Buy for Global Growth

Article Excerpt

TEMPLETON INTERNATIONAL STOCK FUND $17.91 (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 $2.5 billion Templeton International Stock Fund’s portfolio is distributed as follows: UK, 28.3%; France, 10.7%; China, 7.0%; Germany, 7.0%; Hong Kong, 5.2%; Japan, 5.0%; Spain, 3.4%; Taiwan, 3.2%; Singapore, 3.2%; and Switzerland, 3.1%. The fund’s five-year rate of return is 11.4% annually. That’s compared to a gain of 11.2% for the benchmark Morgan Stanley index. The fund’s MER is 2.74%. Templeton International Stock Fund is a buy. buy…