Alan Muschott is a vice president and portfolio manager with Franklin Equity Group. Mr. Muschott is the lead portfolio manager of the Franklin Convertible Securities Fund and Franklin Global Convertible Securities Fund.

He is also a portfolio manager of the Franklin Balanced Fund as well as the Franklin Equity Income Fund and Franklin Templeton Variable Insurance Products (FTVIP) Growth and Income Fund.

Mr. Muschott joined Franklin Templeton in August 1998. His portfolio management responsibilities have included serving as a co-manager of Franklin's communications funds including the Franklin Global Communications Fund, FTVIPT Global Communications Fund, and the Franklin World Telecom Fund.

Mr. Muschott's prior equity research responsibilities included the analysis of the data storage industry, the cable television industry, and the global telecommunications industry. Mr. Muschott's prior corporate debt credit research responsibilities included the analysis of the global telecommunications industry.

Mr. Muschott holds a B.S. in finance from Bradley University, a J.D. from the University of Illinois, and an M.B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Mr. Muschott is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder, a member of the Association for Investment Management and Research, and the Security Analysts of San Francisco (SASF).