The US-based investment firm is offering an “all-weather” strategy to investors looking to increase their exposure to currency markets.

Franklin Templeton Investments has launched a fund investing primarily in securities and instruments that offer long or short exposure to currencies of any country.

The Templeton Global Currency Fund, a sub-fund of the Luxembourg-registered Franklin Templeton Investment Funds range, is now available to Luxembourg-based investors. Its benchmark-unconstrained approach enables the fund to hold positions that are believed to have the most potential to maximise returns.

The fund’s portfolio managers are California-based Michael Hasenstab, executive vice president and chief investment officer, and Sonal Desai, senior vice president, director of research at Templeton Global Macro. They will be supported by Franklin Templeton’s global fixed income platform, which has 170 investment professionals worldwide.

The team will combine in-depth macroeconomic and country-specific research with fundamentals-based valuation analysis to capitalise on short-term market inefficiencies and capture long-term potential. The managers will determine fundamental long-term currency valuations while analysing short-term dynamics to assess what will drive currencies either toward or away from their long-term equilibrium value.

“We consider the new Templeton Global Currency Fund an all-weather strategy, given its ability to go long or short in any currency, which enables us to capitalise on opportunities around the globe and in any market environment,” said Hasenstab. “By keeping a pulse on evolving economic and policy trends and employing our disciplined investment approach, we can uncover emerging opportunities to make compelling investments where the ability to go long or short allows us to best express our long-term views.”

Vivek Kudva, managing director, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and India at Franklin Templeton Investments, added: “Currency markets are often inefficient and can provide compelling opportunities to generate excess returns relative to many other asset classes. In addition, global currencies are often less-correlated with both equity and fixed income markets and as a result, can help diversify the risk in a portfolio.”