PROSPECTUS

     
       
   

FRANKLIN TEMPLETON ETF TRUST

 
   

August 1, 2022

 
       
   

Slayer_DrawImageOnBackgroundColor(0,76,151)

 
       
         
           
         
 

Ticker:

   

Ticker:

Franklin FTSE Australia ETF

FLAU

 

Franklin FTSE Mexico ETF

FLMX

Franklin FTSE Brazil ETF

FLBR

 

Franklin FTSE Saudi Arabia ETF

FLSA

Franklin FTSE Canada ETF

FLCA

 

Franklin FTSE South Africa ETF

FLZA

Franklin FTSE China ETF

FLCH

 

Franklin FTSE South Korea ETF

FLKR

Franklin FTSE France ETF

FLFR

 

Franklin FTSE Switzerland ETF

FLSW

Franklin FTSE Germany ETF

FLGR

 

Franklin FTSE Taiwan ETF

FLTW

Franklin FTSE Hong Kong ETF

FLHK

 

Franklin FTSE United Kingdom ETF

FLGB

Franklin FTSE India ETF

FLIN

 

Franklin FTSE Asia ex Japan ETF

FLAX

Franklin FTSE Italy ETF

FLIY

 

Franklin FTSE Europe ETF

FLEE

Franklin FTSE Japan ETF

FLJP

 

Franklin FTSE Europe Hedged ETF

FLEH

Franklin FTSE Latin America ETF

FLLA

 

Franklin FTSE Japan Hedged ETF

FLJH

 

Exchange: NYSE Arca, Inc.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has not approved or disapproved these securities or passed upon the adequacy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

 

ETF5 P 08/22



Contents

Fund Summaries

Information about the Fund you should know before investing
   

Franklin FTSE Australia ETF

3

Franklin FTSE Brazil ETF

14

Franklin FTSE Canada ETF

25

Franklin FTSE China ETF

36

Franklin FTSE France ETF

48

Franklin FTSE Germany ETF

59

Franklin FTSE Hong Kong ETF

70

Franklin FTSE India ETF

81

Franklin FTSE Italy ETF

92

Franklin FTSE Japan ETF

103

Franklin FTSE Latin America ETF

113

Franklin FTSE Mexico ETF

125

Franklin FTSE Saudi Arabia ETF

136

Franklin FTSE South Africa ETF

147

Franklin FTSE South Korea ETF

158

Franklin FTSE Switzerland ETF

169

Franklin FTSE Taiwan ETF

180

Franklin FTSE United Kingdom ETF

191

Franklin FTSE Asia ex Japan ETF

201

Franklin FTSE Europe ETF

213

Franklin FTSE Europe Hedged ETF

223

Franklin FTSE Japan Hedged ETF

236

Fund Details

More information on investment policies, practices and risks/financial highlights
   

Investment Goal

249

Principal Investment Policies and Practices

249

Principal Risks

256

More Information on Investment Policies, Practices and Risks

290

Management

291

Distributions and Taxes

294

Index Provider

297

Disclaimers

297

Financial Highlights

298


Shareholder Information

Information about Fund transactions
   

Buying and Selling Shares

321

Book Entry

323

Share Prices

323

Calculating NAV

323

Creations and Redemptions

326

Premium/Discount Information

327

Delivery of Shareholder Documents - Householding

328

Distribution

328

For More Information

Where to learn more about the Fund

Back Cover


FRANKLIN FTSE AUSTRALIA ETF
FUND SUMMARIES

   

FLAU

  Franklin FTSE Australia ETF

Investment Goal

To seek to provide investment results that closely correspond, before fees and expenses, to the performance of the FTSE Australia RIC Capped Index (the FTSE Australia Capped Index).

Fees and Expenses of the Fund

The following table describes the fees and expenses that you will incur if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund. You may also incur other fees, such as usual and customary brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and the Example that follows.

Annual Fund Operating Expenses

(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

     

 

 

 

Management fees

 

0.09%

Distribution and service (12b-1) fees

 

None

Other expenses

 

None

Total annual Fund operating expenses

 

0.09%

Example

This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then sell all of your shares at the end of the period. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund's operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

                   

 

 

 

1 Year

 

3 Years

 

5 Years

 

10 Years

 

 

$9

 

$29

 

$51

 

$115

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Portfolio Turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held

     

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FUND SUMMARIES

in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual Fund operating expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund's performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 15.26% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

Under normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of its assets in the component securities of the FTSE Australia Capped Index and in depositary receipts representing such securities. The FTSE Australia Capped Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization weighted index maintained and calculated by FTSE Russell with a capping methodology applied quarterly to issuer weights so that no single issuer of a component exceeds 25% of the FTSE Australia Capped Index weight, and all issuers with weights above 5% do not cumulatively exceed 50% of the FTSE Australia Capped Index’s weight. The FTSE Australia Capped Index is based on the FTSE Australia Index and is designed to measure the performance of Australian large- and mid-capitalization stocks. FTSE Russell determines eligible securities for the FTSE Australia Capped Index based on measures such as the company’s place of incorporation, listing country, investor protection regulations present in the country of incorporation, tax domicile, location of headquarters/factors of production and currency of denomination. As of May 31, 2022, the FTSE Australia Capped Index was comprised of 111 securities with capitalizations ranging from $569 million to $161.99 billion.

The Fund, using a “passive” or indexing investment approach, seeks investment results that closely correspond, before fees and expenses, to the performance of the FTSE Australia Capped Index. The Fund may use either a replication strategy or representative sampling strategy. Under a replication strategy, the Fund will replicate the component securities of the FTSE Australia Capped Index as closely as possible (i.e., invest in all of the component securities in their respective weightings in the FTSE Australia Capped Index). However, under various circumstances, it may not be possible or practicable to replicate the FTSE Australia Capped Index. In these circumstances, the Fund may use a “representative sampling” strategy whereby the Fund would invest in what it believes to be a representative sample of the component securities of the FTSE Australia Capped Index, but may not track the FTSE Australia Capped Index with the same degree of accuracy as would an investment vehicle replicating the entire FTSE Australia Capped Index. Under the representative sampling technique, the investment manager will select securities that collectively have an investment profile similar to that of the FTSE Australia Capped Index, including securities that resemble those included in the FTSE Australia Capped Index in terms of risk factors, performance attributes and other characteristics, such as market capitalization and industry weightings.

     

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FUND SUMMARIES

The Fund is a "non-diversified" fund, which means it generally invests a greater proportion of its assets in the securities of one or more issuers and invests overall in a smaller number of issuers than a diversified fund.

The Fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., hold 25% or more of its net assets) in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent that the FTSE Australia Capped Index is concentrated. As of May 31, 2022, the FTSE Australia Capped Index was concentrated in the financials and materials sectors.

Principal Risks

You could lose money by investing in the Fund. Exchange-traded fund (ETF) shares are not deposits or obligations of, or guaranteed or endorsed by, any bank, and are not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Reserve Board, or any other agency of the U.S. government. The Fund is subject to the principal risks noted below, any of which may adversely affect the Fund’s net asset value (NAV), trading price, yield, total return and ability to meet its investment goal.

Market The market values of securities or other investments owned by the Fund will go up or down, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably. The market value of a security or other investment may be reduced by market activity or other results of supply and demand unrelated to the issuer. This is a basic risk associated with all investments. When there are more sellers than buyers, prices tend to fall. Likewise, when there are more buyers than sellers, prices tend to rise.

The current global outbreak of the novel strain of coronavirus, COVID-19, has resulted in market closures and dislocations, extreme volatility, liquidity constraints and increased trading costs. Efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 have resulted in global travel restrictions and disruptions of healthcare systems, business operations and supply chains, layoffs, volatility in consumer demand for certain products, defaults and credit ratings downgrades, and other significant economic impacts. The effects of COVID-19 have impacted global economic activity across many industries and may heighten other pre-existing political, social and economic risks, locally or globally. The full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is unpredictable and may adversely affect the Fund’s performance.

Stock prices tend to go up and down more dramatically than those of debt securities. A slower-growth or recessionary economic environment could have an adverse effect on the prices of the various stocks held by the Fund.

Foreign Securities (non-U.S.) Investing in foreign securities typically involves more risks than investing in U.S. securities, and includes risks associated with: (i) internal and external political and economic developments – e.g., the political, economic and social policies and structures of some foreign countries may be less stable and more volatile than those in the U.S. or some foreign countries may be

     

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FRANKLIN FTSE AUSTRALIA ETF
FUND SUMMARIES

subject to trading restrictions or economic sanctions; (ii) trading practices – e.g., government supervision and regulation of foreign securities and currency markets, trading systems and brokers may be less than in the U.S.; (iii) availability of information – e.g., foreign issuers may not be subject to the same disclosure, accounting and financial reporting standards and practices as U.S. issuers; (iv) limited markets – e.g., the securities of certain foreign issuers may be less liquid (harder to sell) and more volatile; and (v) currency exchange rate fluctuations and policies – e.g., fluctuations may negatively affect investments denominated in foreign currencies and any income received or expenses paid by the Fund in that foreign currency.

Geographic Focus Because the Fund invests its assets primarily in companies in a specific country and region, the Fund is subject to greater risks of adverse developments in that country, region and/or the surrounding regions than a fund that is more broadly diversified geographically. Political, social or economic disruptions in the country or region, even in countries in which the Fund is not invested, may adversely affect the value of investments held by the Fund.

The Australian economy is heavily dependent on the price and demand for commodities and natural resources as well as its exports from the agricultural and mining sectors. Declines in the demand for such products may have an adverse impact on the Fund’s returns. Australia is also dependent on trading with key trading partners. The Fund is susceptible to loss due to adverse market, political, regulatory, and other events affecting Australia. These events may adversely affect the trading market and price for Fund shares and cause the Fund to decline in value. Intensifying weather-related natural disasters in Australia including drought and bushfires have imposed substantial economic costs. A continuation of these trends may impose financial stress which in turn could cause the value of the Fund's investments to decline.

Depositary Receipts Depositary receipts are subject to many of the risks of the underlying securities. For some depositary receipts, the custodian or similar financial institution that holds the issuer's shares in a trust account is located in the issuer's home country. In these cases if the issuer’s home country does not have developed financial markets, the Fund could be exposed to the credit risk of the custodian or financial institution and greater market risk. In addition, the depository institution may not have physical custody of the underlying securities at all times and may charge fees for various services. The Fund may experience delays in receiving its dividend and interest payments or exercising rights as a shareholder. There may be an increased possibility of untimely responses to certain corporate actions of the issuer in an unsponsored depositary receipt program. Accordingly, there may be less information available regarding issuers of securities underlying unsponsored programs and there may not be a correlation between this information and the market value of the depositary receipts.

     

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FUND SUMMARIES

Calculation Methodology FTSE Russell relies on various sources of information to assess the criteria of issuers included in the FTSE Australia Capped Index, including information that may be based on assumptions and estimates. Neither the Fund nor the investment manager can offer assurances that FTSE Russell's calculation methodology or sources of information will provide an accurate assessment of included issuers or that the included issuers will provide the Fund with the market exposure it seeks.

Index-Related There is no assurance that the FTSE Australia Capped Index will be determined, composed or calculated accurately. While FTSE Russell provides descriptions of what the FTSE Australia Capped Index is designed to achieve, FTSE Russell does not guarantee the quality, accuracy or completeness of data in respect of its indices, and does not guarantee that the FTSE Australia Capped Index will be in line with the described index methodology. Errors in index data, index computations or the construction of the underlying index in accordance with its methodology (including as a result of outdated, unreliable or unavailable market information) may occur and may not be identified and corrected by the index provider for a period of time or at all, which may have an adverse impact on the Fund and its shareholders. Gains, losses or costs to the Fund caused by errors in the FTSE Australia Capped Index may therefore be borne by the Fund and its shareholders.

Non-Correlation There is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve a high degree of correlation to the FTSE Australia Capped Index and therefore achieve its investment goal. Market disruptions and regulatory restrictions could have an adverse effect on the Fund’s ability to adjust its exposure to the required levels in order to track the FTSE Australia Capped Index. In addition, the Fund’s NAV may deviate from the FTSE Australia Capped Index if the Fund fair values a portfolio security at a price other than the price used by the FTSE Australia Capped Index for that security. To the extent that the investment manager uses a representative sampling strategy, the Fund may not track the return of the FTSE Australia Capped Index as well as it would have if the Fund held all of the securities in the FTSE Australia Capped Index.

Tracking Error Tracking error is the divergence of the Fund’s performance from that of the FTSE Australia Capped Index. Tracking error may occur because of differences between the securities held in the Fund’s portfolio and those included in the FTSE Australia Capped Index, pricing differences (including differences between a security’s price at the local market close and the Fund’s valuation of a security at the time of calculation of the Fund’s NAV), transaction costs, the Fund’s holding of cash, differences in timing of the accrual of dividends or interest, tax gains or losses, changes to the FTSE Australia Capped Index or the need to meet various new or existing regulatory requirements. This risk may be heightened during times of increased market volatility or other unusual market conditions.

     

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FRANKLIN FTSE AUSTRALIA ETF
FUND SUMMARIES

Tracking error also may result because the Fund incurs fees and expenses, while the FTSE Australia Capped Index does not.

Market Trading The Fund faces numerous market trading risks, including the potential lack of an active market for Fund shares, losses from trading in secondary markets, periods of high volatility and disruption in the creation/redemption process of the Fund. Any of these factors, among others, may lead to the Fund’s shares trading at a premium or discount to NAV. Thus, you may pay more (or less) than NAV when you buy shares of the Fund in the secondary market, and you may receive less (or more) than NAV when you sell those shares in the secondary market. The investment manager cannot predict whether shares will trade above (premium), below (discount) or at NAV.

Concentration To the extent the Fund concentrates in a specific industry, a group of industries, sector or type of investment, the Fund will carry much greater risks of adverse developments and price movements in such industries, sectors or investments than a fund that invests in a wider variety of industries, sectors or investments. There is also the risk that the Fund will perform poorly during a slump in demand for securities of companies in such industries or sectors.

The Fund may focus in the financial services and materials sectors. Financial services companies are subject to extensive government regulation that may affect their profitability in many ways, including by limiting the amount and types of loans and other commitments they can make, and the interest rates and fees they can charge. A financial services company's profitability, and therefore its stock prices, is especially sensitive to interest rate changes as well as the ability of borrowers to repay their loans. Changing regulations, continuing consolidations, and development of new products and structures all are likely to have a significant impact on financial services companies.

Companies in the materials sector may be adversely affected by commodity price volatility, exchange rates, import controls, increased competition, depletion of resources, technical advances, labor relations, overproduction, litigation and government regulations, among other factors. Companies in the materials sector are also at risk of liability for environmental damage and product liability claims.

Non-Diversification Because the Fund is non-diversified, it may be more sensitive to economic, business, political or other changes affecting individual issuers or investments than a diversified fund, which may negatively impact the Fund's performance and result in greater fluctuation in the value of the Fund’s shares.

Mid Capitalization Companies Securities issued by mid capitalization companies may be more volatile in price than those of larger companies, involve substantial risks and should be considered speculative. Such risks may include greater sensitivity to economic conditions, less certain growth prospects, lack of depth of management and funds for growth and development, and limited or less developed

     

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FUND SUMMARIES

product lines and markets. In addition, mid capitalization companies may be particularly affected by interest rate increases, as they may find it more difficult to borrow money to continue or expand operations, or may have difficulty in repaying any loans.

Passive Investment Unlike many investment companies, the Fund is not actively managed and the investment manager does not attempt to take defensive positions under any market conditions, including declining markets. Therefore, the investment manager would not necessarily buy or sell a security unless that security is added or removed, respectively, from the FTSE Australia Capped Index, even if that security generally is underperforming.

International Closed Market Trading To the extent that the underlying securities held by the Fund trade on an exchange that is closed when the securities exchange on which the Fund shares list and trade is open, there may be market uncertainty about the stale security pricing (i.e., the last quote from its closed foreign market) resulting in premiums or discounts to NAV that may be greater than those experienced by other ETFs.

Authorized Participant Concentration Only an authorized participant (Authorized Participant) may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund. The Fund has a limited number of institutions that act as Authorized Participants. To the extent that these institutions exit the business or are unable to proceed with creation and/or redemption orders with respect to the Fund and no other Authorized Participant is able to step forward to create or redeem Creation Units (as defined below), Fund shares may trade at a discount to NAV and possibly face trading halts and/or delisting. This risk may be more pronounced in volatile markets, potentially where there are significant redemptions in ETFs generally.

Small Fund When the Fund's size is small, the Fund may experience low trading volume and wide bid/ask spreads. In addition, the Fund may face the risk of being delisted if the Fund does not meet certain conditions of the listing exchange.

Large Shareholder Certain shareholders, including other funds or accounts advised by the investment manager or an affiliate of the investment manager, may from time to time own a substantial amount of the Fund’s shares. In addition, a third-party investor, the investment manager or an affiliate of the investment manager, an authorized participant, a lead market maker, or another entity may invest in the Fund and hold its investment for a limited period of time solely to facilitate commencement of the Fund or to facilitate the Fund’s achieving a specified size or scale. There can be no assurance that any large shareholder would not redeem its investment, that the size of the Fund would be maintained at such levels or that the Fund would continue to meet applicable listing requirements. Redemptions by large shareholders could have a significant negative impact on the Fund. In addition, transactions by large shareholders may account for a large

     

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FUND SUMMARIES

percentage of the trading volume on the listing exchange and may, therefore, have a material upward or downward effect on the market price of the shares.

Cybersecurity Cybersecurity incidents, both intentional and unintentional, may allow an unauthorized party to gain access to Fund assets, Fund or customer data (including private shareholder information), or proprietary information, cause the Fund, the investment manager, authorized participants, or index providers (as applicable) and listing exchanges, and/or their service providers (including, but not limited to, Fund accountants, custodians, sub-custodians, transfer agents and financial intermediaries) to suffer data breaches, data corruption or loss of operational functionality or prevent Fund investors from purchasing, redeeming shares or receiving distributions. The investment manager has limited ability to prevent or mitigate cybersecurity incidents affecting third party service providers, and such third party service providers may have limited indemnification obligations to the Fund or investment manager. Cybersecurity incidents may result in financial losses to the Fund and its shareholders, and substantial costs may be incurred in an effort to prevent or mitigate future cybersecurity incidents. Issuers of securities in which the Fund invests are also subject to cybersecurity risks, and the value of these securities could decline if the issuers experience cybersecurity incidents.

Because technology is frequently changing, new ways to carry out cyber attacks are always developing. Therefore, there is a chance that some risks have not been identified or prepared for, or that an attack may not be detected, which puts limitations on the Fund's ability to plan for or respond to a cyber attack. Like other funds and business enterprises, the Fund, the investment manager and their service providers are subject to the risk of cyber incidents occurring from time to time.

Performance

The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows changes in the Fund's performance from year to year. The table shows how the Fund's average annual returns for 1 year, 5 years, 10 years or since inception, as applicable, compared with those of the Fund's underlying index. The Fund's past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. You can obtain updated performance information at franklintempleton.com or by calling (800) DIAL BEN/342-5236.

     

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FUND SUMMARIES

Annual Total Returns

PerformanceBarChartData(2018:-12.25,2019:23.2,2020:11.04,2021:9.93)

     

Best Quarter:

2020, Q2

30.71%

Worst Quarter:

2020, Q1

-33.21%

 

As of June 30, 2022, the Fund’s year-to-date return was -12.48%.

Average Annual Total Returns

For periods ended December 31, 2021

             

 

 

1 Year

 

Since Inception

 

Franklin FTSE Australia ETF

 

 

 

 

 

 

Return before taxes

 

9.93%

 

7.92%

1

 

Return after taxes on distributions

 

8.52%

 

6.55%

1

 

Return after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares

 

6.69%

 

5.68%

1

FTSE Australia Capped Index (index reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)

 

9.99%

 

7.89%

1

             

1.

Since inception November 2, 2017.

The after-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor's tax situation and may differ from those shown. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold their Fund shares through tax-advantaged arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts.

Investment Manager

Franklin Advisory Services, LLC (Advisory Services)

     

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FRANKLIN FTSE AUSTRALIA ETF
FUND SUMMARIES

Portfolio Managers

Dina Ting, CFA

Senior Vice President of Advisory Services and portfolio manager of the Fund since inception (2017).

Hailey Harris

Vice President of Advisory Services and portfolio manager of the Fund since 2019.

Joe Diederich

Vice President of Advisory Services and portfolio manager of the Fund since August 2022.

Basit Amin, CFA

Vice President of Advisory Services and portfolio manager of the Fund since August 2022.

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

The Fund is an ETF. Fund shares may only be purchased and sold on a national securities exchange through a broker-dealer. The price of Fund shares is based on market price, and because ETF shares trade at market prices rather than NAV, shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (a premium) or less than NAV (a discount). The Fund issues or redeems shares that have been aggregated into blocks of 50,000 shares or multiples thereof (Creation Units) to Authorized Participants who have entered into agreements with the Fund’s distributor, Franklin Distributors, LLC. The Fund will generally issue or redeem Creation Units in exchange for a basket of securities (and an amount of cash) that the Fund specifies each day.

An investor may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase shares of the Fund (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for shares of the Fund (ask) when buying or selling shares in the secondary market (the "bid-ask spread"). Recent information, including information on the Fund's NAV, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid-ask spreads is available on the Fund's website at https://www.franklintempleton.com/ investor/investments-and-solutions/investment-options/etfs/.

Taxes

The Fund’s distributions are generally taxable to you as ordinary income, capital gains, or some combination of both, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account, in which case your distributions would generally be taxed when withdrawn from the tax-advantaged account.

     

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FUND SUMMARIES

Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the investment manager or other related companies may pay the intermediary for certain Fund-related activities, including those that are designed to make the intermediary more knowledgeable about exchange traded products, such as the Fund, as well as for marketing, education or other initiatives related to the sale or promotion of Fund shares. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.

     

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FRANKLIN FTSE BRAZIL ETF
FUND SUMMARIES

   

FLBR

  Franklin FTSE Brazil ETF

Investment Goal

To seek to provide investment results that closely correspond, before fees and expenses, to the performance of the FTSE Brazil RIC Capped Index (the FTSE Brazil Capped Index).

Fees and Expenses of the Fund

The following table describes the fees and expenses that you will incur if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund. You may also incur other fees, such as usual and customary brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and the Example that follows.

Annual Fund Operating Expenses

(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

     

 

 

 

Management fees

 

0.19%

Distribution and service (12b-1) fees

 

None

Other expenses

 

None

Total annual Fund operating expenses

 

0.19%

Example

This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then sell all of your shares at the end of the period. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund's operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

                   

 

 

 

1 Year

 

3 Years

 

5 Years

 

10 Years

 

 

$19

 

$61

 

$107

 

$243

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Portfolio Turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held

     

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FUND SUMMARIES

in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual Fund operating expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund's performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 17.71% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

Under normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of its assets in the component securities of the FTSE Brazil Capped Index and in depositary receipts representing such securities. The FTSE Brazil Capped Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization weighted index maintained and calculated by FTSE Russell with a capping methodology applied quarterly to issuer weights so that no single issuer of a component exceeds 25% of the FTSE Brazil Capped Index weight, and all issuers with weights above 5% do not cumulatively exceed 50% of the FTSE Brazil Capped Index’s weight. The FTSE Brazil Capped Index is based on the FTSE Brazil Index and is designed to measure the performance of Brazilian large- and mid-capitalization stocks. FTSE Russell determines eligible securities for the FTSE Brazil Capped Index based on measures such as the company’s place of incorporation, listing country, investor protection regulations present in the country of incorporation, tax domicile, location of headquarters/factors of production and currency of denomination. As of May 31, 2022, the FTSE Brazil Capped Index was comprised of 99 securities with capitalizations ranging from $820 million to $91.56 billion.

