o TLGIT PA-3
SUPPLEMENT DATED MAY 19, 1999
TO THE PROSPECTUS OF
TEMPLETON REGION FUNDS - ADVISOR CLASS
(TEMPLETON GREATER EUROPEAN FUND AND
TEMPLETON LATIN AMERICA FUND)
DATED AUGUST 1, 1998
The prospectus is amended as follows:
The Board of Trustees of Templeton Global Investment Trust has approved a
change in the name and focus of the Templeton Greater European Fund series
of the Trust (the "fund"), one of the Templeton Region Funds.
Effective August 1, 1999, the fund will be called the Templeton
International Fund. The fund, which currently invests at least 75% of its
total assets in equity securities of Greater European (Western, Central and
Eastern Europe) companies will shift its focus to include investment in
companies located in any foreign developed country and to exclude
investment in emerging or developing countries such as those in Eastern
Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, China, India, Indonesia,
Malaysia and Thailand. The fund's manager will consider for investment
companies located in the following areas: Western Europe, Australia,
Canada, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore.
Adjustment of the fund's portfolio has begun and will continue gradually,
in an orderly fashion, consistent with market and investment
considerations, including the fund's investment goal which will remain the
same, i.e., to seek long-term capital appreciation. It is anticipated that
the shift in portfolio emphasis will be completed by August 1, 1999 so that
by that time, the fund will have at least 75% of its portfolio in equity
securities of companies located in any foreign developed country.
I. The first sentence of the section "BRADY BONDS" under "What Kinds of
Securities Do the Funds Buy?" is revised to delete the reference to the
Greater European Fund.
II. Under "What Are the Risks of Investing in the Funds?":
(a) the second sentence of the last paragraph under "Foreign Securities
Risk" discussing Greater European Fund's ability to invest in emerging
markets is deleted.
(b) the following new sections are added:
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YEAR 2000. When evaluating current and potential portfolio positions, Year
2000 is one of the factors an Investment Manager considers.
The Investment Manager will rely upon public filings and other statements
made by companies about their Year 2000 readiness. Issuers in countries
outside the U.S., particularly in emerging markets, may not be required to
make the same level of disclosure about Year 2000 readiness as is required
in the U.S. The Investment Manager, of course, cannot audit each company
and its major suppliers to verify their Year 2000 readiness.
If a company in which the fund is invested is adversely affected by Year
2000 problems, it is likely that the price of its securities will also be
adversely affected. A decrease in the value of one or more of the fund's
portfolio holdings will have a similar impact on the fund's performance.
Please see "Year 2000 Problem" under "Who Manages the Funds?" for more
information.
EURO RISK. On January 1, 1999, the European Monetary Union (EMU) introduced
a new single currency, the euro, which will replace the national currency
for participating member countries. If the fund holds investments in
countries with currencies replaced by the euro, the investment process,
including trading, foreign exchange, payments, settlements, cash accounts,
custody and accounting will be impacted.
Because this change to a single currency is new and untested, the
establishment of the euro may result in market volatility. For the same
reason, it is not possible to predict the impact of the euro on the
business or financial condition of European issuers which the fund may hold
in its portfolio, and their impact on fund performance. To the extent the
fund holds non-U.S. dollar (euro or other) denominated securities, it will
still be exposed to currency risk due to fluctuations in those currencies
versus the U.S. dollar.
III. The section "Latin America Fund," found under "Who Manages the Funds? -
Portfolio Management" is replaced with the following:
LATIN AMERICA FUND. The lead portfolio manager since March 1999 is Heidi S.
Andersen. Ms. Andersen is a Vice President of Investment Counsel. She holds
a BA from the University of Texas at Austin and an MBA from The Columbia
Graduate School of Business. Ms. Andersen is a Chartered Financial Analyst.
She joined the Templeton organization in 1995 as a research analyst with
responsibility for global coverage of the consumer electrics/electronics
industries, and assisting on the construction and housing industry. Ms.
Andersen also has country coverage of the Czech Republic.
Mark R. Beveridge, Howard J. Leonard and Ed Lugo have secondary portfolio
management responsibilities for the fund. Mr. Beveridge is a Senior Vice
President of Investment Counsel. He holds a BBA in finance from the
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University of Miami. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst and a Chartered
Investment Counselor, and a member of the South Florida Society of
Financial Analysts and the International Society of Financial Analysts.
Before joining the Templeton organization in 1985 as a security analyst,
Mr. Beveridge was a principal with a financial accounting software firm
based in Miami, Florida. He is currently a portfolio manager and research
analyst with responsibility for non-life insurance and industrial
components industries. He also has country coverage of Argentina. Mr.
Leonard is an Executive Vice President of Investment Counsel. He holds a
BBA in finance/economics from the Temple University School of Business
Administration. Mr. Leonard is a Chartered Financial Analyst and a member
of the Financial Analysts of Philadelphia, the Financial Analysts
Federation and the International Society of Security Analysts. Before
joining the Templeton organization in 1989, Mr. Leonard was Director of
investment research at First Pennsylvania Bank, where he was responsible
for equity and fixed-income research activities. Mr. Leonard also worked
previously at Provident National Bank as a security analyst covering a
variety of industries. Mr. Leonard currently manages both institutional and
mutual fund accounts of global and international mandates. He has research
responsibility for the machinery and engineering industries, and also
follows the following countries: Brazil and Indonesia. Mr. Lugo is a
research analyst for Investment Counsel. He holds a BS in finance from
Northeastern University and an MBA from Columbia University. Before joining
the Templeton organization in 1996, Mr. Lugo was a research analyst with
C.L. Trading. He currently has country coverage of Argentina, and assists
with coverage of the industrial components industry.
