# EDGAR Filing Document

**Accession Number:** 0000872625
**File Stem:** 0001133228-26-007474
**Filing Date:** 2026-4
**Character Count:** 210130
**Document Hash:** e5b90f773a4c09ffcc650fdc96966d50
**Contains OCR:** False
**Source Format:** 

## Filing Content

## Filing Summary
**0001133228-26-007474.hdr.sgml**: 20260430

**ACCESSION NUMBER**: 0001133228-26-007474

**CONFORMED SUBMISSION TYPE**: N-CSRS

**PUBLIC DOCUMENT COUNT**: 26

**CONFORMED PERIOD OF REPORT**: 20260228

**FILED AS OF DATE**: 20260430

**DATE AS OF CHANGE**: 20260430

**EFFECTIVENESS DATE**: 20260430

**FILER**: 

**COMPANY DATA:**
- **COMPANY CONFORMED NAME:** FRANKLIN STRATEGIC SERIES
- **CENTRAL INDEX KEY:** 0000872625

**ORGANIZATION NAME:**
- **EIN:** 000000000
- **STATE OF INCORPORATION:** FL
- **FISCAL YEAR END:** 0430

**FILING VALUES:**
- **FORM TYPE:** N-CSRS
- **SEC ACT:** 1940 Act
- **SEC FILE NUMBER:** 811-06243
- **FILM NUMBER:** 26924128

**BUSINESS ADDRESS:**
- **STREET 1:** ONE FRANKLIN PARKWAY
- **CITY:** SAN MATEO
- **STATE:** CA
- **ZIP:** 94403-1906
- **BUSINESS PHONE:** 650-570-3000

**MAIL ADDRESS:**
- **STREET 1:** ONE FRANKLIN PARKWAY
- **CITY:** SAN MATEO
- **STATE:** CA
- **ZIP:** 94403-1906

**FORMER COMPANY:**
- **FORMER CONFORMED NAME:** FRANKLIN CALIFORNIA 250 GROWTH FUND
- **DATE OF NAME CHANGE:** 19911216

**FORMER COMPANY:**
- **FORMER CONFORMED NAME:** FRANKLIN CALIFORNIA 250 GROWTH INDEX FUND
- **DATE OF NAME CHANGE:** 19910917

## Series and Classes Contracts Data

### Franklin Templeton SMACS: Series CH (Series ID: S000065648)

| Class ID   | Class Name    | Ticker Symbol   |
|:---|:---|:---|
| C000212373 | Advisor Class | FQCHX           |

### Franklin Templeton SMACS: Series E (Series ID: S000065649)

| Class ID   | Class Name    | Ticker Symbol   |
|:---|:---|:---|
| C000212374 | Advisor Class | FQTEX           |

### Franklin Templeton SMACS: Series H (Series ID: S000065650)

| Class ID   | Class Name    | Ticker Symbol   |
|:---|:---|:---|
| C000212375 | Advisor Class | FGTHX           |

### Franklin Templeton SMACS: Series I (Series ID: S000065651)

| Class ID   | Class Name    | Ticker Symbol   |
|:---|:---|:---|
| C000212376 | Advisor Class | FGTIX           |

?xml version='1.0' encoding='ASCII'? 2026-03-1874200008300_FranklinTempletonSMACSSeriesCH_SingleClass_TSRSemiAnnual

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

**FORM N-CSR**

CERTIFIED SHAREHOLDER REPORT OF REGISTERED

MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT COMPANIES

Investment Company Act file number **811-06243**

**Franklin Strategic Series** 

(Exact name of registrant as specified in charter)

**One Franklin Parkway, San Mateo, CA 94403-1906**

(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip code)

Alison Baur

Franklin Templeton

One Franklin Parkway

San Mateo, CA 94403-1906

(Name and address of agent for service)

Registrant's telephone number, including area code: **(650) 312-2000**

Date of fiscal year end: **August 31**

Date of reporting period: **February 28, 2026**

ITEM 1. REPORT TO STOCKHOLDERS

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(a) The Report to Shareholders is filed herewith

---

| | |
|:---|:---|
| **Franklin Templeton SMACS: Series CH**  | ![image](img2199_202405220716489.jpg) |
| Semi-Annual Shareholder Report \| February 28, 2026  | ![image](img2199_202405220716489.jpg) |
| ![image](img2195_202408190904545.jpg) | ![image](img2195_202408190904545.jpg) |

---

This semi-annual shareholder report contains important information about Franklin Templeton SMACS: Series CH for the period September 1, 2025, to February 28, 2026.

You can find additional information about the Fund at https://www.franklintempleton.com/regulatory-fund-documents. You can also request this information by contacting us at (800) DIAL BEN/342-5236.

**WHAT WERE THE FUND COSTS FOR THE LAST SIX MONTHS?** (based on a hypothetical $10,000 investment)

---

| | | |
|:---|:---|:---|
| **Fund Name** | **Costs of a $10,000** **investment** | **Costs paid as a percentage of a** **$10,000 investment**<sup>\*</sup><sup>,</sup><sup>†</sup>  |
| Franklin Templeton SMACS: Series CH<sup>1</sup>  | $0 | 0.00% |

---

\* Reflects fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements, without which expenses would have been higher.

† Annualized.

1 Does not reflect the effect of fees and expenses associated with a separately managed account, or a management fee or other operating expenses of the Fund.

**KEY FUND STATISTICS** (as of February 28, 2026)

---

| | |
|:---|:---|
| **Total Net Assets** | $35948877 |
| **Total Number of Portfolio Holdings** | 86 |
| **Portfolio Turnover Rate** | 7.69% |

---

**WHAT DID THE FUND INVEST IN?** (as of February 28, 2026)

**Portfolio Composition**<sup>\*</sup> **(% of Total Investments)**

![image](ts6796img003.jpg)

\* Does not include derivatives, except purchased options, if any.

---

| | |
|:---|:---|
| ![image](img11308_202405310907293.jpg) | **WHERE CAN I FIND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE FUND?** |
| ![image](img11308_202405310907293.jpg) | Additional information is available on https://www.franklintempleton.com/regulatory-fund-documents, including its: |
| ![image](img11308_202405310907293.jpg) | • prospectus • proxy voting information • financial information • holdings • tax information |

---

Franklin Templeton SMACS: Series CH PAGE 1 3000-STSR-0426

------

---

| | |
|:---|:---|
| **Franklin Templeton SMACS: Series E**  | ![image](img2199_202405220716489.jpg) |
| Semi-Annual Shareholder Report \| February 28, 2026  | ![image](img2199_202405220716489.jpg) |
| ![image](img2195_202408190904545.jpg) | ![image](img2195_202408190904545.jpg) |

---

This semi-annual shareholder report contains important information about Franklin Templeton SMACS: Series E for the period September 1, 2025, to February 28, 2026.

You can find additional information about the Fund at https://www.franklintempleton.com/regulatory-fund-documents. You can also request this information by contacting us at (800) DIAL BEN/342-5236.

**WHAT WERE THE FUND COSTS FOR THE LAST SIX MONTHS?** (based on a hypothetical $10,000 investment)

---

| | | |
|:---|:---|:---|
| **Fund Name** | **Costs of a $10,000** **investment** | **Costs paid as a percentage of a** **$10,000 investment**<sup>\*</sup><sup>,</sup><sup>†</sup>  |
| Franklin Templeton SMACS: Series E<sup>1</sup>  | $0 | 0.00% |

---

\* Reflects fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements, without which expenses would have been higher.

† Annualized.

1 Does not reflect the effect of fees and expenses associated with a separately managed account, or a management fee or other operating expenses of the Fund.

**KEY FUND STATISTICS** (as of February 28, 2026)

---

| | |
|:---|:---|
| **Total Net Assets** | $531218082 |
| **Total Number of Portfolio Holdings** | 118 |
| **Portfolio Turnover Rate** | 54.54% |

---

**WHAT DID THE FUND INVEST IN?** (as of February 28, 2026)

**Portfolio Composition**<sup>\*</sup> **(% of Total Investments)**

![image](ts6795img003.jpg)

\* Does not include derivatives, except purchased options, if any.

---

| | |
|:---|:---|
| ![image](img11308_202405310907293.jpg) | **WHERE CAN I FIND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE FUND?** |
| ![image](img11308_202405310907293.jpg) | Additional information is available on https://www.franklintempleton.com/regulatory-fund-documents, including its: |
| ![image](img11308_202405310907293.jpg) | • prospectus • proxy voting information • financial information • holdings • tax information |

---

Franklin Templeton SMACS: Series E PAGE 1 3001-STSR-0426

------

---

| | |
|:---|:---|
| **Franklin Templeton SMACS: Series H**  | ![image](img2199_202405220716489.jpg) |
| Semi-Annual Shareholder Report \| February 28, 2026  | ![image](img2199_202405220716489.jpg) |
| ![image](img2195_202408190904545.jpg) | ![image](img2195_202408190904545.jpg) |

---

This semi-annual shareholder report contains important information about Franklin Templeton SMACS: Series H for the period September 1, 2025, to February 28, 2026.

You can find additional information about the Fund at https://www.franklintempleton.com/regulatory-fund-documents. You can also request this information by contacting us at (800) DIAL BEN/342-5236.

**WHAT WERE THE FUND COSTS FOR THE LAST SIX MONTHS?** (based on a hypothetical $10,000 investment)

---

| | | |
|:---|:---|:---|
| **Fund Name** | **Costs of a $10,000** **investment** | **Costs paid as a percentage of a** **$10,000 investment**<sup>\*</sup><sup>,</sup><sup>†</sup>  |
| Franklin Templeton SMACS: Series H<sup>1</sup>  | $0 | 0.00% |

---

\* Reflects fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements, without which expenses would have been higher.

† Annualized.

1 Does not reflect the effect of fees and expenses associated with a separately managed account, or a management fee or other operating expenses of the Fund.

**KEY FUND STATISTICS** (as of February 28, 2026)

---

| | |
|:---|:---|
| **Total Net Assets** | $41846001 |
| **Total Number of Portfolio Holdings** | 223 |
| **Portfolio Turnover Rate** | 9.15% |

---

**WHAT DID THE FUND INVEST IN?** (as of February 28, 2026)

**Portfolio Composition**<sup>\*</sup> **(% of Total Investments)**

![image](ts6793img003.jpg)

\* Does not include derivatives, except purchased options, if any.

---

| | |
|:---|:---|
| ![image](img11308_202405310907293.jpg) | **WHERE CAN I FIND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE FUND?** |
| ![image](img11308_202405310907293.jpg) | Additional information is available on https://www.franklintempleton.com/regulatory-fund-documents, including its: |
| ![image](img11308_202405310907293.jpg) | • prospectus • proxy voting information • financial information • holdings • tax information |

---

Franklin Templeton SMACS: Series H PAGE 1 3002-STSR-0426

------

---

| | |
|:---|:---|
| **Franklin Templeton SMACS: Series I**  | ![image](img2199_202405220716489.jpg) |
| Semi-Annual Shareholder Report \| February 28, 2026  | ![image](img2199_202405220716489.jpg) |
| ![image](img2195_202408190904545.jpg) | ![image](img2195_202408190904545.jpg) |

---

This semi-annual shareholder report contains important information about Franklin Templeton SMACS: Series I for the period September 1, 2025, to February 28, 2026.

You can find additional information about the Fund at https://www.franklintempleton.com/regulatory-fund-documents. You can also request this information by contacting us at (800) DIAL BEN/342-5236.

**WHAT WERE THE FUND COSTS FOR THE LAST SIX MONTHS?** (based on a hypothetical $10,000 investment)

---

| | | |
|:---|:---|:---|
| **Fund Name** | **Costs of a $10,000** **investment** | **Costs paid as a percentage of a** **$10,000 investment**<sup>\*</sup><sup>,</sup><sup>†</sup>  |
| Franklin Templeton SMACS: Series I<sup>1</sup>  | $0 | 0.00% |

---

\* Reflects fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements, without which expenses would have been higher.

† Annualized.

1 Does not reflect the effect of fees and expenses associated with a separately managed account, or a management fee or other operating expenses of the Fund.

**KEY FUND STATISTICS** (as of February 28, 2026)

---

| | |
|:---|:---|
| **Total Net Assets** | $784848097 |
| **Total Number of Portfolio Holdings** | 178 |
| **Portfolio Turnover Rate** | 20.79% |

---

**WHAT DID THE FUND INVEST IN?** (as of February 28, 2026)

**Portfolio Composition**<sup>\*</sup> **(% of Total Investments)**

![image](ts6792img003.jpg)

\* Does not include derivatives, except purchased options, if any.

---

| | |
|:---|:---|
| ![image](img11308_202405310907293.jpg) | **WHERE CAN I FIND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE FUND?** |
| ![image](img11308_202405310907293.jpg) | Additional information is available on https://www.franklintempleton.com/regulatory-fund-documents, including its: |
| ![image](img11308_202405310907293.jpg) | • prospectus • proxy voting information • financial information • holdings • tax information |

---

Franklin Templeton SMACS: Series I PAGE 1 3003-STSR-0426

------

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(b) Not applicable

ITEM 2. CODE OF ETHICS.

Not applicable

ITEM 3. AUDIT COMMITTEE FINANCIAL EXPERT.

Not applicable

ITEM 4. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES.

Not applicable.

ITEM 5. AUDIT COMMITTEE OF LISTED REGISTRANTS.

Not applicable*.*

ITEM 6. SCHEDULE OF INVESTMENTS.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(a) Please see schedule of investments contained in the Financial Statements and Financial
 Highlights included under Item 7 of this Form N-CSR.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(b) Not applicable.

ITEM 7. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS FOR OPEN-END MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT COMPANIES.

#### Franklin

#### Strategic

#### Series

#### Financial

#### Statements

#### and

#### Other

#### Important

#### Information

#### Semi-Annual
\|

February

28,

2026

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### CH

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### E

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### H

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### I

#### If

#### you

#### need

#### assistance

#### accessing

#### this

#### content,

#### please

#### reach

#### out

#### to

#### your

#### sales

#### representative

#### or

#### send

#### an

#### email

#### to

#### accessibility@franklintempleton.com

#### .

#### Table

#### of

#### Contents
franklintempleton.com

Financial

Statements

and

Other

Important

Information—Semiannual

Financial

Highlights

and

Schedules

of

Investments

#### 2
Financial

Statements

#### 33
Notes

to

Financial

Statements

#### 37
Changes

In

and

Disagreements

with

Accountants

#### 49
Results

of

Meeting(s)

of

Shareholders

Remuneration

Paid

to

Directors,

Officers

and

Others

Board

Approval

of

Management

and

Subadvisory

Agreements

Franklin

Strategic

Series

Financial

Highlights

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### CH
franklintempleton.com

Semiannual

Report

The

accompanying

notes

are

an

integral

part

of

these

financial

statements.

a

#### Six

#### Months

#### Ended

#### February

#### 28,

#### 2026
(unaudited)

#### Year

#### Ended

#### August

#### 31,

#### 2025

#### 2024

#### 2023

#### 2022

#### 2021

#### Per

#### share

#### operating

#### performance
(for

a

share

outstanding

throughout

the

period)

Net

asset

value,

beginning

of

period

.....