The Fund, using a “passive” or indexing investment approach, seeks investment results that closely correspond, before fees and expenses, to the performance of the FTSE Brazil Capped Index. The Fund may use either a replication strategy or representative sampling strategy. Under a replication strategy, the Fund will replicate the component securities of the FTSE Brazil Capped Index as closely as possible (i.e., invest in all of the component securities in their respective weightings in the FTSE Brazil Capped Index). However, under various circumstances, it may not be possible or practicable to replicate the FTSE Brazil Capped Index. In these circumstances, the Fund may use a “representative sampling” strategy whereby the Fund would invest in what it believes to be a representative sample of the component securities of the FTSE Brazil Capped Index, but may not track the FTSE Brazil Capped Index with the same degree of accuracy as would an investment vehicle replicating the entire FTSE Brazil Capped Index. Under the representative sampling technique, the investment manager will select securities that collectively have an investment profile similar to that of the FTSE Brazil Capped Index, including securities that resemble those included in the FTSE Brazil Capped Index in terms of risk factors, performance attributes and other characteristics, such as market capitalization and industry weightings.

     

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FRANKLIN FTSE BRAZIL ETF
FUND SUMMARIES

The Fund is a "non-diversified" fund, which means it generally invests a greater proportion of its assets in the securities of one or more issuers and invests overall in a smaller number of issuers than a diversified fund.

The Fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., hold 25% or more of its net assets) in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent that the FTSE Brazil Capped Index is concentrated..

Principal Risks

You could lose money by investing in the Fund. Exchange-traded fund (ETF) shares are not deposits or obligations of, or guaranteed or endorsed by, any bank, and are not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Reserve Board, or any other agency of the U.S. government. The Fund is subject to the principal risks noted below, any of which may adversely affect the Fund’s net asset value (NAV), trading price, yield, total return and ability to meet its investment goal.

Market The market values of securities or other investments owned by the Fund will go up or down, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably. The market value of a security or other investment may be reduced by market activity or other results of supply and demand unrelated to the issuer. This is a basic risk associated with all investments. When there are more sellers than buyers, prices tend to fall. Likewise, when there are more buyers than sellers, prices tend to rise.

The current global outbreak of the novel strain of coronavirus, COVID-19, has resulted in market closures and dislocations, extreme volatility, liquidity constraints and increased trading costs. Efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 have resulted in global travel restrictions and disruptions of healthcare systems, business operations and supply chains, layoffs, volatility in consumer demand for certain products, defaults and credit ratings downgrades, and other significant economic impacts. The effects of COVID-19 have impacted global economic activity across many industries and may heighten other pre-existing political, social and economic risks, locally or globally. The full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is unpredictable and may adversely affect the Fund’s performance.

Stock prices tend to go up and down more dramatically than those of debt securities. A slower-growth or recessionary economic environment could have an adverse effect on the prices of the various stocks held by the Fund.

Foreign Securities (non-U.S.) Investing in foreign securities typically involves more risks than investing in U.S. securities, and includes risks associated with: (i) internal and external political and economic developments – e.g., the political, economic and social policies and structures of some foreign countries may be less stable and more volatile than those in the U.S. or some foreign countries may be subject to trading restrictions or economic sanctions; (ii) trading practices – e.g.,

     

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FRANKLIN FTSE BRAZIL ETF
FUND SUMMARIES

government supervision and regulation of foreign securities and currency markets, trading systems and brokers may be less than in the U.S.; (iii) availability of information – e.g., foreign issuers may not be subject to the same disclosure, accounting and financial reporting standards and practices as U.S. issuers; (iv) limited markets – e.g., the securities of certain foreign issuers may be less liquid (harder to sell) and more volatile; and (v) currency exchange rate fluctuations and policies – e.g., fluctuations may negatively affect investments denominated in foreign currencies and any income received or expenses paid by the Fund in that foreign currency. The risks of foreign investments may be greater in developing or emerging market countries.

Emerging Market Countries The Fund’s investments in emerging market issuers are subject to all of the risks of foreign investing generally, and have additional heightened risks due to a lack of established legal, political, business and social frameworks to support securities markets, including: delays in settling portfolio securities transactions; currency and capital controls; greater sensitivity to interest rate changes; pervasiveness of corruption and crime; currency exchange rate volatility; and inflation, deflation or currency devaluation.

Geographic Focus Because the Fund invests its assets primarily in companies in a specific country and region, the Fund is subject to greater risks of adverse developments in that country, region and/or the surrounding regions than a fund that is more broadly diversified geographically. Political, social or economic disruptions in the country or region, even in countries in which the Fund is not invested, may adversely affect the value of investments held by the Fund.

The Brazilian economy has experienced in the past, and may continue to experience, periods of high inflation rates and political unrest. The Brazilian economy depends heavily on international trade, and its economy is highly sensitive to fluctuations in international commodity prices and commodity markets. Currency devaluations or restrictions, fluctuations in commodity markets, political and social instability, high inflation rates and deteriorating economic conditions may result in significant downturns and increased volatility in the Brazilian economy, as it has in the past, and thus adversely affect the Fund’s performance.

Depositary Receipts Depositary receipts are subject to many of the risks of the underlying securities. For some depositary receipts, the custodian or similar financial institution that holds the issuer's shares in a trust account is located in the issuer's home country. In these cases if the issuer’s home country does not have developed financial markets, the Fund could be exposed to the credit risk of the custodian or financial institution and greater market risk. In addition, the depository institution may not have physical custody of the underlying securities at all times and may charge fees for various services. The Fund may experience delays in receiving its dividend and interest payments or exercising rights as a shareholder. There may be an increased possibility of untimely responses to certain corporate

     

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FRANKLIN FTSE BRAZIL ETF
FUND SUMMARIES

actions of the issuer in an unsponsored depositary receipt program. Accordingly, there may be less information available regarding issuers of securities underlying unsponsored programs and there may not be a correlation between this information and the market value of the depositary receipts.

Preferred Securities Preferred securities are subject to general market and issuer-specific risks applicable to equity securities as well as certain risks associated with fixed income securities, including sensitivity to changes in interest rates. Preferred securities may be subordinated to bonds or other debt instruments in an issuer's capital structure, subjecting them to a greater risk of non-payment. The value of preferred securities is heavily dependent on the profitability and cash flows of the issuer and may decline substantially due to the omission or deferment of dividend payments. Preferred securities may be less liquid than other securities, such as common stocks, and generally do not provide voting rights with respect to the issuer.

Calculation Methodology FTSE Russell relies on various sources of information to assess the criteria of issuers included in the FTSE Brazil Capped Index, including information that may be based on assumptions and estimates. Neither the Fund nor the investment manager can offer assurances that FTSE Russell's calculation methodology or sources of information will provide an accurate assessment of included issuers or that the included issuers will provide the Fund with the market exposure it seeks.

Index-Related There is no assurance that the FTSE Brazil Capped Index will be determined, composed or calculated accurately. While FTSE Russell provides descriptions of what the FTSE Brazil Capped Index is designed to achieve, FTSE Russell does not guarantee the quality, accuracy or completeness of data in respect of its indices, and does not guarantee that the FTSE Brazil Capped Index will be in line with the described index methodology. Errors in index data, index computations or the construction of the underlying index in accordance with its methodology (including as a result of outdated, unreliable or unavailable market information) may occur and may not be identified and corrected by the index provider for a period of time or at all, which may have an adverse impact on the Fund and its shareholders. Gains, losses or costs to the Fund caused by errors in the FTSE Brazil Capped Index may therefore be borne by the Fund and its shareholders.

Non-Correlation There is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve a high degree of correlation to the FTSE Brazil Capped Index and therefore achieve its investment goal. Market disruptions and regulatory restrictions could have an adverse effect on the Fund’s ability to adjust its exposure to the required levels in order to track the FTSE Brazil Capped Index. In addition, the Fund’s NAV may deviate from the FTSE Brazil Capped Index if the Fund fair values a portfolio security at a price other than the price used by the FTSE Brazil Capped Index for

     

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FRANKLIN FTSE BRAZIL ETF
FUND SUMMARIES

that security. To the extent that the investment manager uses a representative sampling strategy, the Fund may not track the return of the FTSE Brazil Capped Index as well as it would have if the Fund held all of the securities in the FTSE Brazil Capped Index.

Tracking Error Tracking error is the divergence of the Fund’s performance from that of the FTSE Brazil Capped Index. Tracking error may occur because of differences between the securities held in the Fund’s portfolio and those included in the FTSE Brazil Capped Index, pricing differences (including differences between a security’s price at the local market close and the Fund’s valuation of a security at the time of calculation of the Fund’s NAV), transaction costs, the Fund’s holding of cash, differences in timing of the accrual of dividends or interest, tax gains or losses, changes to the FTSE Brazil Capped Index or the need to meet various new or existing regulatory requirements. This risk may be heightened during times of increased market volatility or other unusual market conditions. Tracking error also may result because the Fund incurs fees and expenses, while the FTSE Brazil Capped Index does not.

Market Trading The Fund faces numerous market trading risks, including the potential lack of an active market for Fund shares, losses from trading in secondary markets, periods of high volatility and disruption in the creation/redemption process of the Fund. Any of these factors, among others, may lead to the Fund’s shares trading at a premium or discount to NAV. Thus, you may pay more (or less) than NAV when you buy shares of the Fund in the secondary market, and you may receive less (or more) than NAV when you sell those shares in the secondary market. The investment manager cannot predict whether shares will trade above (premium), below (discount) or at NAV.

Concentration To the extent the Fund concentrates in a specific industry, a group of industries, sector or type of investment, the Fund will carry much greater risks of adverse developments and price movements in such industries, sectors or investments than a fund that invests in a wider variety of industries, sectors or investments. There is also the risk that the Fund will perform poorly during a slump in demand for securities of companies in such industries or sectors.

 

Non-Diversification Because the Fund is non-diversified, it may be more sensitive to economic, business, political or other changes affecting individual issuers or investments than a diversified fund, which may negatively impact the Fund's performance and result in greater fluctuation in the value of the Fund’s shares.

Mid Capitalization Companies Securities issued by mid capitalization companies may be more volatile in price than those of larger companies, involve substantial risks and should be considered speculative. Such risks may include greater sensitivity to economic conditions, less certain growth prospects, lack of depth of management and funds for growth and development, and limited or less developed

     

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FRANKLIN FTSE BRAZIL ETF
FUND SUMMARIES

product lines and markets. In addition, mid capitalization companies may be particularly affected by interest rate increases, as they may find it more difficult to borrow money to continue or expand operations, or may have difficulty in repaying any loans.

Passive Investment Unlike many investment companies, the Fund is not actively managed and the investment manager does not attempt to take defensive positions under any market conditions, including declining markets. Therefore, the investment manager would not necessarily buy or sell a security unless that security is added or removed, respectively, from the FTSE Brazil Capped Index, even if that security generally is underperforming.

International Closed Market Trading To the extent that the underlying securities held by the Fund trade on an exchange that is closed when the securities exchange on which the Fund shares list and trade is open, there may be market uncertainty about the stale security pricing (i.e., the last quote from its closed foreign market) resulting in premiums or discounts to NAV that may be greater than those experienced by other ETFs.

Authorized Participant Concentration Only an authorized participant (Authorized Participant) may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund. The Fund has a limited number of institutions that act as Authorized Participants. To the extent that these institutions exit the business or are unable to proceed with creation and/or redemption orders with respect to the Fund and no other Authorized Participant is able to step forward to create or redeem Creation Units (as defined below), Fund shares may trade at a discount to NAV and possibly face trading halts and/or delisting. This risk may be more pronounced in volatile markets, potentially where there are significant redemptions in ETFs generally.

Cash Transactions Unlike certain ETFs, the Fund expects to generally effect its creations and redemptions entirely for cash, rather than for in-kind securities. Therefore, it may be required to sell portfolio securities and subsequently recognize gains on such sales that the Fund might not have recognized if it were to distribute portfolio securities in-kind. As such, investments in Fund shares may be less tax-efficient than an investment in an ETF that distributes portfolio securities entirely in-kind.

Small Fund When the Fund's size is small, the Fund may experience low trading volume and wide bid/ask spreads. In addition, the Fund may face the risk of being delisted if the Fund does not meet certain conditions of the listing exchange.

Large Shareholder Certain shareholders, including other funds or accounts advised by the investment manager or an affiliate of the investment manager, may from time to time own a substantial amount of the Fund’s shares. In addition, a third-party investor, the investment manager or an affiliate of the investment manager, an authorized participant, a lead market maker, or another entity may

     

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FUND SUMMARIES

invest in the Fund and hold its investment for a limited period of time solely to facilitate commencement of the Fund or to facilitate the Fund’s achieving a specified size or scale. There can be no assurance that any large shareholder would not redeem its investment, that the size of the Fund would be maintained at such levels or that the Fund would continue to meet applicable listing requirements. Redemptions by large shareholders could have a significant negative impact on the Fund. In addition, transactions by large shareholders may account for a large percentage of the trading volume on the listing exchange and may, therefore, have a material upward or downward effect on the market price of the shares.

Cybersecurity Cybersecurity incidents, both intentional and unintentional, may allow an unauthorized party to gain access to Fund assets, Fund or customer data (including private shareholder information), or proprietary information, cause the Fund, the investment manager, authorized participants, or index providers (as applicable) and listing exchanges, and/or their service providers (including, but not limited to, Fund accountants, custodians, sub-custodians, transfer agents and financial intermediaries) to suffer data breaches, data corruption or loss of operational functionality or prevent Fund investors from purchasing, redeeming shares or receiving distributions. The investment manager has limited ability to prevent or mitigate cybersecurity incidents affecting third party service providers, and such third party service providers may have limited indemnification obligations to the Fund or investment manager. Cybersecurity incidents may result in financial losses to the Fund and its shareholders, and substantial costs may be incurred in an effort to prevent or mitigate future cybersecurity incidents. Issuers of securities in which the Fund invests are also subject to cybersecurity risks, and the value of these securities could decline if the issuers experience cybersecurity incidents.

Because technology is frequently changing, new ways to carry out cyber attacks are always developing. Therefore, there is a chance that some risks have not been identified or prepared for, or that an attack may not be detected, which puts limitations on the Fund's ability to plan for or respond to a cyber attack. Like other funds and business enterprises, the Fund, the investment manager and their service providers are subject to the risk of cyber incidents occurring from time to time.

Performance

The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows changes in the Fund's performance from year to year. The table shows how the Fund's average annual returns for 1 year, 5 years, 10 years or since inception, as applicable, compared with those of the Fund's underlying index. The Fund's past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. You can obtain

     

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FRANKLIN FTSE BRAZIL ETF
FUND SUMMARIES

updated performance information at franklintempleton.com or by calling (800) DIAL BEN/342-5236.

Annual Total Returns

PerformanceBarChartData(2018:-0.88,2019:27.39,2020:-19.41,2021:-17.28)

     

Best Quarter:

2020, Q4

36.44%

Worst Quarter:

2020, Q1

-50.43%

 

As of June 30, 2022, the Fund’s year-to-date return was 1.23%.

Average Annual Total Returns

For periods ended December 31, 2021

             

 

 

1 Year

 

Since Inception

 

Franklin FTSE Brazil ETF

 

 

 

 

 

 

Return before taxes

 

-17.28%

 

-3.43%

1

 

Return after taxes on distributions

 

-19.76%

 

-5.03%

1

 

Return after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares

 

-10.03%

 

-3.05%

1

FTSE Brazil Capped Index (index reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)

 

-17.04%

 

-3.19%

1

             

1.

Since inception November 3, 2017.

The after-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor's tax situation and may differ from those shown. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold their Fund shares through tax-advantaged arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts.

     

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FRANKLIN FTSE BRAZIL ETF
FUND SUMMARIES

Investment Manager

Franklin Advisory Services, LLC (Advisory Services)

Portfolio Managers

Dina Ting, CFA

Senior Vice President of Advisory Services and portfolio manager of the Fund since inception (2017).

Hailey Harris

Vice President of Advisory Services and portfolio manager of the Fund since 2019.

Joe Diederich

Vice President of Advisory Services and portfolio manager of the Fund since August 2022.

Basit Amin, CFA

Vice President of Advisory Services and portfolio manager of the Fund since August 2022.

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

The Fund is an ETF. Fund shares may only be purchased and sold on a national securities exchange through a broker-dealer. The price of Fund shares is based on market price, and because ETF shares trade at market prices rather than NAV, shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (a premium) or less than NAV (a discount). The Fund issues or redeems shares that have been aggregated into blocks of 100,000 shares or multiples thereof (Creation Units) to Authorized Participants who have entered into agreements with the Fund’s distributor, Franklin Distributors, LLC. The Fund will generally issue or redeem Creation Units in exchange for a basket of cash and/or securities that the Fund specifies each day.

An investor may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase shares of the Fund (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for shares of the Fund (ask) when buying or selling shares in the secondary market (the "bid-ask spread"). Recent information, including information on the Fund's NAV, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid-ask spreads is available on the Fund's website at https://www.franklintempleton.com/ investor/investments-and-solutions/investment-options/etfs/.

Taxes

The Fund’s distributions are generally taxable to you as ordinary income, capital gains, or some combination of both, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement

     

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FRANKLIN FTSE BRAZIL ETF
FUND SUMMARIES

account, in which case your distributions would generally be taxed when withdrawn from the tax-advantaged account.

Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the investment manager or other related companies may pay the intermediary for certain Fund-related activities, including those that are designed to make the intermediary more knowledgeable about exchange traded products, such as the Fund, as well as for marketing, education or other initiatives related to the sale or promotion of Fund shares. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.

     

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FRANKLIN FTSE CANADA ETF
FUND SUMMARIES

   

FLCA

  Franklin FTSE Canada ETF

Investment Goal

To seek to provide investment results that closely correspond, before fees and expenses, to the performance of the FTSE Canada RIC Capped Index (the FTSE Canada Capped Index).

Fees and Expenses of the Fund

The following table describes the fees and expenses that you will incur if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund. You may also incur other fees, such as usual and customary brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and the Example that follows.

Annual Fund Operating Expenses

(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

     

 

 

 

Management fees

 

0.09%

Distribution and service (12b-1) fees

 

None

Other expenses

 

None

Total annual Fund operating expenses

 

0.09%

Example

This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then sell all of your shares at the end of the period. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund's operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

                   

 

 

 

1 Year

 

3 Years

 

5 Years

 

10 Years

 

 

$9

 

$29

 

$51

 

$115

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Portfolio Turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held

     

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FUND SUMMARIES

in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual Fund operating expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund's performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 5.63% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

Under normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of its assets in the component securities of the FTSE Canada Capped Index and in depositary receipts representing such securities. The FTSE Canada Capped Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization weighted index maintained and calculated by FTSE Russell with a capping methodology applied quarterly to issuer weights so that no single issuer of a component exceeds 25% of the FTSE Canada Capped Index weight, and all issuers with weights above 5% do not cumulatively exceed 50% of the FTSE Canada Capped Index’s weight. The FTSE Canada Capped Index is based on the FTSE Canada Index and is designed to measure the performance of Canadian large- and mid-capitalization stocks. FTSE Russell determines eligible securities for the FTSE Canada Capped Index based on measures such as the company’s place of incorporation, listing country, investor protection regulations present in the country of incorporation, tax domicile, location of headquarters/factors of production and currency of denomination. As of May 31, 2022, the FTSE Canada Capped Index was comprised of 51 securities with capitalizations ranging from $3.51 billion to $146.48 billion.

The Fund, using a “passive” or indexing investment approach, seeks investment results that closely correspond, before fees and expenses, to the performance of the FTSE Canada Capped Index. The Fund may use either a replication strategy or representative sampling strategy. Under a replication strategy, the Fund will replicate the component securities of the FTSE Canada Capped Index as closely as possible (i.e., invest in all of the component securities in their respective weightings in the FTSE Canada Capped Index). However, under various circumstances, it may not be possible or practicable to replicate the FTSE Canada Capped Index. In these circumstances, the Fund may use a “representative sampling” strategy whereby the Fund would invest in what it believes to be a representative sample of the component securities of the FTSE Canada Capped Index, but may not track the FTSE Canada Capped Index with the same degree of accuracy as would an investment vehicle replicating the entire FTSE Canada Capped Index. Under the representative sampling technique, the investment manager will select securities that collectively have an investment profile similar to that of the FTSE Canada Capped Index, including securities that resemble those included in the FTSE Canada Capped Index in terms of risk factors, performance attributes and other characteristics, such as market capitalization and industry weightings.

     

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FRANKLIN FTSE CANADA ETF
FUND SUMMARIES

The Fund is a "non-diversified" fund, which means it generally invests a greater proportion of its assets in the securities of one or more issuers and invests overall in a smaller number of issuers than a diversified fund.

The Fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., hold 25% or more of its net assets) in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent that the FTSE Canada Capped Index is concentrated. As of May 31, 2022, the FTSE Canada Capped Index was concentrated in the banking industry.

Principal Risks

You could lose money by investing in the Fund. Exchange-traded fund (ETF) shares are not deposits or obligations of, or guaranteed or endorsed by, any bank, and are not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Reserve Board, or any other agency of the U.S. government. The Fund is subject to the principal risks noted below, any of which may adversely affect the Fund’s net asset value (NAV), trading price, yield, total return and ability to meet its investment goal.

Market The market values of securities or other investments owned by the Fund will go up or down, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably. The market value of a security or other investment may be reduced by market activity or other results of supply and demand unrelated to the issuer. This is a basic risk associated with all investments. When there are more sellers than buyers, prices tend to fall. Likewise, when there are more buyers than sellers, prices tend to rise.

The current global outbreak of the novel strain of coronavirus, COVID-19, has resulted in market closures and dislocations, extreme volatility, liquidity constraints and increased trading costs. Efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 have resulted in global travel restrictions and disruptions of healthcare systems, business operations and supply chains, layoffs, volatility in consumer demand for certain products, defaults and credit ratings downgrades, and other significant economic impacts. The effects of COVID-19 have impacted global economic activity across many industries and may heighten other pre-existing political, social and economic risks, locally or globally. The full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is unpredictable and may adversely affect the Fund’s performance.

Stock prices tend to go up and down more dramatically than those of debt securities. A slower-growth or recessionary economic environment could have an adverse effect on the prices of the various stocks held by the Fund.

