Founded in 1947, Franklin Templeton Investments prides itself in offering "exceptional asset management" to its clients in more than 170 nations throughout the globe. It has presence in 34 countries and over 650 investment professionals. With around $753.2 billion as of Nov 30, 2017, Franklin Templeton Investments is a well-known global investment management firm. The company offers investment management strategies and integrated risk management solutions to individuals, institutions, pension plans, trusts and partnerships.

Below we share with you the three best top-ranked Franklin Templeton mutual funds. Each has earned a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and is expected to outperform its peers in the future. Investors can click here to see the complete list of all Franklin Templeton mutual funds, their Zacks Rank and past performance.

Franklin Growth Allocation Fund Advisor Class (FGTZX - Free Report) seeks long-term appreciation of capital. The fund invests primarily in other Franklin Templeton mutual funds and is therefore called a fund of funds. It invests the lion’s share of its assets in equity funds and about one-fifths of the same in fixed-income funds. Franklin Growth Allocation Fund Advisor Class has one-year annualized returns of 19.5%.

T. Anthony Coffey has been one of the fund managers FGTZX since 2000.

Templeton Global Smaller Companies Fund Class A (TEMGX - Free Report) seeks to invest the majority of its assets in securities of small-cap companies across the globe. It primarily invests in common stocks and of companies involved in the emerging economies. The fund may invest about 40% of its assets in foreign securities. Templeton Global Smaller Companies Fund Class A has one-year annualized returns of 24.6%.

As of September 2017, TEMGX held 104 issues with 2.01% of its assets invested in Thule Group AB.

Franklin Biotechnology Discovery A (FBDIX - Free Report) invests the lion's share of its assets in securities of companies from the biotechnology domain. The fund may invest a maximum of one-fifth of its assets in equities as well as debt securities of U.S. and non-U.S. biotech companies. FBDIX is a non-diversified fund. Franklin Biotechnology Discovery A has one-year annualized returns of 13.7%.      

FBDIX has an annual expense ratio of 1.02%, compared with the category average of 1.32%.