Form 497K Franklin Templeton ETF

February 21, 2019 10:53 AM EST

SUMMARY PROSPECTUS

 

Franklin
Liberty Senior Loan ETF

Franklin Templeton ETF Trust

May 23, 2018  as amended February 21, 2019

Franklin Templeton


Ticker: Exchange:
FLBL Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc.
 


Before you invest, you may want to review the Fund's prospectus, which contains more information about the Fund and its risks. You can find the Fund’s prospectus, statement of additional information and other information about the Fund online at www.franklintempleton.com/prospectus. You can also get this information at no cost by calling (800) DIAL BEN/342-5236 or by sending an e-mail request to [email protected]. The Fund's prospectus and statement of additional information, both dated May 23, 2018, as may be supplemented, are all incorporated by reference into this Summary Prospectus.





Franklin Liberty Senior Loan ETF

Investment Goal

High level of current income. A secondary goal is preservation of capital.

Fees and Expenses of the Fund

The following table describes the fees and expenses that you will incur if you own shares of the Fund. You may also incur usual and customary brokerage commissions when buying or selling shares of the Fund, which are not reflected in the Example that follows.


Annual Fund Operating Expenses

(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

     
Management fees  0.65% 
Distribution and service (12b-1) fees  None 
Other expenses1  0.16% 
Total annual Fund operating expenses  0.81% 
Fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement2  -0.36% 
Total annual Fund operating expenses after fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement2  0.45% 

1. Other expenses are based on estimated amounts for the current fiscal year.

2. The investment manager has contractually agreed to waive or assume certain expenses so that total annual Fund operating expenses (including acquired fund fees and expenses, but excluding certain non-routine expenses) for the Fund do not exceed 0.45% until July 31, 2019. Contractual fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement agreements may not be changed or terminated during the time periods set forth above.

Example

This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of the period. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund's operating expenses remain the same. The Example reflects adjustments made to the Fund's operating expenses due to the fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements by management for the 1 Year numbers only. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

    1 Year  3 Years 
    $ 46  $ 223 

Portfolio Turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual Fund operating expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund's performance.

Principal Investment Strategies

Under normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in senior loans and investments that provide exposure to senior loans. Senior loans include loans referred to as leveraged loans, bank loans and/or floating rate loans. The Fund invests predominantly in income-producing senior floating interest rate corporate loans made to or issued by U.S. companies, non-U.S. entities and U.S. subsidiaries of non-U.S. entities. Floating interest rates vary with and are periodically adjusted to a generally recognized base interest rate such as the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) or the Prime Rate. The Fund may invest in companies whose financial condition is troubled or uncertain and that may be involved in bankruptcy proceedings, reorganizations or financial restructurings.

Senior loans generally have credit ratings below investment grade and may be subject to restrictions on resale. Under normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 75% of its net assets in senior loans that are rated B- or higher at the time of purchase by a nationally recognized statistical rating organization (NRSRO) or, if unrated, are determined to be of comparable quality by the Fund’s investment manager. Under normal market conditions, the Fund may invest up to 25% of its net assets in senior loans that are rated below B- by an NRSRO or, if unrated, are determined to be of comparable quality by the investment manager.

The Fund’s senior loans typically hold the most senior position in the capitalization structure of a company and are generally secured by specific collateral. Such senior position means that, in case the company becomes insolvent, the lenders or security holders in a senior position like the Fund’s position will typically be paid before other unsecured or subordinated creditors of the company from the assets of the company.

The Fund typically invests in a corporate loan if the investment manager judges that the borrower can meet the scheduled payments on the obligation. The investment manager performs its own independent credit analysis of each borrower/issuer and of the collateral structure securing the Fund’s investment. The investment manager also considers the nature of the industry in which the borrower operates, the nature of the borrower’s assets, and the general quality and creditworthiness of the borrower.

The Fund may invest in “covenant lite” loans. Certain financial institutions may define “covenant lite” loans differently. Covenant lite loans may have tranches that contain fewer or no restrictive covenants. The tranche of the covenant lite loan that has fewer restrictions typically does not include the legal clauses which allow an investor to proactively enforce financial tests or prevent or restrict undesired actions taken by the company or sponsor. Covenant lite loans also generally give the borrower/issuer more flexibility if they have met certain loan terms and provide fewer investor protections if certain criteria are breached. The Fund may experience relatively greater realized or unrealized losses or delays in enforcing its rights on its holdings of certain covenant lite loans than its holdings of loans with the usual covenants.