Foreign Securities (non-U.S.) Investing in foreign securities typically involves more risks than investing in U.S. securities, and includes risks associated with: (i) internal and external political and economic developments – e.g., the political, economic and social policies and structures of some foreign countries may be less stable and more volatile than those in the U.S. or some foreign countries may be

     

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FRANKLIN FTSE CANADA ETF
FUND SUMMARIES

subject to trading restrictions or economic sanctions; (ii) trading practices – e.g., government supervision and regulation of foreign securities and currency markets, trading systems and brokers may be less than in the U.S.; (iii) availability of information – e.g., foreign issuers may not be subject to the same disclosure, accounting and financial reporting standards and practices as U.S. issuers; (iv) limited markets – e.g., the securities of certain foreign issuers may be less liquid (harder to sell) and more volatile; and (v) currency exchange rate fluctuations and policies – e.g., fluctuations may negatively affect investments denominated in foreign currencies and any income received or expenses paid by the Fund in that foreign currency.

Geographic Focus Because the Fund invests its assets primarily in companies in a specific country and region, the Fund is subject to greater risks of adverse developments in that country, region and/or the surrounding regions than a fund that is more broadly diversified geographically. Political, social or economic disruptions in the country or region, even in countries in which the Fund is not invested, may adversely affect the value of investments held by the Fund.

Investments in Canadian issuers may subject the Fund to economic risk specific to Canada. Among other things, the Canadian economy is heavily dependent on relationships with certain key trading partners, including the United States and China. The Canadian economy is sensitive to fluctuations in certain commodity markets.

Depositary Receipts Depositary receipts are subject to many of the risks of the underlying securities. For some depositary receipts, the custodian or similar financial institution that holds the issuer's shares in a trust account is located in the issuer's home country. In these cases if the issuer’s home country does not have developed financial markets, the Fund could be exposed to the credit risk of the custodian or financial institution and greater market risk. In addition, the depository institution may not have physical custody of the underlying securities at all times and may charge fees for various services. The Fund may experience delays in receiving its dividend and interest payments or exercising rights as a shareholder. There may be an increased possibility of untimely responses to certain corporate actions of the issuer in an unsponsored depositary receipt program. Accordingly, there may be less information available regarding issuers of securities underlying unsponsored programs and there may not be a correlation between this information and the market value of the depositary receipts.

Calculation Methodology FTSE Russell relies on various sources of information to assess the criteria of issuers included in the FTSE Canada Capped Index, including information that may be based on assumptions and estimates. Neither the Fund nor the investment manager can offer assurances that FTSE Russell's calculation methodology or sources of information will provide an accurate

     

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assessment of included issuers or that the included issuers will provide the Fund with the market exposure it seeks.

Index-Related There is no assurance that the FTSE Canada Capped Index will be determined, composed or calculated accurately. While FTSE Russell provides descriptions of what the FTSE Canada Capped Index is designed to achieve, FTSE Russell does not guarantee the quality, accuracy or completeness of data in respect of its indices, and does not guarantee that the FTSE Canada Capped Index will be in line with the described index methodology. Errors in index data, index computations or the construction of the underlying index in accordance with its methodology (including as a result of outdated, unreliable or unavailable market information) may occur and may not be identified and corrected by the index provider for a period of time or at all, which may have an adverse impact on the Fund and its shareholders. Gains, losses or costs to the Fund caused by errors in the FTSE Canada Capped Index may therefore be borne by the Fund and its shareholders.

Non-Correlation There is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve a high degree of correlation to the FTSE Canada Capped Index and therefore achieve its investment goal. Market disruptions and regulatory restrictions could have an adverse effect on the Fund’s ability to adjust its exposure to the required levels in order to track the FTSE Canada Capped Index. In addition, the Fund’s NAV may deviate from the FTSE Canada Capped Index if the Fund fair values a portfolio security at a price other than the price used by the FTSE Canada Capped Index for that security. To the extent that the investment manager uses a representative sampling strategy, the Fund may not track the return of the FTSE Canada Capped Index as well as it would have if the Fund held all of the securities in the FTSE Canada Capped Index.

Tracking Error Tracking error is the divergence of the Fund’s performance from that of the FTSE Canada Capped Index. Tracking error may occur because of differences between the securities held in the Fund’s portfolio and those included in the FTSE Canada Capped Index, pricing differences (including differences between a security’s price at the local market close and the Fund’s valuation of a security at the time of calculation of the Fund’s NAV), transaction costs, the Fund’s holding of cash, differences in timing of the accrual of dividends or interest, tax gains or losses, changes to the FTSE Canada Capped Index or the need to meet various new or existing regulatory requirements. This risk may be heightened during times of increased market volatility or other unusual market conditions. Tracking error also may result because the Fund incurs fees and expenses, while the FTSE Canada Capped Index does not.

Market Trading The Fund faces numerous market trading risks, including the potential lack of an active market for Fund shares, losses from trading in secondary markets, periods of high volatility and disruption in the creation/redemption process

     

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FUND SUMMARIES

of the Fund. Any of these factors, among others, may lead to the Fund’s shares trading at a premium or discount to NAV. Thus, you may pay more (or less) than NAV when you buy shares of the Fund in the secondary market, and you may receive less (or more) than NAV when you sell those shares in the secondary market. The investment manager cannot predict whether shares will trade above (premium), below (discount) or at NAV.

Concentration To the extent the Fund concentrates in a specific industry, a group of industries, sector or type of investment, the Fund will carry much greater risks of adverse developments and price movements in such industries, sectors or investments than a fund that invests in a wider variety of industries, sectors or investments. There is also the risk that the Fund will perform poorly during a slump in demand for securities of companies in such industries or sectors.

The Fund may focus in the banking industry. Companies in the banking industry are subject to certain risks, including the effects of: (1) changes in interest rates on the profitability of banks; (2) the rate of corporate and consumer debt defaults; (3) price competition; (4) governmental limitations on a company’s loans, other financial commitments, product lines and other operations; and (5) ongoing changes in the financial services industry (including consolidations, development of new products and changes to the industry’s regulatory framework).

Non-Diversification Because the Fund is non-diversified, it may be more sensitive to economic, business, political or other changes affecting individual issuers or investments than a diversified fund, which may negatively impact the Fund's performance and result in greater fluctuation in the value of the Fund’s shares.

Mid Capitalization Companies Securities issued by mid capitalization companies may be more volatile in price than those of larger companies, involve substantial risks and should be considered speculative. Such risks may include greater sensitivity to economic conditions, less certain growth prospects, lack of depth of management and funds for growth and development, and limited or less developed product lines and markets. In addition, mid capitalization companies may be particularly affected by interest rate increases, as they may find it more difficult to borrow money to continue or expand operations, or may have difficulty in repaying any loans.

Passive Investment Unlike many investment companies, the Fund is not actively managed and the investment manager does not attempt to take defensive positions under any market conditions, including declining markets. Therefore, the investment manager would not necessarily buy or sell a security unless that security is added or removed, respectively, from the FTSE Canada Capped Index, even if that security generally is underperforming.

International Closed Market Trading To the extent that the underlying securities held by the Fund trade on an exchange that is closed when the securities

     

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exchange on which the Fund shares list and trade is open, there may be market uncertainty about the stale security pricing (i.e., the last quote from its closed foreign market) resulting in premiums or discounts to NAV that may be greater than those experienced by other ETFs.

Authorized Participant Concentration Only an authorized participant (Authorized Participant) may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund. The Fund has a limited number of institutions that act as Authorized Participants. To the extent that these institutions exit the business or are unable to proceed with creation and/or redemption orders with respect to the Fund and no other Authorized Participant is able to step forward to create or redeem Creation Units (as defined below), Fund shares may trade at a discount to NAV and possibly face trading halts and/or delisting. This risk may be more pronounced in volatile markets, potentially where there are significant redemptions in ETFs generally.

Small Fund When the Fund's size is small, the Fund may experience low trading volume and wide bid/ask spreads. In addition, the Fund may face the risk of being delisted if the Fund does not meet certain conditions of the listing exchange.

Large Shareholder Certain shareholders, including other funds or accounts advised by the investment manager or an affiliate of the investment manager, may from time to time own a substantial amount of the Fund’s shares. In addition, a third-party investor, the investment manager or an affiliate of the investment manager, an authorized participant, a lead market maker, or another entity may invest in the Fund and hold its investment for a limited period of time solely to facilitate commencement of the Fund or to facilitate the Fund’s achieving a specified size or scale. There can be no assurance that any large shareholder would not redeem its investment, that the size of the Fund would be maintained at such levels or that the Fund would continue to meet applicable listing requirements. Redemptions by large shareholders could have a significant negative impact on the Fund. In addition, transactions by large shareholders may account for a large percentage of the trading volume on the listing exchange and may, therefore, have a material upward or downward effect on the market price of the shares.

Cybersecurity Cybersecurity incidents, both intentional and unintentional, may allow an unauthorized party to gain access to Fund assets, Fund or customer data (including private shareholder information), or proprietary information, cause the Fund, the investment manager, authorized participants, or index providers (as applicable) and listing exchanges, and/or their service providers (including, but not limited to, Fund accountants, custodians, sub-custodians, transfer agents and financial intermediaries) to suffer data breaches, data corruption or loss of operational functionality or prevent Fund investors from purchasing, redeeming shares or receiving distributions. The investment manager has limited ability to prevent or mitigate cybersecurity incidents affecting third party service providers, and such third party service providers may have limited indemnification obligations

     

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to the Fund or investment manager. Cybersecurity incidents may result in financial losses to the Fund and its shareholders, and substantial costs may be incurred in an effort to prevent or mitigate future cybersecurity incidents. Issuers of securities in which the Fund invests are also subject to cybersecurity risks, and the value of these securities could decline if the issuers experience cybersecurity incidents.

Because technology is frequently changing, new ways to carry out cyber attacks are always developing. Therefore, there is a chance that some risks have not been identified or prepared for, or that an attack may not be detected, which puts limitations on the Fund's ability to plan for or respond to a cyber attack. Like other funds and business enterprises, the Fund, the investment manager and their service providers are subject to the risk of cyber incidents occurring from time to time.

Performance

The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows changes in the Fund's performance from year to year. The table shows how the Fund's average annual returns for 1 year, 5 years, 10 years or since inception, as applicable, compared with those of the Fund's underlying index. The Fund's past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. You can obtain updated performance information at franklintempleton.com or by calling (800) DIAL BEN/342-5236.

     

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Annual Total Returns

PerformanceBarChartData(2018:-15.8,2019:28.67,2020:5.91,2021:29.1)

     

Best Quarter:

2020, Q2

19.51%

Worst Quarter:

2020, Q1

-26.28%

 

As of June 30, 2022, the Fund’s year-to-date return was -11.34%.

Average Annual Total Returns

For periods ended December 31, 2021

             

 

 

1 Year

 

Since Inception

 

Franklin FTSE Canada ETF

 

 

 

 

 

 

Return before taxes

 

29.10%

 

10.91%

1

 

Return after taxes on distributions

 

28.61%

 

10.26%

1

 

Return after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares

 

17.79%

 

8.46%

1

FTSE Canada Capped Index (index reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)

 

28.76%

 

10.64%

1

             

1.

Since inception November 2, 2017.

The after-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor's tax situation and may differ from those shown. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold their Fund shares through tax-advantaged arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts.

Investment Manager

Franklin Advisory Services, LLC (Advisory Services)

     

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Portfolio Managers

Dina Ting, CFA

Senior Vice President of Advisory Services and portfolio manager of the Fund since inception (2017).

Hailey Harris

Vice President of Advisory Services and portfolio manager of the Fund since 2019.

Joe Diederich

Vice President of Advisory Services and portfolio manager of the Fund since August 2022.

Basit Amin, CFA

Vice President of Advisory Services and portfolio manager of the Fund since August 2022.

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

The Fund is an ETF. Fund shares may only be purchased and sold on a national securities exchange through a broker-dealer. The price of Fund shares is based on market price, and because ETF shares trade at market prices rather than NAV, shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (a premium) or less than NAV (a discount). The Fund issues or redeems shares that have been aggregated into blocks of 50,000 shares or multiples thereof (Creation Units) to Authorized Participants who have entered into agreements with the Fund’s distributor, Franklin Distributors, LLC. The Fund will generally issue or redeem Creation Units in exchange for a basket of securities (and an amount of cash) that the Fund specifies each day.

An investor may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase shares of the Fund (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for shares of the Fund (ask) when buying or selling shares in the secondary market (the "bid-ask spread"). Recent information, including information on the Fund's NAV, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid-ask spreads is available on the Fund's website at https://www.franklintempleton.com/ investor/investments-and-solutions/investment-options/etfs/.

Taxes

The Fund’s distributions are generally taxable to you as ordinary income, capital gains, or some combination of both, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account, in which case your distributions would generally be taxed when withdrawn from the tax-advantaged account.

     

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Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the investment manager or other related companies may pay the intermediary for certain Fund-related activities, including those that are designed to make the intermediary more knowledgeable about exchange traded products, such as the Fund, as well as for marketing, education or other initiatives related to the sale or promotion of Fund shares. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.

     

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FRANKLIN FTSE CHINA ETF
FUND SUMMARIES

   

FLCH

  Franklin FTSE China ETF

Investment Goal

To seek to provide investment results that closely correspond, before fees and expenses, to the performance of the FTSE China RIC Capped Index (the FTSE China Capped Index).

Fees and Expenses of the Fund

The following table describes the fees and expenses that you will incur if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund. You may also incur other fees, such as usual and customary brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and the Example that follows.

Annual Fund Operating Expenses

(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

     

 

 

 

Management fees

 

0.19%

Distribution and service (12b-1) fees

 

None

Other expenses

 

None

Total annual Fund operating expenses

 

0.19%

Example

This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then sell all of your shares at the end of the period. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund's operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

                   

 

 

 

1 Year

 

3 Years

 

5 Years

 

10 Years

 

 

$19

 

$61

 

$107

 

$243

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Portfolio Turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held

     

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in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual Fund operating expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund's performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 12.78% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

Under normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of its assets in the component securities of the FTSE China Capped Index and in depositary receipts representing such securities. The FTSE China Capped Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization weighted index maintained and calculated by FTSE Russell with a capping methodology applied quarterly to issuer weights so that no single issuer of a component exceeds 25% of the FTSE China Capped Index weight, and all issuers with weights above 5% do not cumulatively exceed 50% of the FTSE China Capped Index’s weight. The FTSE China Capped Index is based on the FTSE China Index and is designed to measure the performance of Chinese large- and mid-capitalization stocks, as represented by H-Shares (securities of companies incorporated in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) that are denominated in Hong Kong dollars and listed on the Hong Kong Exchange), B-Shares (securities of companies incorporated in the PRC that are denominated in U.S. dollars or Hong Kong dollars and listed for foreign investment on either the Shanghai or Shenzhen stock exchanges) and A-Shares (securities of companies incorporated in the PRC that are denominated in Chinese renminbi and listed on either the Shanghai or Shenzhen stock exchanges). The FTSE China Capped Index also includes certain securities listed outside of the PRC known as N-Shares (issued by companies incorporated in certain foreign jurisdictions, which are controlled, directly or indirectly, by entities, companies or individuals in the PRC, derive substantial revenues or allocate substantial assets in the PRC and are listed on the New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ or the NYSE MKT), Red-Chips (issued by companies incorporated in certain foreign jurisdictions, which are controlled, directly or indirectly, by entities owned by the national government or local governments in the PRC, derive substantial revenues or allocate substantial assets in the PRC and are listed on the Hong Kong Exchange), P-Chips (issued by companies incorporated in certain foreign jurisdictions, which are controlled, directly or indirectly, by individuals in the PRC, derive substantial revenues or allocate substantial assets in the PRC and are listed on the Hong Kong Exchange) and S-Chips (issued by companies incorporated in certain foreign jurisdictions, which are controlled, directly or indirectly, by entities, companies or individuals in the PRC, derive substantial revenues or allocate substantial assets in the PRC and are listed on the Singapore Exchange). FTSE Russell determines eligible securities for the FTSE China Capped Index based on measures such as the company’s place of incorporation, listing country, investor protection regulations present in the country of incorporation, tax domicile, location of headquarters/factors of production

     

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and currency of denomination. As of May 31, 2022, the FTSE China Capped Index was comprised of 1,054 securities with capitalizations ranging from $219 million to $438.27 billion.

The Fund, using a “passive” or indexing investment approach, seeks investment results that closely correspond, before fees and expenses, to the performance of the FTSE China Capped Index. The Fund may use either a replication strategy or representative sampling strategy. Under a replication strategy, the Fund will replicate the component securities of the FTSE China Capped Index as closely as possible (i.e., invest in all of the component securities in their respective weightings in the FTSE China Capped Index). However, it may not be possible or practicable to replicate the FTSE China Capped Index. In these circumstances, the Fund may use a representative sampling strategy whereby the Fund will invest in what it believes to be a representative sample of the component securities of the FTSE China Capped Index, but may not track the FTSE China Capped Index with the same degree of accuracy as would an investment vehicle replicating the entire FTSE China Capped Index. Under the representative sampling technique, the investment manager will select securities that collectively have an investment profile similar to that of the FTSE China Capped Index, including securities that resemble those included in the FTSE China Capped Index in terms of risk factors, performance attributes and other characteristics, such as market capitalization and industry weightings. The Fund invests in eligible China A-Shares listed and traded on the Shanghai stock exchange through the Shanghai – Hong Kong Stock Connect program and in eligible China A-Shares listed and traded on the Shenzhen stock exchange through the Shenzhen – Hong Kong Stock Connect program (both programs collectively referred to as “Stock Connect”). The Fund may also invest in China A-Shares acquired through any other means permitted by applicable law or regulation.

The Fund is a "non-diversified" fund, which means it generally invests a greater proportion of its assets in the securities of one or more issuers and invests overall in a smaller number of issuers than a diversified fund.

The Fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., hold 25% or more of its net assets) in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent that the FTSE China Capped Index is concentrated. As of May 31, 2022, the FTSE China Capped Index was concentrated in the consumer discretionary sector.

Principal Risks

You could lose money by investing in the Fund. Exchange-traded fund (ETF) shares are not deposits or obligations of, or guaranteed or endorsed by, any bank, and are not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Reserve Board, or any other agency of the U.S. government. The Fund is subject to the principal risks noted below, any of which may adversely affect the Fund’s net

     

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asset value (NAV), trading price, yield, total return and ability to meet its investment goal.

Market The market values of securities or other investments owned by the Fund will go up or down, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably. The market value of a security or other investment may be reduced by market activity or other results of supply and demand unrelated to the issuer. This is a basic risk associated with all investments. When there are more sellers than buyers, prices tend to fall. Likewise, when there are more buyers than sellers, prices tend to rise.

The current global outbreak of the novel strain of coronavirus, COVID-19, has resulted in market closures and dislocations, extreme volatility, liquidity constraints and increased trading costs. Efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 have resulted in global travel restrictions and disruptions of healthcare systems, business operations and supply chains, layoffs, volatility in consumer demand for certain products, defaults and credit ratings downgrades, and other significant economic impacts. The effects of COVID-19 have impacted global economic activity across many industries and may heighten other pre-existing political, social and economic risks, locally or globally. The full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is unpredictable and may adversely affect the Fund’s performance.

Stock prices tend to go up and down more dramatically than those of debt securities. A slower-growth or recessionary economic environment could have an adverse effect on the prices of the various stocks held by the Fund.

Foreign Securities (non-U.S.) Investing in foreign securities typically involves more risks than investing in U.S. securities, and includes risks associated with: (i) internal and external political and economic developments – e.g., the political, economic and social policies and structures of some foreign countries may be less stable and more volatile than those in the U.S. or some foreign countries may be subject to trading restrictions or economic sanctions; (ii) trading practices – e.g., government supervision and regulation of foreign securities and currency markets, trading systems and brokers may be less than in the U.S.; (iii) availability of information – e.g., foreign issuers may not be subject to the same disclosure, accounting and financial reporting standards and practices as U.S. issuers; (iv) limited markets – e.g., the securities of certain foreign issuers may be less liquid (harder to sell) and more volatile; and (v) currency exchange rate fluctuations and policies – e.g., fluctuations may negatively affect investments denominated in foreign currencies and any income received or expenses paid by the Fund in that foreign currency. The risks of foreign investments may be greater in developing or emerging market countries.

Emerging Market Countries The Fund’s investments in emerging market issuers are subject to all of the risks of foreign investing generally, and have additional heightened risks due to a lack of established legal, political, business and social

     

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frameworks to support securities markets, including: delays in settling portfolio securities transactions; currency and capital controls; greater sensitivity to interest rate changes; pervasiveness of corruption and crime; currency exchange rate volatility; and inflation, deflation or currency devaluation.

Geographic Focus Because the Fund invests its assets primarily in companies in a specific country and region, the Fund is subject to greater risks of adverse developments in that country, region and/or the surrounding regions than a fund that is more broadly diversified geographically. Political, social or economic disruptions in the country or region, even in countries in which the Fund is not invested, may adversely affect the value of investments held by the Fund.

There are special risks associated with investments in China, including exposure to currency fluctuations, less liquidity, expropriation, confiscatory taxation, nationalization and exchange control regulations (including currency blockage). Inflation and rapid fluctuations in inflation and interest rates have had, and may continue to have, negative effects on the economy and securities markets of China. China is deemed by the investment manager to be an emerging markets country, which means an investment in this country has more heightened risks than general foreign investing due to a lack of established legal, political, business and social frameworks and accounting standards or auditor oversight in the country to support securities markets as well as the possibility for more widespread corruption and fraud. In addition, the standards for environmental, social and corporate governance matters in China also tend to be lower than such standards in more developed economies. Also, certain securities issued by companies located or operating in China, such as China A-Shares, are subject to trading restrictions, quota limitations, and clearing and settlement risks. In addition, there may be significant obstacles to obtaining information necessary for investigations into or litigation against companies located in or operating in China and shareholders may have limited legal remedies. The Fund is not actively managed and does not select investments based on investor protection considerations.

Trade disputes and the imposition of tariffs on goods and services can affect the Chinese economy, particularly in light of China’s large export sector, as well as the global economy. Trade disputes can result in increased costs of production and reduced profitability for non-export-dependent companies that rely on imports to the extent China engages in retaliatory tariffs. Trade disputes may also lead to increased currency exchange rate volatility.

Certain investments in Chinese companies may be made through a special structure known as a VIE. In a VIE structure, foreign investors, such as the Fund, will only own stock in a shell company rather than directly in the VIE, which must be owned by Chinese nationals (and/or Chinese companies) to obtain the licenses and/or assets required to operate in a restricted or prohibited sector in China. The value of the shell company is derived from its ability to consolidate the VIE into its

     

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financials pursuant to contractual arrangements that allow the shell company to exert a degree of control over, and obtain economic benefits arising from, the VIE without formal legal ownership. While VIEs are a longstanding industry practice and are well known by Chinese officials and regulators, the structure historically has not been formally recognized under Chinese law and it is uncertain whether Chinese officials or regulators will withdraw their acceptance of the structure. It is also uncertain whether the contractual arrangements, which may be subject to conflicts of interest between the legal owners of the VIE and foreign investors, would be enforced by Chinese courts or arbitration bodies. Prohibitions of these structures by the Chinese government, or the inability to enforce such contracts, from which the shell company derives its value, would likely cause the VIE-structured holding(s) to suffer significant, detrimental, and possibly permanent losses, and in turn, adversely affect the Fund’s returns and net asset value.

