FRANKLIN ADVISORY SERVICES, LLC

INTRODUCTION TO FRANKLIN TEMPLETON The Advisers are wholly-owned subsidiaries (whether directly or indirectly) of Franklin Templeton, a holding company with subsidiaries that operate under the Franklin Templeton ® and/or subsidiary brand names. Franklin Templeton is a global investment management organization, and the various distinct brand names it offers investment services and products under include, but are not limited to, Alcentra ®, Apera®, Benefit Street Partners®, Brandywine Global Investment Management®, Canvas®, Clarion Partners®, ClearBridge Investments®, Fiduciary Trust International™, Franklin®, Franklin Mutual Series®, K2®, Legg Mason®, Lexington Partners®, O’Shaughnessy®, Putnam®, Royce® Templeton® and Western Asset Management Company®. Franklin Templeton, through current and predecessor subsidiaries, has been engaged in the investment management and related services business for over 75 years. Franklin Templeton’s common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “BEN” and is included in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.

INTRODUCTION TO FRANKLIN ADVISORY SERVICES, LLC FAS is a Delaware limited liability company formed on March 31, 1999, and based in San Mateo, California. FAS is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Franklin Advisers, Inc., which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Franklin Templeton.

ADVISORY SERVICES OF THE ADVISERS The Advisers collectively provide investment advisory and portfolio management services under investment management agreements with clients in jurisdictions worldwide, which include registered open-end and closed-end funds and unregistered funds (collectively, “Funds”), as well as separate accounts (“Separate Accounts”), which typically include Separate Accounts for institutional and high net-worth clients. In the United States, the Advisers provide advice to investment companies registered with the SEC pursuant to the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “1940 Act”), including exchangetraded funds (“ETFs”) (“U.S. Registered Funds”), pooled investment vehicles with U.S. resident investors that are exempt from registration under the 1940 Act (“Private Funds”), and Separate Accounts. In addition, certain Advisers’ assets under management include assets in funds or accounts that are sold outside of the United States. Certain Advisers manage, advise or sub-advise investment products sponsored by other companies (“Sub- Advised Accounts”), which may be sold to investors under the brand names of those other companies or on a co-branded basis. Please see Item 7 (“Types of Clients”) for greater detail. For information about the types of clients of a particular Adviser, please see that Adviser’s brochure. The Advisers provide investment management services under agreements with each of their Fund, Sub-Advised Account, Separate Account and other types of clients discussed herein (collectively, “Accounts”), as applicable. Investment management services include services to managed accounts with full investment discretion, and to advisory accounts with no investment discretion. Typically, Accounts are managed on a fully discretionary basis. Certain Accounts managed by the Advisers invest in funds and accounts managed by affiliated or unaffiliated investment advisers. With respect to Accounts for which an Adviser has been appointed to provide discretionary investment management services, the Adviser will determine which securities the Accounts will purchase, hold or sell. In the context of a Fund, the Advisers will do this under the supervision and oversight of a board of directors, general partner, trustee or an equivalent body, person or entity, as applicable. In addition, the Advisers typically take various steps to implement such decisions, including arranging for the selection of broker-dealers and the execution and settlement of trades in accordance with applicable Page | 1

criteria set forth in the investment management agreement for each Account, internal policies, commercial practice, and applicable law. With respect to any Account for which an Adviser has been appointed to provide nondiscretionary investment management services, the Adviser will make recommendations as to which securities the Accounts should purchase, hold or sell. In such cases, the Adviser may or may not perform trading activities for an Account depending on the authority provided by the client. When providing investment management services, each Adviser will perform or obtain research as it deems necessary or as agreed with the client. Advisers with Separate Account clients will provide investment advice to such clients in accordance with the investment objectives, guidelines and restrictions which form part of the investment management agreement or other similar agreement negotiated with the client or as otherwise developed in consultation with the client. Such Advisers consider each prospective Separate Account client on an individual basis. Advisers will provide investment advice to Fund clients, including Private Funds investing in digital assets, in accordance with the investment objectives, guidelines and restrictions as described in the prospectus, offering memorandum or other offering documents as well as applicable law. The investment objectives, guidelines and restrictions for Funds will not be tailored to the needs of any particular investor in such Funds. Please see Item 7 (“Types of Clients”) for more information. Please see Item 16 (“Investment Discretion”) for details of the circumstances in which clients can place limitations on the Advisers’ discretionary authority. Potential or actual conflicts of interest will, from time to time, arise in allocating investment opportunities among the Advisers’ Accounts. Conflicts of interest in relation to such allocation determinations are further discussed in Item 6 (“Performance-Based Fees and Side-By-Side Management”), Item 11 (“Code of Ethics, Participation or Interest in Client Transactions and Personal Trading”) and Item 12 (“Brokerage Practices”). SMA Programs Certain Advisers act as adviser or sub-adviser with respect to certain clients and program sponsors (“Sponsors”) in connection with third-party investment adviser, broker-dealer and other financial services firm separately managed accounts (“SMAs”), unified managed accounts (“UMAs”) or other wrap fee programs (collectively, “SMA Programs”), which is discussed more fully in the brochure of the Advisers providing such services.

ADVISORY SERVICES OF FAS FAS provides investment advisory and portfolio management services to ETFs. As part of its investment platform, FAS includes specialized capabilities focused on digital assets and blockchain-related investments conducted through an internal investment platform referred to as the Franklin Crypto Team. These capabilities are integrated within FAS and are not operated as a separate registered investment adviser. In addition to traditional securities strategies, certain Accounts, including Private Funds and other pooled investment vehicles, may invest in or obtain exposure to:

digital assets and cryptocurrencies

blockchain-based protocols and infrastructure

venture-stage blockchain and financial technology companies

decentralized finance (“DeFi”) applications

staking and validator-based network participation strategies

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These investment activities are conducted through the Franklin Crypto Team and are subject to the same governance, compliance, and oversight framework applicable to other investment strategies managed by FAS, subject to the unique operational and risk characteristics of digital asset markets. For digital asset strategies, investment activities may include direct acquisition of digital assets, participation in blockchain networks (including staking or validation), and engagement with decentralized finance (“DeFi”) protocols.

SERVICES OF AFFILIATES Franklin Templeton operates its investment management business through the Advisers, as well as through multiple affiliates of the Advisers, some of which are investment advisers registered with the SEC, some of which are registered with non-U.S. regulatory authorities, and some of which are registered with multiple regulatory authorities. An Adviser uses the services of appropriate personnel of one or more of its affiliates for investment advice, portfolio execution and trading, digital asset markets, blockchain technologies, decentralized finance, and/or client servicing in their local or regional markets or in their areas of special expertise, except to the extent restricted by the client under its investment management agreement, or if inconsistent with applicable law. Arrangements among affiliates take a variety of forms, including delegation arrangements, formal sub-advisory arrangements, and servicing agreements. In these circumstances, the client with whom an Adviser has executed the investment management agreement will typically require that the Adviser remain fully responsible for the Account from a legal and contractual perspective. No additional fees are charged for the affiliates’ services except as disclosed in the investment management agreement. Please see Item 10 (“Other Financial Industry Activities and Affiliations”) for more details.

ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT The Advisers provide management services or continuous and regular supervisory services for the Accounts that they manage. As part of these overall services, the Advisers will typically provide one or more of the following: (i) management services as an adviser to an Account, (ii) management services as a sub-adviser to an affiliated or unaffiliated adviser managing or supervising an Account, (iii) continuous and regular supervisory services for an Account where management services have been delegated by an Adviser to an affiliated adviser, (iv) management services as a co-manager to an Account for which an affiliated adviser also provides management services or (v) non-discretionary management services, which for certain Advisers include a UMA or similar program (the brochures for such Advisers provide more detail about the applicable Adviser’s involvement in UMA or similar programs).

FAS’ ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT As of September 30, 2025, FAS managed the following amounts on a discretionary and nondiscretionary basis: U.S. Dollar Amount Discretionary

$ 13,046,797,264

Non-Discretionary

$0

Total*

$ 13,046,797,264

* Differs from Regulatory Assets Under Management (“RAUM”) disclosed in Item 5.F of FAS’ Form ADV Part 1A due to specific calculation instructions for RAUM. Assets under management described in this item may include assets that an affiliated adviser is also reporting on its Form ADV. Page | 3

ADVISORY FEES Investment management fees are generally calculated under contractual arrangements with the Advisers’ clients as a percentage of the market value of assets under management. Annual rates vary by investment objective and type of services provided. Fee arrangements for Separate Accounts vary by client, and are based on a number of different factors, including investment mandate, services performed, and account/relationship size. To the extent permitted under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (the “Advisers Act”) and other applicable law, the Advisers can negotiate and charge performance fees or special allocations in addition to asset-based fees in connection with Accounts. In addition, fees and allocations can be fixed, fixed plus performance, or performance only. For certain alternative strategies, including digital asset strategies conducted through the Franklin Crypto Team, fees may include performance-based compensation, carried interest, or other incentive allocations, which may be based on realized and/or unrealized gains. Please refer to Item 6 (“Performance-Based Fees and Side-by-Side Management”) for additional discussion of performance-based fees and allocations. For certain Accounts, including Private Funds and other pooled investment vehicles investing in digital assets managed by the Franklin Crypto Team, fee structures may include: management fees that may differ from traditional asset-based fee schedules performance-based compensation (including carried interest or incentive allocations) fees calculated based on realized and/or unrealized gains fee structures tied to investment lifecycle events (e.g., token distributions, liquidity events or protocol participation) These fee arrangements may differ materially from those applicable to traditional securities strategies. The Advisers are not generally required to provide notice to, or obtain the consent of, one client when waiving, reducing or varying fees or modifying other contractual terms with any other client. However, some Separate Account and Sub-Advised Account clients will, from time to time, seek to negotiate most favored nation (“MFN”) clauses in their investment management agreements with an Adviser. These clauses typically require the Adviser to notify a client with an MFN clause if that Adviser subsequently enters into an agreement with a similar client as further described below, that provides a more favorable fee rate or certain other contractual terms than those in place with the client who has the MFN clause at that time. In some cases, certain MFN clauses may require the Adviser to also offer the same fee rate or similar terms to such MFN client. The applicability of an MFN clause will typically depend on the degree of similarity between clients. An Adviser will typically consider a number of factors when determining similarity between Accounts, including the type of client, the jurisdiction of the client, the scope of investment discretion, reporting and other servicing requirements, the amount of assets under management, the fee structure and the particular investment strategy. Since an MFN is specific to the investment management agreement entered into with the Adviser, the Adviser will not typically agree to extend MFN rights in the investment management agreements with its clients to terms contained in investment management agreements contracted between the Adviser’s affiliates and their clients. The Advisers have sole discretion over whether or not to grant any MFN clause in all circumstances. Individual investors in certain unregistered Funds will, from time to time, seek to negotiate similar MFN provisions as a condition of their investment. At the sole discretion of the Advisers, certain directors, officers, employees or strategic business associates of the Advisers, the Advisers’ affiliates or their respective clients will have their investment management fees, performance-based fees and/or special allocations waived or reduced in connection with their investment into Accounts.

