The company was founded in 1947 in New York by Rupert H. (Harris) Johnson Sr. (1900–1989), who ran a successful retail brokerage firm from an office on Wall Street. He named the company for American polymath Benjamin Franklin because Franklin espoused frugality and prudence when it came to saving and investing.
5 Largest Brokerage Firms of 2025 Brokerage FirmAssets Under Management Charles Schwab $10.1 trillion UBS $5.9 trillion Fidelity Investments $5.8 trillion JPMorgan Chase & Co. $4.05 trillion1 more row •
A brokerage account is suitable for hands-on investors who want to manage their portfolios actively. In contrast, mutual funds are managed by professionals. Fund managers or teams decide which securities to buy, sell, or hold. They base their decisions upon the fund's objectives and strategy.
FTDI is a broker-dealer registered with the Commission and headquartered in St. Petersburg, Florida. FTDI provides sales and marketing services and acts as the principal underwriter and distributor of shares of most of the U.S.-registered mutual funds in the Franklin Templeton Investments complex.
Over the past decade, Franklin Templeton has transformed into one of the world's largest asset managers built on a foundation of close partnerships with our clients and meeting their need for expertise across every major asset class in both public and private markets.
Find the agent with the most listings One simple, somewhat passive way to find the best real estate agent is to identify which agents have the most listings in your area. Experience with many clients indicates a certain amount of ambition and hustle.