Jenny Johnson - Co-President, Franklin Templeton Investments

Craig: Welcome to our Five on 5, we're excited to be joined by Jenny Johnson, Co-President of Franklin Templeton Investments, in town for the Women's Leadership Conference. Thanks for being here. I'm glad to see you. Jenny: It's a pleasure to be here. Craig: Tell us, first I want to ask you. You're Co-President of Investments at Franklin Templeton, congratulations. Jenny: Thank you. Craig: How the hell do you balance those duties and share that title, so to speak? Jenny: (Laughs) Well, it's a fairly new role since October and what happened is that we both had quite large areas of the business and we maintained them independently and now we're actually sharing the investment and the type of our alternative function and of solutions. .

We're a global asset management company and, you know, we make sure we meet every week and it's all about communications. We tend to have a very similar approach in styles, so I think it works pretty well and you know, so far we're good, we'll see. Craig: (Laughs) Six months later, it's a process. Jenny: We'll see how it develops, yes. Craig: Okay, very interesting. Okay, obviously you talked about Franklin Templeton Investments, known for its mutual funds. Tell us a little more. Obviously, there is a lot more going on within the company. Jenny: So Franklin Templeton is a global asset management company.

We have more than 750 billion in assets under management. We have offices in 35 countries and we really were the Templeton brand, it was really a pioneer in international and global

investments

. And that's why we have clients in 180 countries, so we are truly a global investment firm. Craig: Okay, so you're in town for the Women's Leadership Conference and we're filming this right now here in town, but it was actually a few days ago. Tell us what she talked about, what she said to the women at the conference. Jenny: So you know the conference was really designed for one, women networking with each other and two, to share with each other, how you're balancing work-life balance, one, how, as a woman, you're approaching your leadership. and be successful in anything you do.

The conference is made up of people from education to business to non-profits, so it really crosses the spectrum, but a lot of the issues that women face in whatever their career are the same, so we just share the experiences between them. Craig: Okay, very good. Alright, let's take a short break. We'll have much more in a moment, stay with us. Craig: Welcome back to our Five on 5, we're here again with Jenny Johnson, co-

president

of Franklin Templeton Investments. So you work in an industry that I'm told is largely dominated by men. What is Franklin Templeton's approach to diversity and why does he think it's an important issue for all people (sorry, all companies) to address?

Jenny: There have been a lot of studies now and really the term is diversity and inclusion, right? It would be nice to say we have a diverse group of people, but the question is: do these people feel included? And do you encourage them to include themselves? So that people put their whole being into work, right? You don't want to lose anything because people are afraid to share who they are. And studies have shown that when you get diverse perspectives to solve problems. In reality, you are much more effective at solving problems. That's why we think it's important for us to be open and that being open to that has a real message.

Our clients represent a diverse group of people and therefore it is important to ensure that we have that perspective within the firm in order to serve you. We're fortunate because, as I mentioned, operating in 35 countries, we naturally have to be able to incorporate multiple cultures, but we want to make sure we're inclusive in all settings of those cultures. Craig: As I understand it, you have 5 children, are they 3 girls and 2 boys? Jenny: 3 girls 2 boys, yes. Craig: Is that so? Well. So I'm curious how you balance that with your work life, but I really want to focus on the different advice you give your children, depending on their gender.

Do you tell your girls the same things you tell your sons, career advice and that kind of thing? Jenny: So my career advice to my children and none of them, none of my daughters follow me in my industry, at least as far as I know. You know, it's really doing what you love because you won't feel like you're working if you're doing what you love. Know. I think that's really important because if you pursue something because you feel like you have to instead of what you love, you spend a lot of time working. So that would be my first piece of advice.

I have a bit of unconventional advice that I often give to women. Which never happens, if you want to have children, people have their own choice on whether to have them or not. Never let your career affect the decision of when to do it. I have heard many women say "I wish I had done that sooner", I have never heard a woman say "that was too soon". And my experience has been with women who have children and incorporating it does not change the trajectory of their career. So that's my only advice: if my kids ask me that question, I'll give them that advice.

Craig: Interesting, okay. So you climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Kenya. Jenny: Yeah. Craig: Huge mountain, what did you learn about yourself from doing that? Jenny: So, you know, there's about 19,600 feet at the top. I didn't take any altitude pills, which I didn't need until I got to about 17,000 feet and then I had a splitting headache. Craig: Wow. Jenny: And you know, it's actually very similar to how I feel when facing any difficult problem, which is that if you think about the next 10,000 steps it can be overwhelming, but if you think about the next five steps, it's pretty manageable. .

So for me, when I got to the last 2,000 feet, it was really just, you know, keep moving forward. Keep doing the next step. Just focus on that and it was a great feeling. It's not a technical climb, it's more perseverance, okay, I'm going to get through this. Craig: Well, that's admirable, thank you very much for giving us some of your time. Jenny: It's my pleasure. Craig: It's a pleasure to meet you. Jenny: Thank you. Craig: Stay with us, we'll be right back.