SEPARATE ACCOUNTS AND FEE SCHEDULES The Advisers’ standard fees for Separate Account clients are normally calculated as a percentage of the value of assets under management, and are typically calculated monthly or quarterly, or as Page | 4

otherwise agreed with each client. The brochure for each Adviser lists the Adviser’s standard fee schedule for its Separate Account clients, if any. In some cases, fees will be negotiated.

U.S. REGISTERED FUNDS With respect to an Adviser’s management of U.S. Registered Funds, investors should consult the applicable U.S. Registered Fund’s offering documents and/or shareholder reports for specific fee information on those products. The compensation paid by a U.S. Registered Fund is described in its prospectus, statement of additional information, and/or shareholder reports. Under their investment management agreements, the funds typically pay their advisers a monthly fee in arrears (i.e., after the services are rendered) based upon a percentage of the fund’s average daily net assets. Annual fee rates under the various agreements are often reduced as net assets exceed various threshold levels. Annual rates also vary by investment objective and type of services provided. Investment management agreements generally permit Advisers to provide investment management services to more than one Fund and to other clients as long as the Advisers’ ability to render services to each of the Funds is not impaired, and so long as purchases and sales of portfolio securities for various advised Funds are made on an equitable basis.

PRIVATE FUNDS Each Private Fund’s private placement memorandum (“PPM”), and/or other offering or governing document describes the applicable fees and expenses. Fees paid by Private Funds (and therefore indirectly by Private Fund investors (“Private Fund Investors”) (including those investing in digital assets) will, from time to time, differ from fees charged in respect of other Accounts even where a similar investment mandate is followed. The fees disclosed in the offering and/or governing documents of a Private Fund will, from time to time, be waived or reduced for one or more particular investors in that Private Fund.

CO-INVESTMENT VEHICLE EXPENSES In certain cases, a co-investment vehicle, or other similar vehicle, will be formed in connection with the consummation of a portfolio investment, including to facilitate the investment by investors alongside another Private Fund. In the event a co-investment vehicle is created, the investors in that co-investment vehicle will typically bear all expenses related to its organization and formation and other expenses incurred solely for the benefit of the co-investment vehicle. The co-investment vehicle will also generally bear its portion of expenses incurred in making, holding and divesting an investment. Where co-investment vehicles are used in connection with digital asset or blockchainrelated investments:

expenses may include protocol-level costs

operational and technical diligence expenses may be higher

allocation of “dead deal” costs may involve early-stage or illiquid digital investments

If a proposed investment is not consummated, a co-investment vehicle under certain circumstances will not have been formed, and the full amount of any expenses relating to the proposed but not consummated investment (“Dead Deal Costs”) would therefore be borne by one or more of the other applicable Private Funds selected by the Adviser as proposed investors for the proposed investment. Furthermore, even if a co-investment vehicle has been formed to make a proposed investment that is ultimately not consummated (or co-investors have otherwise committed to invest in the unconsummated proposed investment), some or all of the Dead Deal Costs will, under many circumstances, be borne solely by one or more of the other applicable Private Funds selected by the Adviser as proposed investors in the proposed investment and not by the co-investment vehicle. Dead Deal Costs include, among other things, legal, accounting, advisory, consulting and other third-party expenses; any travel and travel-related and accommodation expenses; all fees, costs and expenses of lenders, investment banks and other financing sources in connection with arranging financing for a proposed investment; any break-up fees, reverse termination fees, topping, termination or other similar fees; extraordinary expenses such as litigation costs and judgments and other expenses; and any deposits or down payments of cash or other property that are forfeited in connection with a proposed investment that is not consummated. Similarly, co- investment vehicles are not typically allocated any share of any break-up fees received in connection with an unconsummated investment. Page | 5

DIGITAL ASSET EXPENSES Private Funds and Accounts investing in digital assets may incur additional costs, including:

blockchain transaction fees (“gas fees”)

exchange trading fees

custody and wallet infrastructure costs

staking-related infrastructure and validator costs

DeFi protocol fees, including liquidity provision and smart contract execution costs

These costs may be material and differ significantly from traditional brokerage or transaction costs.

ALLOCATION OF FUND EXPENSES From time to time an Adviser will be required to decide whether certain fees, costs and expenses should be borne by a Fund, on the one hand, or the Adviser on the other hand, and/or whether certain fees, costs and expenses should be allocated between or among Funds and/or other parties. Typically, certain expenses will be the obligation of one particular Fund and will be borne by that Fund; however, in some instances, expenses will be allocated among multiple Funds and entities. The Advisers will allocate fees and expenses incurred in the course of evaluating and making investments in accordance with each Fund’s governing documents. To the extent not addressed therein and to the extent it has the authority to do so, an Adviser will make these allocation determinations in a fair and reasonable manner using its good faith judgment, notwithstanding its interest (if any) in the allocation. In exercising its discretion to allocate investment opportunities and fees and expenses, an Adviser is faced with a variety of potential conflicts of interest. Digital asset strategies may increase complexity of allocation, including:

shared infrastructure costs

protocol participation costs

multi-vehicle investment structures

For additional information regarding these potential conflicts, please see Item 11 (“Code of Ethics, Participation or Interest in Client Transactions and Personal Trading – Potential Conflicts Relating to Advisory and Other Activities”).

TIMING AND PAYMENT OF ADVISORY FEES The timing of fee payments will be negotiated with each client or, with respect to the Advisers’ Funds, as set forth in the relevant Fund’s offering documents or PPM. With respect to Accounts for which an Adviser serves as an adviser or sub-adviser through an SMA or Digital Program, the timing of fee payments will be negotiated with each client or the SMA Program sponsor or Digital Program Sponsor, as applicable. Asset-based fees are generally paid monthly or quarterly and are calculated on (i) the value of the Account’s net assets under management, (ii) in the case of certain closed-end funds and certain Private Funds, managed assets, committed capital or invested capital, or (iii) in the case of UMAs managed by the program sponsor, the value of the assets in accounts utilizing the Adviser’s model investment portfolio(s). Except as separately negotiated or as otherwise disclosed, management fees are typically calculated as a percentage of assets under management and are payable monthly or quarterly in arrears (or in the case of private closed-end funds, in advance) based on the average value for the fee period or the month or quarter-end market value. Where an Adviser has agreed with a Separate Account client to calculate fees based on the value of assets at the end of a particular fee period, the Adviser will typically, unless otherwise instructed, pro-rate its fees to take into account capital contributions or withdrawals made by the client (with the exception of contributions or withdrawals below a threshold amount determined by the Adviser) during the relevant month or quarter. Although Separate Account clients typically elect to pay fees by authorizing their custodian to pay their Adviser out of their account assets pursuant to a pre-agreed fee schedule, some clients request their Adviser to bill them directly Page | 6

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Loss The Accounts advised by the Advisers accommodate a variety of investment goals and risk tolerances – from capital appreciation (with more growth-oriented strategies) to capital preservation (with fixed-income strategies). In seeking to achieve an Account’s specific investment objectives, each portfolio emphasizes different strategies and invests in different types of securities. The Advisers do not typically seek to recommend a particular type of security to a client. The following describes the specific methods of analysis and investment strategies of FAS. For more information about the specific methods of analysis and investment strategies of another Adviser, please see that Adviser’s brochure. Page | 13

FAS’ ETF Accounts utilize various investment strategies that primarily rely on an indexing investment approach to seek returns that closely correspond, before fees and expenses, to the performance of a given index. FAS generally seeks to achieve, over time, a correlation between an Account’s performance, before fees and expenses, and that of the applicable index of 0.95 or better. A figure of 1.00 would indicate perfect correlation. FAS seeks to achieve this goal by using replication processes and representative sampling processes. Under a replication process, FAS will replicate the component securities of the applicable index as closely as possible (i.e., invest in all of the component securities in their respective weightings in the index). Under various circumstances, it may not be possible or practicable to replicate an index, in which case FAS may use a “representative sampling” process. Here FAS will invest in what it believes to be a representative sample of the component securities of the index but may not track the index with the same degree of accuracy as would an investment vehicle replicating the entire index. Under the representative sampling process, FAS selects securities that collectively have an investment profile similar to that of the applicable index, including securities that resemble those included in the index in terms of risk factors, performance attributes and other characteristics, such as market capitalization and industry weightings. FAS will also concentrate an Account’s investments (e.g., hold 25% or more of its net assets) in a particular industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent that the applicable index is concentrated, and rebalance an Account at generally the same time the applicable index is rebalanced. Moreover, where an applicable index engages in hedging activity, FAS will from time to time enter into hedging transactions for an Account in order to seek to replicate the hedge impact incorporated in the calculation of the applicable index. The Digital Asset Strategies managed by the Franklin Crypto Team are more fully described below.

INVESTMENT STRATEGIES Strategies used by FAS include but are not limited to: SINGLE COUNTRY AND REGIONAL PASSIVE ETFs The suite of passive portfolios managed by FAS provide exposure to single country and regional equity markets. The passive portfolios are designed to track market-capitalization weighted indexes developed by FTSE Russell and Morningstar Inc. These portfolios benefit clients seeking to customize exposures within developed and emerging markets, tactically execute investment themes, or amplify strategic positions. Ultimately, the passive portfolios seek to provide investment results that closely correspond, before fees and expenses, to the performance of their underlying benchmarks. Certain products, including a number of ETFs offered on the Franklin platform, are designed to employ this methodology. SMART BETA FAS currently manages a suite of U.S. equity and dividend tilt smart beta index portfolios and in early 2025 anticipates the launch of two dividend multiplier smart beta index portfolios. The U.S. equity smart beta portfolios track indices that employ a research-driven approach in customizing factor weightings. These indices are constructed to include three to four factors (quality, value, momentum or low volatility) and are designed to pursue higher risk-adjusted returns. Each dividend tilt smart beta portfolio tracks a systematic, rules-based proprietary index (underlying index) that is maintained and calculated by Morningstar, Inc. Each underlying index is constructed by applying an optimization process to a more broad-based parent index from the Morningstar® Target Market Exposure IndexSM family and aims to deliver a higher dividend yield than the parent index, while limiting expected tracking error to the parent index (i.e., to provide a “dividend tilt” through the selection and weighting of securities from the parent index) Certain products, including a number of ETFs offered on the Franklin platform, are designed to employ these methodologies. As noted above, it is expected that the suite of smart beta index ETFs will further expand in early 2025 with the launch of two “dividend booster” index ETFs. Each of these ETFs will seek to track an index Page | 14

designed and maintained by VettaFi Indexes. The VettaFi Indexes will aim to deliver excess (or “boosted”) dividend yield relative to a broad equity market balanced against volatility. Digital Asset and Blockchain Strategies Certain Accounts may pursue investment strategies involving digital assets, blockchain-based technologies, staking, and decentralized finance activities. These strategies may include:

direct investment in digital assets (including cryptocurrencies and tokens)

investments in blockchain-related companies and infrastructure

participation in blockchain networks through staking or validator operations

engagement in decentralized finance (“DeFi”) protocols, including lending, liquidity provision and smart contract-based transactions These strategies differ materially from traditional securities strategies and involve unique operational, technological, and regulatory considerations.

