Established on September 23, 1988, Franklin Universal Trust operates as a U.S.-domiciled, closed-end balanced mutual fund. It was initiated by Franklin Resources, Inc. and is actively managed by Franklin Advisers, Inc. The fund directs its capital towards the public equity and fixed income markets throughout the United States, specifically focusing its equity investments on the utility sector. Employing fundamental analysis, it constructs a diverse portfolio comprising corporate debt instruments and dividend-yielding utility stocks. For performance evaluation, the trust measures its equity holdings against the S&P 500 Electric Utilities Index, while its fixed income components are benchmarked against the Credit Suisse High Yield.