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SUMMARY PROSPECTUS

 

Franklin DynaTech Fund

Franklin Custodian Funds

February 1, 2019  as amended February 26, 2019

Franklin Templeton


Class A Class C Class R Class R6 Advisor Class
FKDNX FDYNX FDNRX FDTRX FDYZX
 


Before you invest, you may want to review the Fund's prospectus, which contains more information about the Fund and its risks. You can find the Fund’s prospectus, statement of additional information and other information about the Fund online at www.franklintempleton.com/prospectus. You can also get this information at no cost by calling (800) DIAL BEN/342-5236 or by sending an e-mail request to prospectus@franklintempleton.com. The Fund's prospectus and statement of additional information, both dated February 1, 2019, as may be supplemented, are all incorporated by reference into this Summary Prospectus.


Internet Delivery of Fund Reports Unless You Request Paper Copies: Effective January 1, 2021, as permitted by the SEC, paper copies of the Fund's shareholder reports will no longer be sent by mail, unless you specifically request them from the Fund or your financial intermediary. Instead, the reports will be made available on a website, and you will be notified by mail each time a report is posted and provided with a website link to access the report.

If you already elected to receive shareholder reports electronically, you will not be affected by this change and you need not take any action. If you have not signed up for electronic delivery, we would encourage you to join fellow shareholders who have. You may elect to receive shareholder reports and other communications electronically from the Fund by calling (800) 632-2301 or by contacting your financial intermediary.

You may elect to continue to receive paper copies of all your future shareholder reports free of charge by contacting your financial intermediary or, if you invest directly with a Fund, calling (800) 632-2301 to let the Fund know of your request. Your election to receive reports in paper will apply to all funds held in your account.





Franklin DynaTech Fund

Investment Goal

Capital appreciation.

Fees and Expenses of the Fund

These tables describe the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. You may qualify for sales charge discounts in Class A if you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in Franklin Templeton funds. More information about these and other discounts is available from your financial professional and under “Your Account” on page 118 in the Fund's Prospectus and under “Buying and Selling Shares” on page 82 of the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information. In addition, more information about sales charge discounts and waivers for purchases of shares through specific financial intermediaries is set forth in Appendix A - "Intermediary Sales Charge Discounts and Waivers" to the Fund's prospectus.

Please note that the tables and examples below do not reflect any transaction fees that may be charged by financial intermediaries, or commissions that a shareholder may be required to pay directly to its financial intermediary when buying or selling Class R6 or Advisor Class shares.


Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)

    Class A  Class C1  Class R  Class R6  Advisor Class 
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases (as percentage of offering price)  5.50%  None  None  None  None 
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) (as percentage of the lower of original purchase price or sale proceeds)  None2  1.00%  None  None  None 

1. Effective October 5, 2018, Class C shares of the Fund convert automatically to Class A shares of the Fund on a monthly basis in the month of, or the month following, the 10-year anniversary of the Class C shares’ purchase date. Such conversions are on the basis of the relative net asset values of the two classes, are not subject to Class A shares’ sales charges and are not expected to be a taxable event for federal income tax purposes. Certain shares that are invested through retirement plans, omnibus accounts or in certain other instances may not automatically convert if the financial intermediary does not have the ability to track purchases to credit individual shareholders’ holding periods. (See “Your Account – Choosing a Share Class – Sales Charges - Class C – Automatic Conversion of Class C Shares to Class A Shares After 10-Year Holding Period” for more information.)

2. There is a 1% contingent deferred sales charge that applies to investments of $1 million or more (see "Investments of $1 Million or More – DynaTech and Growth Funds" under "Choosing a Share Class") and purchases by certain retirement plans without an initial sales charge on shares sold within 18 months of purchase.


Annual Fund Operating Expenses

(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

    Class A  Class C  Class R  Class R6  Advisor Class 
Management fees  0.46%  0.46%  0.46%  0.46%  0.46% 
Distribution and service (12b-1) fees  0.25%  1.00%  0.50%  None  None 
Other expenses  0.15%  0.15%  0.15%  0.04%1  0.15% 
Acquired fund fees and expenses2  0.01%  0.01%  0.01%  0.01%  0.01% 
Total annual Fund operating expenses2  0.87%  1.62%  1.12%  0.51%1  0.62% 

1. The transfer agent has contractually agreed to cap transfer agency fees for Class R6 shares of the Fund so that transfer agency fees for that class do not exceed 0.03% until January 31, 2020. Contractual fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement agreements may not be changed or terminated during the time period set forth above.

