| U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION | |||||
| WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549 | |||||
| FORM N-17F-2 | |||||
| CERTIFICATE OF ACCOUNTING OF SECURITIES AND SIMILAR INVESTMENTS IN THE | |||||
| CUSTODY OF MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT COMPANIES | |||||
| PURSUANT TO RULE N-17F-2 | |||||
| 1. Investment Company Act File Number: | Date Examination completed: | ||||
| 811 | -05569 | March 8, 2013 | |||
| 2. State Identification Number: | |||||
| AL | AK | AZ | AR | CA | CO |
| CT | DE | DC | FL | GA | HI |
| ID | IL | IN | IA | KS | KY |
| LA | ME | MD | MA | MI | MN |
| MS | MO | MT | NE | NV | NH |
| NJ | NM | NY | NC | ND | OH |
| OK | OR | PA | RI | SC | SD |
| TN | TX | UT | VT | VA | WA |
| WV | WI | WY | PUERTO RICO | ||
| 3. Exact name of investment company as specified in registration statement: | |||||
| Franklin Universal Trust | |||||
| 4. Address of principal executive office: (number, street, city, state, zip | |||||
| code) | |||||
| One Franklin Parkway, San Mateo, CA 94403 | |||||
| [PWC LOGO] |
| Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm |
| To the Board of Trustees of |
| Franklin Templeton Limited Duration Income Trust |
| Templeton Global Investment Trust |
| Franklin Real Estate Securities Trust |
| Franklin Strategic Series |
| Franklin High Income Trust |
| Franklin Money Fund |
| Franklin Templeton Money Fund Trust |
| Institutional Fiduciary Trust |
| Franklin Global Trust |
| Franklin Gold and Precious Metals Fund |
| Franklin Universal Trust |
| Templeton China World Fund |
| Templeton Emerging Markets Fund |
| Templeton Emerging Markets Income Fund |
| Templeton Global Income Fund |
| Templeton Income Trust |
| Franklin Custodian Funds |
| Franklin Strategic Mortgage Portfolio |
| Franklin Investors Securities Trust |
| Franklin Templeton Global Trust |
| Franklin Templeton International Trust |
| Franklin Value Investors Trust |
| Templeton Developing Markets Trust |
| Franklin Templeton Fund Allocator Series |
| Franklin Templeton Variable Insurance Products Trust |
| Templeton Institutional Funds |
| and the Board of Directors of |
| Templeton Russia and East European Fund, Inc. |
| Templeton Dragon Fund, Inc. |
| PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, 300 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10017 |
| T: (646) 471 3000, F: (646) 471 8320, www.pwc.com/us |
| We have examined management's assertion, included in the accompanying | ||
| Management Statement Regarding Compliance with Certain Provisions of the | ||
| Investment Company Act of 1940, that the funds (see Attachment I), | ||
| (hereafter referred to as the “Funds”) complied with the requirements of | ||
| subsections (b) and (c) of Rule 17f-2 under the Investment Company Act of | ||
| 1940 (“the Act”) as of December 31, 2012. | Management is responsible for the | |
| Funds' compliance with those requirements. | Our responsibility is to express | |
| an opinion on management's assertion about the Funds' compliance based on | ||
| our examination. | ||
| Our examination was conducted in accordance with the standards of the Public | ||
| Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) and, accordingly, | ||
| included examining, on a test basis, evidence about the Funds' compliance | ||
| with those requirements and performing such other procedures as we | ||
| considered necessary in the circumstances. | Included among our procedures | |
| were the following tests performed as of December 31, 2012 and with respect | ||
| to agreement of security purchases and sales, for the periods indicated in | ||
| Attachment I: | ||
| • | Without prior notice to management, confirmation of all securities | |
| held by Franklin Templeton Investors Services, Inc., transfer agent, | ||
| as they pertain to the security positions owned by the Funds and held | ||
| in book entry form. | ||
| • | Reconciliation of such security positions to the books and records of | |
| the Funds. | ||
| • | Agreement of 100 security purchases and 100 security sales, since our | |
| last report, from the books and records of the Funds to the records of | ||
| the transfer agent. | ||
| We believe that our examination provides a reasonable basis for our opinion. | ||
| Our examination does not provide a legal determination on the Funds' | ||
| compliance with specified requirements. | ||
| In our opinion, management's assertion that the Funds were in compliance | ||
| with the requirements of subsections (b) and (c) of Rule 17f-2 of the | ||
| Investment Company Act of 1940 as of December 31, 2012 with respect to | ||
| securities reflected in the investment accounts of the Funds is fairly | ||
| stated, in all material respects. | ||
| This report is intended solely for the information and use of, management, | ||
| the Board of Trustees and Board of Directors and the Securities and Exchange | ||
| Commission and is not intended to be and should not be used by anyone other | ||
| than these specified parties. | ||
| /s/PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS, LLP | ||
| PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP | ||
| March 8, 2013 | ||
| Attachment I | |
| Fund | Period |
| Franklin Templeton Limited Duration Income | |
| Trust | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Templeton Global Investment Trust: | |
| Templeton BRIC Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Templeton Emerging Markets Balanced Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Templeton Emerging Markets Small Cap Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Templeton Frontier Markets Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Templeton Global Balanced Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Templeton Russia and East European Fund, Inc. | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin Real Estate Securities Trust: | |
| Franklin Real Estate Securities Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin Strategic Series: | |