$8.37

$8.96

$8.52

$8.85

$10.51

$9.82

Income

from

investment

operations

a

:

Net

investment

income

b

.............

0.24 0.48 0.45 0.39 0.36 0.35 Net

realized

and

unrealized

gains

(losses)

0.34 (0.60)

0.43 (0.32)

(1.66)

0.69 Total

from

investment

operations

........

0.58 (0.12)

0.88 0.07 (1.30)

1.04 Less

distributions

from:

Net

investment

income

..............

(0.24)

(0.47)

(0.44)

(0.40)

(0.36)

(0.35)

Net

asset

value,

end

of

period

..........

$8.71

$8.37

$8.96

$8.52

$8.85

$10.51

Total

return

c

.......................

6.93%

(1.39)%

10.75%

0.85%

(12.61)%

10.75%

#### Ratios

#### to

#### average

#### net

#### assets

#### d
Expenses

before

waiver

and

payments

by

affiliates

..........................

0.37%

0.55%

0.50%

2.48%

2.37%

3.11%

Expenses

net

of

waiver

and

payments

by

affiliates

..........................

—%

—%

e

—%

e

—%

e

—%

e

—%

e

Net

investment

income

...............

5.56%

5.49%

5.27%

4.56%

3.71%

3.44%

#### Supplemental

#### data
Net

assets,

end

of

period

(000's)

........

$35,949

$27,407

$22,910

$3,898

$2,957

$3,512

Portfolio

turnover

rate

................

7.69%

28.21%

38.97%

45.25%

5.65%

2.74%

a

The

amount

shown

for

a

share

outstanding

throughout

the

period

may

not

correlate

with

the

Statement

of

Operations

for

the

period

due

to

the

timing

of

sales

and

repurchases

of

the

Fund's

shares

in

relation

to

income

earned

and/or

fluctuating

fair

value

of

the

investments

of

the

Fund.

b

Based

on

average

daily

shares

outstanding.

c

Total

return

is

not

annualized

for

periods

less

than

one

year.

d

Ratios

are

annualized

for

periods

less

than

one

year.

e

Benefit

of

expense

reduction

rounds

to

less

than

0.01%.

Franklin

Strategic

Series

Schedule

of

Investments

(unaudited),

February

28,

2026

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### CH
franklintempleton.com

The

accompanying

notes

are

an

integral

part

of

these

financial

statements.

Semiannual

Report

a

a

#### Shares
a

#### Value
a

#### Common

#### Stocks

#### 0.0%

#### Financial

#### Services

#### 0.0%
a,b

Brightline

Train

Holdings

West

LLC

......................................

1,710

$

—

b

#### Total

#### Common

#### Stocks

#### (Cost

#### $

#### –

####)
...............................................

#### —

#### Principal

#### Amount
a

#### a
a

#### Corporate

#### Bonds

#### 0.7%

#### Diversified

#### Consumer

#### Services

#### 0.7%
Grand

Canyon

University

,

Secured

Note

,

5.125 %

,

10/01/28

....................

$

250,000

251,396

#### Total

#### Corporate

#### Bonds

#### (Cost

#### $

#### 235,360

####)
........................................

#### 251,396

#### Municipal

#### Bonds

#### 95.1%

#### Arizona

#### 1.5%
c

Maricopa

County

Industrial

Development

Authority

,

Grand

Canyon

University

Obligated

Group

,

Revenue

,

144A,

2024

,

7.375 %

,

10/01/29

..........................

505,000

545,244

#### California

#### 93.2%
d

California

Community

Choice

Financing

Authority

,

Revenue

,

2026

,

Mandatory

Put

,

%

,

2/01/36

......................................................

100,000

111,068

c

California

Community

College

Financing

Authority

,

NCCD-Napa

Valley

Properties

LLC

,

Revenue

,

144A,

2022

A

,

5.75 %

,

7/01/60

................................

500,000

346,219

c

California

Community

Housing

Agency

,

Annadel

Apartments

,

Revenue

,

144A,

2019

A

,

%

,

4/01/49

..................

1,200,000

974,019

Arbors

Apartments

,

Revenue

,

144A,

2020

A

,

%

,

8/01/50

....................

350,000

335,677

Brio

Apartments

&

Next

on

Lex

Apartments

,

Revenue,

Sub.

Lien

,

144A,

2021

,

%

,

8/01/47

....................................................

200,000

161,520

Mira

Vista

Hills

Apartments

,

Revenue

,

144A,

2021

A

,

%

,

2/01/56

.............

300,000

147,991

Serenity

at

Larkspur

Apartments

,

Revenue

,

144A,

2020

A

,

%

,

2/01/50

.........

1,000,000

765,000

e

Twin

Creek

Apartments

,

Revenue,

Senior

Lien

,

144A,

2022

,

8.06 %,

8/01/65

...

1,250,000

50,482

California

Educational

Facilities

Authority

,

St.

Mary's

College

of

California

,

Revenue

,

2023

A

,

Refunding

,

5.5 %

,

10/01/53

....................................

1,000,000

997,206

c

California

Enterprise

Development

Authority

,

Real

Journey

Academies

Obligated

Group

,

Revenue

,

144A,

2024

A

,

%

,

6/01/54

.............................

500,000

493,380

California

Municipal

Finance

Authority

,

a

%

,

12/01/42

.....................................................

600,000

607,131

c,d

Revenue

,

144A,

2025

A-S

,

Mandatory

Put

,

8.125 %

,

8/01/44

..................

200,000

201,865

c

Revenue

,

144A,

2025

B

,

7.375 %

,

8/01/37

...............................

300,000

316,582

Revenue

,

2025

B

,

7.1 %

,

12/01/37

.....................................

250,000

256,732

Special

Tax

,

2024

D

,

%

,

9/01/54

......................................

280,000

282,414

Special

Tax

,

2025

C

,

%

,

9/01/55

......................................

500,000

501,567

c,d

4252

Crenshaw

Preservation

LLC

,

Revenue

,

144A,

2025

,

Mandatory

Put

,

%

,

6/01/36

........................................................

300,000

301,507

c

Ascent

613

,

Revenue

,

144A,

2025

A

,

5.375 %

,

1/01/55

......................

500,000

500,966

BOLD

Program

,

Special

Tax

,

2022

B

,

Refunding

,

%

,

9/01/52

................

150,000

159,046

BOLD

Program

,

Special

Tax

,

2022

C

,

6.25 %

,

9/01/52

.......................

150,000

160,238

BOLD

Program

,

Special

Tax

,

2022

D

,

6.125 %

,

9/01/52

......................

150,000

159,642

BOLD

Program

,

Special

Tax

,

2023

A

,

5.5 %

,

9/01/53

........................

100,000

104,931

BOLD

Program

,

Special

Tax

,

2023

C

,

5.25 %

,

9/01/53

.......................

1,000,000

1,026,053

BOLD

Program

,

Special

Tax

,

2024

A

,

%

,

9/01/48

.........................

100,000

102,091

c

CHF-Aptos

LLC

,

Revenue

,

144A,

2025

A

,

5.5 %

,

7/01/57

....................

250,000

252,880

c

CHF-Aptos

LLC

,

Revenue

,

144A,

2025

B

,

7.5 %

,

7/01/57

....................

250,000

252,790

c

Claremont

Graduate

University

,

Revenue

,

144A,

2020

B

,

Refunding

,

%

,

10/01/49

.

125,000

118,424

Community

Facilities

District

No.

2021-6

Improvement

Area

No.

,

Special

Tax

,

2022

,

%

,

9/01/52

....................................................

150,000

159,046

Community

Facilities

District

No.

2022-6

Improvement

Area

No.

,

Special

Tax

,

2025

,

5.375 %

,

9/01/55

.................................................

200,000

208,097

Franklin

Strategic

Series

Schedule

of

Investments

(unaudited)

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### CH
(continued)

franklintempleton.com

Semiannual

Report

The

accompanying

notes

are

an

integral

part

of

these

financial

statements.

a

a

#### Principal

#### Amount
a

#### Value
a

a

#### a
a

#### Municipal

#### Bonds
(continued)

#### California
(continued)

California

Municipal

Finance

Authority,

(continued)

Community

Facilities

District

No.

2023-11

Improvement

Area

No.

,

Special

Tax

,

2025

,

5.25 %

,

9/01/60

.............................................

$

500,000

$

503,699

Community

Facilities

District

No.

2023-5

Area

No.

,

Special

Tax

,

2023

,

5.8 %

,

9/01/53

........................................................

1,000,000

1,061,593

c,e

IH

Parkside

Fairfield

LLC

,

Revenue,

Sub.

Lien

,

144A,

2023

B

,

2.617 %,

9/01/43

...

250,000

198,362

LAX

Integrated

Express

Solutions

LLC

,

Revenue,

Senior

Lien

,

2018

A

,

%

,

12/31/47

70,000

63,036

Porter

1107

LLC

,

Revenue

,

2025

B

,

7.2 %

,

11/01/37

........................

300,000

311,220

c

St.

Mary

and

All

Angels

Christian

Church

,

Revenue

,

144A,

2024

A

,

5.75 %

,

5/01/54

.

200,000

202,229

c

Westside

Neighborhood

School

,

Revenue

,

144A,

2024

,

5.9 %

,

6/15/44

..........

150,000

160,755

c

Westside

Neighborhood

School

,

Revenue

,

144A,

2024

,

6.375 %

,

6/15/64

........

250,000

264,357

c

California

Public

Finance

Authority

,

Kendal

at

Sonoma

Obligated

Group

,

Revenue

,

144A,

2021

A

,

Refunding

,

%

,

11/15/46

.................................

1,250,000

1,188,118

c

California

School

Finance

Authority

,

Orange

County

Educational

Arts

Academy

,

Revenue

,

144A,

2023

A

,

Refunding

,

5.875 %

,

6/01/53

.......................

100,000

100,772

California

Statewide

Communities

Development

Authority

,

Special

Tax

,

2023

A

,

5.25 %

,

9/01/51

...................................

100,000

103,313

Special

Tax

,

2025

B

,

%

,

9/02/55

......................................

500,000

512,999

Community

Facilities

District

No.

2021-1

,

Special

Tax

,

2023

,

%

,

9/01/53

........

150,000

152,516

Community

Facilities

District

No.

2022-03

,

Special

Tax

,

2023

,

%

,

9/01/53

.......

150,000

152,327

Community

Facilities

District

No.

2022-07

Improvement

Area

No.

,

Special

Tax

,

2023

,

%

,

9/01/53

................................................

150,000

152,800

Community

Facilities

District

No.

2023-08

Improvement

Area

No.

,

Special

Tax

,

2025

,

5.25 %

,

9/01/55

.............................................

300,000

307,251

Community

Facilities

District

No.

2024-9

,

Special

Tax

,

2024

,

%

,

9/01/54

........

100,000

101,418

Community

Infrastructure

Program

Assessment

District

No.

20-02

,

Special

Assessment

,

2023

,

5.75 %

,

9/02/53

...................................

985,000

1,026,258

d

Foothill

Oak

Park

Apartments

LLC

,

Revenue

,

2025

H-S-A

,

Mandatory

Put

,

7.5 %

,

3/01/36

........................................................

300,000

304,831

c

Loma

Linda

University

Medical

Center

Obligated

Group

,

Revenue

,

144A,

2016

A

,

5.25 %

,

12/01/56

.................................................

250,000

250,137

c

NCCD-Hooper

Street

LLC

,

Revenue

,

144A,

2019

,

5.25 %

,

7/01/49

.............

100,000

100,432

c

NCCD-Hooper

Street

LLC

,

Revenue

,

144A,

2019

,

5.25 %

,

7/01/52

.............

200,000

200,144

Chino

Community

Facilities

District

,

Community

Facilities

District

No.

2021-1

,

Special

Tax

,

2023

,

5.625 %

,

9/01/53

..........................................

1,000,000

1,058,424

c

City

&

County

of

San

Francisco

,

Community

Facilities

District

No.

2016-1

Improvement

Area

No.

,

Special

Tax

,

144A,

2023

A

,

5.25 %

,

9/01/48

............................................

965,000

994,140

District

No.

2020-1

Shoreline

Tax

Zone

,

Special

Tax

,

144A,

2023

C

,

5.75 %

,

9/01/53

1,500,000

1,579,040

City

of

Dublin

,

Community

Facilities

District

No.

2015-1

Improvement

Area

No.

,

Special

Tax

,

2023

,

5.375 %

,

9/01/51

....................................

1,250,000

1,294,634

City

of

Lake

Elsinore

,

Community

Facilities

District

No.

2006-8

,

Special

Tax

,

2023

,

%

,

9/01/53

........

150,000

151,978

Community

Facilities

District

No.

2015-4

,

Special

Tax

,

2026

,

%

,

9/01/55

........

650,000

659,910

City

of

Rancho

Cordova

,

Arista

Del

Sol

Community

Facilities

District

No.

2022-1

Improvement

Area

No.

,

Special

Tax

,

2023

,

5.375 %

,

9/01/53

...................................

200,000

207,013

Preserve

(The)

Community

Facilities

District

No.

2025-1

Improvement

Area

,

Special

Tax

,

2026

,

%

,

9/01/55

............................................

650,000

656,944

f

City

of

Rialto

,

Community

Facilities

District

No.

2024-1

,

Special

Tax

,

2026

,

%

,

9/01/55

500,000

508,362

c

CSCDA

Community

Improvement

Authority

,

CTR

City

Anaheim

,

Revenue

,

144A,

2020

A

,

%

,

1/01/54

....................

400,000

356,902

Dublin

,

Revenue

,

144A,

2021

B

,

%

,

2/01/57

.............................

140,000

108,596

Eastern

Municipal

Water

District

,

Community

Facilities

District

No.

