Franklin FTSE India ETF

Franklin FTSE India ETF (FLIN) is a Franklin Templeton index fund. It tracks the FTSE India RIC Capped Index, a basket of 277 large and mid-sized Indian companies as of May 31, 2026. The main thing that sets it apart is cost. Its 0.19% expense ratio is the lowest of seven similar India funds, which average 0.79%. Its holdings overlap 87% with the larger iShares MSCI India ETF (INDA), which charges 0.62%.

• Over the year to Oct 27, 2026, FLIN returned -14.7%, 5th of 7 among similar funds.
• Its 5-year annualized return was +1.3%.
• In the 2020 COVID crash it fell 40% and regained its old high 6.5 months after the low.
• Its worst full calendar year was 2022 (-8.0%); its best was 2021 (+25.0%).
• The deepest fall in its price history was 41.9% (Feb 15, 2018 to Mar 23, 2020), recovered by Nov 16, 2020.

As of Jun 30, 2026, the fund held 278 securities; the ten largest made up 30.13% of assets.

• Over the three months to Jun 30, 2026, investors added a net $39.8M (creations minus redemptions, per the N-PORT report).
• Monthly total returns reported for that quarter: +8.47%, -0.20%, +1.18%.

The fund follows the FTSE India RIC Capped Index. FTSE Russell builds it from the FTSE India Index of large and mid-sized Indian stocks. FTSE Russell decides which companies count as Indian using tests such as where a company is incorporated, listed, headquartered and taxed. Holdings are weighted by free float-adjusted market value. That means bigger companies count for more, but only shares available for public trading are counted. As of May 31, 2026, the index held 277 stocks, ranging from $901 million to $188.11 billion in market value.

Every quarter, a cap trims oversized positions. No single company can exceed 25% of the index, and companies above 5% cannot together exceed 50%. As of June 30, 2026, the largest holdings were HDFC Bank (5.7%), Reliance Industries (5.5%), ICICI Bank (4.6%), Bharti Airtel (3.5%) and Infosys (2.1%). The top 10 made up about 30% of assets. The index was concentrated in financial services as of May 31, 2026, and the fund concentrates to the same degree.

The fund may hold every index stock at its index weight, or a representative sample when that isn't practical. A sample can widen tracking error, the gap between the fund's return and the index's. It may use stock futures and swaps to put cash to work, and currency contracts to settle trades. Portfolio turnover was 14%. Returns also rise and fall with the Indian rupee against the dollar.

• FLIN charges 0.19% a year, versus an average of 0.79% for the similar funds below (1st of 7, cheapest first).
• Using the prospectus's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost about $19 in the first year and $241 over 10 years (assuming a 5% annual return).

It is a single-country emerging-market stock fund that fell 40% in early 2020, so it fits as a small add-on rather than a foundation.

FLIN gives low-cost exposure to one country, India. It costs 0.19% a year, or $19 on $10,000 in the first year and $241 over 10 years in the SEC's standard example. The ride has been rough. The fund launched in 2018, so it has no record from the 2008 crisis. In the 2020 COVID crash it fell 40% between February 19 and March 23, then recovered by October 8, 2020. Its deepest drop, 41.9%, ran from February 2018 to March 2020. In 2022 it fell 19.6% and took until December 2023 to recover. It was down 13.4% in 2026 through October 27. Anyone forced to sell in a slump like these would lock in losses. Income is small: a 0.45% yield as of October 27, 2026, paid once a year. Past results don't predict future ones, and a plan should look at the whole portfolio, not one fund.

Matched by holdings overlap from the latest N-PORT reports.