Q&A Series: Cash, CPF or SRS? Invest globally with a Shariah-compliant equity fund.

Franklin Templeton is a global investment manager with approximately USD 1.8 trillion in assets under management, more than 1,500 investment professionals, and a presence in 30+ countries. The firm also has a long-established pedigree in Islamic investing, managing approximately USD 5 billion in Shariah-compliant assets across equities, sukuk and other strategies. Within the firm, Templeton Global Investments (TGI) is the specialist global and emerging-markets equity platform, bringing more than eight decades of investment heritage, around USD 85 billion in AUM, and the resources of 100+ investment professionals across 17 countries (As of 30 June 2026).

The Templeton Shariah Global Equity Fund (CPF share class available here) brings these capabilities together in a focused global equity strategy managed by Alan Chua, Peter Sartori, Ferdinand Cheuk and Warren Pustam. Supported by TGI’s broad global research network, the team can search across markets and sectors for attractive opportunities while investing within a dedicated Shariah-compliant universe under independent oversight from the Amanie Shariah Supervisory Board. 

For investors, this means access to a globally diversified, actively managed portfolio that combines Shariah discipline with Templeton’s long-established stock-picking expertise, focusing on companies where the team believes long-term value and earnings potential are not yet fully reflected in their share prices.

One of the Fund's key strengths is that investment ideas come from far more than just its four portfolio managers. The team draws on Templeton Global Investments' extensive global research network, comprising more than 100 investment professionals across 17 countries. This gives the Fund access to a wide range of investment ideas, local market insights and specialist expertise across different industries, helping the managers uncover opportunities around the world.

Collaboration is an important part of the investment process. The team holds three research and portfolio discussions each week across different time zones, complemented by daily communication through Microsoft Teams. These regular exchanges allow investment professionals to share ideas, challenge one another's views and monitor developments affecting the companies they invest in. This collective approach helps ensure that investment decisions benefit from different perspectives and rigorous research.

Ultimately, the four portfolio managers are responsible for deciding which stocks to own and how much to invest in each. They consider a company's long-term growth prospects, whether its shares offer good value, and how each investment fits within the overall portfolio. By combining the expertise of a large global research team with the focused decision-making of four experienced portfolio managers, the Fund aims to identify attractive investment opportunities while maintaining a disciplined approach to diversification and risk management.

4. Information Technology is the fund's largest underweight at 38.89% (vs benchmark’s 44.58%) (as of 31 August 2026), while Industrials is its biggest overweight (20.84% vs 12.27% for the benchmark). What's driving these two positions, and where do you see the best opportunities now?

At the same time, the team has become more measured on some of the largest technology platforms, where very high AI-related capital spending may take time to translate into attractive returns for shareholders. Software where we have our tech underweight reflects the risk that AI disrupts some of these companies.

The Industrials overweight reflects a different set of opportunities that the team believes may be less fully recognised by the market. These include companies linked to electrification, automation, power infrastructure and improving corporate efficiency, as well as selected Japanese businesses benefiting from ongoing corporate reform and better capital allocation. Holdings such as Siemens Energy, Vestas, Mitsubishi Electric, Schneider Electric, Hitachi, IHI and Ebara illustrate this mix.

The broader point is that active management is often about deciding where within a theme to invest, rather than simply deciding on a sector. In this case, the team sees opportunities both in the companies enabling AI through chips and equipment and in the industrial businesses providing the power, electrical and physical infrastructure needed to support that growth.

5. Asia makes up about a quarter of the fund, with Japan, South Korea and China each held above their benchmark weights. How optimistic are you on Asia today, and which markets or themes in the region are you most excited about?

The Fund’s overweight positions in Japan, South Korea and China therefore reflect the best individual opportunities the team is finding in each market, rather than a simple top-down decision to increase exposure to Asia.

6. The fund returned 23.24% over the past year versus 35.34% for its benchmark (as of 31 August 2026). What drove the gap, and how has the team responded?

The past year was an interesting example of how what you own within a theme can matter as much as whether you own the theme at all. The Fund participated in the AI and technology rally through holdings such as Micron and Applied Materials, but some of the benchmark’s strongest semiconductor winners were either not held or held at lower weights. This reflected the team’s valuation-led process: rather than owning a company simply because it is a large benchmark constituent or has strong price momentum, the team looks for a sufficiently attractive balance between valuation, expected earnings, downside risk and long-term return potential.

At the same time, several software holdings came under pressure as investors reassessed how AI could affect established business models, while selected consumer discretionary positions also detracted.

For additional context, the Fund was performing broadly in line with peers over the same one-year period, reflecting how difficult it was for managers to keep pace with a strongly rising, concentrated benchmark.

The experience has also helped sharpen where the team sees the most attractive opportunities today. We have reduced exposure to parts of software, while increasing selected positions in semiconductors and other “picks-and-shovels” of the AI build-out, where we currently see a better balance of valuation, earnings visibility and structural demand. More recently, the team has continued to add selectively to AI-related positions after market pullbacks, while also broadening the portfolio into Industrials and other areas where long-term fundamentals may be attractive but investor attention is less concentrated. In other words, the response has been to refine where we take risk within the theme, rather than simply chase what has already performed best.

7. Beyond Muslim investors, who else might find the fund a good fit? For those using CPF or SRS monies, what role can it play in a long-term portfolio?

The Fund may appeal not only to Muslim investors, but also to investors who are attracted to some of the characteristics that naturally come with Shariah investing. The screening process excludes activities such as conventional banking, alcohol, tobacco and gambling, while also placing limits on financial leverage and interest-bearing assets. This can make the Fund relevant to values-conscious investors, investors seeking a differentiated global equity exposure, and long-term investors who appreciate the additional financial discipline embedded in the Shariah framework. More broadly, Shariah investing can also offer a somewhat different set of sector and company exposures from a conventional global equity portfolio, which may make it a useful source of diversification within a wider portfolio.

Importantly, investors do not have to choose between Shariah principles and active global stock selection. The Fund combines both within the same portfolio, using Templeton’s bottom-up investment approach to identify opportunities across developed and emerging markets.

For investors able to access the Fund through CPF or SRS monies, we would view it primarily as a long-term growth allocation within a broader retirement portfolio. It provides exposure beyond Singapore and across different regions, sectors and companies worldwide, which can help investors diversify the equity component of their long-term savings.

Because it remains an equity fund, however, its value can fluctuate meaningfully over shorter periods. It is therefore better suited to investors with a sufficiently long investment horizon than those looking for capital stability or short-term income. In that sense, Shariah investing does not have to be viewed as a niche allocation. For the right investor, a strategy such as this can form part of the core global equity component of a diversified long-term portfolio, while adding a clearly defined Shariah framework to the way companies are selected and monitored.