Marcus Vinicius, Head of U.S. Offshore at Franklin Templeton, marks three years leading the business in the region with a clear objective: to accelerate growth in this strategic market. The U.S. Offshore office is also in the midst of team expansion, at a time when the firm is doubling down on placing the client at the center of its strategy and elevating the level of service across all client needs.
From his office in South Florida, Vinicius leads a platform that operates as a true “microcosm” of cross-border business, serving a global client profile: from Latin American investors in Miami and Texas to Asian clients in California or European clients in New York. In this exclusive interview with Funds Society, he reviews the past three years, analyzes how offshore client needs have evolved, and outlines Franklin Templeton’s ambitious roadmap in technology and product.
What changes has Franklin Templeton made for U.S. Offshore?
The most important change comes from the client side. We are seeing a clear consolidation of business: clients want to work with fewer asset managers, but with greater capabilities.
They are looking for comprehensive solutions, efficient vehicles, and partners who understand their portfolios and strategies as a whole. That is why our evolution is moving in that same direction: offering all types of strategies through all types of vehicles, combining investments in public and private markets.
In addition, we are a firm with a strong consolidation DNA. Recent acquisitions such as Lexington Partners and Putnam Investments have been particularly transformative, providing us with differentiated capabilities in private markets—in the case of Lexington—and in risk management, product offering, and product quality, in the case of Putnam.
How are you organized from a commercial standpoint?
We have a regional structure made up of teams in Miami, New York, and the West Coast, combining external and internal wholesalers, as well as national accounts.
Beyond the structure, the key is the approach: our teams strive to understand the client holistically and, from there, connect them with the appropriate Franklin specialist teams. It is a model based on internal collaboration, where the goal is not to sell a product, but to build tailored solutions.
Do you have the capability to offer different vehicles, whether an active ETF, a traditional fund, or alternative funds?
Franklin Templeton has undergone a major transformation over the past five years to become what it is today: an integrated global platform with exposure to public and private markets; traditional funds and ETFs; and a strong commitment to digital innovation. The challenge now is not only to offer strong products, but to clearly communicate who we are: a firm with both public and private capabilities under one umbrella. In a context where clients demand fewer providers but with greater capabilities, we believe Franklin—with more than $1.74 trillion in AUM as of February 2026—is well positioned to meet this need.
You mentioned Lexington. Do you have additional interest in the alternatives segment?
Private markets are one of the main growth levers at the core of our global strategy. Today, we have significant capabilities in private credit, real estate, private equity, and infrastructure.
In addition, we are witnessing a degree of “democratization” of these markets, with evergreen vehicles that allow wealth investors access to these types of assets—something that was previously reserved for institutional investors.
Beyond the capabilities mentioned earlier, we have strengthened our offering through strategic partnerships in infrastructure with Actis, DigitalBridge, and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, focused on structural trends such as the energy transition and digitalization.
At the distribution level, how is Franklin Templeton organized?
Franklin Templeton has a global distribution structure that combines the capabilities of a large global asset manager with a strong local presence in key markets.
In this context, the Iberia and Latin America region plays a relevant role within the group’s global strategy, reflected in a solid local presence with eight offices across the region, more than 150 professionals, and local asset managers in Mexico and Brazil. Javier Villegas is responsible for the firm’s growth plans at the regional level. Locally, distribution strategies are led respectively by Hugo Petricioli (Mexico), Ana Álvarez (Iberia), Marc Forster (Brazil), Sergio Guerrien (South America), and myself in U.S. Offshore.
At a global level, the structure was recently strengthened with the appointment of Daniel Gamba as Chief Commercial Officer and Co-President in October 2025. Together with Terrence Murphy (Head of Public Market Investments) and Matthew Nicholls (Chief Financial and Operating Officer), they form a team of three Co-Presidents who, under the leadership of our CEO Jenny Johnson, help reinforce the execution of the firm’s strategy.
What is the process for launching a vehicle?
Our approach is global. In private markets, we typically start in the domestic market and, once the product gains traction, we scale it internationally.
In listed markets, we have significantly expanded the offering—for example, through the integration of Putnam’s products, which had a strong base in the U.S. but less international presence.
Ultimately, the goal is to create scalable solutions that can be efficiently distributed across multiple geographies, and in that regard, I believe we have a significant competitive advantage due to our global distribution capabilities.
Focusing on clients, you mentioned that they increasingly want to work with fewer firms. What other trends do you see in U.S. Offshore?
For every fund our major clients approve, they approve a much larger number of ETFs. Today, we manage between $60 billion and $70 billion, but our ambition is to grow much further. We want to be in the top 10 ETF providers across all asset classes, covering active, passive, and smart beta.
We are working on scaling our platform, always adapting to the needs of each market. Clients no longer choose between traditional funds or ETFs—they seek flexibility and efficiency.
Overall, the offshore client is increasingly global and sophisticated. They seek customized solutions, access to private markets, and a flexible vehicle architecture.
In addition, they are particularly sensitive to tax and geopolitical factors, making financial advice essential. In this context, our goal is to position ourselves as a strategic partner, not a product provider.
For a large global account, what is typically preferred: the active ETF or the traditional fund?
It is increasingly less about choosing between an ETF or a fund. Clients are looking for flexibility and to use the vehicle that best fits their architecture, whether for operational, tax, or portfolio construction reasons.
What we do observe are regional differences. While in markets such as Brazil there is still a stronger orientation toward funds, in Mexico the use of ETFs is growing significantly. However, the global trend is consistent: accessing the same strategy through different types of vehicles.
What other trends do you see in ETFs?
We see three clear trends: the growth of active ETFs as a portfolio construction tool; the convergence of this type of vehicle with private markets; and tokenization, which, although still in development, has enormous potential to transform the industry by improving efficiency, reducing costs, and enabling near real-time transactions.
What is your culture regarding AI integration?
It is one of the key pillars of our global strategy. We are investing in data analytics, artificial intelligence, and especially tokenization.
As I mentioned earlier, we firmly believe that tokenization can completely transform our industry, as it enables greater efficiency, reduces operational costs, and improves distribution processes. For example, it can facilitate near real-time transactions and significantly reduce the operational burden.
We are also seeing how financial infrastructure is evolving toward blockchain-based models, where Franklin Templeton already has a pioneering position.
Looking ahead, are there plans for further acquisitions?
It is not for me to speculate on potential acquisitions, but referring to what our CEO has said on several occasions, I can say that if an acquisition opportunity arose that made strategic sense for Franklin, we would likely be open to considering it.
The company has a strong track record of consolidation within the industry and is currently in a favorable position, as it has both best-selling products and niche offerings.
Since the acquisition of Legg Mason in 2020, we have completed around ten acquisitions, and in five years we have grown from $700 billion in assets under management to more than $1.67 trillion. Today, the focus is on establishing ourselves as a strategic partner to our clients, as we have the capabilities to achieve this. We now have a global platform, capabilities in public and private markets, diversification by strategy and product type, technological innovation, and a strong focus on delivering tailored solutions for our clients.