INVESTMENT RISKS Particular investment strategies or investments in different types of securities or other investments involve specific risks, including risk of loss, that clients should be prepared to bear. The risks involved, and their degree of significance, for different Accounts will vary based on each client’s investment strategy and the type of securities or other investments held in the Account. The following is a list of certain of the material risks, listed alphabetically, related to the significant investment strategies used by FAS. Not all possible risks are described below. For purposes of this section, the terms Fund and Account shall be interchangeable. Artificial Intelligence - We may use Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) in various areas of our business, including informing economic views, assisting with security analysis, and enhancing portfolio analytics, and we expect to expand its use over time. While AI can improve efficiency, it also presents risks, including inaccurate or biased outputs, data security, privacy, intellectual property, regulatory compliance, and potential reputational harm. These tools require ongoing oversight and controls. Limitations or failures in AI systems could affect our analyses and recommendations and result in compliance or operational risks to our firm. 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. Cybersecurity Risks –.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, the sub-advisor, 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 or exchanging shares or receiving distributions. The investment manager and the subadvisor have 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, the investment manager or the sub-advisor. Cybersecurity incidents may result in Page | 15

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, the sub-advisor, and their service providers are subject to the risk of cyber incidents occurring from time to time. Depositary Receipts – Depositary receipts are subject to many of the risks of the underlying security. 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. The Fund could be exposed to the credit risk of the custodian or financial institution, and in cases where the issuer’s home country does not have developed financial markets, 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, including forwarding dividends and interest and corporate actions. The Fund would be expected to pay a share of the additional fees, which it would not pay if investing directly in the foreign securities. 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. Derivative Instruments – The performance of derivative instruments depends largely on the performance of an underlying instrument, such as a currency, security, interest rate, or index, and such instruments often have risks similar to the underlying instrument, in addition to other risks. Derivative instruments involve costs and can create economic leverage in the Fund’s portfolio, which may result in significant volatility and cause the Fund to participate in losses (as well as gains) in an amount that significantly exceeds the Fund’s initial investment. Other risks include illiquidity, mispricing or improper valuation of the derivative instrument, and imperfect correlation between the value of the derivative and the underlying instrument so that the Fund may not realize the intended benefits. Their successful use will usually depend on the investment manager’s ability to accurately forecast movements in the market relating to the underlying instrument. Should a market or markets, or prices of particular classes of investments move in an unexpected manner, especially in unusual or extreme market conditions, the Fund may not realize the anticipated benefits of the transaction, and it may realize losses, which could be significant. If the investment manager is not successful in using such derivative instruments, the Fund’s performance may be worse than if the investment manager did not use such derivative instruments at all. When a derivative is used for hedging, the change in value of the derivative instrument also may not correlate specifically with the currency, security, interest rate, index or other risk being hedged. There is also the risk, especially under extreme market conditions, that an instrument, which usually would operate as a hedge, provides no hedging benefits at all. Use of these instruments could also result in a loss if the counterparty to the transaction does not perform as promised, including because of such counterparty’s bankruptcy or insolvency. This risk is heightened with respect to over-the-counter (OTC) instruments, such as certain swap agreements and may be greater during volatile market conditions. Other risks include the inability to close out a position because the trading market becomes illiquid (particularly in the OTC markets) or the availability of counterparties becomes limited for a period of time. In addition, the presence of speculators in a particular market could lead to price distortions. To the extent that the Fund is unable to close out a position because of market illiquidity; the Fund may not be able to prevent further losses of value in its derivatives holdings and the Fund’s liquidity may be impaired. Some derivatives can be particularly sensitive to changes in interest rates or other market prices. Investors should bear in mind that, while the Fund intends to use derivative strategies on a regular basis, it is Page | 16

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The Advisers currently provide investment advisory and portfolio management services under investment management agreements to clients in jurisdictions worldwide, which include registered open-end and closed-end funds and unregistered funds, as well as Separate Accounts. In addition, certain Advisers’ assets under management include assets in funds that are sold outside of the United States, including those that are similar to U.S. Registered Funds (“Non-U.S. Registered Funds”) and those that are similar to U.S. Private Funds. Certain Advisers also provide subadvisory services to Sub-Advised Accounts sponsored by other companies, which may be sold to the public under the brand names of those other companies or on a co-branded basis, and advisory or sub-advisory services to clients, other investment advisers and program sponsors in connection with SMA Programs as described above. Additionally, at least one Adviser provides model investment portfolios to certain unaffiliated investment advisers and other financial institutions for use in connection with advisory service programs they provide to their clients, as well as advisory services through digital programs using proprietary investment algorithms. For information about the types of clients of a particular Adviser, please see that Adviser’s brochure, including below for FAS. An Adviser, if applicable, will consider each prospective Separate Account or Sub-Advised Account client on an individual basis. An Adviser generally will accept management of a new Separate Account only if a minimum amount of assets is invested unless special circumstances are present. See an Adviser’s brochure for more details. An Adviser generally will accept management of a new Sub-Advised Account only if a minimum of $250 million in assets is invested by the end of the SubAdvised Account’s third year under management with the Adviser unless special circumstances are present. Special circumstances for Separate Account and Sub-Advised Account clients include the existence of a related account already managed by the Advisers or an affiliate. Minimum investment requirements for investing in U.S. Registered Funds, Private Funds and other pooled investment vehicles managed by the Advisers are generally set forth in the prospectus, PPM or other offering documents of such client. In some cases, Account minimums are negotiated or waived at the applicable Adviser’s discretion.

U.S. REGISTERED FUNDS Franklin Templeton’s proprietary retail open-end and closed-end investment companies are registered under the 1940 Act and their securities are registered under the Securities Act of 1933 (“Securities Act”) and are offered under one of the Franklin Templeton brand names. These funds Page | 11

consist of various open-end investment companies serving the institutional and retail market, including variable insurance funds and smart beta, passive and actively managed ETFs. Additionally, certain Advisers provide investment management and related services to a number of closed-end investment companies and/or a number of money market funds whose shares are traded on various major U.S. stock exchanges. Funds managed by separate Advisers will, from time to time, have a common board of directors/board of trustees. Some Advisers also provide sub-advisory services to products regulated under the 1940 Act that are sponsored by third parties.

INSTITUTIONAL SEPARATE ACCOUNTS Advisers with institutional Separate Account clients generally provide investment management services to these clients in accordance with the investment objectives, strategies, guidelines and restrictions that are agreed to between the client and the Adviser in the investment management agreement or other similar agreement, which may be amended from time to time when mutually agreed to in writing. The Advisers provide a broad array of investment management services to their institutional clients, which include, from time to time, corporations and other business entities, charitable foundations, endowment funds, insurance companies, state or municipal entities, sovereign wealth funds and foreign government and private institutions, and government and corporate defined contribution and pension plans. PRIVATE FUNDS As a general matter, each Private Fund is managed in accordance with its investment objective, strategy, guidelines and restrictions, as described within the Private Fund’s PPM. A Private Fund is not tailored to the individualized needs of any particular Private Fund Investor, except in limited cases where the Private Fund is established for the benefit of a single Private Fund Investor. In addition, an investment in a Private Fund does not, in and of itself, create an advisory relationship between the Private Fund Investor and an Adviser. Therefore, Private Fund Investors must consider whether a Private Fund meets their investment objectives and risk tolerance prior to making an investment in that Private Fund. Information about each Private Fund can be found in its PPM or other offering documents, which are available to current and prospective Private Fund Investors only through a broker-dealer affiliated with the Advisers or another authorized intermediary. In addition, certain non-U.S. affiliates of the Advisers may act as placement agents with respect to the distribution of certain Private Funds to Private Fund Investors outside the United States. While this brochure may be provided to, and include information relevant to, Private Fund Investors, it is designed solely to provide information about the Advisers and should not be construed as an offer or solicitation for interests in any Private Fund. U.S.-domiciled Private Funds advised by an Adviser are often organized as limited partnerships under the laws of jurisdictions within the United States (collectively, the “U.S. Private Funds”) and typically are excluded from the definition of an “investment company” pursuant to Section 3(c)(1) or 3(c)(7) of the 1940 Act. Private Funds that are organized under the laws of jurisdictions outside of the United States (the “Offshore Funds”) are typically offered to persons who are not “U.S. Persons,” as defined under Regulation S of the Securities Act, and/or on a private placement basis to certain U.S. Persons (typically tax-exempt institutions) pursuant to Section 3(c)(1) or 3(c)(7) of the 1940 Act. Additionally, certain Advisers provide advisory services to one or more Private Funds that are collective investment trusts exempted from the definition of an “investment company” pursuant to Section 3(c)(11) of the 1940 Act. Private Fund Investors are subject to certain eligibility requirements that are disclosed in the PPM or other offering documents for each of the U.S. Private Funds and Offshore Funds. Certain Private Funds operate using master/feeder structures, where trading and investment operations occur at the master fund level while Private Fund Investors invest through one or more feeder funds (that, in turn, invest substantially all of their assets in the master fund) or under certain circumstances, directly in the master fund itself. Private Funds of certain Advisers include, but are not limited to, funds of funds that invest primarily in other affiliated or unaffiliated investment vehicles (each a “Fund of Funds”). Page | 12

OTHER POOLED INVESTMENT VEHICLES In addition, certain Advisers’ assets under management include assets in funds that are sold outside of the United States, and whose investment objectives vary. The Advisers provide investment management, marketing and distribution services to vehicles, including SICAV funds, UCITS funds, contract-type funds and open-ended investment companies organized in Luxembourg and the United Kingdom, which are distributed in non-U.S. marketplaces, as well as investment management and sub-advisory services to locally organized funds in various countries outside the United States.

FAS CLIENTS FAS provides investment advisory and portfolio management services to ETFs. FAS, through the Franklin Crypto Team, will also provide digital asset focuses discretionary investment management services to qualified investors through a series of private funds. These investors generally include financial institutions, funds of funds, sovereign wealth funds, family offices, pension plans, endowments, high net-worth individuals, financially sophisticated individuals, and other sophisticated investors

USE AND PROVISION OF CLIENT INFORMATION AND CONFIDENTIALITY CLAUSES IN INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT AGREEMENTS An Adviser will at times include a Separate Account client’s name in a representative or sample client list prepared by the Adviser with the client’s consent. The Advisers are not generally required to provide notice to, or obtain the consent of, any client for use or disclosure of Account information to third parties, provided such use does not disclose the client’s name or other personal information. This may include information relating to the Advisers’ investment experience with respect to an Account or an Account’s performance, composite and representative Account performance presentations, marketing materials, attribution and research analyses, statistical and data compilations, or similar materials. In various circumstances, an Adviser will disclose information to third parties that include a client’s name, account number or other account information (including non-public information), including, but not limited to: (i) in connection with the performance of the Adviser’s services under the respective investment management agreement (including, but not limited to, providing trading and other account information to brokers, third-party administrators, consultants, auditors and other counterparties, and the preparation and printing of client account statements and reports by third parties), (ii) if required by law or regulatory authority, including, but not limited to, any subpoena, administrative, regulatory or judicial demand or court order, or (iii) in connection with the bylaws or equivalent governing documents of any issuer in which the Account is invested. While the Advisers are not generally required to provide notice or obtain consent in these situations, certain clients may have provisions in their investment management agreements that require the Advisers to provide notice of certain types of disclosures or disclosure requests. However, any such notice will be limited to the extent permitted by applicable law, court order or regulation.