2. Total annual Fund operating expenses differ from the ratio of expenses to average net assets shown in the Financial Highlights, which reflect the operating expenses of the Fund and do not include acquired fund fees and expenses.

Example

This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of the period. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund's operating expenses remain the same. The Example reflects adjustments made to the Fund's operating expenses due to the fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements by management for the 1 Year numbers only. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

    1 Year  3 Years  5 Years  10 Years 
Class A    $ 634  $ 812  $ 1,006  $ 1,564 
Class C    $ 265  $ 511  $ 881  $ 1,922 
Class R    $ 114  $ 356  $ 617  $ 1,363 
Class R6    $ 52  $ 164  $ 285  $ 640 
Advisor Class    $ 63  $ 199  $ 346  $ 774 
If you do not sell your shares: 
Class C    $ 165  $ 511  $ 881  $ 1,922 

Portfolio Turnover

The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual Fund operating expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund's performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 17.22% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

Under normal market conditions, the Fund seeks investments primarily in equity securities of companies that the investment manager believes are leaders in innovation, take advantage of new technologies, have superior management, and benefit from new industry conditions in the dynamically changing global economy. The Fund invests predominantly in common stock.

In pursuing these objectives, the investment manager may invest in companies in any economic sector or of any market capitalization and may invest in companies both inside and outside of the United States. Although the investment manager searches for investments across a large number of sectors, it expects to have significant positions in particular sectors including, for example, technology and health care.

The investment manager uses fundamental, "bottom-up" research to seek companies meeting its criteria of growth potential, quality and valuation. In seeking sustainable growth characteristics, the investment manager looks for companies it believes can produce sustainable earnings and cash flow growth, evaluating the long-term market opportunity and competitive structure of an industry to target leaders and emerging leaders.

Principal Risks

You could lose money by investing in the Fund. Mutual fund shares are not deposits or obligations of, or guaranteed or endorsed by, any bank, and are not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Reserve Board, or any other agency of the U.S. government.

Market   The market values of securities or other investments owned by the Fund will go up or down, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably. The market value of a security or other investment may be reduced by market activity or other results of supply and demand unrelated to the issuer. This is a basic risk associated with all investments. When there are more sellers than buyers, prices tend to fall. Likewise, when there are more buyers than sellers, prices tend to rise.

Stock prices tend to go up and down more dramatically than those of debt securities. A slower-growth or recessionary economic environment could have an adverse effect on the prices of the various stocks held by the Fund.

Focus   The technology sector has historically been volatile due to the rapid pace of product change and development within the sector. Companies in the technology sector may be affected by worldwide technological developments, the success of their products and services (which may be outdated quickly), anticipated products or services that are delayed or cancelled, and investor perception of the company and/or its products or services. The activities of health care companies may be funded or subsidized by federal and state governments and changes in funding may adversely affect the profitability of these companies. Technology and health care companies may also be affected by legislation or changes in government regulation and policies.

Smaller and Midsize Companies   Securities issued by smaller and midsize companies may be more volatile in price than those of larger companies, involve substantial risks and should be considered speculative. Such risks may include greater sensitivity to economic conditions, less certain growth prospects, and lack of depth of management and funds for growth and development. They may also have limited product lines or be developing or marketing new products or services for which markets are not yet established and may never become established. In addition, smaller and midsize companies may be particularly affected by interest rate increases, as they may find it more difficult to borrow money to continue or expand operations, or may have difficulty in repaying any loans.

Foreign Securities (non-U.S.)   Investing in foreign securities typically involves more risks than investing in U.S. securities, including risks related to currency exchange rates and policies, country or government specific issues, less favorable trading practices or regulation and greater price volatility. Certain of these risks also may apply to securities of U.S. companies with significant foreign operations.

Management   The Fund is subject to management risk because it is an actively managed investment portfolio. The Fund's investment manager applies investment techniques and risk analyses in making investment decisions for the Fund, but there can be no guarantee that these decisions will produce the desired results.