2022-97

Improvement

Area

A

,

Special

Tax

,

2026

,

%

,

9/01/55

.......................

500,000

505,721

Galt

Community

Facilities

District

,

City

of

Galt

Community

Facilities

District

No.

2020-2

Improvement

Area

No.

,

Special

Tax

,

2023

A

,

%

,

9/01/53

..................

1,500,000

1,604,494

Franklin

Strategic

Series

Schedule

of

Investments

(unaudited)

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### CH
(continued)

franklintempleton.com

The

accompanying

notes

are

an

integral

part

of

these

financial

statements.

Semiannual

Report

a

a

#### Principal

#### Amount
a

#### Value
a

a

#### a
a

#### Municipal

#### Bonds
(continued)

#### California
(continued)

c

Golden

State

Connect

Authority

,

Revenue

,

144A,

2025

,

6.5 %

,

12/01/60

...........

$

300,000

$

303,402

f

Hemet

Unified

School

District

,

Community

Facilities

District

No.

2020-2

Improvement

Area

No.

,

Special

Tax

,

2026

,

%

,

9/01/56

..............................

500,000

508,659

Lammersville

Joint

Unified

School

District

,

Community

Facilities

District

No.

2024-1

,

Special

Tax

,

2025

,

5.25 %

,

9/01/55

.....................................

250,000

260,082

c

Los

Angeles

Housing

Authority

,

Housing

Pathways,

Inc.

,

Revenue

,

144A,

2024

B

,

%

,

12/01/62

........................................................

600,000

584,280

Moreno

Valley

Unified

School

District

,

Community

Facilities

District

No.

2022-1

,

Special

Tax

,

2025

,

5.125 %

,

9/01/55

.....

250,000

253,695

Community

Facilities

District

No.

2023-1

,

Special

Tax

,

2025

,

%

,

9/01/55

........

250,000

252,791

Orange

County

Community

Facilities

District

,

Community

Facilities

District

No.

2023-1

,

Special

Tax

,

2023

A

,

5.5 %

,

8/15/53

....................................

1,000,000

1,044,569

River

Islands

Public

Financing

Authority

,

Community

Facilities

District

2023-1

Area

No.

,

Special

Tax

,

2023

,

5.625 %

,

9/01/53

1,000,000

1,038,576

Community

Facilities

District

2023-1

Improvement

Area

No.

,

Special

Tax

,

2025

,

Refunding

,

%

,

9/01/55

............................................

400,000

399,496

Community

Facilities

District

No.

2023-1

Improvement

Area

No.

,

Special

Tax

,

2024

,

%

,

9/01/54

....................................................

670,000

670,236

Root

Creek

Water

District

,

Community

Facilities

District

No.

2016-1

Improvement

Area

No.

,

Special

Tax

,

2025

,

5.25 %

,

9/01/55

................................

225,000

229,820

c,e

Santa

Barbara

Housing

Authority

,

Revenue

,

144A,

2025

A-S

,

7.95 %,

5/01/44

......

1,000,000

249,037

Stockton

Community

Facilities

District

,

Community

Facilities

District

No.

2018-2

Improvement

Area

No.

,

Special

Tax

,

2025

,

%

,

9/01/55

....................

400,000

403,364

Washington

Township

Health

Care

District

,

Revenue

,

2023

A

,

5.75 %

,

7/01/48

......

150,000

159,984

33,517,280

#### U.S.

#### Territories

#### 0.4%

#### Puerto

#### Rico

#### 0.4%
GDB

Debt

Recovery

Authority

of

Puerto

Rico

,

7.5 %

,

8/20/40

...................

127,651

125,550

#### Total

#### Municipal

#### Bonds

#### (Cost

#### $

#### 33,108,008

####)
......................................

#### 34,188,074

#### Total

#### Long

#### Term

#### Investments

#### (Cost

#### $

#### 33,343,368

####)
................................

#### 34,439,470

#### a
a

a

a

#### Short

#### Term

#### Investments

#### 5.6%

#### Municipal

#### Bonds

#### 5.6%

#### California

#### 5.6%
g

California

Municipal

Finance

Authority

,

Boone

534

LLC

,

Revenue

,

2026

B

,

Daily

VRDN

and

Put

,

7.1 %

,

2/01/38

..............................................

500,000

504,125

g

University

of

California

,

Revenue

,

2013

,

Daily

VRDN

and

Put

,

1.2 %

,

5/15/48

...................

200,000

200,000

Revenue

,

2013

,

Refunding

,

Daily

VRDN

and

Put

,

1.25 %

,

5/15/48

..........

300,000

300,000

Revenue

,

2013

,

Refunding

,

Daily

VRDN

and

Put

,

1.35 %

,

5/15/48

..........

1,000,000

1,000,000

2,004,125

#### Total

#### Municipal

#### Bonds

#### (Cost

#### $

#### 2,000,000

####)
.......................................

#### 2,004,125

#### Total

#### Short

#### Term

#### Investments

#### (Cost

#### $

#### 2,000,000

####)
.................................

#### 2,004,125

#### a

#### Total

#### Investments

#### (Cost

#### $

#### 35,343,368

####)
101.4 #### %
...................................

#### $36,443,595

#### Other

#### Assets,

#### less

#### Liabilities

#### (1.4 ####)

#### %
...........................................

#### (494,718)

#### Net

#### Assets

#### 100.0%

#### ...........................................................

#### $35,948,877
Franklin

Strategic

Series

Schedule

of

Investments

(unaudited)

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### CH
(continued)

franklintempleton.com

Semiannual

Report

The

accompanying

notes

are

an

integral

part

of

these

financial

statements.

See

A

bbreviations

on

.

a

Fair

valued

using

significant

unobservable

inputs.

See

Note

regarding

fair

value

measurements.

b

Non-income

producing.

c

Security

was

purchased

pursuant

to

Rule

144A

or

Regulation

S

under

the

Securities

Act

of

1933. 144A

securities

may

be

sold

in

transactions

exempt

from

registration

only

to

qualified

institutional

buyers

or

in

a

public

offering

registered

under

the

Securities

Act

of

1933. Regulation

S

securities

cannot

be

sold

in

the

United

States

without

either

an

effective

registration

statement

filed

pursuant

to

the

Securities

Act

of

1933,

or

pursuant

to

an

exemption

from

registration.

At

February

28,

2026,

the

aggregate

value

of

these

securities

was

$12,605,249,

representing

35.1%

of

net

assets.

d

The

maturity

date

shown

represents

the

mandatory

put

date.

e

The

rate

shown

represents

the

yield

at

period

end.

f

Security

purchased

on

a

when-issued

basis.

See

Note

1(c).

g

Variable

rate

demand

notes

(VRDN)

are

obligations

which

contain

a

floating

or

variable

interest

rate

adjustment

formula

and

an

unconditional

right

of

demand

to

receive

pay-

ment

of

the

principal

balance

plus

accrued

interest

at

specified

dates.

Unless

otherwise

noted,

the

coupon

rate

is

determined

based

on

factors

including

supply

and

demand,

underlying

credit,

tax

treatment,

and

current

short

term

rates.

The

coupon

rate

shown

represents

the

rate

at

period

end.

Franklin

Strategic

Series

Financial

Highlights

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### E
franklintempleton.com

The

accompanying

notes

are

an

integral

part

of

these

financial

statements.

Semiannual

Report

a

#### Six

#### Months

#### Ended

#### February

#### 28,

#### 2026
(unaudited)

#### Year

#### Ended

#### August

#### 31,

#### 2025

#### 2024

#### 2023

#### 2022

#### 2021

#### Per

#### share

#### operating

#### performance
(for

a

share

outstanding

throughout

the

period)

Net

asset

value,

beginning

of

period

.....

$13.48

$12.77

$11.56

$11.29

$12.77

$10.15

Income

from

investment

operations

a

:

Net

investment

income

b

.............

0.20 0.33 0.37 0.42 0.37 0.35 Net

realized

and

unrealized

gains

(losses)

1.27 1.18 1.60 0.75 (0.31)

2.72 Total

from

investment

operations

........

1.47 1.51 1.97 1.17 0.06 3.07 Less

distributions

from:

Net

investment

income

..............

(0.48)

(0.80)

(0.76)

(0.72)

(0.83)

(0.45)

Net

realized

gains

.................

—

—

—

(0.18)

(0.71)

—

Tax

return

of

capital

................

—

—

—

(—)

c

—

—

Total

distributions

...................

(0.48)

(0.80)

(0.76)

(0.90)

(1.54)

(0.45)

Net

asset

value,

end

of

period

..........

$14.47

$13.48

$12.77

$11.56

$11.29

$12.77

Total

return

d

.......................

11.10%

12.34%

17.78%

10.81%

0.38%

30.95%

#### Ratios

#### to

#### average

#### net

#### assets

#### e
Expenses

before

waiver

and

payments

by

affiliates

..........................

0.05%

0.08%

0.10%

0.27%

1.36%

2.19%

Expenses

net

of

waiver

and

payments

by

affiliates

..........................

—%

—%

—%

—%

f

—%

—%

f

Net

investment

income

...............

2.82%

2.62%

3.12%

3.70%

3.11%

3.05%

#### Supplemental

#### data
Net

assets,

end

of

period

(000's)

........

$531,218

$413,849

$217,932

$61,992

$12,863

$5,155

Portfolio

turnover

rate

................

54.54%

103.34%

93.40%

123.80%

117.70%

49.90%

a

The

amount

shown

for

a

share

outstanding

throughout

the

period

may

not

correlate

with

the

Statement

of

Operations

for

the

period

due

to

the

timing

of

sales

and

repurchases

of

the

Fund's

shares

in

relation

to

income

earned

and/or

fluctuating

fair

value

of

the

investments

of

the

Fund.

b

Based

on

average

daily

shares

outstanding.

c

Amount

rounds

to

less

than

$0.01

per

share.

d

Total

return

is

not

annualized

for

periods

less

than

one

year.

e

Ratios

are

annualized

for

periods

less

than

one

year.

f

Benefit

of

expense

reduction

rounds

to

less

than

0.01%.

Franklin

Strategic

Series

Schedule

of

Investments

(unaudited),

February

28,

2026

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### E
franklintempleton.com

Semiannual

Report

The

accompanying

notes

are

an

integral

part

of

these

financial

statements.

a

a

#### Country

#### Shares
a

#### Value
a

a

#### a
a

#### Common

#### Stocks

#### 33.2%

#### Aerospace

#### &

#### Defense

#### 2.0%
a

Boeing

Co.

(The)

...................................

United

States

15,000

$

3,412,950

Northrop

Grumman

Corp.

.............................

United

States

10,000

7,243,800

10,656,750

#### Air

#### Freight

#### &

#### Logistics

#### 1.0%
United

Parcel

Service,

Inc.

,

B

..........................

United

States

44,000

5,102,240

#### Banks

#### 2.7%
Bank

of

America

Corp.

...............................

United

States

26,000

1,295,580

Fifth

Third

Bancorp

..................................

United

States

135,000

6,678,450

Truist

Financial

Corp.

................................

United

States

69,000

3,402,390

US

Bancorp

.......................................

United

States

50,000

2,733,000

14,109,420

#### Biotechnology

#### 1.1%
AbbVie,

Inc.

.......................................

United

States

25,000

5,802,000

#### Capital

#### Markets

#### 0.5%
BlackRock,

Inc.

.....................................

United

States

2,500

2,658,075

#### Diversified

#### Telecommunication

#### Services

#### 1.0%
Comcast

Corp.

,

A

...................................

United

States

175,000

5,418,000

#### Electric

#### Utilities

#### 0.6%
Xcel

Energy,

Inc.

....................................

United

States

40,000

3,334,400

#### Energy

#### Equipment

#### &

#### Services

#### 1.5%
SLB

Ltd.

..........................................

United

States

150,000

7,701,000

#### Ground

#### Transportation

#### 0.9%
Norfolk

Southern

Corp.

...............................

United

States

15,000

4,721,100

#### Health

#### Care

#### Equipment

#### &

#### Supplies

#### 1.2%
Medtronic

plc

......................................

United

States

65,000

6,347,900

#### Health

#### Care

#### Providers

#### &

#### Services

#### 3.0%
UnitedHealth

Group,

Inc.

..............................

United

States

54,279

15,918,402

#### Hotels,

#### Restaurants

#### &

#### Leisure

#### 1.8%
McDonald's

Corp.

...................................

United

States

20,000

6,821,200

Starbucks

Corp.

....................................

United

States

30,000

2,940,600

9,761,800

#### IT

#### Services

#### 1.0%
Accenture

plc

,

A

....................................

United

States

25,000

5,218,000

#### Machinery

#### 0.8%
Caterpillar,

Inc.

.....................................

United

States

6,000

4,456,980

#### Metals

#### &

#### Mining

#### 0.3%
Freeport-McMoRan,

Inc.

..............................

United

States

19,962

1,359,013

#### Oil,

#### Gas

#### &

#### Consumable

#### Fuels

#### 5.1%
Chevron

Corp.

.....................................

United

States

40,000

7,470,400

Shell

plc

..........................................

United

States

225,000

9,423,647

TotalEnergies

SE

...................................

France

130,000

10,444,200

27,338,247

#### Pharmaceuticals

#### 1.2%
Bristol-Myers

Squibb

Co.

..............................

United

States

36,987

2,306,879

Pfizer,

Inc.

.........................................

United

States

150,000

4,147,500

6,454,379

Franklin

Strategic

Series

Schedule

of

Investments

(unaudited)

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### E
(continued)

franklintempleton.com

The

accompanying

notes

are

an

integral

part

of

these

financial

statements.

Semiannual

Report

a

a

#### Country

#### Shares
a

#### Value
a

a

#### a
a

#### Common

#### Stocks
(continued)

#### Semiconductors

#### &

#### Semiconductor

#### Equipment

#### 2.8%
Analog

Devices,

Inc.

.................................

United

States

21,200

$

7,542,748

Broadcom,

Inc.

.....................................

United

States

20,000

6,391,000

QUALCOMM,

Inc.

...................................

United

States

7,497

1,067,273

15,001,021

#### Software

#### 1.3%
Oracle

Corp.

.......................................

United

States

25,000

3,635,000

Salesforce,

Inc.

.....................................

United

States

16,200

3,155,598

6,790,598

#### Specialty

#### Retail

#### 0.5%
Home

Depot,

Inc.

(The)

...............................