Depositary Receipts Depositary receipts are subject to many of the risks of the underlying securities. For some depositary receipts, the custodian or similar financial institution that holds the issuer's shares in a trust account is located in the issuer's home country. In these cases if the issuer’s home country does not have developed financial markets, the Fund could be exposed to the credit risk of the custodian or financial institution and greater market risk. In addition, the depository institution may not have physical custody of the underlying securities at all times and may charge fees for various services. The Fund may experience delays in receiving its dividend and interest payments or exercising rights as a shareholder. There may be an increased possibility of untimely responses to certain corporate actions of the issuer in an unsponsored depositary receipt program. Accordingly, there may be less information available regarding issuers of securities underlying unsponsored programs and there may not be a correlation between this information and the market value of the depositary receipts.

Calculation Methodology FTSE Russell relies on various sources of information to assess the criteria of issuers included in the FTSE China Capped Index, including information that may be based on assumptions and estimates. Neither the Fund nor the investment manager can offer assurances that FTSE Russell's calculation methodology or sources of information will provide an accurate assessment of included issuers or that the included issuers will provide the Fund with the market exposure it seeks.

Index-Related There is no assurance that the FTSE China Capped Index will be determined, composed or calculated accurately. While FTSE Russell provides descriptions of what the FTSE China Capped Index is designed to achieve, FTSE Russell does not guarantee the quality, accuracy or completeness of data in respect of its indices, and does not guarantee that the FTSE China Capped Index will be in line with the described index methodology. Errors in index data, index computations or the construction of the underlying index in accordance with its

     

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methodology (including as a result of outdated, unreliable or unavailable market information) may occur and may not be identified and corrected by the index provider for a period of time or at all, which may have an adverse impact on the Fund and its shareholders. Gains, losses or costs to the Fund caused by errors in the FTSE China Capped Index may therefore be borne by the Fund and its shareholders.

Non-Correlation There is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve a high degree of correlation to the FTSE China Capped Index and therefore achieve its investment goal. Market disruptions and regulatory restrictions could have an adverse effect on the Fund’s ability to adjust its exposure to the required levels in order to track the FTSE China Capped Index. In addition, the Fund’s NAV may deviate from the FTSE China Capped Index if the Fund fair values a portfolio security at a price other than the price used by the FTSE China Capped Index for that security. To the extent that the investment manager uses a representative sampling strategy, the Fund may not track the return of the FTSE China Capped Index as well as it would have if the Fund held all of the securities in the FTSE China Capped Index.

Tracking Error Tracking error is the divergence of the Fund’s performance from that of the FTSE China Capped Index. Tracking error may occur because of differences between the securities held in the Fund’s portfolio and those included in the FTSE China Capped Index, pricing differences (including differences between a security’s price at the local market close and the Fund’s valuation of a security at the time of calculation of the Fund’s NAV), transaction costs, the Fund’s holding of cash, differences in timing of the accrual of dividends or interest, tax gains or losses, changes to the FTSE China Capped Index or the need to meet various new or existing regulatory requirements. This risk may be heightened during times of increased market volatility or other unusual market conditions. Tracking error also may result because the Fund incurs fees and expenses, while the FTSE China Capped Index does not.

Market Trading The Fund faces numerous market trading risks, including the potential lack of an active market for Fund shares, losses from trading in secondary markets, periods of high volatility and disruption in the creation/redemption process of the Fund. Any of these factors, among others, may lead to the Fund’s shares trading at a premium or discount to NAV. Thus, you may pay more (or less) than NAV when you buy shares of the Fund in the secondary market, and you may receive less (or more) than NAV when you sell those shares in the secondary market. The investment manager cannot predict whether shares will trade above (premium), below (discount) or at NAV.

Concentration To the extent the Fund concentrates in a specific industry, a group of industries, sector or type of investment, the Fund will carry much greater risks of adverse developments and price movements in such industries, sectors or

     

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investments than a fund that invests in a wider variety of industries, sectors or investments. There is also the risk that the Fund will perform poorly during a slump in demand for securities of companies in such industries or sectors.

The Fund may focus in the consumer discretionary sector. Companies in the consumer discretionary sector could be affected by, among other things, overall economic conditions, interest rates, consumer confidence, and disposable income.

Non-Diversification Because the Fund is non-diversified, it may be more sensitive to economic, business, political or other changes affecting individual issuers or investments than a diversified fund, which may negatively impact the Fund's performance and result in greater fluctuation in the value of the Fund’s shares.

Mid Capitalization Companies Securities issued by mid capitalization companies may be more volatile in price than those of larger companies, involve substantial risks and should be considered speculative. Such risks may include greater sensitivity to economic conditions, less certain growth prospects, lack of depth of management and funds for growth and development, and limited or less developed product lines and markets. In addition, mid capitalization companies may be particularly affected by interest rate increases, as they may find it more difficult to borrow money to continue or expand operations, or may have difficulty in repaying any loans.

Passive Investment Unlike many investment companies, the Fund is not actively managed and the investment manager does not attempt to take defensive positions under any market conditions, including declining markets. Therefore, the investment manager would not necessarily buy or sell a security unless that security is added or removed, respectively, from the FTSE China Capped Index, even if that security generally is underperforming.

International Closed Market Trading To the extent that the underlying securities held by the Fund trade on an exchange that is closed when the securities exchange on which the Fund shares list and trade is open, there may be market uncertainty about the stale security pricing (i.e., the last quote from its closed foreign market) resulting in premiums or discounts to NAV that may be greater than those experienced by other ETFs.

Authorized Participant Concentration Only an authorized participant (Authorized Participant) may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund. The Fund has a limited number of institutions that act as Authorized Participants. To the extent that these institutions exit the business or are unable to proceed with creation and/or redemption orders with respect to the Fund and no other Authorized Participant is able to step forward to create or redeem Creation Units (as defined below), Fund shares may trade at a discount to NAV and possibly face trading halts and/or delisting. This risk may be more pronounced in volatile markets, potentially where there are significant redemptions in ETFs generally.

     

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Cash Transactions Unlike certain ETFs, the Fund expects to generally effect its creations and redemptions partially for cash, rather than for in-kind securities. Therefore, it may be required to sell portfolio securities and subsequently recognize gains on such sales that the Fund might not have recognized if it were to distribute portfolio securities in-kind. As such, investments in Fund shares may be less tax-efficient than an investment in an ETF that distributes portfolio securities entirely in-kind.

Small Fund When the Fund's size is small, the Fund may experience low trading volume and wide bid/ask spreads. In addition, the Fund may face the risk of being delisted if the Fund does not meet certain conditions of the listing exchange.

Large Shareholder Certain shareholders, including other funds or accounts advised by the investment manager or an affiliate of the investment manager, may from time to time own a substantial amount of the Fund’s shares. In addition, a third-party investor, the investment manager or an affiliate of the investment manager, an authorized participant, a lead market maker, or another entity may invest in the Fund and hold its investment for a limited period of time solely to facilitate commencement of the Fund or to facilitate the Fund’s achieving a specified size or scale. There can be no assurance that any large shareholder would not redeem its investment, that the size of the Fund would be maintained at such levels or that the Fund would continue to meet applicable listing requirements. Redemptions by large shareholders could have a significant negative impact on the Fund. In addition, transactions by large shareholders may account for a large percentage of the trading volume on the listing exchange and may, therefore, have a material upward or downward effect on the market price of the shares.

Cybersecurity Cybersecurity incidents, both intentional and unintentional, may allow an unauthorized party to gain access to Fund assets, Fund or customer data (including private shareholder information), or proprietary information, cause the Fund, the investment manager, authorized participants, or index providers (as applicable) and listing exchanges, and/or their service providers (including, but not limited to, Fund accountants, custodians, sub-custodians, transfer agents and financial intermediaries) to suffer data breaches, data corruption or loss of operational functionality or prevent Fund investors from purchasing, redeeming shares or receiving distributions. The investment manager has limited ability to prevent or mitigate cybersecurity incidents affecting third party service providers, and such third party service providers may have limited indemnification obligations to the Fund or investment manager. Cybersecurity incidents may result in financial losses to the Fund and its shareholders, and substantial costs may be incurred in an effort to prevent or mitigate future cybersecurity incidents. Issuers of securities in which the Fund invests are also subject to cybersecurity risks, and the value of these securities could decline if the issuers experience cybersecurity incidents.

     

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FRANKLIN FTSE CHINA ETF
FUND SUMMARIES

Because technology is frequently changing, new ways to carry out cyber attacks are always developing. Therefore, there is a chance that some risks have not been identified or prepared for, or that an attack may not be detected, which puts limitations on the Fund's ability to plan for or respond to a cyber attack. Like other funds and business enterprises, the Fund, the investment manager and their service providers are subject to the risk of cyber incidents occurring from time to time.

Performance

The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows changes in the Fund's performance from year to year. The table shows how the Fund's average annual returns for 1 year, 5 years, 10 years or since inception, as applicable, compared with those of the Fund's underlying index. The Fund's past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. You can obtain updated performance information at franklintempleton.com or by calling (800) DIAL BEN/342-5236.

Annual Total Returns

PerformanceBarChartData(2018:-18.28,2019:22.92,2020:30.6,2021:-21.04)

     

Best Quarter:

2019, Q1

17.12%

Worst Quarter:

2021, Q3

-17.55%

 

As of June 30, 2022, the Fund’s year-to-date return was -11.36%.

     

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FRANKLIN FTSE CHINA ETF
FUND SUMMARIES

Average Annual Total Returns

For periods ended December 31, 2021

             

 

 

1 Year

 

Since Inception

 

Franklin FTSE China ETF

 

 

 

 

 

 

Return before taxes

 

-21.04%

 

1.42%

1

 

Return after taxes on distributions

 

-21.30%

 

0.94%

1

 

Return after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares

 

-12.24%

 

0.97%

1

FTSE China Capped Index (index reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)

 

-21.03%

 

1.62%

1

             

1.

Since inception November 2, 2017.

The after-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor's tax situation and may differ from those shown. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold their Fund shares through tax-advantaged arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts.

Investment Manager

Franklin Advisory Services, LLC (Advisory Services)

Portfolio Managers

Dina Ting, CFA

Senior Vice President of Advisory Services and portfolio manager of the Fund since inception (2017).

Hailey Harris

Vice President of Advisory Services and portfolio manager of the Fund since 2019.

Joe Diederich

Vice President of Advisory Services and portfolio manager of the Fund since August 2022.

Basit Amin, CFA

Vice President of Advisory Services and portfolio manager of the Fund since August 2022.

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

The Fund is an ETF. Fund shares may only be purchased and sold on a national securities exchange through a broker-dealer. The price of Fund shares is based on market price, and because ETF shares trade at market prices rather than NAV, shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (a premium) or less than NAV (a discount). The Fund issues or redeems shares that have been aggregated into blocks of 200,000 shares or multiples thereof (Creation Units) to Authorized

     

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FRANKLIN FTSE CHINA ETF
FUND SUMMARIES

Participants who have entered into agreements with the Fund’s distributor, Franklin Distributors, LLC. The Fund will generally issue or redeem Creation Units in exchange for a basket of securities (and an amount of cash) that the Fund specifies each day.

An investor may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase shares of the Fund (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for shares of the Fund (ask) when buying or selling shares in the secondary market (the "bid-ask spread"). Recent information, including information on the Fund's NAV, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid-ask spreads is available on the Fund's website at https://www.franklintempleton.com/ investor/investments-and-solutions/investment-options/etfs/.

Taxes

The Fund’s distributions are generally taxable to you as ordinary income, capital gains, or some combination of both, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account, in which case your distributions would generally be taxed when withdrawn from the tax-advantaged account.

Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the investment manager or other related companies may pay the intermediary for certain Fund-related activities, including those that are designed to make the intermediary more knowledgeable about exchange traded products, such as the Fund, as well as for marketing, education or other initiatives related to the sale or promotion of Fund shares. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.

     

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FRANKLIN FTSE FRANCE ETF
FUND SUMMARIES

   

FLFR

  Franklin FTSE France ETF

Investment Goal

To seek to provide investment results that closely correspond, before fees and expenses, to the performance of the FTSE France RIC Capped Index (the FTSE France Capped Index).

Fees and Expenses of the Fund

The following table describes the fees and expenses that you will incur if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund. You may also incur other fees, such as usual and customary brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and the Example that follows.

Annual Fund Operating Expenses

(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

     

 

 

 

Management fees

 

0.09%

Distribution and service (12b-1) fees

 

None

Other expenses

 

None

Total annual Fund operating expenses

 

0.09%

Example

This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then sell all of your shares at the end of the period. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund's operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

                   

 

 

 

1 Year

 

3 Years

 

5 Years

 

10 Years

 

 

$9

 

$29

 

$51

 

$115

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Portfolio Turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held

     

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FRANKLIN FTSE FRANCE ETF
FUND SUMMARIES

in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual Fund operating expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund's performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 5.94% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

Under normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of its assets in the component securities of the FTSE France Capped Index and in depositary receipts representing such securities. The FTSE France Capped Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization weighted index maintained and calculated by FTSE Russell with a capping methodology applied quarterly to issuer weights so that no single issuer of a component exceeds 25% of the FTSE France Capped Index weight, and all issuers with weights above 5% do not cumulatively exceed 50% of the FTSE France Capped Index’s weight. The FTSE France Capped Index is based on the FTSE France Index and is designed to measure the performance of French large- and mid-capitalization stocks. FTSE Russell determines eligible securities for the FTSE France Capped Index based on measures such as the company’s place of incorporation, listing country, investor protection regulations present in the country of incorporation, tax domicile, location of headquarters/factors of production and currency of denomination. As of May 31, 2022, the FTSE France Capped Index was comprised of 78 securities with capitalizations ranging from $1.36 billion to $321.92 billion.

The Fund, using a “passive” or indexing investment approach, seeks investment results that closely correspond, before fees and expenses, to the performance of the FTSE France Capped Index. The Fund may use either a replication strategy or representative sampling strategy. Under a replication strategy, the Fund will replicate the component securities of the FTSE France Capped Index as closely as possible (i.e., invest in all of the component securities in their respective weightings in the FTSE France Capped Index). However, under various circumstances, it may not be possible or practicable to replicate the FTSE France Capped Index. In these circumstances, the Fund may use a “representative sampling” strategy whereby the Fund would invest in what it believes to be a representative sample of the component securities of the FTSE France Capped Index, but may not track the FTSE France Capped Index with the same degree of accuracy as would an investment vehicle replicating the entire FTSE France Capped Index. Under the representative sampling technique, the investment manager will select securities that collectively have an investment profile similar to that of the FTSE France Capped Index, including securities that resemble those included in the FTSE France Capped Index in terms of risk factors, performance attributes and other characteristics, such as market capitalization and industry weightings.

     

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FRANKLIN FTSE FRANCE ETF
FUND SUMMARIES

The Fund is a "non-diversified" fund, which means it generally invests a greater proportion of its assets in the securities of one or more issuers and invests overall in a smaller number of issuers than a diversified fund.

The Fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., hold 25% or more of its net assets) in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent that the FTSE France Capped Index is concentrated.

Principal Risks

You could lose money by investing in the Fund. Exchange-traded fund (ETF) shares are not deposits or obligations of, or guaranteed or endorsed by, any bank, and are not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Reserve Board, or any other agency of the U.S. government. The Fund is subject to the principal risks noted below, any of which may adversely affect the Fund’s net asset value (NAV), trading price, yield, total return and ability to meet its investment goal.

Market The market values of securities or other investments owned by the Fund will go up or down, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably. The market value of a security or other investment may be reduced by market activity or other results of supply and demand unrelated to the issuer. This is a basic risk associated with all investments. When there are more sellers than buyers, prices tend to fall. Likewise, when there are more buyers than sellers, prices tend to rise.

The current global outbreak of the novel strain of coronavirus, COVID-19, has resulted in market closures and dislocations, extreme volatility, liquidity constraints and increased trading costs. Efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 have resulted in global travel restrictions and disruptions of healthcare systems, business operations and supply chains, layoffs, volatility in consumer demand for certain products, defaults and credit ratings downgrades, and other significant economic impacts. The effects of COVID-19 have impacted global economic activity across many industries and may heighten other pre-existing political, social and economic risks, locally or globally. The full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is unpredictable and may adversely affect the Fund’s performance.

Stock prices tend to go up and down more dramatically than those of debt securities. A slower-growth or recessionary economic environment could have an adverse effect on the prices of the various stocks held by the Fund.

Foreign Securities (non-U.S.) Investing in foreign securities typically involves more risks than investing in U.S. securities, and includes risks associated with: (i) internal and external political and economic developments – e.g., the political, economic and social policies and structures of some foreign countries may be less stable and more volatile than those in the U.S. or some foreign countries may be subject to trading restrictions or economic sanctions; (ii) trading practices – e.g.,

     

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FUND SUMMARIES

government supervision and regulation of foreign securities and currency markets, trading systems and brokers may be less than in the U.S.; (iii) availability of information – e.g., foreign issuers may not be subject to the same disclosure, accounting and financial reporting standards and practices as U.S. issuers; (iv) limited markets – e.g., the securities of certain foreign issuers may be less liquid (harder to sell) and more volatile; and (v) currency exchange rate fluctuations and policies – e.g., fluctuations may negatively affect investments denominated in foreign currencies and any income received or expenses paid by the Fund in that foreign currency.

Geographic Focus Because the Fund invests its assets primarily in companies in a specific country and region, the Fund is subject to greater risks of adverse developments in that country, region and/or the surrounding regions than a fund that is more broadly diversified geographically. Political, social or economic disruptions in the country or region, even in countries in which the Fund is not invested, may adversely affect the value of investments held by the Fund. Ongoing uncertainty concerning the economic consequences of the January 31, 2020 departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union (EU) and Russia's military invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 may increase market volatility.

The Fund’s investment in French issuers subjects the Fund to legal, regulatory, political, currency, security, and economic risks specific to France. Concerns regarding the economic outlook for certain EU countries as well as the negative impact of the Russian war in Ukraine continue to constrain growth forecasts across Eurozone countries, including France. As a result, the French economy has experienced significant volatility and adverse trends due to concerns about a prolonged economic downturn and rising government debt levels. The French economy is dependent on agricultural exports, and as a result, is susceptible to fluctuations in demand for agricultural products.

Depositary Receipts Depositary receipts are subject to many of the risks of the underlying securities. For some depositary receipts, the custodian or similar financial institution that holds the issuer's shares in a trust account is located in the issuer's home country. In these cases if the issuer’s home country does not have developed financial markets, the Fund could be exposed to the credit risk of the custodian or financial institution and greater market risk. In addition, the depository institution may not have physical custody of the underlying securities at all times and may charge fees for various services. The Fund may experience delays in receiving its dividend and interest payments or exercising rights as a shareholder. There may be an increased possibility of untimely responses to certain corporate actions of the issuer in an unsponsored depositary receipt program. Accordingly, there may be less information available regarding issuers of securities underlying unsponsored programs and there may not be a correlation between this information and the market value of the depositary receipts.

     

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FRANKLIN FTSE FRANCE ETF
FUND SUMMARIES

Calculation Methodology FTSE Russell relies on various sources of information to assess the criteria of issuers included in the FTSE France Capped Index, including information that may be based on assumptions and estimates. Neither the Fund nor the investment manager can offer assurances that FTSE Russell's calculation methodology or sources of information will provide an accurate assessment of included issuers or that the included issuers will provide the Fund with the market exposure it seeks.

Index-Related There is no assurance that the FTSE France Capped Index will be determined, composed or calculated accurately. While FTSE Russell provides descriptions of what the FTSE France Capped Index is designed to achieve, FTSE Russell does not guarantee the quality, accuracy or completeness of data in respect of its indices, and does not guarantee that the FTSE France Capped Index will be in line with the described index methodology. Errors in index data, index computations or the construction of the underlying index in accordance with its methodology (including as a result of outdated, unreliable or unavailable market information) may occur and may not be identified and corrected by the index provider for a period of time or at all, which may have an adverse impact on the Fund and its shareholders. Gains, losses or costs to the Fund caused by errors in the FTSE France Capped Index may therefore be borne by the Fund and its shareholders.

Non-Correlation There is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve a high degree of correlation to the FTSE France Capped Index and therefore achieve its investment goal. Market disruptions and regulatory restrictions could have an adverse effect on the Fund’s ability to adjust its exposure to the required levels in order to track the FTSE France Capped Index. In addition, the Fund’s NAV may deviate from the FTSE France Capped Index if the Fund fair values a portfolio security at a price other than the price used by the FTSE France Capped Index for that security. To the extent that the investment manager uses a representative sampling strategy, the Fund may not track the return of the FTSE France Capped Index as well as it would have if the Fund held all of the securities in the FTSE France Capped Index.

Tracking Error Tracking error is the divergence of the Fund’s performance from that of the FTSE France Capped Index. Tracking error may occur because of differences between the securities held in the Fund’s portfolio and those included in the FTSE France Capped Index, pricing differences (including differences between a security’s price at the local market close and the Fund’s valuation of a security at the time of calculation of the Fund’s NAV), transaction costs, the Fund’s holding of cash, differences in timing of the accrual of dividends or interest, tax gains or losses, changes to the FTSE France Capped Index or the need to meet various new or existing regulatory requirements. This risk may be heightened during times of increased market volatility or other unusual market conditions. Tracking error

     

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FUND SUMMARIES

also may result because the Fund incurs fees and expenses, while the FTSE France Capped Index does not.

Market Trading The Fund faces numerous market trading risks, including the potential lack of an active market for Fund shares, losses from trading in secondary markets, periods of high volatility and disruption in the creation/redemption process of the Fund. Any of these factors, among others, may lead to the Fund’s shares trading at a premium or discount to NAV. Thus, you may pay more (or less) than NAV when you buy shares of the Fund in the secondary market, and you may receive less (or more) than NAV when you sell those shares in the secondary market. The investment manager cannot predict whether shares will trade above (premium), below (discount) or at NAV.

Concentration To the extent the Fund concentrates in a specific industry, a group of industries, sector or type of investment, the Fund will carry much greater risks of adverse developments and price movements in such industries, sectors or investments than a fund that invests in a wider variety of industries, sectors or investments. There is also the risk that the Fund will perform poorly during a slump in demand for securities of companies in such industries or sectors.

Non-Diversification Because the Fund is non-diversified, it may be more sensitive to economic, business, political or other changes affecting individual issuers or investments than a diversified fund, which may negatively impact the Fund's performance and result in greater fluctuation in the value of the Fund’s shares.

Mid Capitalization Companies Securities issued by mid capitalization companies may be more volatile in price than those of larger companies, involve substantial risks and should be considered speculative. Such risks may include greater sensitivity to economic conditions, less certain growth prospects, lack of depth of management and funds for growth and development, and limited or less developed product lines and markets. In addition, mid capitalization companies may be particularly affected by interest rate increases, as they may find it more difficult to borrow money to continue or expand operations, or may have difficulty in repaying any loans.

Passive Investment Unlike many investment companies, the Fund is not actively managed and the investment manager does not attempt to take defensive positions under any market conditions, including declining markets. Therefore, the investment manager would not necessarily buy or sell a security unless that security is added or removed, respectively, from the FTSE France Capped Index, even if that security generally is underperforming.

