3 Franklin Mutual Funds With a Value-Oriented Approach

Franklin Templeton is an investment management company founded in 1974 and oversees $1.66 trillion in assets through its global team of 1,600 investment professionals. It offers a mutual fund that includes equity, bond and alternative investment options. Its investment approach is based on research-based portfolio development and performance-based investment methods, which operate through its “Beyond ESG” framework that incorporates environmental, social and governance elements into investment decisions.

We have chosen three Franklin mutual funds — Franklin Utilities Adv FRUAX, Franklin Equity Income FISEX and Franklin Convertible Securities FISCX — that investors should buy now for the long term. These funds have a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or 2 (Buy), positive three-year and five-year annualized returns, minimum initial investments within $5000 and expense ratios considerably lower than the category average. So, these funds have provided a comparatively stronger performance and carry a lower fee.

Franklin Utilities Adv fund seeks capital appreciation and current income. FRUAX invests most of its assets in the securities of public utility companies.

John Kohli has been the lead manager of FRUAX since Dec. 31, 1998. Most of the fund’s holdings were in companies like NextEra Energy, Inc. (8.6%), Entergy Corp. (5.6%) and Vistra Corp. (5.4%) as of Sept. 30, 2025.

FRUAX’s 3-year and 5-year annualized returns are 12% and 11.1%, respectively. Its net expense ratio is 0.55%. FRUAX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #1.

To see how this fund performed compared to its category and other 1 and 2 Ranked Mutual Funds, please click here.

Franklin Equity Income fund seeks to maximize total return by emphasizing high current income and long-term capital appreciation, consistent with reasonable risk. FISEX invests its net assets in equity securities and in common stocks offering current dividend yields that are higher than the average yield of the stocks in the Standard and Poor's 500 Index (S&P 500).

Matthew D. Quinlan has been the lead manager of FISEX since March 1, 2011. Most of the fund's holdings were in companies like JPMorgan Chase & Co. (4.6%), Morgan Stanley (3.4%) and Chevron Corp (3.2%) as of July 31, 2025.

FISEX's 3-year and 5-year annualized returns are 14.3% and 11.8%, respectively. Its net expense ratio is 0.81%. FISEX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #1.

Franklin Convertible Securities fund seeks to maximize total return, consistent with reasonable risk, by seeking to optimize capital appreciation and high current income under varying market conditions. FISCX invests most of its assets in convertible securities, which are generally bonds or preferred stocks that may be converted within a specified period of time into a set amount of common stock at a prestated price. 

Eric Daniel Webster has been the lead manager of FISCX since March 1, 2016. Most of the fund's holdings were in companies like Cloudflare, Inc. (2.5%), Welltower Inc. (2.3%), and Uber Technologies, Inc. (2.2%) as of July 31, 2025.

FISCX's 3-year and 5-year annualized returns are 13.1% and 5.5%, respectively. Its net expense ratio is 0.81%. FISCX has a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank # 1.

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