Franklin Small-Cap Growth Fund Tries Hand at Livin' Large(r)

After buckling a bit under its mammoth asset base, the nation's biggest small-cap fund is broadening its menu, changing its name and opening its doors.

On Sept. 1, the broker-sold (FRSGX Quote)Franklin Small-Cap Growth fund, whose $11 billion in assets dwarfs its average peer's $315 million, will change its name to the Franklin Small-Mid Cap Growth fund and open to new investors. At that point the fund's co-managers, Edward Jamieson and Aidan O'Connell, will also be able to invest in companies with market caps as high as $8.5 billion, up from $4.9 billion.

Shareholders who bought the fund for pure exposure to small-cap stocks might have preferred it close before April 30 last year. The fund's big asset base seems to have forced its managers to focus on stocks of bigger companies, holding the fund back in recent years. ...