United

States

6,990

2,661,233

#### Textiles,

#### Apparel

#### &

#### Luxury

#### Goods

#### 0.5%
NIKE,

Inc.

,

B

.......................................

United

States

43,000

2,673,740

#### Tobacco

#### 2.4%
Philip

Morris

International,

Inc.

.........................

United

States

67,500

12,611,025

#### Total

#### Common

#### Stocks

#### (Cost

#### $

#### 146,819,253

####)
...................................

#### 176,095,323
b

#### Equity-Linked

#### Securities

#### 49.6%

#### Aerospace

#### &

#### Defense

#### 0.7%
c

Goldman

Sachs

Bank

USA

into

RTX

Corp.

,

144A,

7.5 %

,

3/31/26

United

States

25,000

3,632,390

#### Air

#### Freight

#### &

#### Logistics

#### 0.2%
c

Toronto-Dominion

Bank

(The)

into

United

Parcel

Service,

Inc.

,

144A,

%

,

8/05/26

................................

United

States

10,000

1,127,159

#### Banks

#### 0.1%
c

JPMorgan

Chase

Bank

NA

into

Truist

Financial

Corp.

,

144A,

9.5 %

,

3/02/26

....................................

United

States

12,000

592,047

#### Biotechnology

#### 2.0%
c

Barclays

Bank

plc

into

AbbVie,

Inc.

,

144A,

8.5 %

,

12/11/26

.....

United

States

11,000

2,553,184

c

Mizuho

Markets

Cayman

LP

into

Amgen,

Inc.

,

144A,

%

,

6/15/26

.........................................

United

States

10,400

3,316,757

c

Morgan

Stanley

Finance

LLC

into

Amgen,

Inc.

,

144A,

%

,

12/16/26

........................................

United

States

12,500

4,549,521

10,419,462

#### Broadline

#### Retail

#### 2.6%
c

Barclays

Bank

plc

into

Amazon.com,

Inc.

,

144A,

%

,

3/25/26

..

United

States

12,500

2,670,377

c

Toronto-Dominion

Bank

(The)

into

Amazon.com,

Inc.

,

144A,

%

,

3/31/26

.........................................

United

States

22,800

4,843,312

c

Toronto-Dominion

Bank

(The)

into

Amazon.com,

Inc.

,

144A,

%

,

10/13/26

........................................

United

States

5,500

1,165,803

c

Wells

Fargo

Bank

NA

into

Amazon.com,

Inc.

,

144A,

%

,

2/26/27

United

States

25,000

5,109,226

13,788,718

#### Capital

#### Markets

#### 0.7%
c

Merrill

Lynch

BV

into

Charles

Schwab

Corp.

(The)

,

144A,

%

,

3/03/27

.........................................

United

States

39,000

3,726,111

#### Chemicals

#### 0.3%
c

BofA

Finance

LLC

into

Albemarle

Corp.

,

144A,

12.5 %

,

8/28/26

.

United

States

5,000

531,956

c

Toronto-Dominion

Bank

(The)

into

Albemarle

Corp.

,

144A,

%

,

12/23/26

........................................

United

States

6,884

1,049,931

1,581,887

Franklin

Strategic

Series

Schedule

of

Investments

(unaudited)

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### E
(continued)

franklintempleton.com

Semiannual

Report

The

accompanying

notes

are

an

integral

part

of

these

financial

statements.

a

a

#### Country

#### Shares
a

#### Value
a

a

#### a
a

b

#### Equity-Linked

#### Securities
(continued)

#### Communications

#### Equipment

#### 0.4%
c

Royal

Bank

of

Canada

into

Cisco

Systems,

Inc.

,

144A,

7.5 %

,

3/18/26

.........................................

United

States

30,000

$

2,186,406

#### Consumer

#### Staples

#### Distribution

#### &

#### Retail

#### 0.8%
c

BNP

Paribas

Issuance

BV

into

Target

Corp.

,

144A,

%

,

10/07/26

United

States

16,000

1,646,540

c

Toronto-Dominion

Bank

(The)

into

Target

Corp.

,

144A,

%

,

6/30/26

.........................................

United

States

25,000

2,717,969

4,364,509

#### Diversified

#### Telecommunication

#### Services

#### 0.4%
c

Merrill

Lynch

BV

into

Comcast

Corp.

,

144A,

8.5 %

,

6/22/26

.....

United

States

64,923

2,067,871

#### Electric

#### Utilities

#### 2.0%
c

BNP

Paribas

Issuance

BV

into

NextEra

Energy,

Inc.

,

144A,

%

,

2/10/27

.........................................

United

States

48,000

4,333,574

c

Citigroup

Global

Markets

Holdings,

Inc.

into

NextEra

Energy,

Inc.

,

144A,

%

,

10/05/26

................................

United

States

65,000

5,113,006

c

Wells

Fargo

Bank

NA

into

NextEra

Energy,

Inc.

,

144A,

9.5 %

,

10/22/26

........................................

United

States

12,000

1,078,571

10,525,151

#### Energy

#### Equipment

#### &

#### Services

#### 2.8%
c

Barclays

Bank

plc

into

Halliburton

Co.

,

144A,

%

,

5/21/26

....

United

States

186,567

4,703,306

c

Citigroup

Global

Markets

Holdings,

Inc.

into

Halliburton

Co.

,

144A,

%

,

1/21/27

................................

United

States

50,000

1,716,953

c

UBS

AG

into

Schlumberger

NV

,

144A,

%

,

2/11/27

.........

United

States

55,000

2,776,487

c

Wells

Fargo

Bank

NA

into

Schlumberger

NV

,

144A,

%

,

10/02/26

United

States

130,000

5,456,110

14,652,856

#### Health

#### Care

#### Equipment

#### &

#### Supplies

#### 0.1%
c

Toronto-Dominion

Bank

(The)

into

Medtronic

plc

,

144A,

%

,

4/13/26

.........................................

United

States

8,000

786,434

#### Health

#### Care

#### Providers

#### &

#### Services

#### 0.6%
c

Merrill

Lynch

BV

into

UnitedHealth

Group,

Inc.

,

144A,

%

,

7/01/26

.........................................

United

States

1,854

560,267

c

Wells

Fargo

Bank

NA

into

CVS

Health

Corp.

,

144A,

%

,

4/09/26

United

States

33,000

2,588,382

3,148,649

#### Hotels,

#### Restaurants

#### &

#### Leisure

#### 1.5%
c

Toronto-Dominion

Bank

(The)

into

Starbucks

Corp.

,

144A,

%

,

1/27/27

.........................................

United

States

60,000

5,778,394

c

Wells

Fargo

Bank

NA

into

Starbucks

Corp.

,

144A,

%

,

8/10/26

.

United

States

25,500

2,498,375

8,276,769

#### Interactive

#### Media

#### &

#### Services

#### 6.2%
c

BNP

Paribas

Issuance

BV

into

Meta

Platforms,

Inc.

,

144A,

%

,

12/29/26

........................................

United

States

8,000

5,290,994

c

Citigroup

Global

Markets

Holdings,

Inc.

into

Alphabet,

Inc.

,

144A,

%

,

12/23/26

.....................................

United

States

16,800

5,346,524

c

Merrill

Lynch

BV

into

Alphabet,

Inc.

,

144A,

%

,

12/23/26

......

United

States

17,200

5,483,098

c

Mizuho

Markets

Cayman

LP

into

Meta

Platforms,

Inc.

,

144A,

%

,

12/07/26

....................................

United

States

1,500

959,534

c

National

Bank

of

Canada

into

Meta

Platforms,

Inc.

,

144A,

%

,

12/29/26

........................................

United

States

8,000

5,301,409

c

UBS

AG

into

Alphabet,

Inc.

,

144A,

%

,

4/16/26

.............

United

States

20,000

3,545,707

c

Wells

Fargo

Bank

NA

into

Alphabet,

Inc.

,

144A,

%

,

3/31/26

...

United

States

36,000

6,896,136

32,823,402

Franklin

Strategic

Series

Schedule

of

Investments

(unaudited)

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### E
(continued)

franklintempleton.com

The

accompanying

notes

are

an

integral

part

of

these

financial

statements.

Semiannual

Report

a

a

#### Country

#### Shares
a

#### Value
a

a

#### a
a

b

#### Equity-Linked

#### Securities
(continued)

#### IT

#### Services

#### 2.5%
c

Citigroup

Global

Markets

Holdings,

Inc.

into

International

Business

Machines

Corp.

,

144A,

8.5 %

,

8/21/26

...........

United

States

13,500

$

3,199,492

c

Morgan

Stanley

Finance

LLC

into

International

Business

Machines

Corp.

,

144A,

%

,

4/08/27

....................

United

States

30,000

7,521,141

c

UBS

AG

into

Accenture

plc

,

144A,

%

,

7/13/26

.............

United

States

12,400

2,699,569

13,420,202

#### Metals

#### &

#### Mining

#### 4.0%
c

Barclays

Bank

plc

into

Freeport-McMoRan,

Inc.

,

144A,

%

,

1/27/27

.........................................

United

States

17,000

999,361

c

BNP

Paribas

Issuance

BV

into

Freeport-McMoRan,

Inc.

,

144A,

%

,

8/28/26

.....................................

United

States

19,000

917,120

c

Citigroup

Global

Markets

Holdings,

Inc.

into

Freeport-McMoRan,

Inc.

,

144A,

%

,

6/09/26

............................

United

States

149,300

6,967,022

c

J.P.

Morgan

Structured

Products

BV

into

Freeport-McMoRan,

Inc.

,

144A,

%

,

5/19/26

............................

United

States

107,000

4,925,802

c

Merrill

Lynch

BV

into

Freeport-McMoRan,

Inc.

,

144A,

%

,

5/12/26

.........................................

United

States

22,869

1,045,188

c

Morgan

Stanley

Finance

LLC

into

Freeport-McMoRan,

Inc.

,

144A,

%

,

11/18/26

....................................

United

States

142,593

6,412,053

21,266,546

#### Oil,

#### Gas

#### &

#### Consumable

#### Fuels

#### 1.2%
c

Mizuho

Markets

Cayman

LP

into

Exxon

Mobil

Corp.

,

144A,

8.5 %

,

4/07/26

.........................................

United

States

20,000

2,559,209

c

Royal

Bank

of

Canada

into

BP

plc

,

144A,

%

,

10/07/26

......

United

States

100,000

3,703,886

6,263,095

#### Pharmaceuticals

#### 0.5%
c

Barclays

Bank

plc

into

Merck

&

Co.,

Inc.

,

144A,

8.5 %

,

10/02/26

.

United

States

29,000

2,850,331

#### Semiconductors

#### &

#### Semiconductor

#### Equipment

#### 13.0%
c

Bank

of

America

NA

into

Microchip

Technology,

Inc.

,

144A,

%

,

9/03/26

.........................................

United

States

19,651

1,396,503

c

Barclays

Bank

plc

into

Microchip

Technology,

Inc.

,

144A,

%

,

6/23/26

.........................................

United

States

16,000

1,174,784

c

Barclays

Bank

plc

into

Micron

Technology,

Inc.

,

144A,

%

,

9/08/26

.........................................

United

States

32,500

4,941,869

c

BNP

Paribas

Issuance

BV

into

Advanced

Micro

Devices,

Inc.

,

144A,

%

,

3/02/26

................................

United

States

27,000

3,872,884

c

BNP

Paribas

Issuance

BV

into

Microchip

Technology,

Inc.

,

144A,

%

,

5/18/26

.....................................

United

States

153,820

9,871,586

c

Citigroup

Global

Markets

Holdings,

Inc.

into

Intel

Corp.

,

144A,

%

,

3/03/26

.....................................

United

States

19,000

673,934

c

Goldman

Sachs

Bank

USA

into

Applied

Materials,

Inc.

,

144A,

%

,

5/05/26

.....................................

United

States

29,000

4,901,909

c

J.P.

Morgan

Structured

Products

BV

into

Taiwan

Semiconductor

Manufacturing

Co.

Ltd.

,

144A,

%

,

4/15/26

..............

Taiwan

15,000

3,243,477

c

JPMorgan

Chase

Bank

NA

into

Marvell

Technology,

Inc.

,

144A,

%

,

1/07/27

.....................................

United

States

55,000

4,640,266

c

Merrill

Lynch

BV

into

Advanced

Micro

Devices,

Inc.

,

144A,

%

,

5/06/26

.........................................

United

States

53,614

5,955,713

c

Mizuho

Markets

Cayman

LP

into

Analog

Devices,

Inc.

,

144A,

8.5 %

,

5/18/26

....................................

United

States

13,000

3,047,299

c

Royal

Bank

of

Canada

into

Microchip

Technology,

Inc.

,

144A,

%

,

5/05/26

.....................................

United

States

62,000

3,566,896

c

Royal

Bank

of

Canada

into

Texas

Instruments,

Inc.

,

144A,

8.5 %

,

8/20/26

.........................................

United

States

12,500

2,480,981

Franklin

Strategic

Series

Schedule

of

Investments

(unaudited)

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### E
(continued)

franklintempleton.com

Semiannual

Report

The

accompanying

notes

are

an

integral

part

of

these

financial

statements.

a

a

#### Country

#### Shares
a

#### Value
a

a

#### a
a

b

#### Equity-Linked

#### Securities
(continued)

#### Semiconductors

#### &

#### Semiconductor

#### Equipment
(continued)

c

Royal

Bank

of

Canada

into

Texas

Instruments,

Inc.

,

144A,

%

,

7/21/26

.........................................

United

States

7,000

$

1,497,300

c

Toronto-Dominion

Bank

(The)

into

Intel

Corp.

,

144A,

10.5 %

,

9/01/26

.........................................

United

States

23,000

716,832

c

Toronto-Dominion

Bank

(The)

into

QUALCOMM,

Inc.

,

144A,

%

,

11/25/26

........................................

United

States

4,500

677,332

c

UBS

AG

into

Marvell

Technology,

Inc.

,

144A,

%

,

5/14/26

....

United

States

67,000

4,935,339

c

UBS

AG

into

Marvell

Technology,

Inc.

,

144A,

%

,

12/16/26

...

United

States

78,000

6,829,503

c

UBS

AG

into

Texas

Instruments,

Inc.

,

144A,

%

,

2/24/27

.....

United

States

22,500

4,900,162

69,324,569

#### Software

#### 3.1%
c

Citigroup

Global

Markets

Holdings,

Inc.

into

Workday,

Inc.

,

144A,

%

,

2/24/27

.....................................

United

States

9,450

1,313,871

c

J.P.

