NEW YORK, February 26, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Templeton Emerging Markets Fund [NYSE: EMF] ("EMF" or the "Fund") today announced initiatives of the Fund’s Board of Trustees ("Board") designed to reduce the Fund’s discount to net asset value ("NAV") and benefit shareholders. These initiatives include a management fee reduction, a managed distribution plan and a share repurchase program.
Management fee reduction: The Board approved a five-basis point reduction in the investment management fee that shareholders pay to the investment manager, Templeton Asset Management Ltd. The management fee reduction will be effective March 1, 2025. The prior and new investment management fee, calculated daily and paid monthly, to Templeton Asset Management Ltd. based on the average weekly net assets of the Fund are as follows:
Net Assets
Prior Annual Fee Rate
New Annual Fee Rate
Up to and including $1 billion
1.100%
1.050%
Over $1 billion, up to and including $2 billion
1.050%
1.000%
In excess of $2 billion
1.000%
0.950%
Managed distribution plan: The Board authorized a managed distribution plan (the "Plan") pursuant to which the Fund will make quarterly distributions to shareholders at the fixed rate of $0.22 per share (this equates to 6.1% and 7.2% based on the Fund’s January 31, 2025, closing NAV and market price, respectively). The Plan is intended to provide shareholders with consistent distributions each quarter and is intended to narrow the discount between the market price and NAV of the Fund’s common shares, but there can be no assurance that the Plan will be successful in doing so. The Fund anticipates the first quarterly distribution to be paid on or about March 31, 2025. Additional information about the Plan is provided below.
Share repurchase program: The Board approved an open-market share repurchase program (the "Share Repurchase Program") to authorize the Fund to purchase, from time to time, up to 10% of the Fund’s common shares in open-market transactions, at the discretion of management, in order to help reduce the Fund’s market price discount to NAV. Additional information about the Share Repurchase Program is provided below.
Additional information about the Plan: To the extent that sufficient distributable income is not available on a quarterly basis, the Fund will distribute long-term capital gains and/or return of capital in order to maintain its managed distribution rate. A return of capital may occur, for example, when some or all of the money that was invested in the Fund is paid back to shareholders. A return of capital distribution does not necessarily reflect the Fund’s investment performance and should not be confused with "yield" or "income." Even though the Fund may realize current year capital gains, such gains may be offset, in whole or in part, by the Fund’s capital loss carryovers from prior years.
The Board may amend the terms of the Plan or terminate the Plan at any time without prior notice to the Fund’s shareholders. The amendment or termination of the Plan could have an adverse effect on the market price of the Fund’s common shares. The Plan will be subject to periodic review by the Board, including a yearly review of the distribution rate to determine if an adjustment should be made.
Shareholders should not draw any conclusions about the Fund’s investment performance from the amount of the distribution or from the terms of the Plan. The amounts and sources of distributions for tax reporting purposes will depend upon the Fund’s investment experience during its fiscal year and may be subject to changes based on tax regulations. The Fund will send a Form 1099-DIV to shareholders for the calendar year that will describe how to report the Fund’s distributions for federal income tax purposes.
Additional information about the Share Repurchase Program: Subject to the 10% limitation, the timing and amount of repurchases would be in the discretion of the Fund’s portfolio managers. In exercising its discretion consistent with their portfolio management responsibilities, the portfolio managers will take into account various other factors, including, but not limited to, the level of the discount, the Fund’s performance, portfolio holdings, dividend history, market conditions, cash on hand, the availability of other attractive investments, and whether the sale of certain portfolio securities would be undesirable because of liquidity concerns or because the sale might subject the Fund to adverse tax consequences. Any repurchases would be made on a national securities exchange at the prevailing market price, subject to exchange requirements, federal securities laws and rules that restrict repurchases, and the terms of any outstanding leverage or borrowing of the Fund.
If and when the Fund’s 10% threshold is reached, no further repurchases could be completed unless authorized by the Board. Until the 10% threshold is reached, Fund management will have the flexibility to rapidly commence share repurchases if and when it is determined to be appropriate in light of prevailing circumstances. The Share Repurchase Program is intended to benefit shareholders by enabling the Fund to repurchase shares at a discount to NAV, thereby increasing the proportionate interest of each remaining shareholder in the Fund.
For further information on Templeton Emerging Markets Fund, please visit our web site at www.franklintempleton.com.
About Franklin Templeton
Franklin Resources, Inc. [NYSE:BEN] is a global investment management organization with subsidiaries operating as Franklin Templeton and serving clients in over 150 countries. Franklin Templeton’s mission is to help clients achieve better outcomes through investment management expertise, wealth management and technology solutions. Through its specialist investment managers, the company offers specialization on a global scale, bringing extensive capabilities in fixed income, equity, alternatives and multi-asset solutions. With more than 1,500 investment professionals, and offices in major financial markets around the world, the California-based company has over 75 years of investment experience and $1.58 trillion in assets under management as of January 31, 2025. For more information, please visit franklintempleton.com and follow us on LinkedIn, X and Facebook.