International Closed Market Trading To the extent that the underlying securities held by the Fund trade on an exchange that is closed when the securities exchange on which the Fund shares list and trade is open, there may be market uncertainty about the stale security pricing (i.e., the last quote from its closed

     

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FRANKLIN FTSE FRANCE ETF
FUND SUMMARIES

foreign market) resulting in premiums or discounts to NAV that may be greater than those experienced by other ETFs.

Authorized Participant Concentration Only an authorized participant (Authorized Participant) may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund. The Fund has a limited number of institutions that act as Authorized Participants. To the extent that these institutions exit the business or are unable to proceed with creation and/or redemption orders with respect to the Fund and no other Authorized Participant is able to step forward to create or redeem Creation Units (as defined below), Fund shares may trade at a discount to NAV and possibly face trading halts and/or delisting. This risk may be more pronounced in volatile markets, potentially where there are significant redemptions in ETFs generally.

Small Fund When the Fund's size is small, the Fund may experience low trading volume and wide bid/ask spreads. In addition, the Fund may face the risk of being delisted if the Fund does not meet certain conditions of the listing exchange.

Large Shareholder Certain shareholders, including other funds or accounts advised by the investment manager or an affiliate of the investment manager, may from time to time own a substantial amount of the Fund’s shares. In addition, a third-party investor, the investment manager or an affiliate of the investment manager, an authorized participant, a lead market maker, or another entity may invest in the Fund and hold its investment for a limited period of time solely to facilitate commencement of the Fund or to facilitate the Fund’s achieving a specified size or scale. There can be no assurance that any large shareholder would not redeem its investment, that the size of the Fund would be maintained at such levels or that the Fund would continue to meet applicable listing requirements. Redemptions by large shareholders could have a significant negative impact on the Fund. In addition, transactions by large shareholders may account for a large percentage of the trading volume on the listing exchange and may, therefore, have a material upward or downward effect on the market price of the shares.

Cybersecurity Cybersecurity incidents, both intentional and unintentional, may allow an unauthorized party to gain access to Fund assets, Fund or customer data (including private shareholder information), or proprietary information, cause the Fund, the investment manager, authorized participants, or index providers (as applicable) and listing exchanges, and/or their service providers (including, but not limited to, Fund accountants, custodians, sub-custodians, transfer agents and financial intermediaries) to suffer data breaches, data corruption or loss of operational functionality or prevent Fund investors from purchasing, redeeming shares or receiving distributions. The investment manager has limited ability to prevent or mitigate cybersecurity incidents affecting third party service providers, and such third party service providers may have limited indemnification obligations to the Fund or investment manager. Cybersecurity incidents may result in financial losses to the Fund and its shareholders, and substantial costs may be incurred in

     

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FUND SUMMARIES

an effort to prevent or mitigate future cybersecurity incidents. Issuers of securities in which the Fund invests are also subject to cybersecurity risks, and the value of these securities could decline if the issuers experience cybersecurity incidents.

Because technology is frequently changing, new ways to carry out cyber attacks are always developing. Therefore, there is a chance that some risks have not been identified or prepared for, or that an attack may not be detected, which puts limitations on the Fund's ability to plan for or respond to a cyber attack. Like other funds and business enterprises, the Fund, the investment manager and their service providers are subject to the risk of cyber incidents occurring from time to time.

Performance

The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows changes in the Fund's performance from year to year. The table shows how the Fund's average annual returns for 1 year, 5 years, 10 years or since inception, as applicable, compared with those of the Fund's underlying index. The Fund's past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. You can obtain updated performance information at franklintempleton.com or by calling (800) DIAL BEN/342-5236.

 

     

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FRANKLIN FTSE FRANCE ETF
FUND SUMMARIES

Annual Total Returns

PerformanceBarChartData(2018:-12.11,2019:26.42,2020:4.13,2021:19.27)

     

Best Quarter:

2020, Q4

19.44%

Worst Quarter:

2020, Q1

-27.35%

 

As of June 30, 2022, the Fund’s year-to-date return was -22.18%.

Average Annual Total Returns

For periods ended December 31, 2021

             

 

 

1 Year

 

Since Inception

 

Franklin FTSE France ETF

 

 

 

 

 

 

Return before taxes

 

19.27%

 

8.00%

1

 

Return after taxes on distributions

 

18.48%

 

7.30%

1

 

Return after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares

 

11.95%

 

6.06%

1

FTSE France Capped Index (index reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)

 

18.89%

 

7.67%

1

             

1.

Since inception November 2, 2017.

The after-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor's tax situation and may differ from those shown. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold their Fund shares through tax-advantaged arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts.

Investment Manager

Franklin Advisory Services, LLC (Advisory Services)

     

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Portfolio Managers

Dina Ting, CFA

Senior Vice President of Advisory Services and portfolio manager of the Fund since inception (2017).

Hailey Harris

Vice President of Advisory Services and portfolio manager of the Fund since 2019.

Joe Diederich

Vice President of Advisory Services and portfolio manager of the Fund since August 2022.

Basit Amin, CFA

Vice President of Advisory Services and portfolio manager of the Fund since August 2022.

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

The Fund is an ETF. Fund shares may only be purchased and sold on a national securities exchange through a broker-dealer. The price of Fund shares is based on market price, and because ETF shares trade at market prices rather than NAV, shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (a premium) or less than NAV (a discount). The Fund issues or redeems shares that have been aggregated into blocks of 50,000 shares or multiples thereof (Creation Units) to Authorized Participants who have entered into agreements with the Fund’s distributor, Franklin Distributors, LLC. The Fund will generally issue or redeem Creation Units in exchange for a basket of securities (and an amount of cash) that the Fund specifies each day.

An investor may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase shares of the Fund (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for shares of the Fund (ask) when buying or selling shares in the secondary market (the "bid-ask spread"). Recent information, including information on the Fund's NAV, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid-ask spreads is available on the Fund's website at https://www.franklintempleton.com/ investor/investments-and-solutions/investment-options/etfs/.

Taxes

The Fund’s distributions are generally taxable to you as ordinary income, capital gains, or some combination of both, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account, in which case your distributions would generally be taxed when withdrawn from the tax-advantaged account.

     

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FRANKLIN FTSE FRANCE ETF
FUND SUMMARIES

Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the investment manager or other related companies may pay the intermediary for certain Fund-related activities, including those that are designed to make the intermediary more knowledgeable about exchange traded products, such as the Fund, as well as for marketing, education or other initiatives related to the sale or promotion of Fund shares. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.

     

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FRANKLIN FTSE GERMANY ETF
FUND SUMMARIES

   

FLGR

  Franklin FTSE Germany ETF

Investment Goal

To seek to provide investment results that closely correspond, before fees and expenses, to the performance of the FTSE Germany RIC Capped Index (the FTSE Germany Capped Index).

Fees and Expenses of the Fund

The following table describes the fees and expenses that you will incur if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund. You may also incur other fees, such as usual and customary brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and the Example that follows.

Annual Fund Operating Expenses

(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

     

 

 

 

Management fees

 

0.09%

Distribution and service (12b-1) fees

 

None

Other expenses

 

None

Total annual Fund operating expenses

 

0.09%

Example

This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then sell all of your shares at the end of the period. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund's operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

                   

 

 

 

1 Year

 

3 Years

 

5 Years

 

10 Years

 

 

$9

 

$29

 

$51

 

$115

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Portfolio Turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held

     

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FUND SUMMARIES

in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual Fund operating expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund's performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 6.70% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

Under normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of its assets in the component securities of the FTSE Germany Capped Index and in depositary receipts representing such securities. The FTSE Germany Capped Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization weighted index maintained and calculated by FTSE Russell with a capping methodology applied quarterly to issuer weights so that no single issuer of a component exceeds 25% of the FTSE Germany Capped Index weight, and all issuers with weights above 5% do not cumulatively exceed 50% of the FTSE Germany Capped Index’s weight. The FTSE Germany Capped Index is based on the FTSE Germany Index and is designed to measure the performance of German large- and mid-capitalization stocks. FTSE Russell determines eligible securities for the FTSE Germany Capped Index based on measures such as the company’s place of incorporation, listing country, investor protection regulations present in the country of incorporation, tax domicile, location of headquarters/factors of production and currency of denomination. As of May 31, 2022, the FTSE Germany Capped Index was comprised of 85 securities with capitalizations ranging from $2.29 billion to $116.69 billion.

The Fund, using a “passive” or indexing investment approach, seeks investment results that closely correspond, before fees and expenses, to the performance of the FTSE Germany Capped Index. The Fund may use either a replication strategy or representative sampling strategy. Under a replication strategy, the Fund will replicate the component securities of the FTSE Germany Capped Index as closely as possible (i.e., invest in all of the component securities in their respective weightings in the FTSE Germany Capped Index). However, under various circumstances, it may not be possible or practicable to replicate the FTSE Germany Capped Index. In these circumstances, the Fund may use a “representative sampling” strategy whereby the Fund would invest in what it believes to be a representative sample of the component securities of the FTSE Germany Capped Index, but may not track the FTSE Germany Capped Index with the same degree of accuracy as would an investment vehicle replicating the entire FTSE Germany Capped Index. Under the representative sampling technique, the investment manager will select securities that collectively have an investment profile similar to that of the FTSE Germany Capped Index, including securities that resemble those included in the FTSE Germany Capped Index in terms of risk factors, performance attributes and other characteristics, such as market capitalization and industry weightings.

     

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FUND SUMMARIES

The Fund is a "non-diversified" fund, which means it generally invests a greater proportion of its assets in the securities of one or more issuers and invests overall in a smaller number of issuers than a diversified fund.

The Fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., hold 25% or more of its net assets) in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent that the FTSE Germany Capped Index is concentrated.

Principal Risks

You could lose money by investing in the Fund. Exchange-traded fund (ETF) shares are not deposits or obligations of, or guaranteed or endorsed by, any bank, and are not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Reserve Board, or any other agency of the U.S. government. The Fund is subject to the principal risks noted below, any of which may adversely affect the Fund’s net asset value (NAV), trading price, yield, total return and ability to meet its investment goal.

Market The market values of securities or other investments owned by the Fund will go up or down, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably. The market value of a security or other investment may be reduced by market activity or other results of supply and demand unrelated to the issuer. This is a basic risk associated with all investments. When there are more sellers than buyers, prices tend to fall. Likewise, when there are more buyers than sellers, prices tend to rise.

The current global outbreak of the novel strain of coronavirus, COVID-19, has resulted in market closures and dislocations, extreme volatility, liquidity constraints and increased trading costs. Efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 have resulted in global travel restrictions and disruptions of healthcare systems, business operations and supply chains, layoffs, volatility in consumer demand for certain products, defaults and credit ratings downgrades, and other significant economic impacts. The effects of COVID-19 have impacted global economic activity across many industries and may heighten other pre-existing political, social and economic risks, locally or globally. The full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is unpredictable and may adversely affect the Fund’s performance.

Stock prices tend to go up and down more dramatically than those of debt securities. A slower-growth or recessionary economic environment could have an adverse effect on the prices of the various stocks held by the Fund.

Foreign Securities (non-U.S.) Investing in foreign securities typically involves more risks than investing in U.S. securities, and includes risks associated with: (i) internal and external political and economic developments – e.g., the political, economic and social policies and structures of some foreign countries may be less stable and more volatile than those in the U.S. or some foreign countries may be subject to trading restrictions or economic sanctions; (ii) trading practices – e.g.,

     

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FRANKLIN FTSE GERMANY ETF
FUND SUMMARIES

government supervision and regulation of foreign securities and currency markets, trading systems and brokers may be less than in the U.S.; (iii) availability of information – e.g., foreign issuers may not be subject to the same disclosure, accounting and financial reporting standards and practices as U.S. issuers; (iv) limited markets – e.g., the securities of certain foreign issuers may be less liquid (harder to sell) and more volatile; and (v) currency exchange rate fluctuations and policies – e.g., fluctuations may negatively affect investments denominated in foreign currencies and any income received or expenses paid by the Fund in that foreign currency.

Geographic Focus Because the Fund invests its assets primarily in companies in a specific country and region, the Fund is subject to greater risks of adverse developments in that country, region and/or the surrounding regions than a fund that is more broadly diversified geographically. Political, social or economic disruptions in the country or region, even in countries in which the Fund is not invested, may adversely affect the value of investments held by the Fund. Ongoing uncertainty concerning the economic consequences of the January 31, 2020 departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union (EU) and Russia's military invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 may increase market volatility.

Concerns in relation to the economic health of the EU as well as the negative impact of the Russian war in Ukraine continue to constrain growth forecasts across Eurozone countries, including Germany. Germany has an industrial and export dependent economy and therefore relies heavily on trade with key trading partners, including the Netherlands, China, the United States, France, Italy and other European countries. Germany is dependent on the economies of these other countries, and any change in the price or demand for German exports or uncertainties in international trade policy may have an adverse impact on its economy.

Depositary Receipts Depositary receipts are subject to many of the risks of the underlying securities. For some depositary receipts, the custodian or similar financial institution that holds the issuer's shares in a trust account is located in the issuer's home country. In these cases if the issuer’s home country does not have developed financial markets, the Fund could be exposed to the credit risk of the custodian or financial institution and greater market risk. In addition, the depository institution may not have physical custody of the underlying securities at all times and may charge fees for various services. The Fund may experience delays in receiving its dividend and interest payments or exercising rights as a shareholder. There may be an increased possibility of untimely responses to certain corporate actions of the issuer in an unsponsored depositary receipt program. Accordingly, there may be less information available regarding issuers of securities underlying unsponsored programs and there may not be a correlation between this information and the market value of the depositary receipts.

     

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FUND SUMMARIES

Calculation Methodology FTSE Russell relies on various sources of information to assess the criteria of issuers included in the FTSE Germany Capped Index, including information that may be based on assumptions and estimates. Neither the Fund nor the investment manager can offer assurances that FTSE Russell's calculation methodology or sources of information will provide an accurate assessment of included issuers or that the included issuers will provide the Fund with the market exposure it seeks.

Index-Related There is no assurance that the FTSE Germany Capped Index will be determined, composed or calculated accurately. While FTSE Russell provides descriptions of what the FTSE Germany Capped Index is designed to achieve, FTSE Russell does not guarantee the quality, accuracy or completeness of data in respect of its indices, and does not guarantee that the FTSE Germany Capped Index will be in line with the described index methodology. Errors in index data, index computations or the construction of the underlying index in accordance with its methodology (including as a result of outdated, unreliable or unavailable market information) may occur and may not be identified and corrected by the index provider for a period of time or at all, which may have an adverse impact on the Fund and its shareholders. Gains, losses or costs to the Fund caused by errors in the FTSE Germany Capped Index may therefore be borne by the Fund and its shareholders.

Non-Correlation There is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve a high degree of correlation to the FTSE Germany Capped Index and therefore achieve its investment goal. Market disruptions and regulatory restrictions could have an adverse effect on the Fund’s ability to adjust its exposure to the required levels in order to track the FTSE Germany Capped Index. In addition, the Fund’s NAV may deviate from the FTSE Germany Capped Index if the Fund fair values a portfolio security at a price other than the price used by the FTSE Germany Capped Index for that security. To the extent that the investment manager uses a representative sampling strategy, the Fund may not track the return of the FTSE Germany Capped Index as well as it would have if the Fund held all of the securities in the FTSE Germany Capped Index.

Tracking Error Tracking error is the divergence of the Fund’s performance from that of the FTSE Germany Capped Index. Tracking error may occur because of differences between the securities held in the Fund’s portfolio and those included in the FTSE Germany Capped Index, pricing differences (including differences between a security’s price at the local market close and the Fund’s valuation of a security at the time of calculation of the Fund’s NAV), transaction costs, the Fund’s holding of cash, differences in timing of the accrual of dividends or interest, tax gains or losses, changes to the FTSE Germany Capped Index or the need to meet various new or existing regulatory requirements. This risk may be heightened during times of increased market volatility or other unusual market conditions.

     

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FUND SUMMARIES

Tracking error also may result because the Fund incurs fees and expenses, while the FTSE Germany Capped Index does not.

Market Trading The Fund faces numerous market trading risks, including the potential lack of an active market for Fund shares, losses from trading in secondary markets, periods of high volatility and disruption in the creation/redemption process of the Fund. Any of these factors, among others, may lead to the Fund’s shares trading at a premium or discount to NAV. Thus, you may pay more (or less) than NAV when you buy shares of the Fund in the secondary market, and you may receive less (or more) than NAV when you sell those shares in the secondary market. The investment manager cannot predict whether shares will trade above (premium), below (discount) or at NAV.

Concentration To the extent the Fund concentrates in a specific industry, a group of industries, sector or type of investment, the Fund will carry much greater risks of adverse developments and price movements in such industries, sectors or investments than a fund that invests in a wider variety of industries, sectors or investments. There is also the risk that the Fund will perform poorly during a slump in demand for securities of companies in such industries or sectors.

Non-Diversification Because the Fund is non-diversified, it may be more sensitive to economic, business, political or other changes affecting individual issuers or investments than a diversified fund, which may negatively impact the Fund's performance and result in greater fluctuation in the value of the Fund’s shares.

Mid Capitalization Companies Securities issued by mid capitalization companies may be more volatile in price than those of larger companies, involve substantial risks and should be considered speculative. Such risks may include greater sensitivity to economic conditions, less certain growth prospects, lack of depth of management and funds for growth and development, and limited or less developed product lines and markets. In addition, mid capitalization companies may be particularly affected by interest rate increases, as they may find it more difficult to borrow money to continue or expand operations, or may have difficulty in repaying any loans.

Passive Investment Unlike many investment companies, the Fund is not actively managed and the investment manager does not attempt to take defensive positions under any market conditions, including declining markets. Therefore, the investment manager would not necessarily buy or sell a security unless that security is added or removed, respectively, from the FTSE Germany Capped Index, even if that security generally is underperforming.

International Closed Market Trading To the extent that the underlying securities held by the Fund trade on an exchange that is closed when the securities exchange on which the Fund shares list and trade is open, there may be market uncertainty about the stale security pricing (i.e., the last quote from its closed

     

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FUND SUMMARIES

foreign market) resulting in premiums or discounts to NAV that may be greater than those experienced by other ETFs.

Authorized Participant Concentration Only an authorized participant (Authorized Participant) may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund. The Fund has a limited number of institutions that act as Authorized Participants. To the extent that these institutions exit the business or are unable to proceed with creation and/or redemption orders with respect to the Fund and no other Authorized Participant is able to step forward to create or redeem Creation Units (as defined below), Fund shares may trade at a discount to NAV and possibly face trading halts and/or delisting. This risk may be more pronounced in volatile markets, potentially where there are significant redemptions in ETFs generally.

Small Fund When the Fund's size is small, the Fund may experience low trading volume and wide bid/ask spreads. In addition, the Fund may face the risk of being delisted if the Fund does not meet certain conditions of the listing exchange.

Large Shareholder Certain shareholders, including other funds or accounts advised by the investment manager or an affiliate of the investment manager, may from time to time own a substantial amount of the Fund’s shares. In addition, a third-party investor, the investment manager or an affiliate of the investment manager, an authorized participant, a lead market maker, or another entity may invest in the Fund and hold its investment for a limited period of time solely to facilitate commencement of the Fund or to facilitate the Fund’s achieving a specified size or scale. There can be no assurance that any large shareholder would not redeem its investment, that the size of the Fund would be maintained at such levels or that the Fund would continue to meet applicable listing requirements. Redemptions by large shareholders could have a significant negative impact on the Fund. In addition, transactions by large shareholders may account for a large percentage of the trading volume on the listing exchange and may, therefore, have a material upward or downward effect on the market price of the shares.

Cybersecurity Cybersecurity incidents, both intentional and unintentional, may allow an unauthorized party to gain access to Fund assets, Fund or customer data (including private shareholder information), or proprietary information, cause the Fund, the investment manager, authorized participants, or index providers (as applicable) and listing exchanges, and/or their service providers (including, but not limited to, Fund accountants, custodians, sub-custodians, transfer agents and financial intermediaries) to suffer data breaches, data corruption or loss of operational functionality or prevent Fund investors from purchasing, redeeming shares or receiving distributions. The investment manager has limited ability to prevent or mitigate cybersecurity incidents affecting third party service providers, and such third party service providers may have limited indemnification obligations to the Fund or investment manager. Cybersecurity incidents may result in financial losses to the Fund and its shareholders, and substantial costs may be incurred in

     

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FUND SUMMARIES

an effort to prevent or mitigate future cybersecurity incidents. Issuers of securities in which the Fund invests are also subject to cybersecurity risks, and the value of these securities could decline if the issuers experience cybersecurity incidents.

Because technology is frequently changing, new ways to carry out cyber attacks are always developing. Therefore, there is a chance that some risks have not been identified or prepared for, or that an attack may not be detected, which puts limitations on the Fund's ability to plan for or respond to a cyber attack. Like other funds and business enterprises, the Fund, the investment manager and their service providers are subject to the risk of cyber incidents occurring from time to time.

Performance

The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows changes in the Fund's performance from year to year. The table shows how the Fund's average annual returns for 1 year, 5 years, 10 years or since inception, as applicable, compared with those of the Fund's underlying index. The Fund's past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. You can obtain updated performance information at franklintempleton.com or by calling (800) DIAL BEN/342-5236.

 

     

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FUND SUMMARIES

Annual Total Returns

PerformanceBarChartData(2018:-22.07,2019:21.67,2020:12.24,2021:5.29)

     

Best Quarter:

2020, Q2

26.81%

Worst Quarter:

2020, Q1

-26.91%

 

As of June 30, 2022, the Fund’s year-to-date return was -28.42%.

Average Annual Total Returns

For periods ended December 31, 2021

             

 

 

1 Year

 

Since Inception

 

Franklin FTSE Germany ETF

 

 

 

 

 

 

Return before taxes

 

5.29%

 

2.65%

1

 

Return after taxes on distributions

 

4.77%

 

1.96%

1

 

Return after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares

 

3.73%

 

1.91%

1

FTSE Germany Capped Index (index reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)

 

5.10%

 

2.54%

1

             

1.

Since inception November 2, 2017.

The after-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor's tax situation and may differ from those shown. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold their Fund shares through tax-advantaged arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts.

Investment Manager

Franklin Advisory Services, LLC (Advisory Services)

     

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FUND SUMMARIES

Portfolio Managers

Dina Ting, CFA

Senior Vice President of Advisory Services and portfolio manager of the Fund since inception (2017).

Hailey Harris

Vice President of Advisory Services and portfolio manager of the Fund since 2019.

Joe Diederich

Vice President of Advisory Services and portfolio manager of the Fund since August 2022.

Basit Amin, CFA

Vice President of Advisory Services and portfolio manager of the Fund since August 2022.

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

The Fund is an ETF. Fund shares may only be purchased and sold on a national securities exchange through a broker-dealer. The price of Fund shares is based on market price, and because ETF shares trade at market prices rather than NAV, shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (a premium) or less than NAV (a discount). The Fund issues or redeems shares that have been aggregated into blocks of 50,000 shares or multiples thereof (Creation Units) to Authorized Participants who have entered into agreements with the Fund’s distributor, Franklin Distributors, LLC. The Fund will generally issue or redeem Creation Units in exchange for a basket of securities (and an amount of cash) that the Fund specifies each day.

