The latest news in investment offerings, financial products and other services relevant to wealth advisors and their clients.

Franklin Templeton
California-based asset manager Franklin Templeton has continued its run of exchange-trade fund launches with the Franklin Core US Enhanced Equity UCITS ETF. It is an active equity ETF that provides capital growth through a diversified portfolio of US equities, managed by Franklin Templeton Investment Solutions.

An ETF is a basket of securities such as stocks and/or bonds that are held in a single fund that is bought or sold on an exchange. The market has surged in recent years as investors and advisors have sought lower-cost ways of obtaining market exposure.

Building on the launch of Franklin Templeton’s Core Enhanced fund range in October 2025, the ETF follows the same investment approach as the FTIF Franklin Core US Enhanced Equity Fund, providing investors with an additional, cost-efficient way to access the strategy through an ETF wrapper. The new ETF will list on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) on 28 January.

“This launch is particularly relevant for UK investors as approaches to portfolio construction continue to evolve,” Andrew Ashton, head of UK, said. “Building on the momentum of our ETF range, this strategy is designed to serve as a dependable core allocation, targeting stable relative returns with disciplined active risk management. It reinforces our focus on providing UK clients with greater choice by delivering specialist active capabilities in a format aligned with evolving portfolio construction needs.”

The Franklin Core US Enhanced Equity UCITS ETF pursues an actively managed, quantitative process to dynamically invest in equity securities while keeping the expected level of tracking error between 1 per cent and 2 per cent in normal market conditions. The funds employ a proprietary quantitative selection process using a multi-factor model to assign a weighted score across quality, value, sentiment and alternative factors. The process also incorporates an alpha score derived from the proprietary signals and insights of Franklin Templeton’s specialist investment managers, the firm said in a statement.

Designed to be a foundational equity allocation, the Franklin Core Enhanced Equity funds are sector, industry and factor neutral, with the global portfolio also offering diversified exposure across major regions. The ETF is classified as Article 8 under the EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR).

“Clients increasingly want active outcomes with low tracking – combining transparency, cost efficiency and portfolio discipline. This UCITS ETF brings our established Core Enhanced strategy into an ETF format without changing what matters: the investment process, the risk controls, or the objective," Lotfi Ladjemi, vice president, ETF Distribution – UK, said. "This launch reinforces our commitment to providing a broad range of choices across index and active ETFs, and to innovation in enhanced core equity.” Ladjemi, who believes that ETFs work well in a volatile market, sees continued demand in future.

Like a number of investment managers, the firm has launched a series of ETFs, most recently with the launch of two new actively managed international equity exchanged-traded funds (ETFs), which offer investors approaches to accessing opportunities outside the US. See here.

US-headquartered asset manager Invesco is also expanding its range of fixed income exposures with the launch of the Invesco EUR AT1 CoCo Bond UCITS Exchange Traded Fund (ETF). US-based State Street Investment Management published its 2025 EMEA Wealth Manager Survey, showing that ETFs remain dominant, with rising demand for both index and active strategies. In a time of macroeconomic uncertainty and industry change, the survey shows that 88 per cent of wealth managers expect to use ETFs more frequently in client portfolios.

True Potential, Amundi 
Paris-based asset manager Amundi has been appointed as True Potential's sole investment solutions partner for asset allocation across its Growth-Aligned fund range, which has £7.7 billion ($10.6 billion) assets under management (AuM).

The appointment represents an evolution of True Potential Investment’s proposition, with Amundi's exclusive partnership to co-design a strategic asset allocation framework. A key component of the relationship will be the provision of index-level funds for the Growth-Aligned fund using Amundi’s multi-asset expertise and its range of index funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). This will streamline portfolio construction, enabling greater transparency for clients. It also reinforces True Potential’s commitment to delivering robust, scalable investment solutions that provide a strong foundation for the continued growth and evolution of AuM.

True Potential will benefit from Amundi's macro research and capital markets assumptions as well as incorporating the integration of its proprietary ALTO technology platform within True Potential’s investment processes – enhancing investment oversight, outcomes, operatonal efficiency, and reporting.