Morgan

Structured

Products

BV

into

Microsoft

Corp.

,

144A,

%

,

10/15/26

.....................................

United

States

8,000

3,321,664

c

Mizuho

Markets

Cayman

LP

into

Microsoft

Corp.

,

144A,

7.25 %

,

1/11/27

.........................................

United

States

8,500

3,550,344

c

Royal

Bank

of

Canada

into

Microsoft

Corp.

,

144A,

7.25 %

,

11/16/26

........................................

United

States

3,200

1,331,193

c

Royal

Bank

of

Canada

into

Oracle

Corp.

,

144A,

%

,

5/13/26

..

United

States

31,000

4,322,525

c

Wells

Fargo

Bank

NA

into

Salesforce,

Inc.

,

144A,

%

,

6/15/26

..

United

States

12,000

2,462,986

16,302,583

#### Specialty

#### Retail

#### 1.4%
c

Goldman

Sachs

Bank

USA

into

Home

Depot,

Inc.

(The)

,

144A,

%

,

5/18/27

......................................

United

States

10,000

3,746,890

c

J.P.

Morgan

Structured

Products

BV

into

Home

Depot,

Inc.

(The)

,

144A,

%

,

10/20/26

................................

United

States

9,000

3,474,436

7,221,326

#### Technology

#### Hardware,

#### Storage

#### &

#### Peripherals

#### 1.3%
c

Merrill

Lynch

BV

into

Dell

Technologies,

Inc.

,

144A,

%

,

3/09/26

United

States

7,000

1,031,918

c

Mizuho

Markets

Cayman

LP

into

Dell

Technologies,

Inc.

,

144A,

%

,

11/09/26

....................................

United

States

39,000

5,831,126

6,863,044

#### Textiles,

#### Apparel

#### &

#### Luxury

#### Goods

#### 1.2%
c

Goldman

Sachs

International

Bank

into

NIKE,

Inc.

,

144A,

%

,

3/31/26

.........................................

United

States

50,000

3,176,264

c

Merrill

Lynch

BV

into

NIKE,

Inc.

,

144A,

%

,

2/02/27

.........

United

States

50,000

3,151,704

6,327,968

#### Total

#### Equity-Linked

#### Securities

#### (Cost

#### $

#### 245,893,779

####)
............................

#### 263,539,485

#### Convertible

#### Preferred

#### Stocks

#### 14.8%

#### Aerospace

#### &

#### Defense

#### 4.3%
Boeing

Co.

(The)

,

%

................................

United

States

315,000

22,972,950

#### Capital

#### Markets

#### 3.6%
Ares

Management

Corp.

,

B

,

6.75 %

......................

United

States

500,000

18,800,000

#### Chemicals

#### 3.0%
Albemarle

Corp.

,

7.25 %

..............................

United

States

225,000

15,990,750

#### Electric

#### Utilities

#### 3.9%
NextEra

Energy,

Inc.

,

7.234 %

..........................

United

States

350,000

18,396,000

Franklin

Strategic

Series

Schedule

of

Investments

(unaudited)

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### E
(continued)

franklintempleton.com

The

accompanying

notes

are

an

integral

part

of

these

financial

statements.

Semiannual

Report

a

a

#### Country

#### Shares
a

#### Value
a

a

#### a
a

#### Convertible

#### Preferred

#### Stocks
(continued)

#### Electric

#### Utilities
(continued)

PPL

Corp.

,

%

.....................................

United

States

50,000

$

2,500,500

20,896,500

#### Total

#### Convertible

#### Preferred

#### Stocks

#### (Cost

#### $

#### 66,207,152

####)
.........................

#### 78,660,200

#### Total

#### Long

#### Term

#### Investments

#### (Cost

#### $

#### 458,920,184

####)
.............................

#### 518,295,008

#### a

#### Short

#### Term

#### Investments

#### 2.2%
a

a

#### Country

#### Shares
a

#### Value
a

a

#### a
a

#### Money

#### Market

#### Funds

#### 2.2%
d,e

Franklin

Institutional

U.S.

Government

Money

Market

Fund

,

3.583 %

.........................................

United

States

11,625,019

11,625,019

#### Total

#### Money

#### Market

#### Funds

#### (Cost

#### $

#### 11,625,019

####)
................................

#### 11,625,019

#### Total

#### Short

#### Term

#### Investments

#### (Cost

#### $

#### 11,625,019

####)
..............................

#### 11,625,019

#### a

#### Total

#### Investments

#### (Cost

#### $

#### 470,545,203

####)
99.8 #### %
.................................

#### $529,920,027

#### Other

#### Assets,

#### less

#### Liabilities
0.2 #### %
...........................................

#### 1,298,055

#### Net

#### Assets

#### 100.0%

#### .........................................................

#### $531,218,082

#### a
See

Abbreviations

on

.

a

Non-income

producing.

b

See

Note

1(d)

regarding

equity-linked

securities.

c

Security

was

purchased

pursuant

to

Rule

144A

or

Regulation

S

under

the

Securities

Act

of

1933. 144A

securities

may

be

sold

in

transactions

exempt

from

registration

only

to

qualified

institutional

buyers

or

in

a

public

offering

registered

under

the

Securities

Act

of

1933. Regulation

S

securities

cannot

be

sold

in

the

United

States

without

either

an

effective

registration

statement

filed

pursuant

to

the

Securities

Act

of

1933,

or

pursuant

to

an

exemption

from

registration.

At

February

28,

2026,

the

aggregate

value

of

these

securities

was

$263,539,485,

representing

49.6%

of

net

assets.

d

See

Note

3(d)

regarding

investments

in

affiliated

management

investment

companies.

e

The

rate

shown

is

the

annualized

seven-day

effective

yield

at

period

end.

Franklin

Strategic

Series

Financial

Highlights

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### H
franklintempleton.com

Semiannual

Report

The

accompanying

notes

are

an

integral

part

of

these

financial

statements.

a

#### Six

#### Months

#### Ended

#### February

#### 28,

#### 2026
(unaudited)

#### Year

#### Ended

#### August

#### 31,

#### 2025

#### 2024

#### 2023

#### 2022

#### 2021

#### Per

#### share

#### operating

#### performance
(for

a

share

outstanding

throughout

the

period)

Net

asset

value,

beginning

of

period

.....

$8.87

$9.41

$8.86

$9.03

$10.57

$9.75

Income

from

investment

operations

a

:

Net

investment

income

b

.............

0.24 0.47 0.48 0.38 0.31 0.32 Net

realized

and

unrealized

gains

(losses)

0.51 (0.54)

0.53 (0.18)

(1.54)

0.82 Total

from

investment

operations

........

0.75 (0.07)

1.01 0.20 (1.23)

1.14 Less

distributions

from:

Net

investment

income

..............

(0.24)

(0.47)

(0.46)

(0.37)

(0.31)

(0.32)

Net

asset

value,

end

of

period

..........

$9.38

$8.87

$9.41

$8.86

$9.03

$10.57

Total

return

c

.......................

8.46%

(0.84)%

11.79%

2.36%

d

(11.82)%

d

11.88%

d

#### Ratios

#### to

#### average

#### net

#### assets

#### e
Expenses

before

waiver

and

payments

by

affiliates

..........................

0.40%

0.85%

0.85%

1.88%

2.51%

3.44%

Expenses

net

of

waiver

and

payments

by

affiliates

..........................

—%

—%

f

—%

f

—%

—%

f

—%

f

Net

investment

income

...............

5.18%

5.20%

5.33%

4.34%

3.14%

3.16%

#### Supplemental

#### data
Net

assets,

end

of

period

(000's)

........

$41,846

$26,831

$12,653

$10,059

$3,019

$3,187

Portfolio

turnover

rate

................

9.15%

7.25%

42.17%

11.82%

6.89%

5.37%

a

The

amount

shown

for

a

share

outstanding

throughout

the

period

may

not

correlate

with

the

Statement

of

Operations

for

the

period

due

to

the

timing

of

sales

and

repurchases

of

the

Fund's

shares

in

relation

to

income

earned

and/or

fluctuating

fair

value

of

the

investments

of

the

Fund.

b

Based

on

average

daily

shares

outstanding.

c

Total

return

is

not

annualized

for

periods

less

than

one

year.

d

Total

return

excluding

payments

by

Advisers

for

acquired

fund

fees

and

expenses

is

2.25%

for

the

year

ended

August

31,

2023,

(11.90)%

for

the

year

ended

August

31,

2022

and

11.78%

for

the

year

ended

August

31,

2021. See

Note

3e.

e

Ratios

are

annualized

for

periods

less

than

one

year.

f

Benefit

of

expense

reduction

rounds

to

less

than

0.01%.

Franklin

Strategic

Series

Schedule

of

Investments

(unaudited),

February

28,

2026

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### H
franklintempleton.com

The

accompanying

notes

are

an

integral

part

of

these

financial

statements.

Semiannual

Report

a

a

#### Shares
a

#### Value
a

#### Common

#### Stocks

#### 0.0%

#### Financial

#### Services

#### 0.0%
a,b

Brightline

Train

Holdings

West

LLC

......................................

1,290

$

—

b

#### Total

#### Common

#### Stocks

#### (Cost

#### $

#### –

####)
...............................................

#### —
a

#### Management

#### Investment

#### Companies

#### 9.1%

#### Capital

#### Markets

#### 9.1%
c

Franklin

Dynamic

Municipal

Bond

ETF

...................................

150,000

3,817,500

#### Total

#### Management

#### Investment

#### Companies

#### (Cost

#### $

#### 3,705,356

####)
.....................

#### 3,817,500

#### Principal

#### Amount
a

#### a
a

#### Corporate

#### Bonds

#### 0.6%

#### Diversified

#### Consumer

#### Services

#### 0.6%
Grand

Canyon

University

,

Secured

Note

,

5.125 %

,

10/01/28

....................

$

250,000

251,396

#### Total

#### Corporate

#### Bonds

#### (Cost

#### $

#### 235,360

####)
........................................

#### 251,396

#### Municipal

#### Bonds

#### 88.9%

#### Alabama

#### 3.5%
Black

Belt

Energy

Gas

District

,

Revenue

,

2025

G

,

%

,

10/01/35

................

100,000

109,350

Homewood

Educational

Building

Authority

,

CHF

-

Horizons

II

LLC

,

Revenue

,

2024

C

,

%

,

10/01/56

.....................................................

555,000

540,516

MidCity

Improvement

District

,

Assessment

Area

,

Special

Assessment

,

2022

,

4.5 %

,

11/01/42

................

150,000

141,768

Assessment

Area

,

Special

Assessment

,

2022

,

4.75 %

,

11/01/49

...............

100,000

90,126

Mobile

County

Industrial

Development

Authority

,

AM/NS

Calvert

LLC

,

Revenue

,

2024

B

,

4.75 %

,

12/01/54

................................................

160,000

153,334

Southeast

Energy

Authority

A

Cooperative

District

,

Revenue

,

2024

A

,

%

,

11/01/35

..

405,000

435,920

1,471,014

#### Arizona

#### 3.1%
d

Maricopa

County

Industrial

Development

Authority

,

Grand

Canyon

University

Obligated

Group

,

Revenue

,

144A,

2024

,

7.375 %

,

10/01/29

..........................

405,000

437,275

d

Sierra

Vista

Industrial

Development

Authority

,

American

Leadership

Academy,

Inc.

,

Revenue

,

144A,

2023

,

5.75 %

,

6/15/58

......

150,000

146,532

Georgetown

Community

Development

Authority

,

Revenue

,

144A,

2021

A

,

5.375 %

,

10/01/56

.......................................................

250,000

209,371

Tempe

Industrial

Development

Authority

,

Tempe

Life

Care

Village

Obligated

Group

,

Revenue

,

2019

,

%

,

12/01/50

........

250,000

244,700

Tempe

Life

Care

Village

Obligated

Group

,

Revenue

,

2025

A

,

5.625 %

,

12/01/55

...

250,000

257,298

1,295,176

#### Arkansas

#### 0.7%
Arkansas

Development

Finance

Authority

,

United

States

Steel

Corp.

,

Revenue

,

2023

,

5.7 %

,

5/01/53

....................................................

150,000

153,388

e

Fayetteville

Public

Facilities

Board

,

Butterfield

Trail

Village,

Inc.

,

Revenue

,

2026

,

5.5 %

,

12/01/60

........................................................

115,000

117,222

270,610

#### California

#### 4.2%
f

California

Community

Choice

Financing

Authority

,

Revenue

,

2023

C

,

Mandatory

Put

,

5.25 %

,

10/01/31

...................................................

130,000

139,779

d

California

Community

Housing

Agency

,

Arbors

Apartments

,

Revenue

,

144A,

2020

A

,

%

,

8/01/50

....................

125,000

119,885

Aster

Apartments

,

Revenue,

Junior

Lien

,

144A,

2021

,

%

,

2/01/43

..........

230,000

221,006

Fountains

at

Emerald

Park

,

Revenue,

Junior

Lien

,

144A,

2021

,

%

,

8/01/46

...

195,000

171,088

Franklin

Strategic

Series

Schedule

of

Investments

(unaudited)

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### H
(continued)

franklintempleton.com

Semiannual

Report

The

accompanying

notes

are

an

integral

part

of

these

financial

statements.

a

a

#### Principal

#### Amount
a

#### Value
a

a

#### a
a

#### Municipal

#### Bonds
(continued)

#### California
(continued)

d

California

Community

Housing

Agency,

(continued)

Verdant

at

Green

Valley

Apartments

,

Revenue

,

144A,

2019

A

,

%

,

8/01/49

.......

$

105,000

$

98,802

d,g

California

Municipal

Finance

Authority

,

IH

Parkside

Fairfield

LLC

,

Revenue,

Sub.

Lien

,

144A,

2023

B

,

2.617 %,

9/01/43

.......................................

150,000

119,017

d

CMFA

Special

Finance

Agency

,

Solana

at

Grand

,

Revenue,

Junior

Lien

,

144A,

2021

,

%

,

8/01/45

..................................................

100,000

91,638

d

CMFA

Special

Finance

Agency

VII

,

Breakwater

Apartments

(The)

,

Revenue

,

144A,

2021

,

%

,

8/01/47

..............................................

195,000

183,835

d

CMFA

Special

Finance

Agency

VIII

,

Elan

Huntington

Beach

,

Revenue,

Junior

Lien

,

144A,

2021

,

%

,

8/01/47

.........................................

