SOURCE: Franklin Templeton

DESCRIPTION:

Franklin Templeton and fellow members of the Corporate Call to Action: Coalition for Equity & Opportunity (CCA), a corporate social justice initiative launched by the Connecticut Office of the Treasurer in partnership with the Ford Foundation, announced four new commitments to improve economic and racial equity in the financial services industry and the economy at large.

The coalition includes 18 of the country's leading financial institutions, who endeavor for the financial services industry to collectively drive up to $30 billion in economic impact for communities and business owners of color over the next five years; more than 10,000 internships and work development opportunities for emerging Black and Latinx talent; and publicly reported and measurable improvements in pay equity, workplace inclusion and industry representation among all levels of the financial services workforce including senior leadership.^[1]

The commitments include:

• Diversify Suppliers and Business Partners
• Invest in Underserved Communities
• Build a Diverse Talent Pipeline
• Improve Workforce Equity and Transparency

In the initiative's next phase, coalition members will work together to develop implementation plans for both individual and collective actions that will push forward industry-wide change, such as engineering capacity-building programs and a nationwide registry for small business owners of color to better connect to industry procurement processes.

More information on the commitments can be found here and the CCA’s announcement can be found here.

About Franklin Templeton

Franklin Resources, Inc. [NYSE:BEN], is a global investment management organization with subsidiaries operating as Franklin Templeton and serving clients in over 165 countries. Franklin Templeton’s mission is to help clients achieve better outcomes through investment management expertise, wealth management and technology solutions. Through its specialist investment managers, the company brings extensive capabilities in equity, fixed income, multi-asset solutions and alternatives. With offices in more than 30 countries and approximately 1,300 investment professionals, the California-based company has over 70 years of investment experience and approximately $1.5 trillion in assets under management as of April 30, 2021. For more information, please visit franklintempleton.com and follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

^[1]Estimate based on members' current spend with minority business enterprise (MBE) suppliers and expected year-over-year increases in spend with these suppliers that could collectively result in triple the spend with businesses of color in five years. Source: National Minority Supplier Development Council and McKinsey & Company's Institute for Black Economic Mobility. Estimates will be refined with further data and implementation. Members of the coalition are selecting individual commitments on which to focus based on the nature of their businesses.

Tweet me: As part of the Coalition for for Equity & Opportunity @FTI_US is proud to announce new commitments to improve economic and racial equity in financial services industry and the economy https://bit.ly/3hFDUSN

KEYWORDS: Franklin Templeton, racial equity, NYSE:BEN