The Fund currently limits its investments in debt obligations of non-U.S. entities to no more than 25% of its total assets. The Fund currently invests predominantly in debt obligations that are U.S. dollar-denominated or otherwise provide for payment in U.S. dollars.

The Fund currently does not intend to invest more than 25% of its net assets in the obligations of borrowers in any single industry, except that, under normal market conditions, the Fund invests more than 25% of its net assets in debt obligations of companies operating in the industry group consisting of financial institutions and their holding companies, including commercial banks, thrift institutions, insurance companies and finance companies. These firms, or “agent banks,” may serve as administrators of corporate loans issued by other companies. For purposes of this restriction, the Fund currently considers such companies to include the borrower, the agent bank and any intermediate participant. The Fund may invest up to 100% of its net assets in loans where firms in such industry group are borrowers, agent banks or intermediate participants.

The Fund may invest in collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), principally collateralized loan obligations (CLOs). The Fund may also invest a portion of its assets in cash or cash equivalents.

To pursue its investment goals, the Fund may enter into certain derivative transactions, principally high yield credit default index swaps. The Fund may use credit default index swaps to obtain net long or net short exposures to selected credit risks or durations, for the purposes of enhancing Fund returns, increasing liquidity and/or gaining exposure to particular instruments in more efficient or less expensive ways, and to hedge risks related to changes in credit risks and other market factors. Derivatives that provide exposure to senior loans may be used to satisfy the Fund’s 80% policy.

In addition to the Fund’s main investments, the Fund may invest up to 20% of its net assets in certain other types of debt obligations or securities, including other secured, second lien, subordinated or unsecured corporate loans and corporate debt securities, and fixed rate obligations of U.S. companies, non-U.S. entities and U.S. subsidiaries of non-U.S. entities.

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 issuer’s fundamentals, or when the investment manager believes another security is a more attractive investment opportunity.

The Fund is an actively managed exchange-traded fund (ETF) that does not seek to replicate the performance of a specified index.

Principal Risks

You could lose money by investing in the Fund. ETF shares are not deposits or obligations of, or guaranteed or endorsed by, any bank, and are not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Reserve Board, or any other agency of the U.S. government. The Fund is subject to the principal risks noted below, any of which may adversely affect the Fund’s net asset value (NAV), trading price, yield, total return and ability to meet its investment goals. Unlike many ETFs, the Fund is not an index-based ETF.

Credit   An issuer of debt securities may fail to make interest payments or repay principal when due, in whole or in part. Changes in an issuer's financial strength or in a security's credit rating may affect a security's value.

Floating Rate Corporate Investments   Floating rate corporate loans and corporate debt securities generally have credit ratings below investment grade and may be subject to resale restrictions. They are often issued in connection with highly leveraged transactions, and may be subject to greater credit risks than other investments including the possibility of default or bankruptcy. In addition, a secondary market in corporate loans may be subject to irregular trading activity, wide bid/ask spreads and extended trade settlement periods, which may impair the ability to accurately value existing and prospective investments and to realize in a timely fashion the full value on sale of a corporate loan. A significant portion of floating rate investments may be “covenant lite” loans that may contain fewer or less restrictive constraints on the borrower or other borrower-friendly characteristics.

Liquidity   From time to time, the trading market for a particular security or type of security or other investments in which the Fund invests may become less liquid or even illiquid. Reduced liquidity will have an adverse impact on the Fund’s ability to sell such securities or other investments when necessary to meet the Fund’s liquidity needs or in response to a specific economic event and will also generally lower the value of a security or other investments. Market prices for such securities or other investments may be volatile.

Impairment of Collateral   The value of collateral securing a loan or other corporate debt security may decline after the Fund invests and there is a risk that the value of the collateral may not be sufficient to cover the amount owed to the Fund, or the collateral securing a loan may be found invalid, may be used to pay other outstanding obligations of the borrower under applicable law or may be difficult to sell.

Market   The market values of securities or other investments owned by the Fund will go up or down, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably. The market value of a security or other investment may be reduced by market activity or other results of supply and demand unrelated to the issuer. This is a basic risk associated with all investments. When there are more sellers than buyers, prices tend to fall. Likewise, when there are more buyers than sellers, prices tend to rise.

High-Yield Debt Securities   Issuers of lower-rated or “high-yield” debt securities (also known as “junk bonds”) are not as strong financially as those issuing higher credit quality debt securities. High-yield debt securities are generally considered predominantly speculative by the applicable rating agencies as their issuers are more likely to encounter financial difficulties because they may be more highly leveraged, or because of other considerations. In addition, high yield debt securities generally are more vulnerable to changes in the relevant economy, such as a recession or a sustained period of rising interest rates, that could affect their ability to make interest and principal payments when due. The prices of high-yield debt securities generally fluctuate more than those of higher credit quality. High-yield debt securities are generally more illiquid (harder to sell) and harder to value.