125,000

117,843

d

CMFA

Special

Finance

Agency

XII

,

Allure

Apartments

,

Revenue

,

144A,

2022

,

4.375 %

,

8/01/49

...................................................

100,000

86,479

d

CSCDA

Community

Improvement

Authority

,

Renaissance

at

City

Center

,

Revenue

,

144A,

2020

A

,

%

,

7/01/51

.............

110,000

106,309

Waterscape

Apartments

,

Revenue

,

144A,

2021

B

,

%

,

9/01/46

................

135,000

115,948

d

Golden

State

Connect

Authority

,

Revenue

,

144A,

2025

,

6.5 %

,

12/01/60

...........

200,000

202,268

1,773,897

#### Colorado

#### 1.3%
Colorado

Health

Facilities

Authority

,

BSLC

II

Obligated

Group

,

Revenue,

Second

Tier

,

2025

,

5.25 %

,

9/15/45

.........

195,000

200,640

Christian

Living

Neighborhoods

Obligated

Group

,

Revenue

,

2019

,

Refunding

,

%

,

1/01/38

........................................................

100,000

98,540

Denver

Health

&

Hospital

Authority

,

Revenue

,

2019

A

,

Refunding

,

%

,

12/01/39

....

250,000

243,064

542,244

#### Connecticut

#### 0.3%
Stamford

Housing

Authority

,

TJH

Senior

Living

LLC

Obligated

Group

,

Revenue

,

2025

A

,

Refunding

,

6.5 %

,

10/01/55

.........................................

100,000

102,934

#### Florida

#### 24.9%
Angeline

Community

Development

District

,

Assessment

Area

,

Special

Assessment

,

2025

,

5.75 %

,

5/01/56

...............................................

130,000

131,617

Avenir

Community

Development

District

,

Parcel

,

Special

Assessment

,

2024

A

,

%

,

5/01/55

......................................................

100,000

101,599

d

Babcock

Ranch

Community

Independent

Special

District

,

Assessment

Area

,

Special

Assessment

,

144A,

2024

,

5.25 %

,

5/01/55

...............................

150,000

151,397

Bella

Tara

Community

Development

District

,

Assessment

Area

,

Special

Assessment

,

2025

,

6.125 %

,

5/01/56

..............................................

100,000

103,940

Big

Cypress

Stewardship

District

,

Assessment

Area

,

Special

Assessment

,

2026

,

5.75 %

,

5/01/55

...................................................

150,000

151,015

Bridle

Creek

Community

Development

District

,

Special

Assessment

,

2025

,

6.375 %

,

5/01/56

.........................................................

160,000

165,987

e

Brightshore

Community

Development

District

,

Assessments

,

Special

Assessment

,

2026

,

5.7 %

,

5/01/57

................................................

145,000

145,315

Buena

Lago

Community

Development

District

,

Assessment

Area

,

Special

Assessment

,

2024

,

5.55 %

,

5/01/54

....................................

75,000

75,418

d

Capital

Projects

Finance

Authority

,

PRG

-

UnionWest

Properties

LLC

,

Revenue,

Senior

Lien

,

144A,

2024

,

%

,

6/01/58

.....................................

250,000

226,998

Caymas

Community

Development

District

,

Assessment

Area

,

Special

Assessment

,

2026

,

5.625 %

,

5/01/56

..............................................

160,000

160,656

d

Center

Lake

Ranch

West

Community

Development

District

,

Assessment

Area

,

Special

Assessment

,

144A,

2025

,

5.6 %

,

5/01/55

..........................

135,000

136,339

Chaparral

Palm

Bay

Community

Development

District

,

Assessment

Area

,

Special

Assessment

,

2024

,

5.5 %

,

5/01/55

.....................................

100,000

100,561

Charlotte

County

Industrial

Development

Authority

,

MSKP

Town

&

Country

Utility

LLC

,

Revenue

,

2025

,

6.125 %

,

10/01/55

.....................................

150,000

156,442

Franklin

Strategic

Series

Schedule

of

Investments

(unaudited)

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### H
(continued)

franklintempleton.com

The

accompanying

notes

are

an

integral

part

of

these

financial

statements.

Semiannual

Report

a

a

#### Principal

#### Amount
a

#### Value
a

a

#### a
a

#### Municipal

#### Bonds
(continued)

#### Florida
(continued)

d

County

of

Okaloosa

,

AIR

Force

Enlisted

Village,

Inc.

Obligated

Group

,

Revenue

,

144A,

2025

,

5.75 %

,

5/15/60

...............................................

$

185,000

$

189,624

Creekside

Community

Development

District

,

Assessment

Area

-

Parcel

C

and

D

,

Special

Assessment

,

2026

,

5.6 %

,

5/01/56

...............................

120,000

120,724

Cypress

Bluff

Community

Development

District

,

Assessment

Area

,

Special

Assessment

,

2025

,

5.55 %

,

5/01/55

....................................

100,000

100,775

Deering

Park

Stewardship

District

,

DPSD

JV1

No.

Assessment

Area

,

Special

Assessment

,

2025

,

%

,

5/01/45

.......................................

115,000

121,795

Epperson

North

Community

Development

District

,

Assessment

Area

,

Special

Assessment

,

2024

,

5.6 %

,

5/01/55

.....................................

110,000

110,587

d

Everlands

Community

Development

District

,

Assessment

Area

Phase

,

Special

Assessment

,

144A,

2024

,

5.5 %

,

6/15/54

................................

150,000

150,620

Feed

Mill

Community

Development

District

,

Parcel

Assessment

Area

,

Special

Assessment

,

2025

,

5.875 %

,

5/01/56

...................................

100,000

101,366

Florida

Development

Finance

Corp.

,

d

Mayflower

Retirement

Center,

Inc.

Obligated

Group

,

Revenue

,

144A,

2021

A

,

Refunding

,

%

,

6/01/55

............................................

100,000

75,014

Shands

Jacksonville

Medical

Center

Obligated

Group

,

Revenue

,

2022

A

,

Refunding

,

%

,

2/01/52

....................................................

85,000

82,246

Fox

Branch

Ranch

Community

Development

District

,

Assessment

Area

,

Special

Assessment

,

2025

,

5.4 %

,

5/01/55

.....................................

100,000

100,276

d

Gas

Worx

Community

Development

District

,

Special

Assessment

,

144A,

2025

,

%

,

5/01/57

.........................................................

150,000

154,525

GIR

East

Community

Development

District

,

Assessment

Area

,

Special

Assessment

,

2025

,

5.5 %

,

5/01/55

................................................

100,000

99,268

Hammock

Oaks

Community

Development

District

,

Assessment

Area

,

Special

Assessment

,

2024

,

5.85 %

,

5/01/44

....................................

110,000

114,420

Harvest

Hills

South

Community

Development

District

,

Assessment

Area

,

Special

Assessment

,

2025

,

5.75 %

,

5/01/56

....................................

165,000

165,609

Highland

Trails

Community

Development

District

,

Assessment

Area

,

Special

Assessment

,

2025

,

5.85 %

,

5/01/56

....................................

100,000

100,749

d

Hillcrest

Preserve

Community

Development

District

,

Special

Assessment

,

144A,

2024

,

5.3 %

,

5/01/54

....................................................

180,000

176,700

Hunt

Club

Grove

Community

Development

District

,

Assessment

Area

,

Special

Assessment

,

2024

,

5.625 %

,

6/15/54

...................................

75,000

75,566

d

K-Bar

Ranch

III

Community

Development

District

,

Special

Assessment

,

144A,

2025

,

6.125 %

,

5/01/55

...................................................

110,000

115,255

Kindred

Community

Development

District

II

,

Special

Assessment

,

2021

,

3.125 %

,

5/01/41

.........................................................

100,000

91,928

Kings

Creek

I

Community

Development

District

,

Assessment

Area

,

Special

Assessment

,

2025

,

%

,

5/01/55

.......................................

100,000

102,717

Kingston

One

Community

Development

District

,

Assessment

Area

-

2025

Project

,

Special

Assessment

,

2025

,

%

,

5/01/57

.................................

130,000

134,117

Kissimmee

Park

Community

Development

District

,

Assessment

Area

,

Special

Assessment

,

2025

,

6.125 %

,

5/01/56

...................................

100,000

103,940

d

Knightsbridge

Community

Development

District

,

Special

Assessment

,

144A,

2024

,

5.5 %

,

6/15/54

....................................................

175,000

178,969

Lake

Flores

Community

Development

District

,

Assessment

Area

,

Special

Assessment

,

2026

,

5.75 %

,

5/01/56

...............................................

100,000

100,984

Lakeside

Preserve

Community

Development

District

,

Special

Assessment

,

2023

,

6.375 %

,

5/01/54

...................................................

95,000

100,226

Langley

South

Community

Development

District

,

Assessment

Area

,

Special

Assessment

,

2024

,

5.4 %

,

5/01/55

.....................................

70,000

70,294

Lee

County

Industrial

Development

Authority

,

Shell

Point

Obligated

Group

,

Revenue

,

2024

C

,

%

,

11/15/54

...............................................

500,000

490,660

LT

Ranch

Community

Development

District

,

Phase

IIA

Assessment

Area

,

Special

Assessment

,

2022-2

,

5.7 %

,

5/01/53

....................................

100,000

102,738

Franklin

Strategic

Series

Schedule

of

Investments

(unaudited)

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### H
(continued)

franklintempleton.com

Semiannual

Report

The

accompanying

notes

are

an

integral

part

of

these

financial

statements.

a

a

#### Principal

#### Amount
a

#### Value
a

a

#### a
a

#### Municipal

#### Bonds
(continued)

#### Florida
(continued)

Marion

Ranch

Community

Development

District

,

Special

Assessment

,

2024

,

5.7 %

,

5/01/44

.........................................................

$

85,000

$

88,552

North

Pasco

Community

Development

District

,

Assessment

Area

,

Special

Assessment

,

2023

,

%

,

5/01/54

.......................................

70,000

72,180

North

Loop

Community

Development

District

,

Special

Assessment

,

2023

,

6.625 %

,

5/01/54

.........................................................

130,000

139,882

Pacific

Ace

Community

Development

District

,

Special

Assessment

,

2024

,

5.5 %

,

5/01/55

.........................................................

125,000

126,692

Palermo

Community

Development

District

,

Special

Assessment

,

2023

,

%

,

6/15/43

.................................

100,000

104,008

Assessment

Area

,

Special

Assessment

,

2025

,

5.5 %

,

6/15/55

................

100,000

103,056

Palm

Coast

Park

Community

Development

District

,

Special

Assessment

,

2023

,

5.6 %

,

5/01/53

.........................................................

100,000

101,857

Parker

Pointe

Community

Development

District

,

Special

Assessment

,

2024

,

5.5 %

,

5/01/44

.........................................................

100,000

102,923

Parkside

Trails

Community

Development

District

,

2025

Project

Area

,

Special

Assessment

,

2025

,

5.55 %

,

5/01/55

....................................

145,000

145,318

Parrish

Lakes

Community

Development

District

,

Assessment

Area

,

Special

Assessment

,

2023

A

,

5.625 %

,

5/01/53

..................................

90,000

91,911

Pasadena

Ridge

Community

Development

District

,

Assessment

Area

,

Special

Assessment

,

2024

,

5.375 %

,

5/01/55

...................................

130,000

129,318

Preserve

at

Savannah

Lakes

Community

Development

District

,

Assessment

Area

,

Special

Assessment

,

2024

,

5.45 %

,

5/01/44

..............................

140,000

146,005

Prosperity

Lakes

Community

Development

District

,

Assessment

Area

,

Special

Assessment

,

2023

,

6.125 %

,

12/15/53

...................................

160,000

171,241

Quail

Roost

Community

Development

District

,

Expansion

Area

,

Special

Assessment

,

2021

,

%

,

12/15/51

................................................

70,000

61,353

Reflection

Bay

Community

Development

District

,

Special

Assessment

,

2025

,

5.875 %

,

5/01/55

.........................................................

160,000

163,951

Regal

Village

Community

Development

District

,

Special

Assessment

,

2024

,

5.5 %

,

5/01/54

.........................................................

145,000

146,534

Ridge

at

Apopka

Community

Development

District

,

Parcel

,

Special

Assessment

,

2023

,

5.75 %

,

5/01/53

...............................................

100,000

101,609

River

Hall

Community

Development

District

,

Assessment

Area

,

Special

Assessment

,

2023

A

,

6.5 %

,

5/01/54

..............................................

105,000

111,770

River

Landing

Community

Development

District

,

Assessments

,

Special

Assessment

,

2025

,

5.45 %

,

5/01/55

...............................................

100,000

100,419

d

Saltmeadows

Community

Development

District

,

Assessment

Area

,

Special

Assessment

,

144A,

2025

,

%

,

5/01/55

..................................

150,000

155,546

Savanna

Lakes

Community

Development

District

,

Assessment

Area

,

Special

Assessment

,

2024

,

5.5 %

,

6/15/54

.....................................

135,000

136,309

Sawgrass

Village

Community

Development

District

,

Assessment

Area

,

Special

Assessment

,

2023

,

5.75 %

,

5/01/53

...............

100,000

102,084

Assessment

Area

,

Special

Assessment

,

2023

,

6.375 %

,

11/01/53

.............

155,000

163,171

d

Seaton

Creek

Reserve

Community

Development

District

,

Assessment

Area

,

Special

Assessment

,

144A,

2023

,

5.5 %

,

6/15/53

................................

100,000

102,550

Seminole

Palms

Community

Development

District

,

Special

Assessment

,

2023

,

5.5 %

,

5/01/43

.........................................................

85,000

89,143

Springs

at

Lake

Alfred

Community

Development

District

,

Assessment

Area

,

Special

Assessment

,

2024

,

5.6 %

,

5/01/54

.....................................

145,000

146,432

Stonegate

Preserve

Community

Development

District

,

Special

Assessment

,

2023

,

6.125 %

,

12/15/53

.............................

150,000

160,737

Special

Assessment

,

2025

,

5.875 %

,

6/15/55

.............................

125,000

128,710

d

Sugarloaf

Community

Development

District

,

Assessment

Area

,

Special

Assessment

,

144A,

2026

,

5.625 %

,

12/15/55

........................................

100,000

100,588

Terra

Lago

Community

Development

District

,

Assessment

Area

,

Special

Assessment

,

2025

,

5.75 %

,

5/01/56

...............................................

