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

Franklin Templeton
California-based investment manager Franklin Templeton, said it has received regulatory approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore to launch the Franklin OnChain US Dollar Short-Term Money Market Fund in Singapore.

Structured as a sub-fund under Franklin Templeton’s first Variable Capital Company, known as Franklin Templeton Investments VCC, the fund will be the first tokenized fund registered for retail investors in Singapore, the US firm said. Franklin Templeton incorporated the VCC in August 2024 and the fund was approved as an authorised scheme by MAS in May.

As shares in the fund will be issued using Franklin Templeton’s proprietary blockchain-integrated transfer agency platform, investors can benefit from greater transparency, security, accessibility and efficiency enabled by blockchain technology. Investors will be able to access the fund with a minimum investment of $20.

The investment objectives of the fund mirror that of the Luxembourg registered, Franklin Templeton Investment Funds – Franklin US Dollar Short-Term Money Market Fund. The fund, which has $1.76 billion in assets under management, aims to offer investors exposure to a portfolio of high quality, short-term securities, consisting principally of transferable securities and money market instruments of governments and eligible securities of companies of any nation worldwide, primarily dollar denominated, or hedged back into dollars minimising any currency exposure.

The fund is managed by Templeton Asset Management, which in turn has appointed Franklin Advisors as the sub-managers.

“The new fund marks a significant milestone in our commitment to harnessing the power of blockchain technology to lower the barriers to investing and deliver transformative products for investors in Asia-Pacific,” Tariq Ahmad, head of APAC at Franklin Templeton, said.

“We believe that blockchain technology is fundamentally reshaping the financial services industry by enabling the evolution of traditional financial products and processes, and the new fund demonstrates the potential for increased interoperability in the financial system,” Roger Bayston, EVP, head of digital assets, Franklin Templeton, added. “With rising investor interest in tokenized digital financial products, we are committed to leveraging our in-depth knowledge of digital asset ecosystems and disruptive technologies to bring more innovative solutions to the market.”

Clearstead, GLASfunds
Clearstead, a financial advisory firm in the US serving wealthy families and institutions; and GLASfunds, an alternative investment platform for financial advisors; have unveiled enhancements to Clearstead’s private market investments platform “ClearAccess.”

The platform combines Clearstead’s institutional investment process and private markets investments manager selection capabilities. Since 2011, Clearstead has partnered with GLASfunds to provide a vehicle for streamlined access to private market investments.

The enhancements will cut costs and consolidate tax reporting, among other benefits, Cleveland-headquartered Clearstead said in a statement this week. The platform will allow qualified clients to invest in Clearstead selected private market investments through a new client dedicated fund on the GLASfunds platform.