| Franklin Biotechnology Discovery Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin Flex Cap Growth Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin Focused Core Equity Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin Growth Opportunities Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin Natural Resources Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin Small Cap Growth Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin Small-Mid Cap Growth Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin Strategic Income Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin High Income Trust: | |
| Franklin High Income Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin Money Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin Templeton Money Fund Trust: | |
| Franklin Templeton Money Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Institutional Fiduciary Trust: | |
| Money Market Portfolio | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin Global Trust: | |
| Franklin International Growth Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin Large Cap Equity Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin Templeton Emerging Market Debt | |
| Opportunities Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin Gold and Precious Metals Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin Universal Trust | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Templeton China World Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Attachment I | |
| Templeton Emerging Markets Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Templeton Emerging Markets Income Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Templeton Global Income Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Templeton Income Trust: | |
| Templeton Global Bond Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Templeton Global Total Return Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Templeton International Bond Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin Custodian Funds: | |
| Franklin DynaTech Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin Growth Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin Income Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin U.S. Government Securities Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin Utilities Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin Strategic Mortgage Portfolio | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin Investors Securities Trust: | |
| Franklin Adjustable U.S. Government | |
| Securities Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin Balanced Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin Convertible Securities Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin Equity Income Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin Floating Rate Daily Access Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin Limited Maturity U.S. Government | |
| Securities Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin Low Duration Total Return Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin Total Return Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin Templeton Global Trust: | |
| Franklin Templeton Hard Currency | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin Templeton International Trust: | |
| Franklin India Growth Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin Templeton Global Allocation Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin World Perspectives Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin Value Investors Trust: | |
| Franklin All Cap Value Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin Balance Sheet Investment Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin Large Cap Value Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin MicroCap Value Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin MidCap Value Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin Small Cap Value Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Templeton Developing Markets Trust | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Attachment I | |
| Franklin Templeton Fund Allocator Series: | |
| Franklin Templeton 2015 Retirement Target | |
| Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin Templeton 2025 Retirement Target | |
| Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin Templeton 2035 Retirement Target | |
| Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin Templeton 2045 Retirement Target | |
| Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin Templeton Conservative Allocation | |
| Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin Templeton Corefolio Allocation Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin Templeton Founding Funds Allocation | |
| Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin Templeton Growth Allocation Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin Templeton Moderate Allocation Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin Templeton Multi-Asset Real Return | |
| Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin Templeton Variable Insurance Products | |
| Trust: | |
| Franklin Flex Cap Growth Securities Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin Large Cap Value Securities Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin Rising Dividends Securities Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin Small Cap Value Securities Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin Small-Mid Cap Growth Securities | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin Strategic Income Securities Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Franklin Templeton VIP Founding Funds | |
| Allocation Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Templeton Developing Markets Securities Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Templeton Foreign Securities Fund | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Templeton Dragon Fund, Inc. | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Templeton Institutional Funds: | |
| Foreign Equity Series | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |
| Emerging Markets Series | August 1, 2012-December 31, 2012 |