497K 1 filing48893812.htm PRIMARY DOCUMENT

March 1, 2012

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 March 1, 2012, as may be supplemented, are all incorporated by reference into this Summary Prospectus.


Class A Class C Advisor Class
FRRAX FRRCX FARRX
 

Franklin
Investors Securities Trust

SUMMARY PROSPECTUS

Franklin
Real Return Fund

Franklin

Investment Goal

Total return that exceeds the rate of inflation over an economic cycle.

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 $100,000 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 66 of the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information.


SHAREHOLDER FEES (fees paid directly from your investment)
    Class A  Class C  Advisor
Class 
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases (as percentage of offering price)  4.25%  None  None 
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) (as percentage of the lower of original purchase price or sale proceeds)  None  1.00%  None 



ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
    Class A  Class C  Advisor
Class 
Management fees  0.41%  0.41%  0.41% 
Distribution and service (12b-1) fees  0.25%  0.65%  None 
Other expenses  0.39%  0.39%  0.39% 
Acquired fund fees and expenses1  0.01%  0.01%  0.01% 
Total annual Fund operating expenses  1.06%  1.46%  0.81% 
Fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement2  -0.15%  -0.15%  -0.15% 
Total annual Fund operating expenses after fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement1, 2  0.91%  1.31%  0.66% 

1. 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.

2. The investment manager and administrator have contractually agreed to waive or assume certain expenses so that common expenses (excluding Rule 12 b-1 fees and acquired fees and expenses) for each class of the Fund do not exceed 0.65% (other than certain non-routine expenses) until February 28, 2013.The investment manager has contractually agreed in advance to reduce its fee as a result of the Fund's investment in a Franklin Templeton money fund (acquired fund) for at least the next 12-month period. Contractual fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement agreements may not be terminated during the terms set forth above.


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 waiver and/or expense reimbursement by the investment manager and/or administrator 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    $ 514  $ 734  $ 971  $ 1,651 
Class C    $ 233  $ 447  $ 783  $ 1,733 
Advisor Class    $ 67  $ 244  $ 435  $ 988 
If you do not sell your shares: 
Class C    $ 133  $ 447  $ 783  $ 1,733 

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 37.60% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal Investment Strategies

Under normal market conditions, the Fund seeks to allocate assets among investments to achieve the highest level of real return (total return less the rate of inflation) consistent with an acceptable level of risk. The Fund shifts its investments among the following general asset classes: inflation-indexed securities issued by governments, corporations and municipal issuers; investment grade and high-yield fixed-income securities issued by governments, corporations and municipal issuers; equity securities with high correlation to broad measures of inflation; and short-term non-dollar denominated debt securities.

Inflation-indexed securities are fixed-income securities that are structured to provide protection against inflation. The value of the security’s principal or the interest income paid on the security is adjusted to track changes in an official inflation measure. The U.S. Treasury uses the Consumer Price Index for Urban Consumers as the inflation measure. Inflation-indexed securities issued by a foreign government are generally adjusted to reflect a comparable inflation index, calculated by that government.

The Fund invests primarily in investment grade debt securities; however, the Fund may invest up to 20% of its total assets in below investment grade debt securities.

The Fund may also invest up to 25% of its total assets in foreign securities, including both securities denominated in foreign currencies and U.S. dollar denominated securities of foreign issuers. For purposes of pursuing its investment goal, the Fund may enter into currency-related transactions involving certain derivative instruments, including currency and cross currency forwards. The use of derivative currency transactions may allow the Fund to reduce a specific risk exposure of a portfolio security or its denominated currency or to obtain net long exposure to selected currencies.

The Fund uses an active asset allocation strategy to try to achieve its goal of total return that exceeds the rate of inflation over an economic cycle by allocating its assets among securities in various market sectors based on the investment manager’s assessment of changing economic, global market, industry, and issuer conditions. The investment manager uses a “top-down” analysis of macroeconomic trends combined with a “bottom-up” fundamental analysis of market sectors, industries, and issuers to try to take advantage of varying sector reactions to economic events. The investment manager will evaluate country risk, business cycles, yield curves, and values between and within markets.

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.

Interest Rate   When interest rates rise, debt security prices generally fall. The opposite is also generally true: debt security prices rise when interest rates fall. In general, securities with longer maturities are more sensitive to these interest rate changes.

