Volatile financial markets and economic recession weighed heavily on investors during 2008—so much so that comparisons to the Great Depression started popping up in the news. This led me to reflect on two investment managers who got their start during that era and the lessons they shared with me.

The first of these mentors was my father, Rupert H. Johnson, Sr. He started a retail securities brokerage firm in 1927 and steered the business through some of the most difficult years this nation and its financial markets have endured. His entrepreneurial drive was combined with a prudent approach to saving and investing. When he founded a mutual fund family in 1947, he named it after Benjamin Franklin because he believed that Franklin's proverbs contained timeless truths for investors. Hard work, perseverance and frugality...these virtues figured large in Franklin's sayings and in my father's approach to the business. They remain a constant in the company's culture today.

Another admirer of Benjamin Franklin was the late Sir John Templeton, who began his career on Wall Street in the 1930s. Sir John, the premier investor of the 20th century in my view, believed in investing with a bargain hunter's discipline. He would say that the time of maximum pessimism is the best time to buy, and the time of maximum optimism is the best time to sell. I think he would have viewed today's markets, where the prices of quality securities have been driven so low, as a time of tremendous investment opportunities.

As we enter 2009, investors' fears are the highest since the 1930s. Stocks of quality companies have been beaten down indiscriminately and yields on corporate and municipal bonds in relation to U.S. Treasuries are the highest since the Great Depression. The past 10-year period has been the worst for U.S. common stocks since the 1930s. However, since 1900, the worst 10-year periods for common stocks have historically been followed by periods of strong performance.¹

Shortly after Franklin Resources joined with the Templeton organization in 1992, I heard Sir John tell a group of investors, "The older I get the longer-term investor I become." He explained that short-term market movements are all about emotions. Over time, investments eventually become valued according to their fundamentals. The courage to invest when markets are in fear and the patience to hold investments over time were the foundation of Sir John's investment success.

So when I look at today's markets, I know that no one can accurately predict the next three or six months. However, I firmly believe that investors with the courage to invest today could benefit significantly over the next five- and ten-year periods.

This is a time when it is more important than ever for investors to review their current financial circumstances with their financial advisors.

Mutual funds continue to be one of the best options to invest in the markets. A mutual fund provides investment expertise in a package that also offers diversification, daily liquidity, transparency regarding strategies and holdings, use of a custodian to safeguard securities, full disclosure of investment risks, audited financial statements and prohibitions against self-dealing transactions. These basic attributes and safeguards of the mutual fund industry were set into law because of the Great Depression. Their value remains timeless as we consider lessons from recent market troubles.

Investors should carefully consider a fund's investment goals, risks, charges and expenses before investing. To obtain a prospectus, which contains this and other information, talk to your financial advisor, call us at 1-800 DIAL BEN (1-800/342-5236), or visit the prospectus section. Please carefully read the prospectus before you invest or send money.