100,000

100,411

Franklin

Strategic

Series

Schedule

of

Investments

(unaudited)

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### H
(continued)

franklintempleton.com

The

accompanying

notes

are

an

integral

part

of

these

financial

statements.

Semiannual

Report

a

a

#### Principal

#### Amount
a

#### Value
a

a

#### a
a

#### Municipal

#### Bonds
(continued)

#### Florida
(continued)

Tranquility

Community

Development

District

,

Special

Assessment

,

2025

,

5.625 %

,

5/01/55

.........................................................

$

150,000

$

150,355

Twisted

Oaks

Pointe

Community

Development

District

,

Assessment

Area

,

Special

Assessment

,

2023

,

5.375 %

,

5/01/43

..............

100,000

104,369

Assessment

Area

,

Special

Assessment

,

2023

,

6.125 %

,

5/01/54

..............

75,000

77,930

Two

Rivers

West

Community

Development

District

,

Special

Assessment

,

2024

,

5.875 %

,

5/01/54

...................................................

75,000

77,135

V-Dana

Community

Development

District

,

Assessment

Area

,

Special

Assessment

,

2025

,

5.55 %

,

5/01/55

...............................................

95,000

95,804

Waterset

South

Community

Development

District

,

Assessment

Area

,

Special

Assessment

,

2026

,

5.65 %

,

5/01/56

....................................

175,000

177,410

d

Wellness

Ridge

Community

Development

District

,

Assessment

Area

,

Special

Assessment

,

144A,

2024

,

5.2 %

,

6/15/55

................................

100,000

98,484

d

West

Port

East

Community

Development

District

,

Assessment

Area

,

Special

Assessment

,

144A,

2025

,

%

,

5/01/55

..................................

120,000

123,892

d

West

Villages

Improvement

District

,

Special

Assessment

,

144A,

2025

,

5.5 %

,

5/01/55

145,000

144,980

Westwood

of

Pasco

Community

Development

District

,

Assessments

,

Special

Assessment

,

2023

,

5.625 %

,

5/01/53

...................................

130,000

133,384

Winding

Oaks

Community

Development

District

,

Special

Assessment

,

2024

,

5.7 %

,

5/01/55

.........................................................

100,000

100,668

d

Woodland

Preserve

Community

Development

District

,

Assessment

Area

,

Special

Assessment

,

144A,

2025

,

5.5 %

,

5/01/55

................................

100,000

100,561

10,418,208

#### Georgia

#### 0.3%
Georgia

Housing

&

Finance

Authority

,

Revenue

,

2025

C

,

5.125 %

,

12/01/50

........

100,000

102,751

#### Illinois

#### 8.0%
Chicago

Board

of

Education

,

GO

,

2023

A

,

5.875 %

,

12/01/47

........................................

250,000

258,381

GO

,

2025

B

,

Refunding

,

%

,

12/01/44

..................................

315,000

337,549

Dedicated

Capital

Improvement

Tax

,

Revenue

,

2023

,

5.75 %

,

4/01/48

...........

225,000

239,633

City

of

Chicago

,

GO

,

2025

A

,

%

,

1/01/50

.................................

350,000

368,521

Illinois

Finance

Authority

,

Westminster

Village,

Inc.

Obligated

Group

,

Revenue

,

2018

A

,

Refunding

,

%

,

5/01/48

.............................................

100,000

88,224

Metropolitan

Pier

&

Exposition

Authority

,

State

of

Illinois

McCormick

Place

Expansion

Project

Fund

,

Revenue

,

2024

B

,

Refunding

,

%

,

6/15/53

....................

500,000

500,110

State

of

Illinois

,

GO

,

2024

B

,

5.25 %

,

5/01/47

...............................

1,500,000

1,574,202

3,366,620

#### Indiana

#### 0.5%
d

City

of

Goshen

,

Green

Oaks

of

Goshen

LLC

,

Revenue

,

144A,

2021

A

,

%

,

8/01/41

..

100,000

90,303

Indianapolis

Local

Public

Improvement

Bond

Bank

,

Revenue,

Senior

Lien

,

2023

E

,

6.125 %

,

3/01/57

...................................................

110,000

115,901

206,204

#### Iowa

#### 1.5%
Iowa

Finance

Authority

,

Iowa

Fertilizer

Co.

LLC

,

Revenue

,

2022

,

Pre-Refunded

,

%

,

12/01/50

..........

235,000

274,379

Lifespace

Communities,

Inc.

Obligated

Group

,

Revenue

,

2016

A

,

%

,

5/15/36

....

100,000

100,222

Presbyterian

Homes

Mill

Pond

Apartment,

Inc.

,

Revenue

,

2025

,

5.875 %

,

10/01/65

.

125,000

127,904

Iowa

Higher

Education

Loan

Authority

,

University

of

Dubuque

,

Revenue

,

2025

,

%

,

10/01/55

........................................................

130,000

137,079

639,584

#### Louisiana

#### 2.5%
Calcasieu

Parish

Memorial

Hospital

Service

District

,

Southwest

Louisiana

Healthcare

System

Obligated

Group

,

Revenue

,

2019

,

Refunding

,

%

,

12/01/39

............

100,000

100,065

Franklin

Strategic

Series

Schedule

of

Investments

(unaudited)

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### H
(continued)

franklintempleton.com

Semiannual

Report

The

accompanying

notes

are

an

integral

part

of

these

financial

statements.

a

a

#### Principal

#### Amount
a

#### Value
a

a

#### a
a

#### Municipal

#### Bonds
(continued)

#### Louisiana
(continued)

Lakeshore

Villages

Master

Community

Development

District

,

Special

Assessment

,

2025

,

%

,

6/01/54

.................................................

$

170,000

$

176,350

d

Louisiana

Local

Government

Environmental

Facilities

&

Community

Development

Authority

,

Parish

of

St.

Martin

,

Revenue

,

144A,

2019

,

4.4 %

,

11/01/44

...........

135,000

135,308

Louisiana

Public

Facilities

Authority

,

d

Acadiana

Renaissance

Charter

Academy

,

Revenue

,

144A,

2025

,

%

,

6/15/59

....

100,000

101,287

Calcasieu

Bridge

Partners

LLC

,

Revenue,

Senior

Lien

,

2024

,

5.5 %

,

9/01/59

......

195,000

200,453

Calcasieu

Bridge

Partners

LLC

,

Revenue,

Senior

Lien

,

2024

,

5.75 %

,

9/01/64

.....

330,000

343,707

1,057,170

#### Maryland

#### 1.0%
Maryland

Economic

Development

Corp.

,

Morgan

View

&

Thurgood

Marshall

Student

Housing

,

Revenue

,

2020

,

4.25 %

,

7/01/50

170,000

150,939

Morgan

View

&

Thurgood

Marshall

Student

Housing

,

Revenue

,

2022

A

,

%

,

7/01/58

75,000

79,561

d

Town

of

La

Plata

,

Heritage

Green

Special

Taxing

District

,

Special

Tax

,

144A,

2023

A

,

6.5 %

,

2/15/53

....................................................

190,000

193,037

423,537

#### Michigan

#### 1.2%
City

of

Detroit

,

GO

,

2023

C

,

%

,

5/01/43

..................................

100,000

113,010

Grand

Rapids

Economic

Development

Corp.

,

Michigan

Christian

Home

Obligated

Group

,

Revenue

,

2025

A

,

Refunding

,

%

,

11/01/50

........................

100,000

100,872

Michigan

Finance

Authority

,

Provident

Group

-

HFH

Energy

LLC

,

Revenue

,

2024

,

4.375 %

,

2/28/54

...................................................

150,000

142,118

Michigan

State

Housing

Development

Authority

,

Revenue

,

2025

C

,

5.05 %

,

6/01/51

..

150,000

152,219

508,219

#### Minnesota

#### 0.3%
City

of

Apple

Valley

,

PHS

Apple

Valley

Senior

Housing,

Inc.

,

Revenue

,

2021

,

%

,

9/01/36

.........................................................

105,000

105,388

#### Nevada

#### 0.6%
City

of

Las

Vegas

,

Special

Improvement

District

No.

819

,

Special

Assessment

,

2025

,

5.5 %

,

6/01/55

....................................................

150,000

153,242

Henderson

Local

Improvement

Districts

,

Local

Improvement

District

No.

,

Special

Assessment

,

2023

,

5.25 %

,

3/01/53

....................................

100,000

100,512

253,754

#### New

#### Hampshire

#### 2.1%
New

Hampshire

Business

Finance

Authority

,

Adventist

Health

System/West

Obligated

Group

,

Revenue

,

2024

C

,

5.25 %

,

7/01/49

355,000

360,248

Greater

Raleigh

Area

Christian

Education,

Inc.

,

Revenue

,

2025

,

%

,

8/01/65

.....

250,000

251,403

Presbyterian

Homes

Obligated

Group

,

Revenue

,

2023

A

,

5.25 %

,

7/01/48

........

250,000

254,547

866,198

#### New

#### York

#### 6.1%
Metropolitan

Transportation

Authority

,

Revenue

,

2021

,

%

,

11/15/41

..........

475,000

475,339

New

York

City

Housing

Development

Corp.

,

Spruce

NY

Owner

LLC

,

Revenue

,

2024

,

F

,

Refunding

,

5.25 %

,

12/15/31

........................................

250,000

260,253

New

York

Transportation

Development

Corp.

,

Delta

Air

Lines,

Inc.

,

Revenue

,

2020

,

%

,

10/01/30

.........................

100,000

102,669

Delta

Air

Lines,

Inc.

,

Revenue

,

2020

,

4.375 %

,

10/01/45

.....................

465,000

448,722

JFK

International

Air

Terminal

LLC

,

Revenue

,

2022

,

%

,

12/01/41

.............

185,000

197,144

JFK

NTO

LLC

,

Revenue

,

2023

,

%

,

6/30/54

..............................

35,000

36,742

JFK

NTO

LLC

,

Revenue

,

2024

,

5.5 %

,

6/30/60

............................

910,000

930,252

d

Oneida

Indian

Nation

of

New

York

,

Revenue

,

144A,

2024

B

,

%

,

9/01/43

..........

100,000

109,330

2,560,451

Franklin

Strategic

Series

Schedule

of

Investments

(unaudited)

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### H
(continued)

franklintempleton.com

The

accompanying

notes

are

an

integral

part

of

these

financial

statements.

Semiannual

Report

a

a

#### Principal

#### Amount
a

#### Value
a

a

#### a
a

#### Municipal

#### Bonds
(continued)

#### Ohio

#### 1.0%
Ohio

Higher

Educational

Facility

Commission

,

Cleveland

Institute

of

Art

(The)

,

Revenue

,

5.5 %

,

12/01/53

............................................

$

200,000

$

184,982

Ohio

Housing

Finance

Agency

,

Revenue,

Sub.

Lien

,

2023

C

,

%

,

8/01/34

.........

100,000

106,576

Summit

County

Development

Finance

Authority

,

UAkronPark,

Inc.

,

Revenue

,

2023

,

%

,

12/01/58

........................................................

125,000

133,677

425,235

#### Oklahoma

#### 0.4%
Tulsa

Municipal

Airport

Trust

Trustees

,

American

Airlines,

Inc.

,

Revenue

,

2025

,

Refunding

,

6.25 %

,

12/01/40

..........................................

135,000

153,750

#### Pennsylvania

#### 2.7%
d

Allentown

Commercial

and

Industrial

Development

Authority

,

Executive

Education

Academy

Charter

School

,

Revenue

,

144A,

2024

,

Refunding

,

%

,

7/01/59

........

250,000

232,038

Berks

County

Municipal

Authority

(The)

,

Tower

Health

Obligated

Group

,

Revenue

,

2024

,

%

,

6/30/34

..............

18,000

18,766

Tower

Health

Obligated

Group

,

Revenue

,

2024

,

%

,

6/30/34

..............

8,000

8,633

Tower

Health

Obligated

Group

,

Revenue

,

2024

,

%

,

6/30/39

..............

120,000

114,870

g

Tower

Health

Obligated

Group

,

Revenue

,

2024

,

1.35 %,

6/30/44

............

59,000

43,855

Montgomery

County

Higher

Education

and

Health

Authority

,

Thomas

Jefferson

University

Obligated

Group

,

Revenue

,

2022

B

,

Refunding

,

%

,

5/01/57

.........

720,000

725,247

1,143,409

#### Rhode

#### Island

#### 0.9%
Rhode

Island

Health

and

Educational

Building

Corp.

,

PRG

-

RI

Properties

LLC

,

Revenue

,

2025

A

,

AG

Insured

,

%

,

7/01/55

..........

230,000

231,378

PRG

-

RI

Properties

LLC

,

Revenue

,

2025

B

,

AG

Insured

,

5.625 %

,

7/01/65

.......

150,000

154,425

385,803

#### Texas

#### 10.3%
d

Arlington

Higher

Education

Finance

Corp.

,

BASIS

Texas

Charter

Schools,

Inc.

,

Revenue

,

144A,

2024

,

4.875 %

,

6/15/59

......

100,000

91,339

BASIS

Texas

Charter

Schools,

Inc.

,

Revenue

,

144A,

2025

,

Refunding

,

5.875 %

,

6/15/65

........................................................

150,000

152,870

d

City

of

Anna

,

Woods

at

Lindsey

Place

(The)

Public

Improvement

District

Area

,

Special

Assessment

,

144A,

2023

,

5.875 %

,

9/15/53

.........................

116,000

120,066

d

City

of

Austin

,

Whisper

Valley

Public

Improvement

District

Improvement

Area

No.

,

Special

Assessment

,

144A,

2022

,

5.5 %

,

11/01/51

..........................

100,000

101,889

d

City

of

Celina

,

Lakes

at

Mustang

Ranch

Public

Improvement

District

Phases

8-9

,

Special

Assessment

,

144A,

2025

,

5.625 %

,

9/01/55

.............................

150,000

150,246

Pravin

Public

Improvement

District

,

Special

Assessment

,

144A,

2023

,

6.75 %

,

9/01/53

100,000

100,944

d

City

of

Dayton

,

Special

Assessment

,

144A,

2025

,

5.5 %

,

9/01/55

................

102,000

102,034

City

of

Dripping

Springs

,

Special

Assessment

,

2025

,

5.625 %

,

9/01/55

............

125,000

125,306

d

City

of

Ennis

,

Special

Assessment

,

144A,

2025

,

5.5 %

,

9/15/55

.................

100,000

99,780

d

City

of

Fate

,

Williamsburg

Public

Improvement

District

No.