Prepayment   Prepayment risk occurs when a debt security can be repaid in whole or in part prior to the security's maturity and the Fund must reinvest the proceeds it receives, during periods of declining interest rates, in securities that pay a lower rate of interest. Also, if a security has been purchased at a premium, the value of the premium would be lost in the event of prepayment. Prepayments generally increase when interest rates fall.

Interest Rate   When interest rates rise, debt security prices generally fall. The opposite is also generally true: debt security prices rise when interest rates fall. Interest rate changes are influenced by a number of factors, including government policy, monetary policy, inflation expectations, perceptions of risk, and supply of and demand for bonds. In general, securities with longer maturities or durations are more sensitive to interest rate changes.

Variable Rate Securities   Because changes in interest rates on variable rate securities (including floating rate securities) may lag behind changes in market rates, the value of such securities may decline during periods of rising interest rates until their interest rates reset to market rates. During periods of declining interest rates, because the interest rates on variable rate securities generally reset downward, their market value is unlikely to rise to the same extent as the value of comparable fixed rate securities.

Derivative Instruments   The performance of derivative instruments depends largely on the performance of an underlying currency, security, interest rate or index, and such derivatives often have risks similar to the underlying instrument, in addition to other risks. Derivatives involve costs and can create economic leverage in the Fund’s portfolio which may result in significant volatility and cause the Fund to participate in losses (as well as gains) in an amount that significantly exceeds the Fund’s initial investment. Certain derivatives have the potential for unlimited loss, regardless of the size of the initial investment. Other risks include illiquidity, mispricing or improper valuation of the derivative, and imperfect correlation between the value of the derivative and the underlying instrument so that the Fund may not realize the intended benefits. Their successful use will usually depend on the investment manager’s ability to accurately forecast movements in the market relating to the underlying instrument. Should a market or markets, or prices of particular classes of investments move in an unexpected manner, especially in unusual or extreme market conditions, the Fund may not achieve the anticipated benefits of the transaction, and it may realize losses, which could be significant. If the investment manager is not successful in using such derivative instruments, the Fund’s performance may be worse than if the investment manager did not use such derivatives at all. When a derivative is used for hedging, the change in value of the derivative may also not correlate specifically with the currency, security, interest rate, index or other risk being hedged. Derivatives also may present the risk that the other party to the transaction will fail to perform. There is also the risk, especially under extreme market conditions, that a derivative, which usually would operate as a hedge, provides no hedging benefits at all.

Collateralized Debt Obligations (CDOs)   The risks of an investment in a CDO, a type of asset backed security, depend largely on the type of collateral held by the special purpose entity (SPE) and the tranche of the CDO in which the Fund invests. CDOs may be deemed to be illiquid securities and subject to the Fund’s restrictions on investments in illiquid securities. In addition to the normal risks associated with debt securities and asset backed securities (e.g., interest rate risk, credit risk and default risk), CDOs carry additional risks including, but not limited to: (i) the possibility that distributions from collateral securities will not be adequate to make interest or other payments; (ii) the quality of the collateral may decline in value or quality or go into default or be downgraded; (iii) the Fund may invest in tranches of a CDO that are subordinate to other classes; and (iv) the complex structure of the security may not be fully understood at the time of investment.

Income   Because the Fund can only distribute what it earns, the Fund's distributions to shareholders may decline when prevailing interest rates fall or when the Fund experiences defaults on debt securities it holds.

Concentration   Because of the Fund’s focus on a given industry or group of industries, the losses the Fund may experience are greater upon any single economic, business, political, regulatory, or other occurrence affecting such industry or group of industries. As a result, there may be more fluctuation in the price of the Fund’s shares.

Management   The Fund is subject to management risk because it is an actively managed investment portfolio. The Fund's investment manager applies investment techniques and risk analyses in making investment decisions for the Fund, but there can be no guarantee that these decisions will produce the desired results.