An investor may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase shares of the Fund (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for shares of the Fund (ask) when buying or selling shares in the secondary market (the "bid-ask spread"). Recent information, including information on the Fund's NAV, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid-ask spreads is available on the Fund's website at https://www.franklintempleton.com/ investor/investments-and-solutions/investment-options/etfs/.

Taxes

The Fund’s distributions are generally taxable to you as ordinary income, capital gains, or some combination of both, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account, in which case your distributions would generally be taxed when withdrawn from the tax-advantaged account.

     

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Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the investment manager or other related companies may pay the intermediary for certain Fund-related activities, including those that are designed to make the intermediary more knowledgeable about exchange traded products, such as the Fund, as well as for marketing, education or other initiatives related to the sale or promotion of Fund shares. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.

     

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FRANKLIN FTSE HONG KONG ETF
FUND SUMMARIES

   

FLHK

  Franklin FTSE Hong Kong ETF

Investment Goal

To seek to provide investment results that closely correspond, before fees and expenses, to the performance of the FTSE Hong Kong RIC Capped Index (the FTSE Hong Kong Capped Index).

Fees and Expenses of the Fund

The following table describes the fees and expenses that you will incur if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund. You may also incur other fees, such as usual and customary brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and the Example that follows.

Annual Fund Operating Expenses

(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

     

 

 

 

Management fees

 

0.09%

Distribution and service (12b-1) fees

 

None

Other expenses

 

None

Total annual Fund operating expenses

 

0.09%

Example

This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then sell all of your shares at the end of the period. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund's operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

                   

 

 

 

1 Year

 

3 Years

 

5 Years

 

10 Years

 

 

$9

 

$29

 

$51

 

$115

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Portfolio Turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held

     

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in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual Fund operating expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund's performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 9.91% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

Under normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of its assets in the component securities of the FTSE Hong Kong Capped Index and in depositary receipts representing such securities. The FTSE Hong Kong Capped Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization weighted index maintained and calculated by FTSE Russell with a capping methodology applied quarterly to issuer weights so that no single issuer of a component exceeds 25% of the FTSE Hong Kong Capped Index weight, and all issuers with weights above 5% do not cumulatively exceed 50% of the FTSE Hong Kong Capped Index’s weight. The FTSE Hong Kong Capped Index is based on the FTSE Hong Kong Index and is designed to measure the performance of Hong Kong large- and mid-capitalization stocks. FTSE Russell determines eligible securities for the FTSE Hong Kong Capped Index based on measures such as the company’s place of incorporation, listing country, investor protection regulations present in the country of incorporation, tax domicile, location of headquarters/factors of production and currency of denomination. As of May 31, 2022, the FTSE Hong Kong Capped Index was comprised of 90 securities with capitalizations ranging from $626 million to $124.43 billion.

The Fund, using a “passive” or indexing investment approach, seeks investment results that closely correspond, before fees and expenses, to the performance of the FTSE Hong Kong Capped Index. The Fund may use either a replication strategy or representative sampling strategy. Under a replication strategy, the Fund will replicate the component securities of the FTSE Hong Kong Capped Index as closely as possible (i.e., invest in all of the component securities in their respective weightings in the FTSE Hong Kong Capped Index). However, under various circumstances, it may not be possible or practicable to replicate the FTSE Hong Kong Capped Index. In these circumstances, the Fund may use a “representative sampling” strategy whereby the Fund would invest in what it believes to be a representative sample of the component securities of the FTSE Hong Kong Capped Index, but may not track the FTSE Hong Kong Capped Index with the same degree of accuracy as would an investment vehicle replicating the entire FTSE Hong Kong Capped Index. Under the representative sampling technique, the investment manager will select securities that collectively have an investment profile similar to that of the FTSE Hong Kong Capped Index, including securities that resemble those included in the FTSE Hong Kong Capped Index in terms of risk factors, performance attributes and other characteristics, such as market capitalization and industry weightings.

     

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The Fund is a "non-diversified" fund, which means it generally invests a greater proportion of its assets in the securities of one or more issuers and invests overall in a smaller number of issuers than a diversified fund.

The Fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., hold 25% or more of its net assets) in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent that the FTSE Hong Kong Capped Index is concentrated. As of May 31, 2022, the FTSE Hong Kong Capped Index was concentrated in the financials sector.

Principal Risks

You could lose money by investing in the Fund. Exchange-traded fund (ETF) shares are not deposits or obligations of, or guaranteed or endorsed by, any bank, and are not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Reserve Board, or any other agency of the U.S. government. The Fund is subject to the principal risks noted below, any of which may adversely affect the Fund’s net asset value (NAV), trading price, yield, total return and ability to meet its investment goal.

Market The market values of securities or other investments owned by the Fund will go up or down, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably. The market value of a security or other investment may be reduced by market activity or other results of supply and demand unrelated to the issuer. This is a basic risk associated with all investments. When there are more sellers than buyers, prices tend to fall. Likewise, when there are more buyers than sellers, prices tend to rise.

The current global outbreak of the novel strain of coronavirus, COVID-19, has resulted in market closures and dislocations, extreme volatility, liquidity constraints and increased trading costs. Efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 have resulted in global travel restrictions and disruptions of healthcare systems, business operations and supply chains, layoffs, volatility in consumer demand for certain products, defaults and credit ratings downgrades, and other significant economic impacts. The effects of COVID-19 have impacted global economic activity across many industries and may heighten other pre-existing political, social and economic risks, locally or globally. The full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is unpredictable and may adversely affect the Fund’s performance.

Stock prices tend to go up and down more dramatically than those of debt securities. A slower-growth or recessionary economic environment could have an adverse effect on the prices of the various stocks held by the Fund.

Foreign Securities (non-U.S.) Investing in foreign securities typically involves more risks than investing in U.S. securities, and includes risks associated with: (i) internal and external political and economic developments – e.g., the political, economic and social policies and structures of some foreign countries may be less stable and more volatile than those in the U.S. or some foreign countries may be

     

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subject to trading restrictions or economic sanctions; (ii) trading practices – e.g., government supervision and regulation of foreign securities and currency markets, trading systems and brokers may be less than in the U.S.; (iii) availability of information – e.g., foreign issuers may not be subject to the same disclosure, accounting and financial reporting standards and practices as U.S. issuers; (iv) limited markets – e.g., the securities of certain foreign issuers may be less liquid (harder to sell) and more volatile; and (v) currency exchange rate fluctuations and policies – e.g., fluctuations may negatively affect investments denominated in foreign currencies and any income received or expenses paid by the Fund in that foreign currency.

Geographic Focus Because the Fund invests its assets primarily in companies in a specific country and region, the Fund is subject to greater risks of adverse developments in that country, region and/or the surrounding regions than a fund that is more broadly diversified geographically. Political, social or economic disruptions in the country or region, even in countries in which the Fund is not invested, may adversely affect the value of investments held by the Fund.

China is Hong Kong’s largest trading partner, both in terms of exports and imports. Changes in China's economic policies, trade regulations or currency exchange rates may have an adverse impact on Hong Kong’s economy. Recent protests and unrest have increased tensions between Hong Kong and China. China has committed by treaty to preserve Hong Kong's semi-autonomous status. However, if China were to exert its authority so as to alter the economic, political or legal structures or the existing social policy of Hong Kong, investor and business confidence in Hong Kong could be negatively affected, which in turn could negatively affect markets and business performance.

Depositary Receipts Depositary receipts are subject to many of the risks of the underlying securities. For some depositary receipts, the custodian or similar financial institution that holds the issuer's shares in a trust account is located in the issuer's home country. In these cases if the issuer’s home country does not have developed financial markets, the Fund could be exposed to the credit risk of the custodian or financial institution and greater market risk. In addition, the depository institution may not have physical custody of the underlying securities at all times and may charge fees for various services. The Fund may experience delays in receiving its dividend and interest payments or exercising rights as a shareholder. There may be an increased possibility of untimely responses to certain corporate actions of the issuer in an unsponsored depositary receipt program. Accordingly, there may be less information available regarding issuers of securities underlying unsponsored programs and there may not be a correlation between this information and the market value of the depositary receipts.

Calculation Methodology FTSE Russell relies on various sources of information to assess the criteria of issuers included in the FTSE Hong Kong Capped Index,

     

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including information that may be based on assumptions and estimates. Neither the Fund nor the investment manager can offer assurances that FTSE Russell's calculation methodology or sources of information will provide an accurate assessment of included issuers or that the included issuers will provide the Fund with the market exposure it seeks.

Index-Related There is no assurance that the FTSE Hong Kong Capped Index will be determined, composed or calculated accurately. While FTSE Russell provides descriptions of what the FTSE Hong Kong Capped Index is designed to achieve, FTSE Russell does not guarantee the quality, accuracy or completeness of data in respect of its indices, and does not guarantee that the FTSE Hong Kong Capped Index will be in line with the described index methodology. Errors in index data, index computations or the construction of the underlying index in accordance with its methodology (including as a result of outdated, unreliable or unavailable market information) may occur and may not be identified and corrected by the index provider for a period of time or at all, which may have an adverse impact on the Fund and its shareholders. Gains, losses or costs to the Fund caused by errors in the FTSE Hong Kong Capped Index may therefore be borne by the Fund and its shareholders.

Non-Correlation There is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve a high degree of correlation to the FTSE Hong Kong Capped Index and therefore achieve its investment goal. Market disruptions and regulatory restrictions could have an adverse effect on the Fund’s ability to adjust its exposure to the required levels in order to track the FTSE Hong Kong Capped Index. In addition, the Fund’s NAV may deviate from the FTSE Hong Kong Capped Index if the Fund fair values a portfolio security at a price other than the price used by the FTSE Hong Kong Capped Index for that security. To the extent that the investment manager uses a representative sampling strategy, the Fund may not track the return of the FTSE Hong Kong Capped Index as well as it would have if the Fund held all of the securities in the FTSE Hong Kong Capped Index.

Tracking Error Tracking error is the divergence of the Fund’s performance from that of the FTSE Hong Kong Capped Index. Tracking error may occur because of differences between the securities held in the Fund’s portfolio and those included in the FTSE Hong Kong Capped Index, pricing differences (including differences between a security’s price at the local market close and the Fund’s valuation of a security at the time of calculation of the Fund’s NAV), transaction costs, the Fund’s holding of cash, differences in timing of the accrual of dividends or interest, tax gains or losses, changes to the FTSE Hong Kong Capped Index or the need to meet various new or existing regulatory requirements. This risk may be heightened during times of increased market volatility or other unusual market conditions. Tracking error also may result because the Fund incurs fees and expenses, while the FTSE Hong Kong Capped Index does not.

     

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Market Trading The Fund faces numerous market trading risks, including the potential lack of an active market for Fund shares, losses from trading in secondary markets, periods of high volatility and disruption in the creation/redemption process of the Fund. Any of these factors, among others, may lead to the Fund’s shares trading at a premium or discount to NAV. Thus, you may pay more (or less) than NAV when you buy shares of the Fund in the secondary market, and you may receive less (or more) than NAV when you sell those shares in the secondary market. The investment manager cannot predict whether shares will trade above (premium), below (discount) or at NAV.

Concentration To the extent the Fund concentrates in a specific industry, a group of industries, sector or type of investment, the Fund will carry much greater risks of adverse developments and price movements in such industries, sectors or investments than a fund that invests in a wider variety of industries, sectors or investments. There is also the risk that the Fund will perform poorly during a slump in demand for securities of companies in such industries or sectors.

The Fund may focus in the financial services sector. Financial services companies are subject to extensive government regulation that may affect their profitability in many ways, including by limiting the amount and types of loans and other commitments they can make, and the interest rates and fees they can charge. A financial services company's profitability, and therefore its stock prices, is especially sensitive to interest rate changes as well as the ability of borrowers to repay their loans. Changing regulations, continuing consolidations, and development of new products and structures all are likely to have a significant impact on financial services companies.

Non-Diversification Because the Fund is non-diversified, it may be more sensitive to economic, business, political or other changes affecting individual issuers or investments than a diversified fund, which may negatively impact the Fund's performance and result in greater fluctuation in the value of the Fund’s shares.

Mid Capitalization Companies Securities issued by mid capitalization companies may be more volatile in price than those of larger companies, involve substantial risks and should be considered speculative. Such risks may include greater sensitivity to economic conditions, less certain growth prospects, lack of depth of management and funds for growth and development, and limited or less developed product lines and markets. In addition, mid capitalization companies may be particularly affected by interest rate increases, as they may find it more difficult to borrow money to continue or expand operations, or may have difficulty in repaying any loans.

Passive Investment Unlike many investment companies, the Fund is not actively managed and the investment manager does not attempt to take defensive positions under any market conditions, including declining markets. Therefore, the

     

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investment manager would not necessarily buy or sell a security unless that security is added or removed, respectively, from the FTSE Hong Kong Capped Index, even if that security generally is underperforming.

International Closed Market Trading To the extent that the underlying securities held by the Fund trade on an exchange that is closed when the securities exchange on which the Fund shares list and trade is open, there may be market uncertainty about the stale security pricing (i.e., the last quote from its closed foreign market) resulting in premiums or discounts to NAV that may be greater than those experienced by other ETFs.

Authorized Participant Concentration Only an authorized participant (Authorized Participant) may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund. The Fund has a limited number of institutions that act as Authorized Participants. To the extent that these institutions exit the business or are unable to proceed with creation and/or redemption orders with respect to the Fund and no other Authorized Participant is able to step forward to create or redeem Creation Units (as defined below), Fund shares may trade at a discount to NAV and possibly face trading halts and/or delisting. This risk may be more pronounced in volatile markets, potentially where there are significant redemptions in ETFs generally.

Small Fund When the Fund's size is small, the Fund may experience low trading volume and wide bid/ask spreads. In addition, the Fund may face the risk of being delisted if the Fund does not meet certain conditions of the listing exchange.

Large Shareholder Certain shareholders, including other funds or accounts advised by the investment manager or an affiliate of the investment manager, may from time to time own a substantial amount of the Fund’s shares. In addition, a third-party investor, the investment manager or an affiliate of the investment manager, an authorized participant, a lead market maker, or another entity may invest in the Fund and hold its investment for a limited period of time solely to facilitate commencement of the Fund or to facilitate the Fund’s achieving a specified size or scale. There can be no assurance that any large shareholder would not redeem its investment, that the size of the Fund would be maintained at such levels or that the Fund would continue to meet applicable listing requirements. Redemptions by large shareholders could have a significant negative impact on the Fund. In addition, transactions by large shareholders may account for a large percentage of the trading volume on the listing exchange and may, therefore, have a material upward or downward effect on the market price of the shares.

Cybersecurity Cybersecurity incidents, both intentional and unintentional, may allow an unauthorized party to gain access to Fund assets, Fund or customer data (including private shareholder information), or proprietary information, cause the Fund, the investment manager, authorized participants, or index providers (as applicable) and listing exchanges, and/or their service providers (including, but not

     

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limited to, Fund accountants, custodians, sub-custodians, transfer agents and financial intermediaries) to suffer data breaches, data corruption or loss of operational functionality or prevent Fund investors from purchasing, redeeming shares or receiving distributions. The investment manager has limited ability to prevent or mitigate cybersecurity incidents affecting third party service providers, and such third party service providers may have limited indemnification obligations to the Fund or investment manager. Cybersecurity incidents may result in financial losses to the Fund and its shareholders, and substantial costs may be incurred in an effort to prevent or mitigate future cybersecurity incidents. Issuers of securities in which the Fund invests are also subject to cybersecurity risks, and the value of these securities could decline if the issuers experience cybersecurity incidents.

Because technology is frequently changing, new ways to carry out cyber attacks are always developing. Therefore, there is a chance that some risks have not been identified or prepared for, or that an attack may not be detected, which puts limitations on the Fund's ability to plan for or respond to a cyber attack. Like other funds and business enterprises, the Fund, the investment manager and their service providers are subject to the risk of cyber incidents occurring from time to time.

Performance

The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows changes in the Fund's performance from year to year. The table shows how the Fund's average annual returns for 1 year, 5 years, 10 years or since inception, as applicable, compared with those of the Fund's underlying index. The Fund's past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. You can obtain updated performance information at franklintempleton.com or by calling (800) DIAL BEN/342-5236.

 

     

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Annual Total Returns

PerformanceBarChartData(2018:-10.18,2019:11.51,2020:6.99,2021:-3.55)

     

Best Quarter:

2020, Q4

16.50%

Worst Quarter:

2020, Q1

-18.07%

 

As of June 30, 2022, the Fund’s year-to-date return was -5.95%.

Average Annual Total Returns

For periods ended December 31, 2021

             

 

 

1 Year

 

Since Inception

 

Franklin FTSE Hong Kong ETF

 

 

 

 

 

 

Return before taxes

 

-3.55%

 

1.97%

1

 

Return after taxes on distributions

 

-4.56%

 

0.82%

1

 

Return after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares

 

-2.06%

 

1.02%

1

FTSE Hong Kong Capped Index (index reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)

 

-3.48%

 

2.03%

1

             

1.

Since inception November 2, 2017.

The after-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor's tax situation and may differ from those shown. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold their Fund shares through tax-advantaged arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts.

Investment Manager

Franklin Advisory Services, LLC (Advisory Services)

     

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Portfolio Managers

Dina Ting, CFA

Senior Vice President of Advisory Services and portfolio manager of the Fund since inception (2017).

Hailey Harris

Vice President of Advisory Services and portfolio manager of the Fund since 2019.

Joe Diederich

Vice President of Advisory Services and portfolio manager of the Fund since August 2022.

Basit Amin, CFA

Vice President of Advisory Services and portfolio manager of the Fund since August 2022.

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

The Fund is an ETF. Fund shares may only be purchased and sold on a national securities exchange through a broker-dealer. The price of Fund shares is based on market price, and because ETF shares trade at market prices rather than NAV, shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (a premium) or less than NAV (a discount). The Fund issues or redeems shares that have been aggregated into blocks of 150,000 shares or multiples thereof (Creation Units) to Authorized Participants who have entered into agreements with the Fund’s distributor, Franklin Distributors, LLC. The Fund will generally issue or redeem Creation Units in exchange for a basket of securities (and an amount of cash) that the Fund specifies each day.

An investor may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase shares of the Fund (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for shares of the Fund (ask) when buying or selling shares in the secondary market (the "bid-ask spread"). Recent information, including information on the Fund's NAV, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid-ask spreads is available on the Fund's website at https://www.franklintempleton.com/ investor/investments-and-solutions/investment-options/etfs/.

Taxes

The Fund’s distributions are generally taxable to you as ordinary income, capital gains, or some combination of both, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account, in which case your distributions would generally be taxed when withdrawn from the tax-advantaged account.

     

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Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the investment manager or other related companies may pay the intermediary for certain Fund-related activities, including those that are designed to make the intermediary more knowledgeable about exchange traded products, such as the Fund, as well as for marketing, education or other initiatives related to the sale or promotion of Fund shares. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.

     

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FUND SUMMARIES

   

FLIN

  Franklin FTSE India ETF

Investment Goal

To seek to provide investment results that closely correspond, before fees and expenses, to the performance of the FTSE India RIC Capped Index (the FTSE India Capped Index).

Fees and Expenses of the Fund

The following table describes the fees and expenses that you will incur if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund. You may also incur other fees, such as usual and customary brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and the Example that follows.

Annual Fund Operating Expenses

(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

     

 

 

 

Management fees

 

0.19%

Distribution and service (12b-1) fees

 

None

Other expenses

 

None

Total annual Fund operating expenses

 

0.19%

Example

This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then sell all of your shares at the end of the period. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund's operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

                   

 

 

 

1 Year

 

3 Years

 

5 Years

 

10 Years

 

 

$19

 

$61

 

$107

 

$243

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Portfolio Turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held

     

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in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual Fund operating expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund's performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 10.73% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

Under normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of its assets in the component securities of the FTSE India Capped Index and in depositary receipts representing such securities. The FTSE India Capped Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization weighted index maintained and calculated by FTSE Russell with a capping methodology applied quarterly to issuer weights so that no single issuer of a component exceeds 25% of the FTSE India Capped Index weight, and all issuers with weights above 5% do not cumulatively exceed 50% of the FTSE India Capped Index’s weight. The FTSE India Capped Index is based on the FTSE India Index and is designed to measure the performance of Indian large- and mid-capitalization stocks. FTSE Russell determines eligible securities for the FTSE India Capped Index based on measures such as the company’s place of incorporation, listing country, investor protection regulations present in the country of incorporation, tax domicile, location of headquarters/factors of production and currency of denomination. As of May 31, 2022, the FTSE India Capped Index was comprised of 193 securities with capitalizations ranging from $680 million to $229.51 billion.

The Fund, using a “passive” or indexing investment approach, seeks investment results that closely correspond, before fees and expenses, to the performance of the FTSE India Capped Index. The Fund may use either a replication strategy or representative sampling strategy. Under a replication strategy, the Fund will replicate the component securities of the FTSE India Capped Index as closely as possible (i.e., invest in all of the component securities in their respective weightings in the FTSE India Capped Index). However, under various circumstances, it may not be possible or practicable to replicate the FTSE India Capped Index. In these circumstances, the Fund may use a “representative sampling” strategy whereby the Fund would invest in what it believes to be a representative sample of the component securities of the FTSE India Capped Index, but may not track the FTSE India Capped Index with the same degree of accuracy as would an investment vehicle replicating the entire FTSE India Capped Index. Under the representative sampling technique, the investment manager will select securities that collectively have an investment profile similar to that of the FTSE India Capped Index, including securities that resemble those included in the FTSE India Capped Index in terms of risk factors, performance attributes and other characteristics, such as market capitalization and industry weightings.

     

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The Fund is a "non-diversified" fund, which means it generally invests a greater proportion of its assets in the securities of one or more issuers and invests overall in a smaller number of issuers than a diversified fund.

The Fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., hold 25% or more of its net assets) in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent that the FTSE India Capped Index is concentrated.

Principal Risks

You could lose money by investing in the Fund. Exchange-traded fund (ETF) shares are not deposits or obligations of, or guaranteed or endorsed by, any bank, and are not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Reserve Board, or any other agency of the U.S. government. The Fund is subject to the principal risks noted below, any of which may adversely affect the Fund’s net asset value (NAV), trading price, yield, total return and ability to meet its investment goal.

Market The market values of securities or other investments owned by the Fund will go up or down, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably. The market value of a security or other investment may be reduced by market activity or other results of supply and demand unrelated to the issuer. This is a basic risk associated with all investments. When there are more sellers than buyers, prices tend to fall. Likewise, when there are more buyers than sellers, prices tend to rise.

The current global outbreak of the novel strain of coronavirus, COVID-19, has resulted in market closures and dislocations, extreme volatility, liquidity constraints and increased trading costs. Efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 have resulted in global travel restrictions and disruptions of healthcare systems, business operations and supply chains, layoffs, volatility in consumer demand for certain products, defaults and credit ratings downgrades, and other significant economic impacts. The effects of COVID-19 have impacted global economic activity across many industries and may heighten other pre-existing political, social and economic risks, locally or globally. The full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is unpredictable and may adversely affect the Fund’s performance.

Stock prices tend to go up and down more dramatically than those of debt securities. A slower-growth or recessionary economic environment could have an adverse effect on the prices of the various stocks held by the Fund.

