Franklin Templeton Could Feel Darfur's Heat

Not every U.S. mutual fund is divesting itself of stakes in Darfur.

While manager Will Danoff at Fidelity's (FCNTX Quote)Contrafund is dumping his stake in PetroChina(PTR Quote), the Chinese company targeted by activists for its involvement with the Sudanese government, others are standing firm -- or going in the opposite direction.

One example: Franklin Templeton (BEN Quote), the fund company based in San Mateo, Calif. I looked though Franklin's public filings and found that between Dec. 31, 2006, and March 31 of this year, the company's investment funds nearly tripled their holdings in PetroChina to 156,699 American depositary receipts, or ADRs, from 61,194.

Most were held by Templeton's (TEDMX Quote)Developing Markets Trust mutual fund (TEDMX). Company spokeswoman Lisa Gallegos pointed out that the stake only amounted to about $20 million. ...