Foreign Securities (non-U.S.)   Investing in foreign securities typically involves more risks than investing in U.S. securities, and includes risks associated with: (i) internal and external political and economic developments – e.g., the political, economic and social policies and structures of some foreign countries may be less stable and more volatile than those in the U.S. or some foreign countries may be subject to trading restrictions or economic sanctions; (ii) trading practices – e.g., government supervision and regulation of foreign securities and currency markets, trading systems and brokers may be less than in the U.S.; (iii) availability of information – e.g., foreign issuers may not be subject to the same disclosure, accounting and financial reporting standards and practices as U.S. issuers; (iv) limited markets – e.g., the securities of certain foreign issuers may be less liquid (harder to sell) and more volatile; and (v) currency exchange rate fluctuations and policies (e.g., fluctuations may negatively affect investments denominated in foreign currencies and any income received or expenses paid by the Fund in that foreign currency). The risks of investing in foreign securities typically are greater in less developed or emerging market countries.

Cash/Cash Equivalents   To the extent the Fund holds cash or cash equivalents rather than securities in which it primarily invests or uses to manage risk, the Fund may not achieve its investment objectives and may underperform.

Market Trading   The Fund faces numerous market trading risks, including the potential lack of an active market for Fund shares, losses from trading in secondary markets, periods of high volatility and disruption in the creation/redemption process of the Fund. Any of these factors, among others, may lead to the Fund’s shares trading at a premium or discount to NAV. Thus, you may pay more (or less) than NAV when you buy shares of the Fund in the secondary market, and you may receive less (or more) than NAV when you sell those shares in the secondary market. The investment manager cannot predict whether shares will trade above (premium), below (discount) or at NAV.

Authorized Participant Concentration   Only an authorized participant (Authorized Participant) may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund. The Fund has a limited number of institutions that act as Authorized Participants. To the extent that these institutions exit the business or are unable to proceed with creation and/or redemption orders with respect to the Fund and no other Authorized Participant is able to step forward to create or redeem Creation Units (as defined below), Fund shares may trade at a discount to NAV and possibly face trading halts and/or delisting. This risk may be more pronounced in volatile markets, potentially where there are significant redemptions in ETFs generally.

Cash Transactions   Unlike certain ETFs, the Fund expects to generally effect its creations and redemptions entirely for cash, rather than for in-kind securities. Therefore, it may be required to sell portfolio securities and subsequently recognize gains on such sales that the Fund might not have recognized if it were to distribute portfolio securities in-kind. As such, investments in Fund shares may be less tax-efficient than an investment in an ETF that distributes portfolio securities entirely in-kind.

Performance

Because the Fund is new, it has no performance history. Once the Fund has commenced operations, you can obtain updated performance information at libertyshares.com or by calling (800) DIAL BEN/342-5236. The Fund's past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future.

Investment Manager

Franklin Advisers, Inc. (Advisers)

Portfolio Managers

Madeline Lam   Vice President of Advisers and portfolio manager of the Fund since inception (2018).

Reema Agarwal, CFA   Senior Vice President of Advisers and portfolio manager of the Fund since January 2019.

Justin Ma, CFA   Portfolio Manager of Advisers and portfolio manager of the Fund since inception (2018).

Effective on March 1, 2019, the portfolio managers will be:  

Reema Agarwal, CFA   Senior Vice President of Advisers and portfolio manager of the Fund since January 2019.

Justin Ma, CFA   Portfolio Manager of Advisers and portfolio manager of the Fund since inception (2018).

Margaret Chiu, CFA   Portfolio Manager of Advisers and portfolio manager of the Fund since March 2019.

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

The Fund is an ETF. Fund shares may only be purchased and sold on a national securities exchange through a broker-dealer. The price of Fund shares is based on market price, and because ETF shares trade at market prices rather than NAV, shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (a premium) or less than NAV (a discount). The Fund issues or redeems shares that have been aggregated into blocks of 50,000 shares or multiples thereof (Creation Units) to Authorized Participants who have entered into agreements with the Fund’s distributor, Franklin Templeton Distributors, Inc. The Fund will generally issue or redeem Creation Units in return for a basket of cash and/or securities that the Fund specifies each day.

Taxes

The Fund's distributions are generally taxable to you as ordinary income, unless you are investing through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account, in which case your distributions would generally be taxed when withdrawn from the tax-deferred account.

Payments to Broker-Dealers and
Other Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the investment manager or other related companies may pay the intermediary for certain Fund-related activities, including those that are designed to make the intermediary more knowledgeable about exchange traded products, such as the Fund, as well as for marketing, education or other initiatives related to the sale or promotion of Fund shares. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.


Franklin Templeton

Franklin Templeton Distributors, Inc.
One Franklin Parkway
San Mateo, CA 94403-1906
libertyshares.com

Franklin
Liberty Senior Loan ETF

Investment Company Act file #811-23124

© 2019 Franklin Templeton Investments. All rights reserved.

FLBL PSUM 03/19

00208731




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