Growth Style Investing   Growth stock prices reflect projections of future earnings or revenues, and can, therefore, fall dramatically if the company fails to meet those projections. Prices of these companies’ securities may be more volatile than other securities, particularly over the short term.

Performance

The following bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. The bar chart shows changes in the Fund's performance from year to year for Class A shares. The table shows how the Fund's average annual returns for 1 year, 5 years, 10 years or since inception, as applicable, compared with those of a broad measure of market performance. The Fund's past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. You can obtain updated performance information at franklintempleton.com or by calling (800) DIAL BEN/342-5236.

The secondary index in the table below show how the Fund's performance compares to other groups of securities.

Sales charges are not reflected in the bar chart, and if those charges were included, returns would be less than those shown.

Class A Annual Total Returns


Best Quarter:  Q1'12  18.69% 
Worst Quarter:  Q4'18  -17.18% 


Average Annual Total Returns
(figures reflect sales charges)

For the periods ended December 31, 2018

    1 Year  5 Years  10 Years 
Franklin DynaTech Fund - Class A         
         Return Before Taxes  -2.86%  9.77%  15.88% 
         Return After Taxes on Distributions  -3.45%  9.06%  15.36% 
         Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares  -1.19%  7.63%  13.43% 
Franklin DynaTech Fund - Class C    1.04%  10.19%  15.67% 
Franklin DynaTech Fund - Class R    2.56%  10.74%  16.26% 
Franklin DynaTech Fund - Class R6    3.17%  11.46%  15.09%1 
Franklin DynaTech Fund - Advisor Class    3.07%  11.30%  16.84% 
Russell 1000® Growth Index (index reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)  -1.51%  10.41%  15.29% 
S&P 500® Index (index reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)  -4.38%  8.50%  13.12% 

1. Since inception May 1, 2013.

No one index is representative of the Fund's portfolio.

The figures in the average annual total returns table above reflect the Class A maximum front-end sales charge of 5.50%. Prior to September 10, 2018, Class A shares were subject to a maximum front-end sales charge of 5.75%. If the prior maximum front-end sales charge of 5.75% was reflected, performance for Class A in the average annual total returns table would be lower.

Historical performance for Class R and Advisor Class shares prior to their inception is based on the performance of Class A shares. Class R and Advisor Class performance have been adjusted to reflect differences in sales charges and 12b-1 expenses (with respect to Class R only) between classes.

The after-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor's tax situation and may differ from those shown. After-tax returns are not relevant to investors who hold their Fund shares through tax-deferred arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts. After-tax returns are shown only for Class A and after-tax returns for other classes will vary.

Investment Manager

Franklin Advisers, Inc. (Advisers)

Portfolio Managers

Matthew J. Moberg, CPA   Vice President of Advisers and portfolio manager of the Fund since 2004.

Rupert H. Johnson, Jr.   Director of Advisers and portfolio manager of the Fund since its inception (1968).

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

You may purchase or redeem shares of the Fund on any business day online through our website at franklintempleton.com, by mail (Franklin Templeton Investor Services, P.O. Box 997151, Sacramento, CA 95899-7151), or by telephone at (800) 632-2301. For Class A, C and R, the minimum initial purchase for most accounts is $1,000 (or $25 under an automatic investment plan). Class R6 and Advisor Class are only available to certain qualified investors and the minimum initial investment will vary depending on the type of qualified investor, as described under "Your Account — Choosing a Share Class — Qualified Investors — Class R6" and "— Advisor Class" in the Fund's prospectus. There is no minimum investment for subsequent purchases.

Taxes

The Fund's distributions are generally taxable to you as capital gains, unless you are investing through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account, in which case your distributions would generally be taxed when withdrawn from the tax-deferred account.

Payments to Broker-Dealers and
Other Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the Fund and its related companies may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your financial advisor or visit your financial intermediary's website for more information.


Franklin Templeton

Franklin Templeton Distributors, Inc.
One Franklin Parkway
San Mateo, CA 94403-1906
franklintempleton.com

Franklin DynaTech Fund

Investment Company Act file #811-00537

© 2019 Franklin Templeton Investments. All rights reserved.

108 PSUM 03/19

00070361