Performance-Based Management

Fees and Side-By-Side

The Advisers manage different types of Accounts with a variety of fee arrangements and charge performance-based fees or allocations with respect to certain clients in addition to management fees. These are described in more detail in Item 5 (“Fees and Compensation”) above. U.S. Registered Funds, for example, generally pay management fees based on a fixed percentage of assets under management, whereas Separate Accounts and Private Funds typically have more varied fee structures, including potentially a combination of asset- and performance-based compensation. Side-by-side management by an Adviser of Funds, Separate Accounts and Sub-Advised Accounts creates potential conflicts of interest, including those associated with any differences in fee structures, as well as other economic interests the Adviser or its supervised persons will, in certain circumstances, have in an Account managed by the Adviser. When an Adviser receives performance-based fees or allocations, the reward for strong investment returns can incentivize the Adviser to make investments that are riskier or more speculative than it would otherwise make. Performance-based compensation in digital asset strategies may create additional incentives to pursue higher-risk or more volatile investments, which include, but are not limited to, earlier-stage or illiquid investment opportunities, and yield-generating strategies (staking or DeFi participation). The prospect of achieving higher compensation from a Private Fund or Separate Account that pays performance-based fees or allocations than from an Account that does not pay such fees (e.g., U.S. Registered Funds) provides an Adviser with an incentive to favor the Private Fund or Separate Account when, for example, placing securities transactions that the Adviser believes could more likely result in favorable performance. Similarly, a significant proprietary investment held by an Adviser or an affiliate in an Account creates an incentive for the Adviser to favor such Account relative to other Accounts. In addition, the application of tax laws affecting performance-based fees or allocations can create incentives and affect the behavior of an Adviser and its personnel with respect to holding or disposing of Account investments. Please see Item 11 (“Code of Ethics, Participation or Interest in Client Transactions and Personal Trading – Potential Conflicts Relating to Advisory and Other Activities – Allocation of Investment Opportunities”) for more information regarding conflicts of interest related to allocation of investment opportunities.

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The Advisers seek to conduct their business by treating all clients equally and by appropriately managing conflicts of interest that arise when conducting transactions involving multiple clients. The Advisers do this by disclosing potential conflicts to their clients and by implementing policies and procedures reasonably designed to address those conflicts. The Advisers have implemented a number of policies and procedures designed to address side-by-side management and the potential conflicts of interest that arise when a portfolio manager or different portfolio managers within a single investment adviser or investment group manage multiple funds and investment accounts for advisory clients. Advisers with U.S. Registered Funds as clients are subject to applicable law and/or policies and procedures with respect to such clients that limit or prescribe practices related to side-by-side management. For example, the U.S. Registered Funds are subject to restrictions relating to engaging in transactions with their affiliates, including restrictions relating to engaging in transactions jointly with their affiliates. These restrictions will, under certain circumstances, prohibit a U.S. Registered Fund from engaging in certain transactions alongside its affiliates. Additional examples of situations that create the potential for conflicts of interest are discussed below. A potential conflict of interest can arise if an Adviser sells short a security in one Account while simultaneously advising another Account to hold the same security long. The Advisers may have a legitimate reason for engaging in such inconsistent transactions. For example, the investment objectives of the two Accounts may differ. Nonetheless, the Advisers could be viewed as harming the performance of the Account with the long position for the benefit of the Account with the short position if the short sale caused the market value of the security to drop. To alleviate this potential conflict of interest, the Advisers have implemented policies and procedures to deny a short sale request in certain circumstances. Moreover, Advisers with U.S. Registered Funds as clients are subject to applicable law with respect to such clients that limit or prescribe practices related to short sales. Please see Item 11 (“Code of Ethics, Participation or Interest in Client Transactions and Personal Trading”) for additional information regarding conflicts arising from clients investing alongside other clients. Cross trades are another area that can present potential conflicts of interest in that they may be viewed as favoring one client over another. For example, an Adviser making a cross trade that is expected to increase in value from an Account (e.g., U.S. Registered Funds) with an asset-based fee to an Account with a performance fee could be perceived as doing so merely to increase the performance-based compensation it receives from the Account with a performance fee. The reverse is true with respect to securities expected to decrease in value. The Advisers have implemented inter-account transaction procedures to address these potential conflicts of interest by, among other things, requiring preclearance of all cross trades from the Compliance Department. Advisers with U.S. Registered Funds as clients are also subject to applicable law with respect to such clients that limit or prescribes practices related to cross trades. Please see Item 11 (“Code of Ethics, Participation or Interest in Client Transactions and Personal Trading”) for additional information regarding conflicts of interest related to cross trades. The Advisers will at times have different valuation processes for the Accounts they or their affiliates advise. Consequently, a U.S. Registered Fund and an Account that hold the same security may value that security differently. Different valuations of the same security could lead to questions about whether an Adviser acted appropriately. For example, an Adviser could be perceived as placing a higher valuation on a security held in an Account merely to increase its performance- based compensation from that Account. To address this conflict, an Adviser must document an explanation for any differences in the valuation of securities held by, for example, both a U.S. Registered Fund and another Account managed by the Adviser and/or its affiliates. The explanation provided must be reviewed and approved by the valuation committee formed to provide oversight and administration of the fair valuation policies and procedures adopted by the Advisers (the “Valuation Committee”). Additionally, Advisers with U.S. Registered Funds as clients are subject to applicable law and/or policies and procedures with respect to such clients that limit or prescribe practices related to valuation. Please see Item 11 (“Code of Ethics, Participation or Interest in Client Transactions and Personal Trading”) for further discussion on conflicts of interest related to valuation of investments. Aggregation and allocation of transactions and investment opportunities are other areas where potential conflicts of interest will arise. The Advisers, from time to time, aggregate orders of their clients to effect a larger transaction with the aim of reducing transaction costs. The Advisers must then Page | 10

allocate the securities among the participating Accounts. Although aggregation of transactions is permissible, potential conflicts of interest exist in the aggregation and allocation of client transactions. For example, an Adviser could be viewed as allocating securities that it anticipates will increase in value to certain favored clients, especially those that pay a performance-based fee to that Adviser. Similarly, if a portfolio manager identifies a limited investment opportunity that is suitable for several Funds or Accounts, a single Fund or Account may not be able to take full advantage of that opportunity due to an allocation of that opportunity across all eligible Funds and other Accounts. In other limited investment opportunities, including some privately offered investments, where the investment opportunity is suitable for multiple and different types of clients, allocation will, from time to time, be based on alternative methodologies designed to comply with applicable law and ensure fair and consistent treatment of such clients. The Advisers have implemented trade aggregation and allocation procedures designed to address these potential conflicts of interest. These procedures require that an average price be used for multiple executions of a particular security through the same broker on the same terms on the same day and describe the allocation methodologies to be applied as well as permissible exceptions from standard allocation methods that must be pre-approved by a designated trading desk compliance officer. Please see Item 11 (“Code of Ethics, Participation or Interest in Client Transactions and Personal Trading – Potential Conflicts Relating to Advisory and Other Activities – Allocation of Investment Opportunities”) for further discussions on conflicts of interest related to allocation of investment opportunities and Item 12 (“Brokerage Practices – Aggregation and Allocation of Trades”) for further discussions on aggregation and allocation of trades.

The Advisers are wholly-owned subsidiaries (whether directly or indirectly) of Franklin Templeton, a holding company with its various subsidiaries that operates under the Franklin Templeton and/or subsidiary brand names. The Advisers have certain business arrangements with related persons/companies that are material to the Advisers’ advisory business or to their clients, including those described in this Item 10 (“Other Financial Industry Activities and Affiliations”). In some cases, these business arrangements will, from time to time, create a potential conflict of interest, or appearance of a conflict of interest between the Advisers and a client. Please see Item 4 (“Advisory Business”) for additional information on services of affiliates. Recognized conflicts of interest are discussed in Item 6 (“Performance-Based Fees and Side-By- Side Management”) above and Item 11 (“Code of Ethics, Participation or Interest in Client Transactions and Personal Trading”) and Item 12 (“Brokerage Practices”) below. The Advisers have arrangements with one or more of the following types of related persons that may be considered material to their advisory business or to their clients.

RELATED BROKER-DEALERS The Advisers are under common control with Franklin Distributors, LLC (“FD, LLC”), Royce Fund Services, LLC (“RFS”), Clarion Partners Securities, LLC (“CPS”), all of which are SEC registered broker-dealers and are members of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”). FD, LLC is also registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) as an introducing broker and is a member of the National Futures Association (“NFA”). FD, LLC is a limited purpose broker-dealer that serves as an underwriter and distributor for Franklin’s U.S. Registered Funds and 529 college savings plans. Furthermore, FD, LLC serves as a placement agent for Franklin affiliated private funds. FD, LLC also serves as broker-dealer of record on certain accounts of Fund shareholders that are held directly with the Fund’s transfer agents. FD, LLC registered staff principally engage in wholesaling and marketing activities. FD, LLC does not make recommendations to purchase or sell fund shares to retail investors. Underwriting and distribution fees are earned primarily by distributing Funds pursuant to distribution agreements between FD, LLC and the Funds. Under each distribution agreement, the Fund’s shares are offered and sold on a continuous basis and certain costs associated with underwriting and distributing the Fund’s shares may be incurred, including the costs of developing and producing sales literature, shareholder reports and prospectuses. RFS is the distributor of The Royce Fund and Royce Capital Fund, two open-end U.S. registered management investment companies with 12 separate series between them. RFS is also a whollyowned subsidiary of Royce & Associates LP, a majority-owned subsidiary of Franklin Templeton. RFS does not execute any securities transactions for client portfolios. CPS is wholly owned by Clarion Partners, LLC, a subsidiary of Franklin Templeton (“Clarion Partners”) and provides distribution services with respect to the private funds sponsored and advised by Clarion Partners. CPS does not hold client accounts or take in investor monies. CPS does not provide brokerage services in connection with transactions involving securities.

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In addition, certain of the Advisers’ employees are registered representatives of FD, LLC. Please see Item 11 (“Code of Ethics, Participation or Interest in Client Transactions and Personal Trading”) for a discussion of the associated conflicts. In addition to the above, certain non-U.S. affiliates of the Advisers act as placement agents with respect to the distribution of certain Private Funds to Private Fund Investors outside the United States.

U.S. REGISTERED FUNDS Certain Advisers serve as investment adviser to one or more U.S. Registered Funds, as described in such Advisers’ brochure.

