Franklin Templeton Lifts Ukraine Bet by Over $250 Million

Franklin Resources Inc.’s biggest funds purchased Ukrainian bonds in the fourth quarter, adding to holdings that made the asset manager the country’s largest debtholder before growing violence spurred unprecedented losses.

The U.S. versions of the Templeton Global Bond Fund and the Templeton Global Total Return Fund, overseen by Michael Hasenstab, increased holdings of Ukrainian international dollar debt by $252 million in face value to about $3.8 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg through Dec. 31. Along with their European counterparts, the funds hold about $6.4 billion, more than a third of the country’s external dollar bonds, their most recent filings show.