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Franklin Fixed Income managers skillfully combine Canadian core bonds with non-core fixed income opportunities to create a solution that is built around a foundation of high-quality Canadian bonds and is able to opportunistically add “off benchmark” securities for added yield and diversification.    

★★★★

Morningstar Rated Funds™ Series F
Source: Morningstar, Inc., as of December 31, 2025.

A Solid Foundation, Plus Added Sources of Value

  • A Well Diversified Portfolio
  • Generous Payouts
  • Track Record of Success

A Well Diversified Portfolio

This is a high-quality, multi-sector portfolio, diversified primarily across sectors, quality, maturities. With its ability to go beyond our borders, the Core Plus strategy can access the much larger and more liquid U.S. fixed income market. 

43%

Canadian Government Bonds

With further 33% in Canadian Corporate Investment Grade.  Around 11% in U.S. Corporate Investment Grade and 7% in Corporate High Yield exposure.1

 

 

A

Average Credit Quality

Composed of 19% of AAA rated bonds as well as 24%, 18% and another 28% in AA, A and BBB securities. About 10% are in BB and below.1, 2, 3

Around 28% in non-Canadian fixed income securities.1

 

As of December 31, 2025.

Generous Payouts

The distribution rate of the fund has historically been substantially higher than that of the peer average.

Payouts Consistently Higher Than the Peer Group4,6.
12-Month Trailing Distribution Rate as of December 31, 2025 (%)

ft-global-icon-upward-arrows-frk-2.0-teal.svg 1.33 X Higher Yield Than Peers4,5

 

Chart

Bar chart with 2 data series.
The chart has 1 X axis displaying categories.
The chart has 1 Y axis displaying values. Data ranges from 1.89 to 4.56.
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Track Record of Success

A history of strong performance against peer group. Based on 5-year annualized returns over 413 rolling return periods going back all the way to its inception, the fund (Series F) has outperformed the category average 93% of the time.

Distribution of Excess Returns to Category Average7 
413 Observations of 5-Year Rolling Return Periods as of December 31, 2025.

Trailing performance8
As of December 31, 2025

  3 Months 1 Year 3 Year 5 Year 10 Year Since Inception (8/1/1986)
Franklin Canadian Core Plus Bond Fund – Series F -0.13 3.09 5.02 0.12 2.38 5.76
Canadian Core Plus Fixed Income Category -0.23 2.78 4.81 -0.08 1.82 4.73

Key Resources

Investor Flyer

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Who are the people behind your investments?

Learn about their backgrounds, how they approach investing and what moves them in their personal and professional lives in this series of short video interviews.

Darcy Briggs, CFA, CPA, CGA, FRM
SVP, Portfolio Manager, Franklin Fixed Income Canada

Learn more about Franklin Canadian Core Plus Bond

ETF Series Series F

JANUARY 20, 2026

The municipal bond market outlook: Continued stability—a good sign for investors

Looking ahead to 2026, Franklin Templeton Fixed Income Municipal Bond Director Ben Barber says there are a few key factors that will likely shape the municipal bond market.

JANUARY 8, 2026

Flash Insights: Notes on Venezuela

The removal of Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro has materially improved the country’s outlook, according to Franklin Templeton Fixed Income Emerging Market Debt Director Nicholas Hardingham. He believes this action helps alleviate a long-standing political and economic impasse that had prevented reform, external engagement, and debt resolution.

JANUARY 6, 2026

Central Bank Watch: Steady as she goes

The Bank of Japan appears to be an outlier, anticipating two interest rate hikes in 2026, while North American and European Central Banks are likely pausing and calling for steady as she goes. Get an overview of central bank actions and the likely trajectory in the months ahead from Franklin Templeton Fixed Income.

Footnotes

  1. Source: Franklin Templeton Investments. Market Value figures reflect the trading value of the investments. Portfolio breakdown percentages may not total 100% and may be negative due to rounding, use of any derivatives, unsettled trades or other factors.
  2. The Average Credit Quality (ACQ) rating may change over time. The portfolio itself has not been rated by an independent rating agency. The letter rating, which may be based on bond ratings from different agencies (or internal ratings for unrated bonds, cash and equivalents), is provided to indicate the average credit rating of the portfolio's underlying investments and generally ranges from AAA (highest) to D (lowest). For unrated bonds, cash and equivalents, ratings may be assigned based on the ratings of the issuer, the ratings of the underlying holdings of a pooled investment vehicle, or other relevant factors. The ACQ is determined by assigning a sequential integer to all credit ratings AAA to D, taking a simple, asset-weighted average of investments by market value and rounding to the nearest rating. The risk of default increases as a bond's rating decreases, so the ACQ provided is not a statistical measurement of the portfolio’s default risk because a simple, weighted average does not measure the increasing level of risk from lower-rated bonds. The ACQ may be lower if cash and equivalents are excluded from the calculation. The ACQ is provided for informational purposes only. Derivative positions are not reflected in the ACQ.
  3. Credit Quality Ratings shown are assigned by one or more Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organizations ('NRSRO'), such as Standard & Poor's, Moody's and Fitch. The ratings are an indication of an issuer's creditworthiness and typically range from AAA or Aaa (highest) to D (lowest). When ratings from all three agencies are available, the middle rating is used; when two are available, the lowest rating is used; and when only one is available, that rating is used. Foreign government bonds without a specific rating are assigned the country rating provided by an NRSRO, if available. The NR category consists of ratable securities that have not been rated by an NRSRO. The N/A category consists of non-ratable securities (e.g., equities). Cash includes equivalents, which may be rated.
  4. Source: Morningstar Research Inc. and Franklin Templeton Investments.
  5. The yield comparison is calculated based on the average 12-month trailing distribution yield for the past five calendar years of the fund divided by that of the Canadian Fixed Income Category. Mutual fund distributions are not guaranteed, are set and may change at the discretion of Franklin Templeton Canada. Distributions are not an indication of performance or rate of return.
  6. The Trailing 12-Month Distribution Yield is the sum of a fund’s total trailing 12-month interest and dividend payments (if any) divided by the last month’s ending unit price net asset value (NAV) plus any capital gains distributed over the same period. For the Canadian Fixed Income Category, the amount shown is the average distribution yield of all currently active funds in the category.
  7. Source: Morningstar Research Inc. and Franklin Templeton Investments. Series F returns as of September  30, 2025: YTD: 3.23%; 1 Year: 3.17%; 3 Years: 5.11%; 5 Years: 0.43%; 10 Years: 2.38%; 15 Years: 2.91%; 20 Years: 3.32%; Since Inception: 5.81%. Inception date is August 1, 1986. Commissions, trailing commissions, management fees and expenses all may be associated with mutual fund investments. Please read the prospectus or fund facts document before investing. The indicated rates of return are the historical annual compounded total returns including changes in unit value and reinvestment of all distributions and do not take into account sales, redemption, distribution or optional charges or income taxes payable by any securityholder that would have reduced returns. Mutual funds are not guaranteed, their values change frequently and past performance may not be repeated.
  8. Sources: Franklin Templeton and Morningstar Research Inc. As of September  30, 2025. Periods over 1 year are annualized. Inception date is August 1, 1986.