RELATED INVESTMENT ADVISERS The Advisers will, under certain circumstances, enter into a sub-advisory arrangement with, or refer a client to, an investment adviser affiliate, including from time to time another Adviser, capable of meeting the client’s specific investment needs. One or more of these affiliated investment advisers may be serving as a commodity trading advisor (“CTA”) and/or a commodity pool operator (“CPO”) that is either registered or exempt from registration with the CFTC. The Advisers as well as other investment adviser affiliates are affiliated with each other through the common control of Franklin Templeton, and certain of these advisory entities share certain supervised persons, portfolio management personnel and investment research with each other. The Advisers will, from time to time, use the services of appropriate personnel of one or more of their affiliates for investment advice, portfolio execution and trading, and client servicing in their local or regional markets or their areas of special expertise, except to the extent restricted by the client or pursuant to its investment management agreement, or inconsistent with applicable law. In carrying out the requested services for an Adviser, portfolio management personnel of the Adviser’s affiliates will, from time to time, recommend to, or invest on behalf of, the affiliates’ clients in securities that are the subject of recommendations to, or discretionary trading on behalf of, the Adviser’s clients. Arrangements among affiliates take a variety of forms, including delegation arrangements, formal subadvisory agreements or servicing agreements. In these circumstances, the client with whom an Adviser has executed the investment management agreement will typically require that the Adviser remain fully responsible for the Account from a legal and contractual perspective. No additional fees are charged for the affiliates’ services except as disclosed in the investment management agreement or Fund offering documents. These relationships will, from time to time, present potential conflicts of interest relating to the Advisers’ activities. Please see Item 6 (“Performance-Based Fees and Side-BySide Management”) and Item 11 (“Code of Ethics, Participation or Interest in Client Transactions and Personal Trading”) for additional information.

PRIVATE FUNDS For the Advisers who manage Private Funds, these funds are typically structured as U.S. and/or nonU.S. limited partnerships, limited liability companies, collective investment trusts and/or exempted companies in order to meet the legal, regulatory and tax demands of Private Fund Investors. An Adviser or an affiliate thereof typically acts as general partner, managing member, trustee, investment manager and/or otherwise exercises investment discretion with respect to these Private Funds in which investors are solicited to invest. Entities affiliated with the Advisers will also, from time to time, invest in and/or provide services other than advice (including, but not limited to, administration, organizing and managing business affairs, executing and reconciling trades, preparing financial statements and providing audit support, preparing tax related schedules or documents, legal support, sales and investor relations support, diligence and valuation services) to such Private Funds, in some cases for a fee separate and apart from the advisory fee. Franklin Templeton’s personnel, including employees of the Advisers’ affiliates, usually also serve on the board of directors of certain Private Funds. A Private Fund (other than those organized as a collective investment trust) will typically pay or reimburse the Advisers or their affiliates for certain organizational and initial offering expenses related to the Private Fund. Further information can be found in the PPM or other offering documents for each Private Fund. Page | 38

AFFILIATED CUSTODIAN From time to time a client’s Account will use the Advisers’ affiliate, Fiduciary Trust Company International (“FTCI”), to provide custodial services to the client in connection with the Advisers’ management of such Account. When a client chooses to use FTCI as its custodian, FTCI will charge fees to the client for its custodial services; however, the Advisers do not receive any fees or compensation in connection with its recommendation or the client’s use of FTCI’s services.

OTHER FINANCIAL INDUSTRY ACTIVITIES AND AFFILIATIONS OF FAS CFTC Registrations The derivatives used by FAS will often include certain financial derivatives deemed by the CFTC to be “commodity interests,” such as futures, options on futures, swaps and certain foreign exchange contracts. FAS is not registered with the CFTC as a CTA, based on its determination that it may rely on certain exemptions from registration provided by the Commodity Exchange Act (“CEA”) and the rules thereunder. The CFTC has not passed upon the availability of these exemptions to FAS. Certain of the U.S. Registered Funds managed by FAS are commodity pools for which FAS is the CPO. As the CPO for these U.S. Registered Funds, FAS is excluded from the need to register as a CPO with the CFTC and the related requirements, pursuant to Rule 4.5 under the CEA or other provisions under the CEA and the rules of the CFTC.

Transactions and Personal Trading CODE OF ETHICS SUMMARY Franklin Templeton has adopted the Franklin Templeton Code of Ethics and Business Conduct (the “Code of Ethics”), which is applicable to all officers, directors, and employees of Franklin Templeton and its U.S. and non-U.S. subsidiaries and affiliates, including the Advisers. The Advisers are also subject to the Franklin Templeton Personal Investments and Insider Trading Policy (the “Personal Investments Policy”), which serves as a code of ethics adopted by Franklin Templeton pursuant to Rule 204A-1 under the Advisers Act and Rule 17j-1 of the 1940 Act. A brief description of the main provisions of the Personal Investments Policy follows. The Personal Investments Policy states that the interests of the Advisers’ clients are paramount and come before any employee. All Covered Employees (as defined below) are required to conduct themselves in a lawful, honest and ethical manner in their business practices and to maintain an environment that fosters fairness, respect and integrity. “Covered Employees” include the Advisers’ partners, officers, directors (or other persons occupying a similar status or performing similar functions), and employees, as well as any other person who provides advice on behalf of the Advisers and are subject to the supervision and control of the Advisers. The personal investment activities of Covered Employees must be conducted in a manner that avoids actual or potential conflicts of interest with the clients of the Advisers. Covered Employees are required to use their positions with the Advisers and any investment opportunities they learn of because of their positions with the Advisers in a manner consistent with their fiduciary duties to use such opportunities and information for the benefit of the Advisers’ clients and with applicable laws, rules and regulations. In addition, the Personal Investments Policy states that information concerning the security holdings and financial circumstances of the Advisers’ clients is confidential and Covered Employees are required to safeguard this information. Additionally, Access Persons, a subset of Covered Employees, are required to provide certain periodic reports on their personal securities transactions and holdings. “Access Persons” are generally employees of the Adviser and those persons who have access to non-public information regarding the securities transactions of the Advisers’ funds or clients; are involved in making securities recommendations to clients; have access to securities recommendations that are nonpublic; or have access to non-public information regarding the portfolio holdings of funds for which an Adviser serves Page | 39

as an investment adviser or a sub-adviser or any fund whose investment adviser or principal underwriter controls an Adviser, is controlled by an Adviser or is under common control with an Adviser. The Advisers’ Access Persons must obtain pre-clearance from the Compliance Department before buying or selling any security (other than those not requiring pre-clearance under the Personal Investments Policy). The Personal Investments Policy also requires pre-clearance before investing in a private investment or purchasing securities in a limited offering. The Personal Investments Policy generally prohibits Access Persons from investing in initial public offerings (“IPOs”); however, such investments may be permissible in certain circumstances or jurisdictions with prior approval from the Compliance Department. To avoid actual or potential conflicts of interest with the Advisers’ clients, certain transactions and practices are prohibited by the Personal Investments Policy. These include: front-running, trading parallel to a client, trading against a client, using proprietary information for personal transactions, market timing, and short selling Franklin Templeton stock and the securities of Franklin Templeton closed-end funds. The Personal Investments Policy requires prompt internal reporting of suspected and actual violations of the Personal Investments Policy. In addition, violations of the Personal Investments Policy are referred to the Chief Compliance Officer as well as the relevant management personnel. The Advisers maintain a “restricted list” of securities in which the Advisers’ personnel generally may not trade. The restricted list is updated as necessary and is intended to prevent the misuse of material, non-public information by their employees. In addition to continuous monitoring, the Compliance Department will conduct forensic testing or auditing of reported personal securities transactions to ensure compliance with the Personal Investments Policy. No Covered Employee or Access Person may trade while in possession of material, non-public information (“MNPI”) or communicate MNPI to others. Information is considered material if there is a substantial likelihood that a reasonable investor would consider the information to be important in making his or her investment decision, or if it is reasonably certain to have a substantial effect on the price of the company’s securities. Information is non-public until it has been effectively communicated to the marketplace. If the information has been obtained from someone who is betraying an obligation not to share the information (e.g., a company insider), that information is very likely to be non-public. The Advisers have implemented a substantial set of personal investing procedures designed to avoid violation of the Personal Investments Policy. Copies of the Personal Investments Policy are available to any client or prospective client upon request by emailing GCSS at GlobalClientServiceSupportAmericas@franklintempleton.com.

POTENTIAL CONFLICTS RELATING TO ADVISORY AND OTHER ACTIVITIES The Advisers and their affiliates engage in a broad range of activities, including investment activities for their own account and for the accounts of others and providing transaction-related, investment advisory, management and other services. In addition, while the Advisers are typically not themselves a general partner of any limited partnership, one or more of their affiliates often serve as a manager, general partner or trustee or in a similar capacity of a partnership, trust or other collective investment vehicle in which the Advisers’ clients are solicited to invest. In the ordinary course of an Adviser conducting its activities for a client, the interests of a client will, from time to time, conflict with the interests of the Adviser, other clients and/or their respective affiliates. Potential or actual conflicts of interest arise, from time to time, in (i) principal transactions, (ii) cross trades, (iii) investments by the Advisers or their employees for their personal accounts, (iv) client investment in entities affiliated with an Adviser or in which an Adviser or an affiliate has an interest, (v) allocation of investment opportunities and expenses, (vi) diverse membership among investors in a client Account, and (vii) diversity of client base, among others. In addition, while the Advisers are part of the Franklin Templeton organization, the Advisers have their own clients. Although an Adviser may focus primarily on an Page | 40

