Buy for Global Growth

Article Excerpt

TEMPLETON INTERNATIONAL STOCK FUND $18.92 (CWA Rating: Conservative) (Franklin Templeton Management Limited, 1 Adelaide Street East, Suite 2101, Toronto, ON. M5C 3B8. 1-800-387- 0830; Web site: www.templeton.ca. Buy or sell through brokers) invests in stocks around the world. But unlike most international funds, the fund doesn’t invest in Canada and the United States. Geographically, the $2.4 billion Templeton International Stock Fund’s portfolio is distributed as follows: UK, 27.3%; France, 11.0%; Germany, 7.4%; China, 6.9%; Hong Kong, 5.3%; Japan, 5.1%; Switzerland, 4.4%; Spain, 3.7%; Taiwan, 3.3%; and Singapore, 2.9%. The fund’s five-year rate of return is 13.5% annually. That’s equal to the gain of 13.5% for the benchmark Morgan Stanley index. The fund’s MER is 2.74%. Templeton International Stock Fund is a buy. buy…