IV. The following is added after the "Administrative Services" section of
"Who Manages the Funds?":
YEAR 2000 PROBLEM. The funds' business operations depend on a worldwide
network of computer systems that contain date fields, including securities
trading systems, securities transfer agent operations and stock market
links. Many of the systems currently use a two digit date field to
represent the date, and unless these systems are changed or modified, they
may not be able to distinguish the Year 1900 from the Year 2000 (commonly
referred to as the Year 2000 problem). In addition, the fact that the Year
2000 is a leap year may create difficulties for some systems.
When the Year 2000 arrives, the funds' operations could be adversely
affected if the computer systems used by the Investment Manager, its
service providers and other third parties it does business with are not
Year 2000 ready. For example, the funds' portfolio and operational areas
could be impacted, including securities trade processing, interest and
dividend payments, securities pricing, shareholder account services,
reporting, custody functions and others. The funds could experience
difficulties in effecting transactions if any of its foreign subcustodians,
or if foreign broker-dealers or foreign markets are not ready for Year
2000.
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The Investment Manager and its affiliated service providers are making a
concerted effort to take steps they believe are reasonably designed to
address their Year 2000 problems. Of course, the funds' ability to reduce
the effects of the Year 2000 problem is also very much dependent upon the
efforts of third parties over which the funds and the Investment Manager
may have no control.
V. Under "How Is the Trust Organized?", the fourth and sixth sentences in the
first paragraph are replaced with the following:
All shares outstanding before the offering of Advisor Class shares have
been designated Templeton Greater European Fund - Class A and Templeton
Greater European Fund - Class C.
All shares outstanding before the offering of Advisor Class shares have
been designated Templeton Latin America Fund - Class A and Templeton Latin
America Fund - Class C.
All references in the prospectus to Class I shares are replaced with Class
A and all references to Class II are replaced with Class C.
VI. In step 2 under "How Do I Buy Shares? - Opening Your Account," the minimum
investment to add to your account is changed from $25 to $50.
VII. Exchange Restrictions" the third bulleted item is replaced with the
following:
o Generally exchanges may only be made between identically registered
accounts, unless you send written instructions with a signature
guarantee. You may, however, exchange shares from a fund account
requiring two or more signatures into an identically registered money
fund account requiring only one signature for all transactions. PLEASE
NOTIFY US IN WRITING IF YOU DO NOT WANT THIS OPTION TO BE AVAILABLE ON
YOUR ACCOUNT. Additional procedures may apply. Please see "Transaction
Procedures and Special Requirements."
VIII. In the "By Phone" section of the chart under "How Do I Sell Shares?",
(a) the first bulleted item is replaced with the following:
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o If the request is $100,000 or less. Institutional accounts may exceed
$100,000 by completing a separate agreement. Call Institutional
Services to receive a copy.
(b) and the third bulleted item is deleted.
IX. Distribution option 3 in the section "What Distributions Might I Receive
From the Funds? - Distribution Options" is replaced with the following:
3. RECEIVE DISTRIBUTIONS IN CASH - You may receive dividends, or both
dividend and capital gain distributions in cash. If you have the money sent
to another person or to a checking or savings account, you may need a
signature guarantee. If you send the money to a checking or savings
account, please see "Electronic Fund Transfers" under "Services to Help You
Manage Your Account."
X. Under "Transaction Procedures and Special Requirements,"
(a) the section "Joint Accounts" is replaced with the following:
JOINT ACCOUNTS. For accounts with more than one registered owner, the fund
accepts written instructions signed by only one owner for transactions and
account changes that could otherwise be made by phone. For all other
transactions and changes, all registered owners must sign the instructions.
Please keep in mind that if you have previously told us that you do not
want telephone exchange or redemption privileges on your account, then we
can only accept written instructions to exchange or redeem shares if they
are signed by all registered owners on the account.
(b) the reference to $50,000 in the section "Signature Guarantees" is
replaced with $100,000.
(c) the section "Trust Company Retirement Plan Accounts," found under
"Telephone Transactions," is deleted.
XI. Under "Services to Help You Manage Your Account,"
(a) the second sentence in the section "Automatic Investment Plan" is
replaced with the following:
Under the plan, you can have money transferred automatically from your
checking or savings account to the fund each month to buy additional
shares.
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(b) the second paragraph under "Systematic Withdrawal Plan" is replaced
with the following:
If you would like to establish a systematic withdrawal plan, please
complete the systematic withdrawal plan section of the account application
included with this prospectus and indicate how you would like to receive
your payments. You may choose to direct your payments to buy the same class
of shares of another Franklin Templeton Fund or have the money sent
directly to you, to another person, or to a checking or savings account. If
you choose to have the money sent to a checking or savings account, please
see "Electronic Fund Transfers" below. Once your plan is established, any
distributions paid by the fund will be automatically reinvested in your
account.
(c) and the following new section is added after the section "Systematic
Withdrawal Plan":
ELECTRONIC FUND TRANSFERS
You may choose to have dividend and capital gain distributions or payments
under a systematic withdrawal plan sent directly to a checking or savings
account. If the account is with a bank that is a member of the Automated
Clearing House, the payments may be made automatically by electronic funds
transfer. If you choose this option, please allow at least fifteen days for
initial processing. We will send any payments made during that time to the
address of record on your account.
XII. In the "Useful Terms and Definitions" section, the definition of "Class I,
Class II and Advisor Class" is replaced with the following:
CLASS A, CLASS C AND ADVISOR CLASS - Each fund offers three classes of
shares, designated "Class A," "Class C" and "Advisor Class." The three
classes have proportionate interests in the fund's portfolio. They differ,
however, primarily in their sales charge structures and Rule 12b-1 plans.
Certain funds in the Franklin Templeton Funds also offer a class of shares
designated "Class B."
Please keep this supplement for future reference.
