Asset manager opens "Academy" to financial advisors in U.S., Latin America. Franklin Templeton Investments is bringing its "Franklin Templeton Academy" broker training program, launched in Asia and Europe two years ago, to cities in the U.S. and Latin America.

The academy workshops "offer a comprehensive curriculum designed to help financial advisors develop and enhance financial planning and business development skills and ultimately provide superior service to their clients," according to a press release out of San Mateo, Calif.-based Franklin. To date, around 18,000 Asian and European advisors have received the training.

Broader

"The investment choices and financial-planning challenges facing investors have grown exponentially in the past decade," says Jed Plafker, Franklin's head of international retail distribution. "We believe this value-added training and topical educational curriculum will help more financial advisors around the world become successful in providing the best financial planning advice."

Philip Bensen, newly appointed director of the training program, says his team is broadening the curriculum to include more financial-planning topics and more insights on business building, practice management, professional development, client management and technical investment training. In the U.S. and Latin America, the academy plans to offer "customized programs for our broker-dealer partners in a number of cities in the U.S. and Latin America later this year," he adds.

Franklin managed $552 billion in assets at the end of 2006. -FWR

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