Foreign Securities (non-U.S.) Investing in foreign securities typically involves more risks than investing in U.S. securities, and includes risks associated with: (i) internal and external political and economic developments – e.g., the political, economic and social policies and structures of some foreign countries may be less stable and more volatile than those in the U.S. or some foreign countries may be subject to trading restrictions or economic sanctions; (ii) trading practices – e.g.,

     

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government supervision and regulation of foreign securities and currency markets, trading systems and brokers may be less than in the U.S.; (iii) availability of information – e.g., foreign issuers may not be subject to the same disclosure, accounting and financial reporting standards and practices as U.S. issuers; (iv) limited markets – e.g., the securities of certain foreign issuers may be less liquid (harder to sell) and more volatile; and (v) currency exchange rate fluctuations and policies – e.g., fluctuations may negatively affect investments denominated in foreign currencies and any income received or expenses paid by the Fund in that foreign currency. The risks of foreign investments may be greater in developing or emerging market countries.

Emerging Market Countries The Fund’s investments in emerging market issuers are subject to all of the risks of foreign investing generally, and have additional heightened risks due to a lack of established legal, political, business and social frameworks to support securities markets, including: delays in settling portfolio securities transactions; currency and capital controls; greater sensitivity to interest rate changes; pervasiveness of corruption and crime; currency exchange rate volatility; and inflation, deflation or currency devaluation.

Geographic Focus Because the Fund invests its assets primarily in companies in a specific country and region, the Fund is subject to greater risks of adverse developments in that country, region and/or the surrounding regions than a fund that is more broadly diversified geographically. Political, social or economic disruptions in the country or region, even in countries in which the Fund is not invested, may adversely affect the value of investments held by the Fund.

There are special risks associated with investments in India, including exposure to currency fluctuations, less liquidity, expropriation, confiscatory taxation, and exchange control regulations (including currency blockage). The Fund’s investments are subject to fluctuations in the value of the Indian rupee. Inflation and rapid fluctuations in inflation and interest rates have had, and may continue to have, negative effects on the economy and securities markets of India. A high proportion of the securities of many Indian issuers are held by a limited number of persons or entities, which may limit the number of shares available for investment by the Fund. Also, a limited number of issuers represent a disproportionately large percentage of market capitalization and trading value. In addition, religious and border disputes persist in India. India has historically experienced hostilities with neighboring countries, such as Pakistan, and the Indian government has confronted separatist movements in several Indian states. Instability as a result of these social and political tensions could adversely impact the value of the Fund's investments.

Depositary Receipts Depositary receipts are subject to many of the risks of the underlying securities. For some depositary receipts, the custodian or similar financial institution that holds the issuer's shares in a trust account is located in the

     

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issuer's home country. In these cases if the issuer’s home country does not have developed financial markets, the Fund could be exposed to the credit risk of the custodian or financial institution and greater market risk. In addition, the depository institution may not have physical custody of the underlying securities at all times and may charge fees for various services. The Fund may experience delays in receiving its dividend and interest payments or exercising rights as a shareholder. There may be an increased possibility of untimely responses to certain corporate actions of the issuer in an unsponsored depositary receipt program. Accordingly, there may be less information available regarding issuers of securities underlying unsponsored programs and there may not be a correlation between this information and the market value of the depositary receipts.

Calculation Methodology FTSE Russell relies on various sources of information to assess the criteria of issuers included in the FTSE India Capped Index, including information that may be based on assumptions and estimates. Neither the Fund nor the investment manager can offer assurances that FTSE Russell's calculation methodology or sources of information will provide an accurate assessment of included issuers or that the included issuers will provide the Fund with the market exposure it seeks.

Index-Related There is no assurance that the FTSE India Capped Index will be determined, composed or calculated accurately. While FTSE Russell provides descriptions of what the FTSE India Capped Index is designed to achieve, FTSE Russell does not guarantee the quality, accuracy or completeness of data in respect of its indices, and does not guarantee that the FTSE India Capped Index will be in line with the described index methodology. Errors in index data, index computations or the construction of the underlying index in accordance with its methodology (including as a result of outdated, unreliable or unavailable market information) may occur and may not be identified and corrected by the index provider for a period of time or at all, which may have an adverse impact on the Fund and its shareholders. Gains, losses or costs to the Fund caused by errors in the FTSE India Capped Index may therefore be borne by the Fund and its shareholders.

Non-Correlation There is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve a high degree of correlation to the FTSE India Capped Index and therefore achieve its investment goal. Market disruptions and regulatory restrictions could have an adverse effect on the Fund’s ability to adjust its exposure to the required levels in order to track the FTSE India Capped Index. In addition, the Fund’s NAV may deviate from the FTSE India Capped Index if the Fund fair values a portfolio security at a price other than the price used by the FTSE India Capped Index for that security. To the extent that the investment manager uses a representative sampling strategy, the Fund may not track the return of the FTSE India Capped Index as well as it would have if the Fund held all of the securities in the FTSE India Capped Index.

     

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Tracking Error Tracking error is the divergence of the Fund’s performance from that of the FTSE India Capped Index. Tracking error may occur because of differences between the securities held in the Fund’s portfolio and those included in the FTSE India Capped Index, pricing differences (including differences between a security’s price at the local market close and the Fund’s valuation of a security at the time of calculation of the Fund’s NAV), transaction costs, the Fund’s holding of cash, differences in timing of the accrual of dividends or interest, tax gains or losses, changes to the FTSE India Capped Index or the need to meet various new or existing regulatory requirements. This risk may be heightened during times of increased market volatility or other unusual market conditions. Tracking error also may result because the Fund incurs fees and expenses, while the FTSE India Capped Index does not.

Market Trading The Fund faces numerous market trading risks, including the potential lack of an active market for Fund shares, losses from trading in secondary markets, periods of high volatility and disruption in the creation/redemption process of the Fund. Any of these factors, among others, may lead to the Fund’s shares trading at a premium or discount to NAV. Thus, you may pay more (or less) than NAV when you buy shares of the Fund in the secondary market, and you may receive less (or more) than NAV when you sell those shares in the secondary market. The investment manager cannot predict whether shares will trade above (premium), below (discount) or at NAV.

Concentration To the extent the Fund concentrates in a specific industry, a group of industries, sector or type of investment, the Fund will carry much greater risks of adverse developments and price movements in such industries, sectors or investments than a fund that invests in a wider variety of industries, sectors or investments. There is also the risk that the Fund will perform poorly during a slump in demand for securities of companies in such industries or sectors.

Non-Diversification Because the Fund is non-diversified, it may be more sensitive to economic, business, political or other changes affecting individual issuers or investments than a diversified fund, which may negatively impact the Fund's performance and result in greater fluctuation in the value of the Fund’s shares.

Mid Capitalization Companies Securities issued by mid capitalization companies may be more volatile in price than those of larger companies, involve substantial risks and should be considered speculative. Such risks may include greater sensitivity to economic conditions, less certain growth prospects, lack of depth of management and funds for growth and development, and limited or less developed product lines and markets. In addition, mid capitalization companies may be particularly affected by interest rate increases, as they may find it more difficult to borrow money to continue or expand operations, or may have difficulty in repaying any loans.

     

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Passive Investment Unlike many investment companies, the Fund is not actively managed and the investment manager does not attempt to take defensive positions under any market conditions, including declining markets. Therefore, the investment manager would not necessarily buy or sell a security unless that security is added or removed, respectively, from the FTSE India Capped Index, even if that security generally is underperforming.

International Closed Market Trading To the extent that the underlying securities held by the Fund trade on an exchange that is closed when the securities exchange on which the Fund shares list and trade is open, there may be market uncertainty about the stale security pricing (i.e., the last quote from its closed foreign market) resulting in premiums or discounts to NAV that may be greater than those experienced by other ETFs.

Authorized Participant Concentration Only an authorized participant (Authorized Participant) may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund. The Fund has a limited number of institutions that act as Authorized Participants. To the extent that these institutions exit the business or are unable to proceed with creation and/or redemption orders with respect to the Fund and no other Authorized Participant is able to step forward to create or redeem Creation Units (as defined below), Fund shares may trade at a discount to NAV and possibly face trading halts and/or delisting. This risk may be more pronounced in volatile markets, potentially where there are significant redemptions in ETFs generally.

Cash Transactions Unlike certain ETFs, the Fund expects to generally effect its creations and redemptions entirely for cash, rather than for in-kind securities. Therefore, it may be required to sell portfolio securities and subsequently recognize gains on such sales that the Fund might not have recognized if it were to distribute portfolio securities in-kind. As such, investments in Fund shares may be less tax-efficient than an investment in an ETF that distributes portfolio securities entirely in-kind.

Small Fund When the Fund's size is small, the Fund may experience low trading volume and wide bid/ask spreads. In addition, the Fund may face the risk of being delisted if the Fund does not meet certain conditions of the listing exchange.

Large Shareholder Certain shareholders, including other funds or accounts advised by the investment manager or an affiliate of the investment manager, may from time to time own a substantial amount of the Fund’s shares. In addition, a third-party investor, the investment manager or an affiliate of the investment manager, an authorized participant, a lead market maker, or another entity may invest in the Fund and hold its investment for a limited period of time solely to facilitate commencement of the Fund or to facilitate the Fund’s achieving a specified size or scale. There can be no assurance that any large shareholder would not redeem its investment, that the size of the Fund would be maintained at

     

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such levels or that the Fund would continue to meet applicable listing requirements. Redemptions by large shareholders could have a significant negative impact on the Fund. In addition, transactions by large shareholders may account for a large percentage of the trading volume on the listing exchange and may, therefore, have a material upward or downward effect on the market price of the shares.

Cybersecurity Cybersecurity incidents, both intentional and unintentional, may allow an unauthorized party to gain access to Fund assets, Fund or customer data (including private shareholder information), or proprietary information, cause the Fund, the investment manager, authorized participants, or index providers (as applicable) and listing exchanges, and/or their service providers (including, but not limited to, Fund accountants, custodians, sub-custodians, transfer agents and financial intermediaries) to suffer data breaches, data corruption or loss of operational functionality or prevent Fund investors from purchasing, redeeming shares or receiving distributions. The investment manager has limited ability to prevent or mitigate cybersecurity incidents affecting third party service providers, and such third party service providers may have limited indemnification obligations to the Fund or investment manager. Cybersecurity incidents may result in financial losses to the Fund and its shareholders, and substantial costs may be incurred in an effort to prevent or mitigate future cybersecurity incidents. Issuers of securities in which the Fund invests are also subject to cybersecurity risks, and the value of these securities could decline if the issuers experience cybersecurity incidents.

Because technology is frequently changing, new ways to carry out cyber attacks are always developing. Therefore, there is a chance that some risks have not been identified or prepared for, or that an attack may not be detected, which puts limitations on the Fund's ability to plan for or respond to a cyber attack. Like other funds and business enterprises, the Fund, the investment manager and their service providers are subject to the risk of cyber incidents occurring from time to time.

Performance

The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows changes in the Fund's performance from year to year. The table shows how the Fund's average annual returns for 1 year, 5 years, 10 years or since inception, as applicable, compared with those of the Fund's underlying index. The Fund's past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. You can obtain updated performance information at franklintempleton.com or by calling (800) DIAL BEN/342-5236.

 

     

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FUND SUMMARIES

Annual Total Returns

PerformanceBarChartData(2019:4.93,2020:15.16,2021:24.82)

     

Best Quarter:

2020, Q2

22.13%

Worst Quarter:

2020, Q1

-30.19%

 

As of June 30, 2022, the Fund’s year-to-date return was -14.12%.

Average Annual Total Returns

For periods ended December 31, 2021

             

 

 

1 Year

 

Since Inception

 

Franklin FTSE India ETF

 

 

 

 

 

 

Return before taxes

 

24.82%

 

9.26%

1

 

Return after taxes on distributions

 

24.07%

 

8.79%

1

 

Return after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares

 

15.07%

 

7.07%

1

FTSE India Capped Index (index reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)

 

28.77%

 

10.98%

1

             

1.

Since inception February 6, 2018.

The after-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor's tax situation and may differ from those shown. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold their Fund shares through tax-advantaged arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts.

Investment Manager

Franklin Advisory Services, LLC (Advisory Services)

     

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FUND SUMMARIES

Portfolio Managers

Dina Ting, CFA

Senior Vice President of Advisory Services and portfolio manager of the Fund since inception (2018).

Hailey Harris

Vice President of Advisory Services and portfolio manager of the Fund since 2019.

Joe Diederich

Vice President of Advisory Services and portfolio manager of the Fund since August 2022.

Basit Amin, CFA

Vice President of Advisory Services and portfolio manager of the Fund since August 2022.

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

The Fund is an ETF. Fund shares may only be purchased and sold on a national securities exchange through a broker-dealer. The price of Fund shares is based on market price, and because ETF shares trade at market prices rather than NAV, shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (a premium) or less than NAV (a discount). The Fund issues or redeems shares that have been aggregated into blocks of 50,000 shares or multiples thereof (Creation Units) to Authorized Participants who have entered into agreements with the Fund’s distributor, Franklin Distributors, LLC. The Fund will generally issue or redeem Creation Units in exchange for a basket of securities (and an amount of cash) that the Fund specifies each day.

An investor may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase shares of the Fund (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for shares of the Fund (ask) when buying or selling shares in the secondary market (the "bid-ask spread"). Recent information, including information on the Fund's NAV, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid-ask spreads is available on the Fund's website at https://www.franklintempleton.com/ investor/investments-and-solutions/investment-options/etfs/.

Taxes

The Fund’s distributions are generally taxable to you as ordinary income, capital gains, or some combination of both, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account, in which case your distributions would generally be taxed when withdrawn from the tax-advantaged account.

     

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Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the investment manager or other related companies may pay the intermediary for certain Fund-related activities, including those that are designed to make the intermediary more knowledgeable about exchange traded products, such as the Fund, as well as for marketing, education or other initiatives related to the sale or promotion of Fund shares. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.

     

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FRANKLIN FTSE ITALY ETF
FUND SUMMARIES

   

FLIY

  Franklin FTSE Italy ETF

Investment Goal

To seek to provide investment results that closely correspond, before fees and expenses, to the performance of the FTSE Italy RIC Capped Index (the FTSE Italy Capped Index).

Fees and Expenses of the Fund

The following table describes the fees and expenses that you will incur if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund. You may also incur other fees, such as usual and customary brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and the Example that follows.

Annual Fund Operating Expenses

(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

     

 

 

 

Management fees

 

0.09%

Distribution and service (12b-1) fees

 

None

Other expenses

 

None

Total annual Fund operating expenses

 

0.09%

Example

This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then sell all of your shares at the end of the period. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund's operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

                   

 

 

 

1 Year

 

3 Years

 

5 Years

 

10 Years

 

 

$9

 

$29

 

$51

 

$115

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Portfolio Turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held

     

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FRANKLIN FTSE ITALY ETF
FUND SUMMARIES

in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual Fund operating expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund's performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 12.75% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

Under normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of its assets in the component securities of the FTSE Italy Capped Index and in depositary receipts representing such securities. The FTSE Italy Capped Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization weighted index maintained and calculated by FTSE Russell with a capping methodology applied quarterly to issuer weights so that no single issuer of a component exceeds 25% of the FTSE Italy Capped Index weight, and all issuers with weights above 5% do not cumulatively exceed 50% of the FTSE Italy Capped Index’s weight. The FTSE Italy Capped Index is based on the FTSE Italy Index and is designed to measure the performance of Italian large- and mid-capitalization stocks. FTSE Russell determines eligible securities for the FTSE Italy Capped Index based on measures such as the company’s place of incorporation, listing country, investor protection regulations present in the country of incorporation, tax domicile, location of headquarters/factors of production and currency of denomination. As of May 31, 2022, the FTSE Italy Capped Index was comprised of 38 securities with capitalizations ranging from $1.72 billion to $65.79 billion.

The Fund, using a “passive” or indexing investment approach, seeks investment results that closely correspond, before fees and expenses, to the performance of the FTSE Italy Capped Index. The Fund may use either a replication strategy or representative sampling strategy. Under a replication strategy, the Fund will replicate the component securities of the FTSE Italy Capped Index as closely as possible (i.e., invest in all of the component securities in their respective weightings in the FTSE Italy Capped Index). However, under various circumstances, it may not be possible or practicable to replicate the FTSE Italy Capped Index. In these circumstances, the Fund may use a “representative sampling” strategy whereby the Fund would invest in what it believes to be a representative sample of the component securities of the FTSE Italy Capped Index, but may not track the FTSE Italy Capped Index with the same degree of accuracy as would an investment vehicle replicating the entire FTSE Italy Capped Index. Under the representative sampling technique, the investment manager will select securities that collectively have an investment profile similar to that of the FTSE Italy Capped Index, including securities that resemble those included in the FTSE Italy Capped Index in terms of risk factors, performance attributes and other characteristics, such as market capitalization and industry weightings.

     

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FRANKLIN FTSE ITALY ETF
FUND SUMMARIES

The Fund is a "non-diversified" fund, which means it generally invests a greater proportion of its assets in the securities of one or more issuers and invests overall in a smaller number of issuers than a diversified fund.

The Fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., hold 25% or more of its net assets) in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent that the FTSE Italy Capped Index is concentrated. As of May 31, 2022, the FTSE Italy Capped Index was concentrated in the financials sector.

Principal Risks

You could lose money by investing in the Fund. Exchange-traded fund (ETF) shares are not deposits or obligations of, or guaranteed or endorsed by, any bank, and are not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Reserve Board, or any other agency of the U.S. government. The Fund is subject to the principal risks noted below, any of which may adversely affect the Fund’s net asset value (NAV), trading price, yield, total return and ability to meet its investment goal.

Market The market values of securities or other investments owned by the Fund will go up or down, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably. The market value of a security or other investment may be reduced by market activity or other results of supply and demand unrelated to the issuer. This is a basic risk associated with all investments. When there are more sellers than buyers, prices tend to fall. Likewise, when there are more buyers than sellers, prices tend to rise.

The current global outbreak of the novel strain of coronavirus, COVID-19, has resulted in market closures and dislocations, extreme volatility, liquidity constraints and increased trading costs. Efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 have resulted in global travel restrictions and disruptions of healthcare systems, business operations and supply chains, layoffs, volatility in consumer demand for certain products, defaults and credit ratings downgrades, and other significant economic impacts. The effects of COVID-19 have impacted global economic activity across many industries and may heighten other pre-existing political, social and economic risks, locally or globally. The full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is unpredictable and may adversely affect the Fund’s performance.

Stock prices tend to go up and down more dramatically than those of debt securities. A slower-growth or recessionary economic environment could have an adverse effect on the prices of the various stocks held by the Fund.

Foreign Securities (non-U.S.) Investing in foreign securities typically involves more risks than investing in U.S. securities, and includes risks associated with: (i) internal and external political and economic developments – e.g., the political, economic and social policies and structures of some foreign countries may be less stable and more volatile than those in the U.S. or some foreign countries may be

     

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FRANKLIN FTSE ITALY ETF
FUND SUMMARIES

subject to trading restrictions or economic sanctions; (ii) trading practices – e.g., government supervision and regulation of foreign securities and currency markets, trading systems and brokers may be less than in the U.S.; (iii) availability of information – e.g., foreign issuers may not be subject to the same disclosure, accounting and financial reporting standards and practices as U.S. issuers; (iv) limited markets – e.g., the securities of certain foreign issuers may be less liquid (harder to sell) and more volatile; and (v) currency exchange rate fluctuations and policies – e.g., fluctuations may negatively affect investments denominated in foreign currencies and any income received or expenses paid by the Fund in that foreign currency.

Geographic Focus Because the Fund invests its assets primarily in companies in a specific country and region, the Fund is subject to greater risks of adverse developments in that country, region and/or the surrounding regions than a fund that is more broadly diversified geographically. Political, social or economic disruptions in the country or region, even in countries in which the Fund is not invested, may adversely affect the value of investments held by the Fund. Ongoing uncertainty concerning the economic consequences of the January 31, 2020 departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union (EU) and Russia's military invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 may increase market volatility.

Italy’s economy has been characterized by slow growth over the past few decades due to factors such as high unemployment and tax rates, a rigid labor market and regional disparities in economic conditions. The Italian government has experienced significant budget deficits and high levels of public debt, causing credit agencies to lower Italy’s sovereign debt rating. Interest rates on Italy's sovereign debt may rise to levels that may make it difficult for it to service high debt levels without significant financial help from the EU which could potentially lead to default. The Italian economy is also heavily dependent on trade with other European countries and may be impacted by changes to the economic health of key trading partners.

Depositary Receipts Depositary receipts are subject to many of the risks of the underlying securities. For some depositary receipts, the custodian or similar financial institution that holds the issuer's shares in a trust account is located in the issuer's home country. In these cases if the issuer’s home country does not have developed financial markets, the Fund could be exposed to the credit risk of the custodian or financial institution and greater market risk. In addition, the depository institution may not have physical custody of the underlying securities at all times and may charge fees for various services. The Fund may experience delays in receiving its dividend and interest payments or exercising rights as a shareholder. There may be an increased possibility of untimely responses to certain corporate actions of the issuer in an unsponsored depositary receipt program. Accordingly, there may be less information available regarding issuers of securities underlying

     

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FRANKLIN FTSE ITALY ETF
FUND SUMMARIES

unsponsored programs and there may not be a correlation between this information and the market value of the depositary receipts.

Calculation Methodology FTSE Russell relies on various sources of information to assess the criteria of issuers included in the FTSE Italy Capped Index, including information that may be based on assumptions and estimates. Neither the Fund nor the investment manager can offer assurances that FTSE Russell's calculation methodology or sources of information will provide an accurate assessment of included issuers or that the included issuers will provide the Fund with the market exposure it seeks.

Index-Related There is no assurance that the FTSE Italy Capped Index will be determined, composed or calculated accurately. While FTSE Russell provides descriptions of what the FTSE Italy Capped Index is designed to achieve, FTSE Russell does not guarantee the quality, accuracy or completeness of data in respect of its indices, and does not guarantee that the FTSE Italy Capped Index will be in line with the described index methodology. Errors in index data, index computations or the construction of the underlying index in accordance with its methodology (including as a result of outdated, unreliable or unavailable market information) may occur and may not be identified and corrected by the index provider for a period of time or at all, which may have an adverse impact on the Fund and its shareholders. Gains, losses or costs to the Fund caused by errors in the FTSE Italy Capped Index may therefore be borne by the Fund and its shareholders.

Non-Correlation There is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve a high degree of correlation to the FTSE Italy Capped Index and therefore achieve its investment goal. Market disruptions and regulatory restrictions could have an adverse effect on the Fund’s ability to adjust its exposure to the required levels in order to track the FTSE Italy Capped Index. In addition, the Fund’s NAV may deviate from the FTSE Italy Capped Index if the Fund fair values a portfolio security at a price other than the price used by the FTSE Italy Capped Index for that security. To the extent that the investment manager uses a representative sampling strategy, the Fund may not track the return of the FTSE Italy Capped Index as well as it would have if the Fund held all of the securities in the FTSE Italy Capped Index.

