Martin Currie Sustainable International Equity ETF

Martin Currie Sustainable International Equity ETF (MCSE) is an actively managed Franklin Templeton fund that hand-picks mostly non-US companies passing its manager's environmental, social and governance (ESG) screens, led by TSMC, ASML and Ferrari as of December 31, 2025. With just 28 stocks, it is highly concentrated, and its 0.59% annual fee is well above the 0.11% average for similar funds. It also held only about $4.3 million in assets at that date.

• Over the year to Oct 27, 2026, MCSE returned -2.1%, 7th of 7 among similar funds.
• Its worst full calendar year was 2024 (-9.5%); its best was 2023 (+14.8%).
• The deepest fall in its price history was 26.4% (Mar 7, 2024 to Apr 8, 2025), not yet recovered.

As of Dec 31, 2025, the fund held 28 securities; the ten largest made up 51.59% of assets.

• Over the three months to Dec 31, 2025, investors withdrew a net $27.6M (creations minus redemptions, per the N-PORT report).
• Monthly total returns reported for that quarter: -0.56%, -0.70%, +0.79%.

MCSE does not track an index. A sub-advisor, the firm running the portfolio, picks companies it expects to earn high, lasting returns on invested capital (profit relative to the money put into the business), buys at reasonable prices and holds for the long term. At least 80% of net assets go into foreign companies in at least three countries, developed or emerging, typically valued above $3 billion. The prospectus expects 20 to 40 holdings; there were 28 as of December 31, 2025.

Every candidate gets the sub-advisor's risk ratings from 1 (low) to 5 (high) for governance and sustainability (environmental and social issues such as pollution and water use). A 4 or higher on either rules it out. The fund also avoids companies earning about 5% or more of revenue from producing tobacco or weapons or from extracting fossil fuels, plus metals and mining companies. These rules can change without shareholder approval or notice.

It may sell when a rating rises to 4 or more, a company breaks an exclusion, a stock nears its price target, or conviction fades after a poor run. Yearly turnover, the share of holdings replaced, was 18.47%. Position sizes are the sub-advisor's call, and as a non-diversified fund it can concentrate: the top 10 were 51.59% of assets.

• MCSE charges 0.59% a year, versus an average of 0.11% for the similar funds below (7th of 7, cheapest first).
• Using the prospectus's standard example, $10,000 invested would cost about $60 in the first year and $738 over 10 years (assuming a 5% annual return).

With 28 manager-picked stocks and a non-diversified structure, it is a focused bet on a handful of international companies, not broad market exposure.

MCSE could add a concentrated slice of international companies that pass environmental, social and governance (ESG) screens. Its four-year ETF price history misses the 2008, 2020 and 2022 downturns, though the prospectus shows a 30.89% loss in 2022. Its worst calendar year as an ETF was 2024, down 9.5%. Its deepest drop, 26.4% from March 7, 2024, to April 8, 2025, was not recovered by October 27, 2026, so anyone selling shares for spending in that stretch sold below the earlier high.

It pays income once a year; the trailing yield was 3.76% as of October 27, 2026, but one annual payment can vary widely. Its 0.59% fee, against a 0.11% average for similar funds, works out to $738 over 10 years on $10,000 in the SEC's standard example. Past results don't predict the future, and a plan should weigh the whole portfolio, not one fund.

Matched by closest holdings overlap from the latest N-PORT reports (no similar fund shares 20% or more of its holdings).