Investment objective & strategy
As of July 28, 2025 · prospectusObjective. Total return.
Strategy. Under normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in bonds of U.S. issuers, including government, corporate debt, mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities. Bonds include debt obligations of any maturity, such as bonds, notes, bills and debentures. U.S. issuers include entities: whose securities are listed or traded principally on a recognized stock exchange or over-the-counter market in the U.S.; that derive 50% or more of their total revenue from either goods or services produced or sales made in the U.S.; that have 50% or more of their assets in the U.S.; or that are organized under the laws of, or with principal offices in, the U.S. Bonds of U.S. issuers also include: (i) securities included in … Under normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in bonds of U.S. issuers, including government, corporate debt, mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities. Bonds include debt obligations of any maturity, such as bonds, notes, bills and debentures. U.S. issuers include entities: whose securities are listed or traded principally on a recognized stock exchange or over-the-counter market in the U.S.; that derive 50% or more of their total revenue from either goods or services produced or sales made in the U.S.; that have 50% or more of their assets in the U.S.; or that are organized under the laws of, or with principal offices in, the U.S. Bonds of U.S. issuers also include: (i) securities included in the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Index; and (ii) bonds denominated in U.S. dollars issued by foreign banks and corporations, and registered with the SEC for sale in the U.S., such as Yankee bonds. Derivatives that provide exposure to bonds may be used to satisfy the Funds 80% policy. The Fund invests predominantly in investment grade debt securities and, under normal market conditions, is generally expected to have sector, credit and duration exposures comparable to the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Index, the Funds benchmark index. However, the investment manager makes investment decisions based upon its own fundamental analysis, which affects the Funds sector, credit and duration exposures so that they may vary from the benchmark index. Investment grade debt securities are securities that are rated at the time of purchase in the top four ratings categories by one or more independent rating organizations such as S&P Global Ratings (S&P ) (rated BBB- or better) or Moodys Investors Service (Moodys) (rated Baa3 or higher) or, if unrated, are determined to be of comparable quality by the Funds investment manager. An asset-backed security is a security backed by loans, leases, and other receivables. A mortgage-backed security is an interest in a pool of mortgage loans made by and packaged or pooled together by banks, mortgage lenders, various governmental agencies and other financial institutions for sale to investors to finance purchases of homes, commercial buildings and other real estate. The Funds investments in mortgage-backed securities include securities that are issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government, its agencies or instrumentalities, which include mortgage pass-through securities representing interests in pools of mortgage loans issued or guaranteed by the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae), the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac). Securities issued by different government agencies or instrumentalities have different levels of credit support. The Fund also invests in other types of mortgage securities that may be issued or guaranteed by private issuers including commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS). The Fund may purchase or sell mortgage-backed securities on a delayed delivery or forward commitment basis through the to-be-announced (TBA) market. With TBA transactions, the particular securities to be delivered must meet specified terms and conditions. For purposes of pursuing its investment goal, the Fund may enter into various interest rate and credit-related derivatives, principally U.S. Treasury futures, interest rate swaps and credit default swaps. The use of these derivative transactions may allow the Fund to obtain net long or short exposures to select interest rates, durations or credit risks. These derivatives may be used to enhance Fund returns, increase liquidity, gain exposure to certain instruments or markets in a more efficient or less expensive way and/or hedge risks associated with its other portfolio investments. In choosing investments for the Fund, the investment manager selects securities in various market sectors based on its assessment of changing economic, market, industry and issuer conditions. The investment manager uses a top-down analysis of macroeconomic trends, combined with a bottom-up fundamental analysis of market sectors, industries and issuers, to try to take advantage of varying sector reactions to economic events. The investment manager may utilize quantitative models to evaluate investment opportunities as part of the portfolio construction process for the Fund. Quantitative models are proprietary systems that rely on mathematical computations to identify investment opportunities. The investment manager may consider selling a security when it believes the security has become fully valued due to either its price appreciation or changes in the issuers fundamentals, or when the investment manager believes another security is a more attractive investment opportunity.
Top holdings
As of March 31, 2026 · N-PORT| Security | Ticker | Value | % of fund |
|---|---|---|---|
| US TREASURY N/B | — | $172.96M | 6.01% |
| US TREASURY N/B | — | $122.72M | 4.27% |
| FNCL 4.5 4/26 | — | $68.53M | 2.38% |
| US TREASURY N/B | — | $62.66M | 2.18% |
| US TREASURY N/B | — | $59.51M | 2.07% |
| Franklin Institutional US Government Money Market Fund | INFXX | $54.18M | 1.88% |
| US TREASURY N/B | — | $43.00M | 1.49% |
| US TREASURY N/B | — | $39.93M | 1.39% |
| US TREASURY N/B | — | $37.00M | 1.29% |
| US TREASURY N/B | — | $36.00M | 1.25% |
Portfolio moves
Dec 31, 2025 → Mar 31, 2026How many positions this fund opened, exited, grew, trimmed, or left unchanged between its two most recent N-PORT snapshots — net changes between point-in-time reports, not a trade log.
Similar funds
Funds whose portfolios most overlap this one, by weight| Fund | Overlap | Net exp. |
|---|---|---|
| Franklin Total Return Fund · FKBAX, FCTLX, FBDAX, FTRRX, FRERX | 20% | 0.38% |
| Franklin Allocation VIP Fund | 18% | 0.57% |
| Franklin Strategic Income VIP Fund | 15% | 0.79% |
Advisers
| Firm | Role |
|---|---|
| Franklin Advisers, Inc. | Adviser |
| Franklin Templeton Institutional, LLC | Sub-adviser |
Footnotes
- Expense ratio as of July 28, 2025, from the fund's prospectus.
- Net assets and holdings count as of March 31, 2026, from the fund's N-PORT filing.
- Total return for calendar year 2025, before tax and after fund expenses. Computed by compounding the twelve monthly total returns the fund reported in its SEC N-PORT filings for 2025 (the latest prospectus does not yet chart this year).
Machine-readable: JSON · Markdown. Programmatic access via the agent surface.