Franklin Templeton Multi-Asset Strategies, the asset management group’s global investment platform, has expanded its global tactical asset allocation team with the appointment of five new investment professionals.

Todd Saunders, senior global tactical asset allocation portfolio strategist, Alexander Hug, portfolio strategy analyst, as well as Victoria Quach, Billy Tranand and Cindy Wu, all quantitative research analysts, will report to Samer Habl, managing director of global tactical asset allocation.

“Retail and institutional investors worldwide are showing an increased demand for asset allocation solutions focused on risk-adjusted performance, and we have expanded and developed the Franklin Templeton Multi-Asset Strategies platform to better meet that need,” said Brent Smith, chief investment officer of FTMAS.

“Investors today are looking not only for new sources of alpha, but also for increased diversification of their portfolios through a broad range of asset classes, including investment solutions and outcome-oriented strategies like global tactical asset allocation,” said William Yun, executive vice president of Franklin Templeton’s Alternative Strategies unit.

FTMAS had a roster of 22 investment professionals at 30 June 2011.