Inflation-Indexed Securities   Inflation-indexed securities have a tendency to react to changes in real interest rates. Real interest rates represent nominal (stated) interest rates lowered by the anticipated effect of inflation. In general, the price of an inflation-indexed security can decrease when real interest rates increase, and can increase when real interest rates decrease. Interest payments on inflation-indexed securities will fluctuate as the principal and/or interest is adjusted for inflation and can be unpredictable.

Foreign Securities   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.

Credit   An issuer of debt securities may fail to make interest payments and repay principal when due, in whole or in part. Changes in an issuer's financial strength or in a security's credit rating may affect a security's value.

High-Yield Debt Securities   Issuers of lower-rated or "high-yield" debt securities are not as strong financially as those issuing higher credit quality debt securities. These issuers are more likely to encounter financial difficulties and are more vulnerable to changes in the relevant economy, such as a recession or a sustained period of rising interest rates, that could affect their ability to make interest and principal payments when due. The prices of high-yield debt securities generally fluctuate more than those of higher credit quality. High-yield debt securities are generally more illiquid (harder to sell) and harder to value.

Income   Because the Fund can only distribute what it earns, the Fund's distributions to shareholders may decline when prevailing interest rates fall or when the Fund experiences defaults on debt securities it holds.

Derivative Instruments   The performance of derivative instruments (including currency related derivatives) depends largely on the performance of an underlying currency, security or index and such instruments often have risks similar to their underlying instrument, in addition to other risks. Derivatives involve costs and can create economic leverage in the Fund's portfolio which may result in significant volatility and cause the Fund to participate in losses (as well as enable gains) in an amount that exceeds the Fund's initial investment. Other risks include illiquidity, mispricing or improper valuation of the derivative instrument, and imperfect correlation between the value of the derivative and the underlying instrument so that the Fund may not realize the intended benefits. When used for hedging, the change in value of the derivative may also not correlate specifically with the currency, security or other risk being hedged. With over-the-counter derivatives, there is the risk that the other party to the transaction will fail to perform.

Market   The market values of securities owned by the Fund will go up and down, sometimes rapidly or unpredictably. A security’s market value 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 securities. When there are more sellers than buyers, prices tend to fall. Likewise, when there are more buyers than sellers, prices tend to rise.

Individual stock prices tend to go up and down more dramatically than those of other types of investments. A slower-growth or recessionary economic environment could have an adverse effect on the price of the various stocks held by the Fund.

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.

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 shows how the Fund's performance compares to a group of securities that aligns more closely with the Fund's investment strategies.

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:  Q1'08  3.88% 
Worst Quarter:  Q3'11  -5.51% 



AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS
(figures reflect sales charges)
For the periods ended December 31, 2011
    1 Year  5 Years  Since Inception
11/17/2004 
Franklin Real Return Fund - Class A         
         Return Before Taxes  -3.76%  3.67%  3.99% 
         Return After Taxes on Distributions  -5.17%  2.51%  2.76% 
         Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares  -2.41%  2.47%  2.70% 
Franklin Real Return Fund - Class C    -0.80%  3.96%  3.93% 
Franklin Real Return Fund - Advisor Class    0.79%  4.82%  4.89% 
Barclays Capital U.S. TIPS Index (index reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)  13.56%  7.95%  6.24% 
Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers - Non-Seasonally Adjusted (CPI-NSA) (index reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)  2.96%  2.26%  2.37% 

Historical performance for Class C shares prior to their inception is based on the performance of Advisor Class shares. Class C performance has been adjusted to reflect differences in sales charges and 12b-1 expenses 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

T. ANTHONY COFFEY, CFA   Vice President of Advisers and portfolio manager of the Fund since inception (2004).

KENT BURNS, CFA   Portfolio Manager of Advisers and portfolio manager of the Fund since inception (2004).

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. The minimum initial purchase for most accounts is $1,000 (or $50 under an automatic investment plan).

Taxes

The Fund's distributions are generally taxable to you as ordinary income, unless you are investing through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan or an individual retirement account.

Payments to Broker-Dealers and
Other Financial Intermediaries

If you purchase 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 Investments

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

Franklin
Real Return Fund

Investment Company Act file #811-04986

© 2012 Franklin Templeton Investments. All rights reserved.

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