investment strategy different from other Advisers, clients of the Adviser and such other Advisers will, from time to time, invest in the same company or issuer, including in the same security or in different securities of such company or issuer. In such circumstances, interests of the Adviser’s clients will, at times, therefore conflict with the interests of the clients of the other Advisers. In addition, the interests of and between the Advisers themselves will at times be in conflict. These and other conflicts of interest are more fully described below. The Advisers manage assets of clients in accordance with the investment mandate selected by the clients and applicable law and will seek to give advice to, and make investment decisions for, such clients that the Advisers reasonably believe to be in the best interests of such clients. The Advisers have implemented policies and procedures that are reasonably designed to appropriately identify, disclose, limit and/or mitigate conflicts of interest. Additional limits and mitigants of conflicts are identified below. Any review of a conflict of interest will take into consideration the interests of the relevant Accounts, the circumstances giving rise to the conflict, applicable policies and procedures of the Advisers, and applicable laws. The following discussion is not a complete list of conflicts to which the Advisers or clients are subject. In addition, other conflicts are discussed elsewhere in this brochure. Principal Transactions From time to time the Advisers may recommend, to the extent permitted by law, that clients buy an asset from, or sell an asset to, the Advisers or their affiliates. These transactions involving the purchase and sale of assets are commonly referred to as “principal transactions.” A principal transaction may also be deemed to occur if an Adviser and/or an affiliate owns a substantial portion of a Fund and that Fund participates in a transaction with another client. Principal transactions present an inherent conflict of interest because an Adviser and/or one or more of its affiliates are on both sides of such transactions. To the extent that an Adviser engages in a principal transaction covered by Section 206(3) of the Advisers Act, the Adviser will comply with the requirements of Section 206(3) of the Advisers Act, including that the Adviser will notify the applicable client (or an independent representative thereof) in writing of the transaction and obtain the client’s consent (or the consent of an independent representative thereof). The Advisers seek to alleviate the conflict of interest posed by principal transactions with procedures requiring pre-clearance of any principal transaction by the Compliance Department and ensuring requisite client consent has been received. On occasion and subject to applicable law and a Private Fund’s governing documents, an Adviser that advises a Private Fund or a related person (including the Adviser’s affiliates, officers, directors or employees) may purchase investments on behalf of and in anticipation of opening a Private Fund that will hold such investment. Such investments are typically then transferred to the Private Fund. Cross Trades In certain circumstances, the Advisers will conclude that it is appropriate to sell securities held in one Account to another Account, including, from time to time, between client accounts established under SMA Programs. Consistent with its fiduciary duty to each client (including the duty to seek best execution), an Adviser will, from time to time, (but is not required to) effect purchases and sales between clients or clients of affiliates (“cross trades”) if the Adviser believes such transactions are appropriate based on each client’s investment objectives, subject to applicable law and regulation. For example, certain Private Funds are intended to generally invest on a “parallel” basis with each other (i.e., proportionately in all transactions at substantially the same time and on substantially the same terms and conditions). These Private Funds will therefore, from time to time, engage in transactions at the end of the offering period that are intended to rebalance the portfolio in accordance with the final size and/or available capital of each respective entity. Advisers to Fund of Funds will from time to time also engage in such transactions when they wish to reduce the investment of one or more Fund of Funds in an underlying fund and increase the investment of other Fund of Funds in such underlying fund, in order to re-balance portfolios, provide better liquidity to the Fund of Funds involved, or, when appropriate for both Fund of Funds involved, to allocate de minimis underlying fund allocations from a large Fund of Funds to another smaller Fund of Funds. Page | 41

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The Advisers have adopted policies and procedures that address best execution with respect to equity and fixed income investments and provide guidance on brokerage allocation. The policies and procedures are reasonably designed to ensure (i) that execution services meet the quality standards established by the Advisers’ trading teams and are consistent with established policies, (ii) the broadest flexibility in selecting which broker-dealers can provide best execution, (iii) evaluation of the execution capabilities of, and the quality of execution services received from, broker-dealers effecting portfolio transactions for the Advisers’ clients, and (iv) the identification and resolution of potential conflicts of interest. The policies and procedures for equity transactions outline the criteria that the trading team at each global location uses to determine which broker-dealer(s) have provided the highest quality execution services over a particular time period. These include a periodic review of brokerage allocations, the rationale for selecting certain broker-dealers, and a review of historical broker- dealer transactions to test application of the Advisers’ best execution procedures. Digital asset transactions may be executed through:

centralized exchanges

OTC counterparties

decentralized platforms

While the Advisers generally seek competitive commission rates for equity transactions, they do not necessarily pay the lowest commission or commission equivalent; nor will they select broker- dealers solely on the basis of purported or posted commission rates or seek competitive bidding for the most favorable commission rate in advance. In an effort to maximize value for their clients, the Advisers will seek to obtain the best combination of low commission rates relative to the quality of execution and other brokerage services received. Transactions involving specialized services or expertise on the part of the broker-dealer may result in higher commissions or their equivalents. Digital asset markets differ from traditional markets in that:

pricing may vary across venues

liquidity may be fragmented

regulatory oversight may be limited

Digital asset transactions may involve:

exchange fees

spreads

blockchain transaction (“gas”) fees

The policies and procedures for fixed income transactions reflect the same general fiduciary principles that are covered in the equity transaction policies and procedures but also address the special considerations for executing transactions in fixed income securities. Since trading fixed income securities is fundamentally different from trading in equity securities in that the Advisers will generally deal directly with market makers, the Advisers consider different factors when assessing best execution. In these transactions, the Advisers typically effect trades on a net basis, and do not pay the market maker any commission, commission equivalent or markup/markdown other than the spread. The Advisers’ traders for both fixed income and equity investments are responsible for determining which qualified broker-dealers will provide best execution, taking into account the best combination of price and intermediary value given the client’s strategies and objectives. Page | 51

The Advisers may also engage in derivative transactions that are entered into under a negotiated agreement with a counterparty or futures commission merchant, including, but not limited to, swaps, futures, forwards and options. The agreements to trade these instruments must be in place prior to effecting a transaction. If the Advisers are unable to negotiate acceptable terms with a counterparty or are restricted from engaging certain counterparties for an Account, for example, based on an Adviser’s assessment of a counterparty’s creditworthiness and financial stability at any given time, the universe of counterparties that the Advisers can choose from will be limited and the standard for best execution may vary with the type of security or instrument involved in a particular transaction. The policies and procedures for equity and fixed income transactions also address the aggregation and allocation principles established by the Advisers for derivatives trading.

BROKERAGE FOR CLIENT REFERRALS If consistent with their duty to seek best execution, the Advisers will, from time to time, use brokerdealers that refer account clients to the Advisers or an affiliate. To the extent that these referrals result in an increase in assets under management, the Advisers or their affiliates will likely benefit. Therefore, a potential conflict exists that an Adviser could have an incentive to select or recommend a brokerdealer based on its interest in receiving client referrals rather than obtaining best execution on behalf of its clients. In order to manage this potential conflict of interest, the Advisers do not enter into agreements with, or make commitments to, any broker-dealer that would bind the Advisers to compensate that broker dealer through increased brokerage transactions for client referrals or sales efforts; nor will the Advisers use step-out transactions or similar arrangements to compensate selling brokers for their sales efforts. In addition, the U.S. Registered Funds have adopted procedures pursuant to Rule 12b1(h) under the 1940 Act (“Prohibition on the Use of Brokerage Commissions to Finance Distribution”), which provide that neither such funds nor the fund’s Adviser may direct brokerage in recognition of the sale of fund shares. Consistent with those procedures, the Advisers do not consider the sale of mutual fund shares in selecting broker-dealers to execute portfolio transactions. However, whether or not a particular broker or dealer sells shares of the Advisers’ mutual funds neither qualifies nor disqualifies such broker or dealer to execute transactions for those mutual funds.

POLICY ON USE OF CLIENT COMMISSIONS When appropriate under their discretionary authority and consistent with their duty to seek best execution, the Advisers or their related persons will, from time to time, direct brokerage transactions for Accounts to broker-dealers that provide the Advisers with research and/or brokerage products and services. The brokerage commissions from client transactions that are used to pay for research or brokerage services in addition to basic execution services are referred to here as “client commissions.” In the United States, broker-dealers typically bundle research with their trade execution services. The research provided can be either proprietary (created and provided by the executing broker- dealer, including tangible research products as well as access to analysts and traders) or third- party (created by a third party but provided by the executing broker-dealer). To the extent permitted by applicable law, the Advisers will, from time to time, use client commissions to obtain both proprietary and thirdparty research as well as certain brokerage products and services. The receipt of research in exchange for client commissions benefits the Advisers by allowing the Advisers to supplement their own research and analysis and also gain access to specialists from a variety of securities firms with expertise on certain companies, industries, areas of the economy, and market factors without the Advisers having to pay for such services and resources. The Advisers believe that this research provides an overall benefit to their clients. The Advisers become eligible for client commission credits by sending trades and paying trade commissions to broker-dealers (“Commission Sharing Agreement Broker-Dealers”) who both execute the trades and provide the Advisers with research and other brokerage products and services. These products and services come in a variety of forms including: (1) research reports generated by the broker-dealer, (2) conferences with representatives of issuers, and (3) client commission credits that can be used to obtain research reports or services from others. The portion of any trade Page | 52

commission on a particular trade attributable to the client commission research or other brokerage products and services cannot be identified at an individual account level. Listed in alphabetical order below are the 12 Commission Sharing Agreement Broker-Dealers from whom the Advisers, other than K2/D&S Management Co., L.L.C., and certain of their affiliates generated the most client commission credits. Additional Commission Sharing Agreement BrokerDealers are also used to a lesser degree, and therefore the following list is subject to change periodically. This and the above information are intended to satisfy the alternative reporting option for Form 5500, Schedule C.

Bank of America/Merrill Lynch Bernstein Citigroup Global Markets Inc. Goldman Sachs Instinet / Nomura Virtu Financial, Inc Jeffries & Company JP Morgan Securities Inc Liquidnet Morgan Stanley& Co. RBC Capital Markets UBS AG

Section 28(e) of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934 provides a safe harbor that allows an investment adviser to pay for research and brokerage services with the client commission dollars generated by account transactions. The Advisers currently acquire only the types of products or services that qualify for the safe harbor. Research and brokerage services acquired with client commissions permitted under the safe harbor include, but are not limited to:

reports, statistical data, publications and other information on the economy, industries, sectors, individual companies or issuers, which may include research provided by proxy voting services; software and communications services related to the execution, clearing and settlement of securities transactions; software that provides analyses of securities portfolios; statistical trade analysis; reports on legal developments affecting portfolio securities; registration fees for conferences and seminars; consultation with analysts, including research conference calls and access to financial models; investment risk analyses, including political and credit risk; investment risk measurement systems and software; analyses of corporate responsibility issues; and market data services, such as those which provide price quotes, last sale prices and trading volumes.

Examples of specific products and services received within the last year include those provided by Bloomberg, Refinitiv, FactSet, MSCI/Barra and Standard and Poor. Services may also include access to information providers who are part of what may be referred to as an “expert network.” Firms providing such a service often facilitate consultations among researchers, investment professionals, and individuals with expertise in a particular field or industry, such as doctors, academics and consultants. Access to expert networks is particularly helpful in understanding sectors of the market that are highly complex or technical in nature. The Advisers have developed controls in support of existing policies and procedures governing the use of expert networks and the information they may provide to the Advisers. Page | 53

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The Advisers or a related person, from time to time, enter into referral fee arrangements to compensate affiliated and non-affiliated persons for referring or otherwise recommending its investment advisory services to potential clients. To the extent required, such arrangements would be governed by the policy on use of solicitors and client referrals adopted by the Advisers and entered into in accordance with Rule 206(4)-1 under the Advisers Act and other applicable law. The compensation paid may consist of a cash payment computed as a flat fee; a percentage of an Adviser’s (or an affiliate’s) advisory fee, performance fee or carried interest; or some other method of computation agreed upon between the parties. For some Accounts, primarily certain Private Funds, a third-party distributor will be compensated by way of a retrocession that is specified in the applicable selling or referral agreement. Retrocession is a term used to describe an on-going fee payable by the Adviser to the third-party distributor so long as such assets placed by the third- party distributor remain invested in the Account. To the extent allowed under applicable law, the Advisers’ Code of Ethics and the policies and procedures (including the Anti-Corruption Policy) of the Advisers, their affiliates, and/or a particular broker-dealer, the Advisers or a related person will, from time to time, (i) pay broker-dealer sponsors for training seminars, conferences and other educational events, (ii) pay travel and lodging expenses relating to financial advisers’ attendance at an Adviser’s due diligence meetings, (iii) give certain business-related gifts or gratuities and/or pay reasonable expenses relating to meals and/or entertainment for financial advisers, and (iv) make a contribution in connection with a charitable event or to a charitable organization sponsored, organized or supported by a broker-dealer or its representatives, on behalf of such broker-dealer or its representatives, or to which such broker-dealer or its affiliates provides professional services. With respect to certain Advisers that serve SMA Program clients, such Advisers receive fees, directly or indirectly, from the sponsor of the SMA Program for all services rendered by such Advisers to the SMA Program clients, including, on occasion, out of the sponsor’s own resources. As such, these Advisers may be considered to receive cash compensation from a non-client in connection with giving advice to SMA Program clients. Similarly, in certain cases where an Adviser serves as a sub-adviser, the Adviser will, from time to time, receive advisory fees from the primary investment manager rather than directly from the investment advisory client. In certain arrangements, including in model delivery programs offered by Sponsors of SMA Programs, the applicable Adviser or its affiliate pays the Sponsor or its affiliate various fees in connection with the model delivery program, such as model set up, onboarding and maintenance fees tax-related analysis fees and, data analytics fees allowing for the delivery of the model portfolio on the Sponsor’s platform. For details regarding economic benefits provided to the Advisers by non-clients, including a description of related material conflicts of interest and how they are addressed, please see Item 11 (“Code of Ethics, Participation or Interest in Client Transactions and Personal Trading”) above.

