Citibank Romania Partners with Franklin Templeton Investments to Offer Portfolio Diversification and Growth Opportunities

Citibank Romania recently entered into a partnership with Franklin Templeton Investments, one of the world's largest asset management groups. Starting with October 12, 2011, Citibank Romania is distributing 11 Franklin Templeton Luxembourg-registered funds, thus providing retail customers with a superior range of financial instruments for developing a well-balanced and diversified portfolio.
This partnership is a continuation of Citi's "open architecture" strategy, whose aim is to make available to its customers the investment expertise and strategies of the top fund houses around the globe. The selection of our global fund house partners, including Franklin Templeton, is based on a series of strict quantitative and qualitative criteria designed to offer our customers the best available selection.
The 11 Luxembourg-registered funds distributed by Citibank Romania are open-ended funds or Societé d'Investissement à capital variable (SICAV) which are part of the Franklin Templeton Investment Funds (FTIF) range. These funds invest in equity and fixed income asset classes, across single countries, as well as global and regional markets. They offer Citibank Romania's customers the flexibility to choose among funds that invest in fast-growing economies like China, India or Brazil, in the dynamic technology and natural resources sectors, and in a wide range of other equity or fixed income instruments.
Having different investment styles ranging from growth to value, the funds distributed by Citibank Romania provide a customized mix of asset classes according to the customer's risk tolerance and long-term investment objectives. The funds are managed by experienced Franklin Templeton Investment professionals based in the US, Singapore and Hong Kong.
"Professional portfolio management and asset diversification are the first steps on the road to building a well-balanced portfolio", said Luis Tomassoni, Retail Bank Head at Citibank Romania. "Through this new valuable partnership with Franklin Templeton, Citibank is touching a new milestone highlighting its global presence and ensuring once again that our customers have access to best-in-class wealth management solutions".
"We are delighted to partner with Citbank Romania. Our objectives are to give local investors access to our expertise through our mutual funds and give them a wider choice including exposure to attractive markets and sectors that might otherwise be difficult for them to access", said Borno Janekovic, Director Central and Eastern Europe, Franklin Templeton Investments.
Citibank Romania distributes over 400 investment funds managed by 14 different fund house partners.
Further information on the Franklin Templeton funds may be found on http://www.franklintempleton.ro, while details concerning the wealth management solutions offered by Citibank Romania are available on www.citibank.ro.
Investment products are not bank deposits; are not guaranteed by any government agency or through any deposit guarantee scheme. Investment products are not guaranteed by Citibank Europe plc. Dublin -Romania branch or by any of its subsidiaries or affiliates directly or indirectly controlled by Citigroup. Investment products are exposed to, among other risks, the risk of losing partially or totally the invested capital. Past performance is not a guarantee for future performance and value of investment products can fluctuate. Investment products denominated in foreign currency are also exposed to the foreign exchange risk that can lead to a loss of the capital invested.
Citibank Europe plc is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland and carries out its activities in Romania by a branch - Citibank Europe plc, Dublin - Romanian Branch (hereinafter referred to as "Citibank Romania") - registered office at address: Calea Victoriei nr.145, sectorul 1 - Bucharest, registered at the Trade Register Office within the Bucharest Court of Law under no. J40 / 21058 / December 17, 2008, Sole Registration Number: 24882493; Fiscal Registration Number: RO24882493, registered in the Register of Credit Institutions under no. RB-PJS-40-065 / December 22, 2008, and in the Register of the Romanian National Securities Commission under no. PJM01SICM/400004, personal data processing number 4736, telephone +40 21 203 5550, fax +40 21 203 5565. CEP has as Directors: Aidan M Brady, Jim Farrell, Mark Fitzgerald, Bo J. Hammerich (Sweden), Brian Hayes, Mary Lambkin, Frank McCabe, William J. Mills (USA), Terence O'Leary (U.K.), Cecilia Ronan, Patrick Scally, Christopher Teano (U.S.A.), Francesco Vanni d'Archirafi (Italy), Tony Woods. Registered in Ireland: Registration Number 132781. Registered Office: 1 North Wall Quay, Dublin 1. Ultimately owned by Citigroup Inc., New York, U.S.A.
About Citi
Citi, the leading global financial services company, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 160 countries and jurisdictions. Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services, and wealth management.
Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com Twitter | @Citi | YouTube: www.youtube.com/citi | Blog: http://new.citi.com | Facebook: www.facebook.com/citi | LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/citi. About Citibank Romania Citi has been present in Romania since 1996 and provides high-quality financial products and services to national and international companies, small and middle enterprises, the public sector, non-profit organizations and individuals. Additional information may be found at www.citibank.ro | Facebook: www.facebook.com/CitibankRomania. About Franklin Templeton Investments
Franklin Templeton established an office in Bucharest in May 2010, with a team of 25 employees, including 6 locally based investment professionals who are further supported by the over 40 portfolio managers and analysts of the wider Templeton Emerging Markets team.
A leading global asset manager, Franklin Templeton has had proven success in building its businesses in domestic markets, including recent office openings in Vietnam, Malaysia and Mexico. The firm also has a strong presence in Central and Eastern Europe, with offices in Moscow, Warsaw, Budapest and Istanbul. Under the leadership of Vivek Kudva, Managing Director for the India and CEEMEA region, Franklin Templeton offers Luxembourg-domiciled investment funds and other tailored investment solutions to retail and institutional investors in Central and Eastern Europe including Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia and now in Romania.

Franklin Templeton Investment Management Limited is a subsidiary of Franklin Resources, Inc. [NYSE:BEN], a global investment management organization operating as Franklin Templeton Investments. Franklin Templeton Investments provides global and domestic investment management solutions managed by its Franklin, Templeton, Mutual Series, Fiduciary Trust, Darby and Bissett investment teams. The San Mateo, CA-based company has more than 60 years of investment experience and over USD 716 billion in assets under management as of 31 August 2011.
For more information, please visit www.franklintempleton.co.uk