Tracking Error Tracking error is the divergence of the Fund’s performance from that of the FTSE Italy Capped Index. Tracking error may occur because of differences between the securities held in the Fund’s portfolio and those included in the FTSE Italy Capped Index, pricing differences (including differences between a security’s price at the local market close and the Fund’s valuation of a security at the time of calculation of the Fund’s NAV), transaction costs, the Fund’s holding of cash, differences in timing of the accrual of dividends or interest, tax gains or losses, changes to the FTSE Italy Capped Index or the need to meet various new or existing regulatory requirements. This risk may be heightened during times of

     

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FRANKLIN FTSE ITALY ETF
FUND SUMMARIES

increased market volatility or other unusual market conditions. Tracking error also may result because the Fund incurs fees and expenses, while the FTSE Italy Capped Index does not.

Market Trading The Fund faces numerous market trading risks, including the potential lack of an active market for Fund shares, losses from trading in secondary markets, periods of high volatility and disruption in the creation/redemption process of the Fund. Any of these factors, among others, may lead to the Fund’s shares trading at a premium or discount to NAV. Thus, you may pay more (or less) than NAV when you buy shares of the Fund in the secondary market, and you may receive less (or more) than NAV when you sell those shares in the secondary market. The investment manager cannot predict whether shares will trade above (premium), below (discount) or at NAV.

Concentration To the extent the Fund concentrates in a specific industry, a group of industries, sector or type of investment, the Fund will carry much greater risks of adverse developments and price movements in such industries, sectors or investments than a fund that invests in a wider variety of industries, sectors or investments. There is also the risk that the Fund will perform poorly during a slump in demand for securities of companies in such industries or sectors.

The Fund may focus in the financial services sector. Financial services companies are subject to extensive government regulation that may affect their profitability in many ways, including by limiting the amount and types of loans and other commitments they can make, and the interest rates and fees they can charge. A financial services company's profitability, and therefore its stock prices, is especially sensitive to interest rate changes as well as the ability of borrowers to repay their loans. Changing regulations, continuing consolidations, and development of new products and structures all are likely to have a significant impact on financial services companies.

Non-Diversification Because the Fund is non-diversified, it may be more sensitive to economic, business, political or other changes affecting individual issuers or investments than a diversified fund, which may negatively impact the Fund's performance and result in greater fluctuation in the value of the Fund’s shares.

Mid Capitalization Companies Securities issued by mid capitalization companies may be more volatile in price than those of larger companies, involve substantial risks and should be considered speculative. Such risks may include greater sensitivity to economic conditions, less certain growth prospects, lack of depth of management and funds for growth and development, and limited or less developed product lines and markets. In addition, mid capitalization companies may be particularly affected by interest rate increases, as they may find it more difficult to borrow money to continue or expand operations, or may have difficulty in repaying any loans.

     

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FUND SUMMARIES

Passive Investment Unlike many investment companies, the Fund is not actively managed and the investment manager does not attempt to take defensive positions under any market conditions, including declining markets. Therefore, the investment manager would not necessarily buy or sell a security unless that security is added or removed, respectively, from the FTSE Italy Capped Index, even if that security generally is underperforming.

International Closed Market Trading To the extent that the underlying securities held by the Fund trade on an exchange that is closed when the securities exchange on which the Fund shares list and trade is open, there may be market uncertainty about the stale security pricing (i.e., the last quote from its closed foreign market) resulting in premiums or discounts to NAV that may be greater than those experienced by other ETFs.

Authorized Participant Concentration Only an authorized participant (Authorized Participant) may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund. The Fund has a limited number of institutions that act as Authorized Participants. To the extent that these institutions exit the business or are unable to proceed with creation and/or redemption orders with respect to the Fund and no other Authorized Participant is able to step forward to create or redeem Creation Units (as defined below), Fund shares may trade at a discount to NAV and possibly face trading halts and/or delisting. This risk may be more pronounced in volatile markets, potentially where there are significant redemptions in ETFs generally.

Small Fund When the Fund's size is small, the Fund may experience low trading volume and wide bid/ask spreads. In addition, the Fund may face the risk of being delisted if the Fund does not meet certain conditions of the listing exchange.

Large Shareholder Certain shareholders, including other funds or accounts advised by the investment manager or an affiliate of the investment manager, may from time to time own a substantial amount of the Fund’s shares. In addition, a third-party investor, the investment manager or an affiliate of the investment manager, an authorized participant, a lead market maker, or another entity may invest in the Fund and hold its investment for a limited period of time solely to facilitate commencement of the Fund or to facilitate the Fund’s achieving a specified size or scale. There can be no assurance that any large shareholder would not redeem its investment, that the size of the Fund would be maintained at such levels or that the Fund would continue to meet applicable listing requirements. Redemptions by large shareholders could have a significant negative impact on the Fund. In addition, transactions by large shareholders may account for a large percentage of the trading volume on the listing exchange and may, therefore, have a material upward or downward effect on the market price of the shares.

Cybersecurity Cybersecurity incidents, both intentional and unintentional, may allow an unauthorized party to gain access to Fund assets, Fund or customer data

     

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FUND SUMMARIES

(including private shareholder information), or proprietary information, cause the Fund, the investment manager, authorized participants, or index providers (as applicable) and listing exchanges, and/or their service providers (including, but not limited to, Fund accountants, custodians, sub-custodians, transfer agents and financial intermediaries) to suffer data breaches, data corruption or loss of operational functionality or prevent Fund investors from purchasing, redeeming shares or receiving distributions. The investment manager has limited ability to prevent or mitigate cybersecurity incidents affecting third party service providers, and such third party service providers may have limited indemnification obligations to the Fund or investment manager. Cybersecurity incidents may result in financial losses to the Fund and its shareholders, and substantial costs may be incurred in an effort to prevent or mitigate future cybersecurity incidents. Issuers of securities in which the Fund invests are also subject to cybersecurity risks, and the value of these securities could decline if the issuers experience cybersecurity incidents.

Because technology is frequently changing, new ways to carry out cyber attacks are always developing. Therefore, there is a chance that some risks have not been identified or prepared for, or that an attack may not be detected, which puts limitations on the Fund's ability to plan for or respond to a cyber attack. Like other funds and business enterprises, the Fund, the investment manager and their service providers are subject to the risk of cyber incidents occurring from time to time.

Performance

The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows changes in the Fund's performance from year to year. The table shows how the Fund's average annual returns for 1 year, 5 years, 10 years or since inception, as applicable, compared with those of the Fund's underlying index. The Fund's past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. You can obtain updated performance information at franklintempleton.com or by calling (800) DIAL BEN/342-5236.

 

     

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FRANKLIN FTSE ITALY ETF
FUND SUMMARIES

Annual Total Returns

PerformanceBarChartData(2018:-17.09,2019:27.99,2020:3.22,2021:14.93)

     

Best Quarter:

2020, Q4

21.48%

Worst Quarter:

2020, Q1

-29.08%

 

As of June 30, 2022, the Fund’s year-to-date return was -26.22%.

Average Annual Total Returns

For periods ended December 31, 2021

             

 

 

1 Year

 

Since Inception

 

Franklin FTSE Italy ETF

 

 

 

 

 

 

Return before taxes

 

14.93%

 

5.18%

1

 

Return after taxes on distributions

 

14.07%

 

4.60%

1

 

Return after taxes on distributions and sale of Fund shares

 

9.82%

 

4.11%

1

FTSE Italy Capped Index (index reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)

 

14.62%

 

4.93%

1

             

1.

Since inception November 2, 2017.

The after-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor's tax situation and may differ from those shown. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold their Fund shares through tax-advantaged arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts.

Investment Manager

Franklin Advisory Services, LLC (Advisory Services)

     

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Portfolio Managers

Dina Ting, CFA

Senior Vice President of Advisory Services and portfolio manager of the Fund since inception (2017).

Hailey Harris

Vice President of Advisory Services and portfolio manager of the Fund since 2019.

Joe Diederich

Vice President of Advisory Services and portfolio manager of the Fund since August 2022.

Basit Amin, CFA

Vice President of Advisory Services and portfolio manager of the Fund since August 2022.

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

The Fund is an ETF. Fund shares may only be purchased and sold on a national securities exchange through a broker-dealer. The price of Fund shares is based on market price, and because ETF shares trade at market prices rather than NAV, shares may trade at a price greater than NAV (a premium) or less than NAV (a discount). The Fund issues or redeems shares that have been aggregated into blocks of 50,000 shares or multiples thereof (Creation Units) to Authorized Participants who have entered into agreements with the Fund’s distributor, Franklin Distributors, LLC. The Fund will generally issue or redeem Creation Units in exchange for a basket of securities (and an amount of cash) that the Fund specifies each day.

An investor may incur costs attributable to the difference between the highest price a buyer is willing to pay to purchase shares of the Fund (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept for shares of the Fund (ask) when buying or selling shares in the secondary market (the "bid-ask spread"). Recent information, including information on the Fund's NAV, market price, premiums and discounts, and bid-ask spreads is available on the Fund's website at https://www.franklintempleton.com/ investor/investments-and-solutions/investment-options/etfs/.

Taxes

The Fund’s distributions are generally taxable to you as ordinary income, capital gains, or some combination of both, unless you are investing through a tax-advantaged arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account, in which case your distributions would generally be taxed when withdrawn from the tax-advantaged account.

     

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FUND SUMMARIES

Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the investment manager or other related companies may pay the intermediary for certain Fund-related activities, including those that are designed to make the intermediary more knowledgeable about exchange traded products, such as the Fund, as well as for marketing, education or other initiatives related to the sale or promotion of Fund shares. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.

     

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FRANKLIN FTSE JAPAN ETF
FUND SUMMARIES

   

FLJP

  Franklin FTSE Japan ETF

Investment Goal

To seek to provide investment results that closely correspond, before fees and expenses, to the performance of the FTSE Japan RIC Capped Index (the FTSE Japan Capped Index).

Fees and Expenses of the Fund

The following table describes the fees and expenses that you will incur if you buy, hold and sell shares of the Fund. You may also incur other fees, such as usual and customary brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the table and the Example that follows.

Annual Fund Operating Expenses

(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

     

 

 

 

Management fees

 

0.09%

Distribution and service (12b-1) fees

 

None

Other expenses

 

None

Total annual Fund operating expenses

 

0.09%

Example

This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then sell all of your shares at the end of the period. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund's operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

                   

 

 

 

1 Year

 

3 Years

 

5 Years

 

10 Years

 

 

$9

 

$29

 

$51

 

$115

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Portfolio Turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held

     

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in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual Fund operating expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund's performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 2.95% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

Under normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of its assets in the component securities of the FTSE Japan Capped Index and in depositary receipts representing such securities. The FTSE Japan Capped Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization weighted index maintained and calculated by FTSE Russell with a capping methodology applied quarterly to issuer weights so that no single issuer of a component exceeds 25% of the FTSE Japan Capped Index weight, and all issuers with weights above 5% do not cumulatively exceed 50% of the FTSE Japan Capped Index’s weight. The FTSE Japan Capped Index is based on the FTSE Japan Index and is designed to measure the performance of Japanese large- and mid-capitalization stocks. FTSE Russell determines eligible securities for the FTSE Japan Capped Index based on measures such as the company’s place of incorporation, listing country, investor protection regulations present in the country of incorporation, tax domicile, location of headquarters/factors of production and currency of denomination. As of May 31, 2022, the FTSE Japan Capped Index was comprised of 507 securities with capitalizations ranging from $991 million to $227.33 billion.

The Fund, using a “passive” or indexing investment approach, seeks investment results that closely correspond, before fees and expenses, to the performance of the FTSE Japan Capped Index. The Fund may use either a replication strategy or representative sampling strategy. Under a replication strategy, the Fund will replicate the component securities of the FTSE Japan Capped Index as closely as possible (i.e., invest in all of the component securities in their respective weightings in the FTSE Japan Capped Index). However, under various circumstances, it may not be possible or practicable to replicate the FTSE Japan Capped Index. In these circumstances, the Fund may use a “representative sampling” strategy whereby the Fund would invest in what it believes to be a representative sample of the component securities of the FTSE Japan Capped Index, but may not track the FTSE Japan Capped Index with the same degree of accuracy as would an investment vehicle replicating the entire FTSE Japan Capped Index. Under the representative sampling technique, the investment manager will select securities that collectively have an investment profile similar to that of the FTSE Japan Capped Index, including securities that resemble those included in the FTSE Japan Capped Index in terms of risk factors, performance attributes and other characteristics, such as market capitalization and industry weightings.

     

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The Fund will concentrate its investments (i.e., hold 25% or more of its net assets) in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent that the FTSE Japan Capped Index is concentrated.

Principal Risks

You could lose money by investing in the Fund. Exchange-traded fund (ETF) shares are not deposits or obligations of, or guaranteed or endorsed by, any bank, and are not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Reserve Board, or any other agency of the U.S. government. The Fund is subject to the principal risks noted below, any of which may adversely affect the Fund’s net asset value (NAV), trading price, yield, total return and ability to meet its investment goal.

Market The market values of securities or other investments owned by the Fund will go up or down, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably. The market value of a security or other investment may be reduced by market activity or other results of supply and demand unrelated to the issuer. This is a basic risk associated with all investments. When there are more sellers than buyers, prices tend to fall. Likewise, when there are more buyers than sellers, prices tend to rise.

The current global outbreak of the novel strain of coronavirus, COVID-19, has resulted in market closures and dislocations, extreme volatility, liquidity constraints and increased trading costs. Efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 have resulted in global travel restrictions and disruptions of healthcare systems, business operations and supply chains, layoffs, volatility in consumer demand for certain products, defaults and credit ratings downgrades, and other significant economic impacts. The effects of COVID-19 have impacted global economic activity across many industries and may heighten other pre-existing political, social and economic risks, locally or globally. The full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is unpredictable and may adversely affect the Fund’s performance.

Stock prices tend to go up and down more dramatically than those of debt securities. A slower-growth or recessionary economic environment could have an adverse effect on the prices of the various stocks held by the Fund.

Foreign Securities (non-U.S.) Investing in foreign securities typically involves more risks than investing in U.S. securities, and includes risks associated with: (i) internal and external political and economic developments – e.g., the political, economic and social policies and structures of some foreign countries may be less stable and more volatile than those in the U.S. or some foreign countries may be subject to trading restrictions or economic sanctions; (ii) trading practices – e.g., government supervision and regulation of foreign securities and currency markets, trading systems and brokers may be less than in the U.S.; (iii) availability of information – e.g., foreign issuers may not be subject to the same disclosure,

     

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accounting and financial reporting standards and practices as U.S. issuers; (iv) limited markets – e.g., the securities of certain foreign issuers may be less liquid (harder to sell) and more volatile; and (v) currency exchange rate fluctuations and policies – e.g., fluctuations may negatively affect investments denominated in foreign currencies and any income received or expenses paid by the Fund in that foreign currency.

Geographic Focus Because the Fund invests its assets primarily in companies in a specific country and region, the Fund is subject to greater risks of adverse developments in that country, region and/or the surrounding regions than a fund that is more broadly diversified geographically. Political, social or economic disruptions in the country or region, even in countries in which the Fund is not invested, may adversely affect the value of investments held by the Fund.

Japan's economy may be subject to considerable degrees of economic, political and social instability, which could have a negative impact on Japanese securities. The Japanese economy is heavily dependent on international trade and consistent government policy supporting its export market. Changes in governmental regulations on trade, decreasing imports or exports, and/or an economic recession in Japan may cause the value of the Fund's investments to decline. Downturns in the economies of key trading partners such as the United States, China and/or countries in Southeast Asia, including economic, political or social instability in such countries, could also have a negative impact on the Japanese economy as a whole. Currency fluctuations may also adversely impact the Japanese economy, including its export market. In addition, Japan’s labor market is adapting to an aging workforce, declining population, and demand for increased labor mobility. These demographic shifts and fundamental structural changes to the labor market may negatively impact Japan’s economic competitiveness. Japan is also subject to the risk of natural disasters, such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, typhoons and tsunamis, which could significantly disrupt economic activity and negatively affect the Fund.

Depositary Receipts Depositary receipts are subject to many of the risks of the underlying securities. For some depositary receipts, the custodian or similar financial institution that holds the issuer's shares in a trust account is located in the issuer's home country. In these cases if the issuer’s home country does not have developed financial markets, the Fund could be exposed to the credit risk of the custodian or financial institution and greater market risk. In addition, the depository institution may not have physical custody of the underlying securities at all times and may charge fees for various services. The Fund may experience delays in receiving its dividend and interest payments or exercising rights as a shareholder. There may be an increased possibility of untimely responses to certain corporate actions of the issuer in an unsponsored depositary receipt program. Accordingly, there may be less information available regarding issuers of securities underlying

     

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unsponsored programs and there may not be a correlation between this information and the market value of the depositary receipts.

Calculation Methodology FTSE Russell relies on various sources of information to assess the criteria of issuers included in the FTSE Japan Capped Index, including information that may be based on assumptions and estimates. Neither the Fund nor the investment manager can offer assurances that FTSE Russell's calculation methodology or sources of information will provide an accurate assessment of included issuers or that the included issuers will provide the Fund with the market exposure it seeks.

Index-Related There is no assurance that the FTSE Japan Capped Index will be determined, composed or calculated accurately. While FTSE Russell provides descriptions of what the FTSE Japan Capped Index is designed to achieve, FTSE Russell does not guarantee the quality, accuracy or completeness of data in respect of its indices, and does not guarantee that the FTSE Japan Capped Index will be in line with the described index methodology. Errors in index data, index computations or the construction of the underlying index in accordance with its methodology (including as a result of outdated, unreliable or unavailable market information) may occur and may not be identified and corrected by the index provider for a period of time or at all, which may have an adverse impact on the Fund and its shareholders. Gains, losses or costs to the Fund caused by errors in the FTSE Japan Capped Index may therefore be borne by the Fund and its shareholders.

Non-Correlation There is no guarantee that the Fund will achieve a high degree of correlation to the FTSE Japan Capped Index and therefore achieve its investment goal. Market disruptions and regulatory restrictions could have an adverse effect on the Fund’s ability to adjust its exposure to the required levels in order to track the FTSE Japan Capped Index. In addition, the Fund’s NAV may deviate from the FTSE Japan Capped Index if the Fund fair values a portfolio security at a price other than the price used by the FTSE Japan Capped Index for that security. To the extent that the investment manager uses a representative sampling strategy, the Fund may not track the return of the FTSE Japan Capped Index as well as it would have if the Fund held all of the securities in the FTSE Japan Capped Index.

Tracking Error Tracking error is the divergence of the Fund’s performance from that of the FTSE Japan Capped Index. Tracking error may occur because of differences between the securities held in the Fund’s portfolio and those included in the FTSE Japan Capped Index, pricing differences (including differences between a security’s price at the local market close and the Fund’s valuation of a security at the time of calculation of the Fund’s NAV), transaction costs, the Fund’s holding of cash, differences in timing of the accrual of dividends or interest, tax gains or losses, changes to the FTSE Japan Capped Index or the need to meet various new

     

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or existing regulatory requirements. This risk may be heightened during times of increased market volatility or other unusual market conditions. Tracking error also may result because the Fund incurs fees and expenses, while the FTSE Japan Capped Index does not.

Market Trading The Fund faces numerous market trading risks, including the potential lack of an active market for Fund shares, losses from trading in secondary markets, periods of high volatility and disruption in the creation/redemption process of the Fund. Any of these factors, among others, may lead to the Fund’s shares trading at a premium or discount to NAV. Thus, you may pay more (or less) than NAV when you buy shares of the Fund in the secondary market, and you may receive less (or more) than NAV when you sell those shares in the secondary market. The investment manager cannot predict whether shares will trade above (premium), below (discount) or at NAV.

Concentration To the extent the Fund concentrates in a specific industry, a group of industries, sector or type of investment, the Fund will carry much greater risks of adverse developments and price movements in such industries, sectors or investments than a fund that invests in a wider variety of industries, sectors or investments. There is also the risk that the Fund will perform poorly during a slump in demand for securities of companies in such industries or sectors.

Mid Capitalization Companies Securities issued by mid capitalization companies may be more volatile in price than those of larger companies, involve substantial risks and should be considered speculative. Such risks may include greater sensitivity to economic conditions, less certain growth prospects, lack of depth of management and funds for growth and development, and limited or less developed product lines and markets. In addition, mid capitalization companies may be particularly affected by interest rate increases, as they may find it more difficult to borrow money to continue or expand operations, or may have difficulty in repaying any loans.

Passive Investment Unlike many investment companies, the Fund is not actively managed and the investment manager does not attempt to take defensive positions under any market conditions, including declining markets. Therefore, the investment manager would not necessarily buy or sell a security unless that security is added or removed, respectively, from the FTSE Japan Capped Index, even if that security generally is underperforming.

International Closed Market Trading To the extent that the underlying securities held by the Fund trade on an exchange that is closed when the securities exchange on which the Fund shares list and trade is open, there may be market uncertainty about the stale security pricing (i.e., the last quote from its closed foreign market) resulting in premiums or discounts to NAV that may be greater than those experienced by other ETFs.

     

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Authorized Participant Concentration Only an authorized participant (Authorized Participant) may engage in creation or redemption transactions directly with the Fund. The Fund has a limited number of institutions that act as Authorized Participants. To the extent that these institutions exit the business or are unable to proceed with creation and/or redemption orders with respect to the Fund and no other Authorized Participant is able to step forward to create or redeem Creation Units (as defined below), Fund shares may trade at a discount to NAV and possibly face trading halts and/or delisting. This risk may be more pronounced in volatile markets, potentially where there are significant redemptions in ETFs generally.

Large Shareholder Certain shareholders, including other funds or accounts advised by the investment manager or an affiliate of the investment manager, may from time to time own a substantial amount of the Fund’s shares. In addition, a third-party investor, the investment manager or an affiliate of the investment manager, an authorized participant, a lead market maker, or another entity may invest in the Fund and hold its investment for a limited period of time solely to facilitate commencement of the Fund or to facilitate the Fund’s achieving a specified size or scale. There can be no assurance that any large shareholder would not redeem its investment, that the size of the Fund would be maintained at such levels or that the Fund would continue to meet applicable listing requirements. Redemptions by large shareholders could have a significant negative impact on the Fund. In addition, transactions by large shareholders may account for a large percentage of the trading volume on the listing exchange and may, therefore, have a material upward or downward effect on the market price of the shares.

Cybersecurity Cybersecurity incidents, both intentional and unintentional, may allow an unauthorized party to gain access to Fund assets, Fund or customer data (including private shareholder information), or proprietary information, cause the Fund, the investment manager, authorized participants, or index providers (as applicable) and listing exchanges, and/or their service providers (including, but not limited to, Fund accountants, custodians, sub-custodians, transfer agents and financial intermediaries) to suffer data breaches, data corruption or loss of operational functionality or prevent Fund investors from purchasing, redeeming shares or receiving distributions. The investment manager has limited ability to prevent or mitigate cybersecurity incidents affecting third party service providers, and such third party service providers may have limited indemnification obligations to the Fund or investment manager. Cybersecurity incidents may result in financial losses to the Fund and its shareholders, and substantial costs may be incurred in an effort to prevent or mitigate future cybersecurity incidents. Issuers of securities in which the Fund invests are also subject to cybersecurity risks, and the value of these securities could decline if the issuers experience cybersecurity incidents.

Because technology is frequently changing, new ways to carry out cyber attacks are always developing. Therefore, there is a chance that some risks have not been