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None with respect to FAS.

The Advisers manage investment portfolios for each of their clients. Generally, the portfolios under an Adviser’s management are reviewed by one or more portfolio managers who are responsible to their respective Chief Investment Officer (or other, similar senior investment professional), either directly or indirectly. Such review may be made with respect to an Adviser’s clients’ investment objectives and policies, limitations on the types of instruments in which each of its clients may invest and concentration of investments in particular industries or types of issues. There is no general rule regarding the number of Accounts assigned to a portfolio manager. The frequency, depth, and nature of Account reviews are often determined by negotiation with individual clients pursuant to the terms of each client’s investment management agreement or by the mandate selected by the client and the particular needs of each client. Written reports of portfolio breakdown, transactions and performance are typically provided to clients no less frequently than quarterly. Additional trade reports may be available upon request.

For certain Separate Account clients that retain FTCI to act as custodian for the Accounts and/or authorize an Adviser to receive its advisory fees out of the assets in such clients’ Accounts by sending invoices to the respective custodians of those Accounts, the Adviser will be deemed by the SEC to have custody of the assets in those Accounts. As a result, such clients, where required, will receive account statements directly from FTCI or their third-party custodians, as applicable, for the Accounts, which should be carefully reviewed. In addition to account statements delivered by these custodians, the applicable Adviser may provide such clients with separate reports or account statements containing information about the Accounts. Clients should compare these carefully to the account statements received from the custodian and report any discrepancies to their Adviser and custodian immediately. An Adviser, if it advises Private Funds, will also be deemed to have custody of the assets of certain Private Funds for which it or its related person serves as general partner (or in a comparable position for other types of pooled investment vehicles). Investors in these pooled investment vehicles that receive the fund’s annual audited financial statements in accordance with the Advisers Act should review these statements carefully and should contact their Adviser immediately if they do not receive audited financial statements in a timely manner. To the extent that a pooled investment vehicle for which an Adviser or its related person serves as general partner (or in a comparable position) does not provide investors with its annual audited financial statements as described above, such fund’s custodian will deliver to the investor a quarterly statement as required under the Advisers Act, which should be carefully reviewed by the investor, and the pooled investment vehicle will be subject to an independent examination in accordance with the Advisers Act. Some Digital Assets held by Clients are not “funds” or “securities” and, therefore, will not necessarily be held in the same manner as “funds and securities.” However, we, as a fiduciary, take appropriate steps to safeguard these Digital Asset holdings in a manner that we believe is reasonably designed to protect our Clients against loss or misappropriation of the Digital Asset interests. As noted in Item 8, we may manage our Clients’ custody of some or all of its Digital Assets, by generating the private keys that control movement of the various Digital Assets. Our Clients, under our management and supervision, may store such Client’s Digital Assets on various Digital Asset exchanges. Such exchanges take various measures to provide safekeeping for the assets held by those exchanges. CoinFund conducts due diligence on such exchanges and security protocols prior to utilizing such services. In addition to maintaining custody of a Client’s Digital Assets on various Digital Asset exchanges, such a Client, under our management and supervision, may store the Client’s Digital Assets in a “cold wallet” through hardware or software storage. Digital Asset exchanges may also require us to provide control of the private keys when the exchange is utilized by the Client.

Generally, the Advisers have discretionary authority to supervise and direct the investment of the assets under their management, without obtaining prior specific client consent for each transaction. This investment discretion is granted by written authority of the client in the investment management agreement between the client and an Adviser and is subject to such limitations as a client may impose by notice in writing and as agreed to by the Adviser. To the extent an Adviser has discretionary authority over assets of a Sub-Advised Account, such authority is granted in an advisory agreement between the Adviser and the Sub-Advised Account and/or the manager of such Sub-Advised Account. Under their discretionary authority, the Advisers will generally make the following determinations in accordance with the investment management agreement, the client’s investment restrictions, the Advisers’ internal policies, commercial practice, and applicable law, without prior consultation or consent before a transaction is effected:

Which securities or other instruments to buy or sell; The total amount of securities or other instruments to buy or sell; The broker-dealer or counterparty used to buy or sell securities or other instruments; and/or The prices and commission rates at which transactions are effected. Page | 59

When an Adviser believes engagement will be beneficial, it may, in the Adviser’s sole discretion unless otherwise agreed, submit a shareholder proposal to, or otherwise actively engage with, the issuer of securities held in one or more Accounts. An Adviser may also delegate its discretionary authority to a sub-adviser where the Adviser believes, in its sole discretion, that such delegation would be beneficial unless it is prohibited under the investment management agreement or under applicable law. The Advisers will consider a variety of factors including, but not limited to, costs when considering whether to engage in such activities. The Advisers may, in an Adviser’s sole discretion, accept the initial funding of an Account with one or more securities in-kind. Subject to the terms of the investment management agreement and applicable law, the Advisers will use good faith efforts to liquidate any such securities that the Advisers do not elect to keep as part of such Account and shall not be liable for any investment losses or market risk associated with such liquidation.

LIMITATIONS ON DISCRETION Certain Advisers provide non-discretionary services to Accounts, pursuant to which the Advisers provide a client with research, model portfolios or advice with respect to purchasing, selling, or holding particular investments. Accounts for which the Advisers do not have investment discretion may or may not include the authority to trade for the Account and are subject to any additional limitations that are imposed by a client in writing. For certain Accounts where the Advisers do not have investment discretion or trading authority, a conflict of interest will exist for the Advisers to delay a recommendation to buy or sell if the Advisers believe that the execution of such recommendation could have a material impact on pending trades for Accounts for which the Advisers hold investment discretion. Conversely, trades may be executed for discretionary clients in advance of executions for non-discretionary clients, potentially disadvantaging the non- discretionary clients where there is a timing difference related to the provision of advice to a non- discretionary client for consideration and that client’s determination of whether or not to act on the advice. The Advisers may, in an Adviser’s sole discretion, accept one or more categories of investment restrictions requested in writing by clients. In the case of investment restrictions based on social, environmental or other criteria, unless otherwise agreed to with a client, the Advisers’ compliance with such restrictions will be based on good faith efforts and can be satisfied by using either a third- party service to screen issuers against such restrictions, or a combination of other market data services (such as Bloomberg and FactSet) and internal research. The investment guidelines applicable to an Account are typically based on the Account being fully funded. During funding or transition phases, or where there are unusual market conditions, an Adviser’s inability to comply with restrictions related to holding limitations, sector allocations and similar restrictions shall not, unless otherwise agreed with a client, be considered a breach of the investment management agreement between such Adviser and its client. Moreover, investment restrictions are looked to at the time of investment unless otherwise agreed with the client in writing, and variances to the investment guidelines such as market movements (including exchange rates), the exercise of subscription rights, late settlement as a result of custodial action or inaction, a material increase or reduction in assets due to contributions or withdrawals by the client, or a change in the nature of an investment are generally not considered to be a breach of the investment management agreement unless specifically agreed to in writing.

SWEEP VEHICLES Generally, uninvested cash held in an Account will be automatically moved or “swept” temporarily by the client’s custodian into one or more money market mutual funds or other short-term investment vehicles offered by such custodian. Sweep arrangements are typically made between the client and the client’s custodian, and the client is responsible for selecting the sweep vehicle. The Advisers’ sole responsibility in this regard, unless specifically directed otherwise in the client’s investment management agreement or by separate agreement, is to issue standing instructions to the custodian to automatically sweep excess cash in the Account into the sweep vehicle. In circumstances where the client has not made prior arrangements with its custodian, the Advisers upon the client’s request, Page | 60

may consult with the client to discuss a sweep vehicle from those made available by the client’s custodian; however, the client will ultimately be responsible for selecting the desired sweep vehicle. In exceptional circumstances, the Advisers will agree to select the appropriate sweep vehicle from those made available by the custodian at the client’s request. However, the Advisers do not actively manage the residual cash in Accounts and will not be responsible for monitoring the sweep vehicle into which such residual cash is swept. Whether sweep arrangements are made between the client and its custodian or in consultation with the Advisers, any client whose assets are swept into an unaffiliated money market mutual fund or other short-term investment vehicle will continue to pay the Adviser’s regular advisory fee on the entire Account, plus the client will pay fees and expenses associated with that investment including typically a management fee to the manager of such fund or short-term investment vehicle on the portion of the Account’s assets invested in the money market mutual fund or short-term investment vehicle. In the event client consent is granted to allow the use of affiliated money market funds for cash management purposes, certain fees are waived either at the Account or the affiliated fund level to avoid double charging of fees on those assets.

