Franklin Templeton Appoints Global COO to Help Expand Growing Wealth Management Alternatives Business

New position strengthens firm’s ambition to become top provider of alternative wealth solutions globally

SAN MATEO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Franklin Templeton today announced the appointment of George Stephan to the newly created position of Global Chief Operating Officer of Wealth Management Alternatives.

Reporting to Adam Spector, Franklin Templeton’s Executive Vice President and Head of Global Distribution, Stephan oversees alternative investments product innovation and investor services and assists with business development, management and operations. Stephan will partner with the firm's distribution leaders around the world to help drive the overall distribution strategy in addition to advisor education for the alternative investments business in the private wealth channel.

Franklin Templeton is now one of the largest managers in alternative assets globally, amounting to approximately 16% (US$264 billion) of the firm’s $1.65 trillion in assets under management as of June 30, 2024. Its specialist investment managers, each with deep domain expertise, provide a diverse range of alternative asset capabilities including private credit and real estate debt from Benefit Street Partners-Alcentra, real estate equity from Clarion Partners, secondary private equity and co-investments from Lexington Partners, hedged strategies from Franklin Templeton Investment Solutions and pre-IPO growth equity investments from Franklin Venture Partners.

“With more than 40 years of experience in alternatives and 382 alternative investment professionals around the world, we have been deliberate about building our capabilities in multiple ways – through acquisitions of specialists like Benefit Street Partners, Lexington and Clarion and by onboarding our offerings to key advisor platforms to make them more accessible to investors,” Spector said. “The result is that Franklin Templeton is one of the few traditional asset managers to build a successful alternatives business spread across a broad range of strategies and geographies.”

Stephan previously spent five years at Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR), as the Head of Strategy and Business Development for the firm’s Global Client Solutions business. Before that, he was Chief Operating Officer and Head of Investor Relations for KKR’s Global Wealth Solutions business in the Americas. Prior to joining KKR, Stephan spent nine years at Morgan Stanley’s wealth management division.

Stephan holds a B.S. in finance and an MBA from Wagner College. He currently serves on the Leadership Advisory Council of Wagner College Nicolais School of Business.

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 150 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 offers specialization on a global scale, bringing extensive capabilities in fixed income, equity, alternatives and multi-asset solutions. With more than 1,500 investment professionals, and offices in major financial markets around the world, the California-based company has over 75 years of investment experience and over $1.6 trillion in assets under management as of September 30, 2024. For more information, please visit franklintempleton.com and follow us on LinkedIn, X and Facebook.

©2024 Franklin Templeton. All rights reserved.