank Russell Company does not make any representation regarding the advisability of investing in the Franklin LibertyQ U.S. Small Cap Equity ETF. The index includes stocks from the U.S. market that have favorable exposure to multiple investment style factors, subject to a maximum 1 percent per company weighting. The LibertyQ U.S. Small Cap Equity Index utilizes a multi-factor selection process that is designed to select equity securities from the Russell 2000® Index that have exposure to four investment style-factors: quality, value, momentum and low volatility –while seeking a lower level of risk and higher risk-adjusted performance than the Russell 2000® Index over the long term.

Indexes are unmanaged, and one cannot invest directly in an index. They do not reflect any fees, expenses or sales charges.

Frank Russell Company is the source of the trademarks, service marks and copyrights related to the Russell Indexes. Russell® is a trademark of Frank Russell Company.

Copyright © 2017. Franklin Templeton Investments. All rights reserved.

Corporate Communications:  Pholida Barclay, (212) 632-3204, pholida.barclay@franklintempleton.com 
Prosek Partners:  Cary Ruterman, (212) 279-3115 x 123, cruterman@prosek.com 
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