Franklin Templeton and Benefit Street Partners Expand Asset-Backed Finance Capabilities with Encina Lender Finance Transaction

A new fund acquired approximately $480 million of Encina-originated commitments, while 14 investment professionals joined BSP.

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Adds 14-person investment team and a seed portfolio with approximately $480 million of commitments originated by Encina

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Franklin Templeton, Inc. (NYSE: BEN) and Benefit Street Partners, L.L.C. (BSP), the group’s alternative credit manager, have completed a transaction with Encina Lender Finance (Encina) that expands BSP’s asset-backed finance (ABF) platform. As of September 30, 2026, Franklin Templeton managed $1.8 trillion in assets, including over $300 billion in alternative assets, of which approximately $97 billion is managed by BSP.

Under the terms of the transaction, a new fund backed by Franklin Templeton and BSP-affiliated funds acquired an initial seed portfolio with approximately $480 million of commitments originated by Encina. In addition, a 14-person investment team from Encina joined BSP and will continue to manage and originate investments through the strategy.

The transaction expands BSP’s capabilities in consumer and commercial lender finance and continues the buildout of a comprehensive, multi-strategy private asset-backed finance platform focused on the middle market. The platform now spans corporate asset-backed lending, equipment leasing, aircraft leasing, consumer finance and lender finance.

With the completion of the transaction, the now combined ABF platform provides BSP with access to approximately 100 investment professionals and a track record dating to 2013. Having completed over $10 billion of investments since inception, BSP now believes the combined ABF platform has the capacity to originate more than $3 billion annually.

Jenny Johnson, CEO of Franklin Templeton, said: “We continue to expand and diversify our private markets capabilities, using our balance sheet selectively to support strategic growth. This transaction demonstrates the strength of our model: combining specialized investment expertise with Franklin Templeton’s global scale and distribution to build differentiated investment solutions for clients. With over $300 billion in alternative AUM, we believe there is significant opportunity to continue scaling our private markets capabilities globally.”

The Encina team focuses on providing senior secured, unitranche and first-out financing to consumer and commercial asset originators across the US and Canada. Its investments are supported by diversified pools of underlying assets, including consumer loans, credit card receivables and small business loans, supporting a data-driven approach to underwriting and portfolio management.

ABF is one of the largest and fastest-growing areas of the approximately $6 trillion global private credit market and accounted for around 20% of private credit fundraising in 2025, according to industry data.

David Manlowe, CEO of BSP, added: “Investor demand for ABF continues to grow among a mix of institutional allocators. Adding the Encina team is a natural extension of our existing strategies and broadens both our origination capabilities and the range of financing solutions we can provide. Together with Franklin Templeton, we continue to build a scaled private ABF platform, which we believe has significant capacity for growth across asset classes and geographies.”

Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP served as legal counsel to Franklin Templeton and BSP. Berkshire Global Advisors served as exclusive financial advisor to Encina Lender Finance, and Mayer Brown LLP and Winston Taylor LLP served as its legal counsel.

About Franklin Templeton

Franklin Templeton is a trusted investment partner, delivering tailored solutions that align with clients’ strategic goals. With deep portfolio management expertise across public and private markets, we combine investment excellence with cutting-edge technology. Since our founding in 1947, we have empowered clients through strategic partnership, forward-looking insights, and continuous innovation – providing the tools and resources to navigate change and capture opportunity. With over $1.79 trillion in assets under management as of September 30, 2026, Franklin Templeton operates globally in more than 30 countries.

To learn more, visit franklintempleton.com and follow us on LinkedIn.

Franklin Templeton, Inc. [NYSE: BEN]

About Benefit Street Partners

Benefit Street Partners (BSP) is an alternative credit pioneer with $97 billion in assets under management as of August 31, 2026 (including Apera). It seeks to deliver attractive, risk-adjusted returns through its deep specialism, long-term relationships and global reach. A wholly owned subsidiary of Franklin Templeton, BSP is focused on credit. Through its disciplined, solutions-oriented approach, BSP unlocks opportunities across market cycles and geographies. The firm manages strategies spanning direct lending, real estate debt, structured credit, liquid loans and asset backed finance.

For more information, visit bspcredit.com and follow us on LinkedIn.

Forward-Looking Statements

Some statements in this press release may be forward-looking and reflect our current views about future events, financial performance and market conditions. These statements are provided under the safe harbor protection of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include those not related solely to historical or current facts and can often be identified by words or phrases written in the future tense and/or preceded by words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “depends,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “likely,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “preliminary,” “seek,” “should,” “will,” “would” or similar terms, though these are not the only ways such statements may appear.

Various forward-looking statements in this press release relate to Franklin Templeton and BSP’s transaction with Encina, including regarding expected opportunities, operating results, growth, client and stockholder benefits and key assumptions.

Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that are difficult to predict and may cause actual results to differ materially from outcomes expressed or implied by the statements. These factors include market and volatility risks, investment performance and reputational risks, global operational risks, competition and distribution risks, third-party risks, technology and security risks, human capital risks, cash management risks, and legal and regulatory risks. Although forward-looking statements reflect our expectations, at the time made, about our business, the economy and possible future conditions, you should not rely on them. They are not guarantees of performance, and new factors may arise that we cannot foresee.

These risks and other important factors are described in Franklin Templeton’s recent filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including Risk Factors and Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2025, and subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. Franklin Templeton undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect new information, future developments or other changes unless required by law.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261014909381/en/

Franklin Templeton and BSP

Investor Relations:
Selene Oh
selene.oh@franklintempleton.com

Public Relations:
Jeaneen Terrio
Global PR & Communications, Franklin Templeton
Jeaneen.Terrio@franklintempleton.com

Sam Turvey
Global Head of Communications, BSP
s.turvey@bspcredit.com
+44 (0) 782 783 6246

Source: Franklin Templeton, Inc.

Key Terms

asset-backed finance financial

A method of raising money where a borrower or issuer uses specific assets—such as loans, receivables, property, or equipment—as collateral so lenders or investors are repaid from the cash those assets produce. Think of it like lending against a car or renting out a building: the asset’s income or resale value backs the financing. Investors care because the quality and performance of those underlying assets determine the risk, expected return and how quickly they can get paid back.

unitranche financial

A unitranche loan is a single debt agreement that combines what would normally be separate senior and junior loans into one facility with a single interest rate and repayment schedule. For investors it simplifies the company's borrowing picture but changes the risk and return because lenders share one common claim on assets and receive a blended yield, which affects how quickly creditors are repaid in distress and the firm's flexibility to raise or restructure debt — like merging two traffic lanes into one road.

senior secured financial

Senior secured describes a loan or bond that has first claim on a company’s assets and is backed by specific collateral, like a mortgage on property. For investors, that means they are paid before other creditors if the company struggles or is liquidated, reducing the chance of loss compared with unsecured or junior debt. Think of it as a front-of-the-line, collateral-backed claim that typically carries lower interest because of that added protection.

first-out financing financial

A financing structure that splits a loan or pooled credit into two or more tranches where the "first-out" tranche receives cash collections (typically principal and sometimes interest) ahead of the other tranche(s) until the first-out amount is repaid. First-out noteholders have priority for cash flow timing and usually lower yields than the subordinate tranche, while the subordinate (often called "last-out" or "junior") tranche provides the first layer of credit protection against losses. The arrangement is a way to allocate repayment priority and credit risk between lenders or investors in a single underlying asset or portfolio.