PARTICIPATION IN LEGAL PROCEEDINGS Funds Unless otherwise noted in an Adviser’s brochure, with respect to the Funds that the Advisers manage, advise, or sub-advise, the Advisers, through their delegates (which include, without limitation, personnel of an affiliate, a law firm, custodian or other claim filing service), use good faith efforts to file proofs of claim on behalf of the Funds in class action lawsuit settlements or judgments and regulatory recovery funds pending in the United States and Canada (the “Claim Service”). These United States and Canadian class action lawsuits involve issuers of securities presently or formerly held in the Funds’ portfolios, or related parties of such issuers, of which the Advisers learn and for which the Funds are eligible during the term of the investment management agreement. Infrequently, such class action lawsuits require investors affirmatively to “opt in” to the class and may subject investors to public identification and to participation in discovery (“Opt-In Actions”). The Advisers have complete discretion to determine, on a case-by-case basis, whether to file proofs of claim and any other required documentation for the Funds in any Opt-In Actions of which the Adviser learns, and shall not be required, or be liable for any failure, to do so. While the Claim Service is focused on recovery opportunities in the United States and Canada (the jurisdictions in which class action lawsuits and regulatory recovery funds predominate), it is possible that, as class action laws in legal systems in jurisdictions outside of the United States and Canada continue to evolve, the Advisers may learn of recovery opportunities in those other jurisdictions that similarly require only the filing of a proof of claim or its equivalent to recover (“Foreign Actions”). The Advisers do not assume any obligation to identify, research, or file proofs of claim in any Foreign Actions. In the event that the Advisers do learn of any Foreign Actions, the Advisers have complete discretion to determine, on a case-by-case basis, whether to file proofs of claim for the Funds in such Foreign Actions. In addition, from time to time, Advisers to Funds will recommend that one or more of such Funds pursue litigation against an issuer or related parties (whether, for example, by opting out of an existing class action lawsuit, participating in a representative action in a foreign jurisdiction, or otherwise). In addition, unless otherwise noted in an Adviser’s brochure, the Advisers or the Funds they advise will also, from time to time, participate in bankruptcy proceedings involving issuers of securities presently or formerly held in such Funds’ portfolios, or related parties of such issuers, and join official or ad hoc committees of creditors or other stakeholders. Similarly, the Adviser’s affiliates will, from time to time, recommend that the Funds they manage participate in litigation, bankruptcy proceedings or committees of creditors or other stakeholders.

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The Advisers have delegated their administrative duties with respect to voting proxies for client equity securities to the proxy group within Franklin Templeton Services, LLC (the “Proxy Group”), an affiliate and wholly-owned subsidiary of Franklin Templeton. Page | 62

All proxies received by the Proxy Group will be voted based upon the Advisers’ instructions and/or policies. To assist it in analyzing proxies, the Advisers subscribe to one or more unaffiliated third- party corporate governance research services that provide in-depth analyses of shareholder meeting agendas, vote recommendations, recordkeeping and vote disclosure services (each a “Proxy Service”). Although Proxy Service analyses are thoroughly reviewed and considered in making a final voting decision, the Advisers do not consider recommendations from a Proxy Service or any other third party to be determinative of an Adviser’s ultimate decision (except as otherwise discussed in an Adviser’s brochure). Rather, the Advisers exercise their independent judgment in making voting decisions. The Advisers vote proxies solely in the best interests of the client, the Fund investors or, where employee benefit plan assets subject to ERISA are involved, in the best interests of plan participants and beneficiaries (collectively, “Advisory Clients”) unless (i) the power to vote has been specifically retained by the named fiduciary in the documents in which the named fiduciary appointed an Adviser or (ii) the documents otherwise expressly prohibit an Adviser from voting proxies. As a matter of policy, the officers, directors and Access Persons of the Advisers and the Proxy Group will not be influenced by outside sources whose interest’s conflict with the interests of Advisory Clients. The Advisers are affiliates of a large, diverse financial services firm with many affiliates and each Adviser makes its best efforts to mitigate conflicts of interest. However, conflicts of interest can arise in a variety of situations including where an Adviser has a material business relationship with an issuer or a proponent, a direct or indirect pecuniary interest in an issuer or a proponent, or a significant personal or family relationship with an issuer or a proponent. However, as a general matter, the Advisers take the position that relationships between certain affiliates that do not use the “Franklin Templeton” name (“Independent Affiliates”) and an issuer (e.g., an investment management relationship between an issuer and an Independent Affiliate) do not present a conflict of interest for an Adviser in voting proxies with respect to such issuer because: (i) the Advisers operate as an independent business unit from the Independent Affiliate business units, and (ii) informational barriers exist between the Advisers and the Independent Affiliate business units. Material conflicts of interest are identified by the Proxy Group based upon analyses of various sources. The Proxy Group gathers and analyzes this information on a best-efforts basis, as much of this information is provided directly by individuals and groups other than the Proxy Group, and the Proxy Group relies on the accuracy of the information it receives from such parties. In situations where a material conflict of interest is identified, the decision on how to resolve the conflict will be made in accordance with the Proxy Group’s conflict of interest procedures, and the Proxy Group will, under certain circumstances, vote consistently with the voting recommendation of a Proxy Service or send the proxy directly to the relevant Advisory Clients with the Adviser’s voting recommendation. In certain circumstances, Separate Accounts are permitted to direct their votes in a particular solicitation pursuant to the applicable investment management agreement. A client that wishes to direct its vote in a particular solicitation shall give reasonable prior written notice to the relevant Adviser indicating such intention and provide written instructions directing the Adviser or the Proxy Group to vote in regard to the particular solicitation. Where such prior written notice is received, the Proxy Group (or the Adviser if applicable) will vote proxies in accordance with such written instructions received from the client. The Advisers will inform clients that have not delegated voting responsibility to the Advisers, but that have requested voting advice about the Adviser’s views on such proxy votes. In certain SMA Programs, typically where the Sponsor has not elected for the applicable Adviser to do so or where the applicable Adviser only provides non-discretionary management services to the SMA Program, the relevant Adviser will not be delegated the responsibility to vote proxies held by the SMA Program accounts. Instead, the SMA Program sponsor or another service provider will generally vote these proxies. Clients in SMA Programs should contact the SMA Program sponsor for a copy of the SMA Program Sponsor’s proxy voting policies.

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Each issue is considered on its own merits, and the Advisers will not support the position of the company’s management in any situation where they deem that the ratification of management’s position would adversely affect the investment merits of owning that company’s shares. Certain of the Advisers’ separate accounts or funds (or a portion thereof) are included under FTIS, a separate investment group within Franklin Templeton, and employ a quantitative strategy. For such accounts, FTIS’s proprietary methodologies rely on a combination of quantitative, qualitative, and behavioral analysis rather than fundamental security research and analyst coverage that an actively managed portfolio would ordinarily employ. Accordingly, absent client direction, in light of the high number of positions held by such Accounts, and the considerable time and effort that would be required to review proxy statements and ISS or Glass Lewis recommendations, the Advisers, may review ISS’ non-US Benchmark guidelines, ISS’ specialty guidelines (in particular, ISS’ Sustainability guidelines), or Glass Lewis’ US guidelines (the “ISS and Glass Lewis Proxy Voting Guidelines”) and determine, consistent with the best interest of their clients, to provide standing instructions to the Proxy Group to vote proxies according to the recommendations of ISS or Glass Lewis. Permitting the Advisers of these accounts to defer their judgment for voting on a proxy to the recommendations of ISS or Glass Lewis may result in a proxy related to the securities of a particular issuer held by an account being voted differently from the same proxy that is voted on by other funds managed by other Advisers. The Proxy Group is part of Franklin Templeton Services, LLC. For each shareholder meeting, a member of the Proxy Group will consult with the research analyst(s) that follows the security and will provide the analyst(s) with the agenda, Proxy Service analyses, recommendations and any other information provided to the Proxy Group. Except in situations identified as presenting material conflicts of interest or as otherwise discussed in an Adviser’s brochure (if applicable), the Advisers’ research analyst(s) and relevant portfolio manager(s) are responsible for making the final voting decision based on their review of the agenda, Proxy Service analyses, proxy statements, their knowledge of the company and any other information publicly available. In the case of a material conflict of interest, the final voting decision will be made in accordance with the conflict procedures, as described above. Except in cases where the Proxy Group is voting consistently with the voting recommendations of an independent third-party service provider, the Proxy Group must obtain voting instructions from the Advisers’ research analyst(s), relevant portfolio manager(s), legal counsel and/or an Advisory Client prior to submitting the vote. The Advisers will attempt to process every proxy they receive for all U.S. and non-U.S. securities. However, there may be situations in which the Advisers are unable to successfully vote a proxy, or choose to not vote a proxy, such as where: (i) a proxy ballot was not received from the custodian bank, (ii) a meeting notice was received too late, (iii) there are fees imposed upon the exercise of a vote and the Account’s Adviser has determined that such fees outweigh the benefit of voting, (iv) there are legal encumbrances to voting, including blocking restrictions in certain markets that preclude the ability to dispose of a security if the Account’s Adviser votes a proxy or where such Adviser is prohibited from voting by applicable law, economic or other sanctions or other regulatory or market requirements, including, but not limited to, effective powers of attorney, (v) additional documentation or the disclosure of beneficial owner details is required, (vi) the Account’s Adviser held shares on the record date but has sold them prior to the meeting date, (vii) the Account held shares on the record date, but the client closed the Account prior to the meeting date, (viii) proxy voting service is not offered by the custodian in the market, (ix) due to either system error or human error, the Account’s Adviser’s intended vote is not correctly submitted, (x) the Account’s Adviser believes it is not in the best interests of the Advisory Client to vote the proxy for any other reason not enumerated herein or (xi) a security is subject to a securities lending or similar program that has transferred legal title to the security to another person. Even if the Advisers use reasonable efforts to vote a proxy on behalf of their Advisory Clients, such vote or proxy may be rejected because of (i) operational or procedural issues experienced by one or more third parties involved in voting proxies in such jurisdictions, (ii) changes in the process or agenda for the meeting by the issuer for which the Account’s Adviser does not have sufficient notice, or (iii) the exercise by the issuer of its discretion to reject the vote of an Account’s Adviser. In addition, despite the best efforts of the Proxy Group and its agents, there may be situations where the Advisers’ votes are not received, or properly tabulated, by an issuer or the issuer’s agent. Page | 64

On behalf of one or more of the proprietary registered investment companies advised by the Adviser or its affiliates, where an Adviser or its affiliates (a) learn of a vote on an event that may materially affect a security on loan and (b) determine that it is in the best interests of such proprietary registered investment companies to recall the security for voting purposes, the Advisers will make efforts to recall any security on loan. The ability to timely recall shares is not entirely within the control of the Adviser. Under certain circumstances, the recall of shares in time for such shares to be voted may not be possible due to applicable proxy voting record dates or other administrative considerations. The Proxy Group is responsible for maintaining the documentation that supports the Advisers’ voting decision. Such documentation typically includes, but is not limited to, any information provided by Proxy Services and, with respect to any issuer that presents a potential conflict of interest, any board or audit committee memoranda describing the position it has taken. The Proxy Group will, from time to time, use an outside service such as a Proxy Service to support this recordkeeping function. All records will be retained in either hard copy or electronically for at least five years, the first two of which will be on-site at the offices of Franklin Templeton Services, LLC. Advisory Clients may view an Adviser’s complete proxy voting policies and procedures on- line at www.franklintempleton.com, request copies of their proxy voting records and the Advisers’ complete proxy voting policies and procedures by calling the Proxy Group at 1-954-847-2413 or send a written request to: Franklin Templeton Services, LLC, 300 S.E. 2nd Street, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301, Attention: Proxy Group. For U.S. Registered Funds, an annual proxy voting record for the period ending June 30 of each year will be posted to www.franklintempleton.com no later than August 31 of each year. In addition, the Proxy Group is responsible for ensuring that the proxy voting policies, procedures and records of the U.S. Registered Funds are made available as required by law and is responsible for overseeing the filing of such U.S. Registered Fund voting records with the SEC.

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Not applicable.

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