Phase

3B

,

Special

Assessment

,

144A,

2023

,

5.375 %

,

8/15/53

...............................

100,000

101,302

City

of

Houston

Airport

System

,

United

Airlines,

Inc.

,

Revenue

,

2024

B

,

5.5 %

,

7/15/39

350,000

383,694

d

City

of

Hutto

,

Emory

Crossing

Public

Improvement

District

Improvement

Area

No.

,

Special

Assessment

,

144A,

2023

,

5.625 %

,

9/01/58

.........................

115,000

116,759

d

City

of

Kyle

,

Creeks

Public

Improvement

District

Improvement

Area

No.

,

Special

Assessment

,

144A,

2025

,

5.375 %

,

9/01/50

...............................

141,000

142,226

City

of

Lavon

,

Elevon

Public

Improvement

District

Improvement

Area

No.

3-5

,

Special

Assessment

,

2025

,

5.75 %

,

9/15/55

....................................

100,000

100,763

e

City

of

Liberty

,

Liberty

Ranch

Public

Improvement

District

,

Special

Assessment

,

2026

,

5.875 %

,

9/01/56

...................................................

128,000

128,840

d

City

of

Manor

,

EntradenGlen

Public

Improvement

District

Improvement

Area

No.

,

Special

Assessment

,

144A,

2025

,

%

,

9/15/55

............................

100,000

105,728

Franklin

Strategic

Series

Schedule

of

Investments

(unaudited)

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### H
(continued)

franklintempleton.com

Semiannual

Report

The

accompanying

notes

are

an

integral

part

of

these

financial

statements.

a

a

#### Principal

#### Amount
a

#### Value
a

a

#### a
a

#### Municipal

#### Bonds
(continued)

#### Texas
(continued)

d

City

of

Mclendon-Chisholm

,

Sonoma

Public

Improvement

District

Improvement

Area

No.

,

Special

Assessment

,

144A,

2022

,

5.75 %

,

9/15/52

....................

$

135,000

$

136,562

City

of

Mesquite

,

Solterra

Public

Improvement

District

Improvement

Area

A-2-A-4

,

Special

Assessment

,

2025

,

5.75 %

,

9/01/55

..............................

143,000

143,576

City

of

Princeton

,

d

Southbridge

Public

Improvement

District

Improvement

Area

No.

,

Special

Assessment

,

144A,

2024

,

5.5 %

,

9/01/54

...............................

132,000

132,051

Windmore

Public

Improvement

District

Improvement

Area

No.

,

Special

Assessment

,

2025

,

5.625 %

,

9/01/55

..................................

195,000

196,427

d

City

of

Tomball

,

Raburn

Reserve

Public

Improvement

District

Area

No.

,

Special

Assessment

,

144A,

2023

,

5.75 %

,

9/15/52

...............................

112,000

115,003

d

County

of

Bastrop

,

Double

Eagle

Ranch

Public

Improvement

District

Improvement

Area

No.

,

Special

Assessment

,

144A,

2024

,

5.25 %

,

9/01/44

....................

105,000

108,975

d

County

of

Denton

,

Green

Meadows

Public

Improvement

District

Major

Improvement

Area

,

Special

Assessment

,

144A,

2025

,

6.125 %

,

12/31/55

............................

100,000

103,622

Tabor

Ranch

Public

Improvement

District

Improvement

Area

No.

,

Special

Assessment,

Senior

Lien

,

144A,

2024

A

,

5.625 %

,

12/31/54

.................

106,000

106,940

d

County

of

Hays

,

La

Cima

Public

Improvement

District

,

Special

Assessment

,

144A,

2020

,

3.25 %

,

9/15/30

...............................................

100,000

95,600

d,e

County

of

Medina

,

Viera

Public

Improvement

District

Improvement

Area

No.

Project

,

Special

Assessment

,

144A,

2026

,

5.75 %

,

9/01/56

...................

150,000

150,454

County

of

Montgomery

,

Crockett

Meadows

Public

Improvement

District

Improvement

Area

No.

,

Special

Assessment

,

2025

,

5.5 %

,

9/15/54

......................

123,000

123,733

d

East

Waller

County

Management

District

,

Sofi

Lakes

Sections

&

Assessments

,

Special

Assessment

,

144A,

2025

,

6.25 %

,

9/15/55

.........................

131,000

135,026

EP

Cimarron

Ventanas

PFC

,

Revenue

,

2024

,

Refunding

,

4.125 %

,

12/01/39

........

150,000

153,023

Harris

County

Municipal

Utility

District

No.

540

,

GO

,

2022

,

5.5 %

,

9/01/49

..........

100,000

98,282

New

Hope

Cultural

Education

Facilities

Finance

Corp.

,

NCCD-College

Station

Properties

LLC

,

Revenue

,

A

,

%

,

7/01/47

..............

90,000

86,902

Quality

Senior

Housing

Foundation

of

East

Texas,

Inc.

,

Revenue

,

2019

,

%

,

12/01/39

.......................................................

85,000

86,251

Quality

Senior

Housing

Foundation

of

East

Texas,

Inc.

,

Revenue,

Second

Tier,

Sub.

Lien

,

2019

B

,

5.5 %

,

12/01/54

.......................................

180,000

170,429

Walden

Pond

Fresh

Water

Supply

District

,

GO

,

2022

,

6.25 %

,

9/01/47

............

45,000

45,808

4,312,450

#### Washington

#### 0.5%
Washington

State

Housing

Finance

Commission

,

Eastside

Retirement

Association

Obligated

Group

,

Revenue

,

2023

A

,

Refunding

,

%

,

7/01/48

........................................................

120,000

120,957

d

Presbyterian

Retirement

Communities

Northwest

Obligated

Group

,

Revenue

,

144A,

2019

A

,

%

,

1/01/55

..............................................

100,000

91,510

212,467

#### Wisconsin

#### 4.0%
Public

Finance

Authority

,

Campus

Real

Estate

Holding

Corp.

LLC

,

Revenue

,

2025

A

,

Refunding

,

5.5 %

,

6/01/55

310,000

315,559

d

Foundation

Academy

Charter

School

A

NJ

Nonprofit

Corp.

,

Revenue

,

144A,

2024

,

%

,

7/01/60

....................................................

300,000

273,911

d

Friends

Homes

Obligated

Group

,

Revenue

,

144A,

2019

,

Refunding

,

%

,

9/01/49

..

125,000

122,582

KSU

Bixby

Real

Estate

Foundation

LLC

,

Revenue,

Sub.

Lien

,

2025

B

,

5.5 %

,

6/15/55

100,000

101,456

NC

A&T

Real

Estate

Foundation

LLC

,

Revenue

,

2024

A

,

5.25 %

,

6/01/54

........

145,000

146,780

RED

River

Valley

Alliance

LLC

,

Revenue

,

2021

,

%

,

9/30/51

.................

345,000

294,161

SR

Peach

Partners

LLC

,

Revenue,

Senior

Lien

,

2025

,

6.5 %

,

12/31/65

.......

100,000

111,297

Triad

Math

&

Science

Academy

Co.

,

Revenue

,

2025

,

Refunding

,

5.5 %

,

6/15/55

...

100,000

98,161

Triad

Math

&

Science

Academy

Co.

,

Revenue

,

2025

,

Refunding

,

5.25 %

,

6/15/65

..

100,000

92,810

Franklin

Strategic

Series

Schedule

of

Investments

(unaudited)

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### H
(continued)

franklintempleton.com

The

accompanying

notes

are

an

integral

part

of

these

financial

statements.

Semiannual

Report

See

A

bbreviations

on

.

a

a

#### Principal

#### Amount
a

#### Value
a

a

#### a
a

#### Municipal

#### Bonds
(continued)

#### Wisconsin
(continued)

Wisconsin

Health

&

Educational

Facilities

Authority

,

PHW

Menomonee

Falls,

Inc.

,

Revenue

,

2024

,

6.125 %

,

10/01/59

.....................................

$

100,000

$

104,499

1,661,216

#### U.S.

#### Territories

#### 7.0%

#### District

#### of

#### Columbia

#### 0.6%
District

of

Columbia

,

International

School

Obligated

Group

,

Revenue

,

2019

,

%

,

7/01/49

............

140,000

139,059

Plenary

Infrastructure

DC

LLC

,

Revenue

,

2022

A

,

5.5 %

,

8/31/33

..............

100,000

116,674

255,733

#### Puerto

#### Rico

#### 6.4%
Commonwealth

of

Puerto

Rico

,

GO

,

2022

,

%

,

7/01/41

..........................................

314,382

305,131

GO

,

2022

,

%

,

7/01/46

..........................................

296,826

267,989

GDB

Debt

Recovery

Authority

of

Puerto

Rico

,

7.5 %

,

8/20/40

...................

79,782

78,469

Puerto

Rico

Sales

Tax

Financing

Corp.

,

Sales

Tax

,

Revenue

,

,

%

,

7/01/58

.....

2,051,000

2,013,115

2,664,704

#### Total

#### U.S.

#### Territories

#### ....................................................................
2,920,437

#### Total

#### Municipal

#### Bonds

#### (Cost

#### $

#### 36,220,839

####)
......................................

#### 37,178,726

#### Total

#### Long

#### Term

#### Investments

#### (Cost

#### $

#### 40,161,555

####)
................................

#### 41,247,622

#### a
a

a

a

#### Short

#### Term

#### Investments

#### 1.9%

#### Municipal

#### Bonds

#### 1.9%

#### North

#### Carolina

#### 1.0%
h

Charlotte-Mecklenburg

Hospital

Authority

(The)

,

Atrium

Health

Obligated

Group

,

Revenue

,

2018

H

,

SPA

JPMorgan

Chase

Bank

NA

,

Daily

VRDN

and

Put

,

1.9 %

,

1/15/48

.........................................................

400,000

400,000

#### Oregon

#### 0.9%
h

Oregon

State

Facilities

Authority

,

PeaceHealth

Obligated

Group

,

Revenue

,

2018

B

,

Refunding

,

LOC

TD

Bank

NA

,

Daily

VRDN

and

Put

,

1.9 %

,

8/01/34

.............

400,000

400,000

#### Total

#### Municipal

#### Bonds

#### (Cost

#### $

#### 800,000

####)
.........................................

#### 800,000

#### Total

#### Short

#### Term

#### Investments

#### (Cost

#### $

#### 800,000

####)
..................................

#### 800,000

#### a

#### Total

#### Investments

#### (Cost

#### $

#### 40,961,555

####)
100.5 #### %
...................................

#### $42,047,622

#### Other

#### Assets,

#### less

#### Liabilities

#### (0.5 ####)

#### %
...........................................

#### (201,621)

#### Net

#### Assets

#### 100.0%

#### ...........................................................

#### $41,846,001
a

Fair

valued

using

significant

unobservable

inputs.

See

Note

regarding

fair

value

measurements.

b

Non-income

producing.

c

See

Note

3(d)

regarding

investments

in

affiliated

management

investment

companies.

d

Security

was

purchased

pursuant

to

Rule

144A

or

Regulation

S

under

the

Securities

Act

of

1933. 144A

securities

may

be

sold

in

transactions

exempt

from

registration

only

to

qualified

institutional

buyers

or

in

a

public

offering

registered

under

the

Securities

Act

of

1933. Regulation

S

securities

cannot

be

sold

in

the

United

States

without

either

an

effective

registration

statement

filed

pursuant

to

the

Securities

Act

of

1933,

or

pursuant

to

an

exemption

from

registration.

At

February

28,

2026,

the

aggregate

value

of

these

securities

was

$8,628,060,

representing

20.6%

of

net

assets.

e

Security

purchased

on

a

when-issued

basis.

See

Note

1(c).

f

The

maturity

date

shown

represents

the

mandatory

put

date.

Franklin

Strategic

Series

Schedule

of

Investments

(unaudited)

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### H
(continued)

franklintempleton.com

Semiannual

Report

The

accompanying

notes

are

an

integral

part

of

these

financial

statements.

g

The

rate

shown

represents

the

yield

at

period

end.

h

Variable

rate

demand

notes

(VRDN)

are

obligations

which

contain

a

floating

or

variable

interest

rate

adjustment

formula

and

an

unconditional

right

of

demand

to

receive

pay-

ment

of

the

principal

balance

plus

accrued

interest

at

specified

dates.

Unless

otherwise

noted,

the

coupon

rate

is

determined

based

on

factors

including

supply

and

demand,

underlying

credit,

tax

treatment,

and

current

short

term

rates.

The

coupon

rate

shown

represents

the

rate

at

period

end.

Franklin

Strategic

Series

Financial

Highlights

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### I
franklintempleton.com

The

accompanying

notes

are

an

integral

part

of

these

financial

statements.

Semiannual

Report

a

#### Six

#### Months

#### Ended

#### February

#### 28,

#### 2026
(unaudited)

#### Year

#### Ended

#### August

#### 31,

#### 2025

#### 2024

#### 2023

#### 2022

#### 2021

#### Per

#### share

#### operating

#### performance
(for

a

share

outstanding

throughout

the

period)

Net

asset

value,

beginning

of

period

.....

$8.07

$8.11

$7.78

$7.83

$9.73

$8.95

Income

from

investment

operations

a

:

Net

investment

income

b

.............

0.31 0.61 0.61 0.64 0.65 0.66 Net

realized

and

unrealized

gains

(losses)

0.10 (0.03)

0.33 (0.07)

(1.85)

0.78 Total

from

investment

operations

........

0.41 0.58 0.94 0.57 (1.20)

1.44 Less

distributions

from:

Net

investment

income

..............

(0.30)

(0.62)

(0.61)

(0.62)

(0.70)

(0.66)

Tax

return

of

capital

................

—

—

—

(—)

c

(—)

c

—

Total

distributions

...................

(0.30)

(0.62)

(0.61)

(0.62)

(0.70)

(0.66)

Net

asset

value,

end

of

period

..........

$8.18

$8.07

$8.11

$7.78

$7.83

$9.73

Total

return

d

.......................

5.24%

7.57%

12.71%

7.57%

(12.87)%

16.48%

#### Ratios

#### to

#### average

#### net

#### assets

#### e
Expenses

before

waiver

and

payments

by

affiliates

..........................

0.05%

0.06%

0.08%

0.20%

1.27%

3.10%

Expenses

net

of

waiver

and

payments

by

affiliates

..........................

—%

—%

—%

—%

f

—%

—%

f

Net

investment

income

...............

7.63%

7.68%

7.81%

8.24%

7.72%

7.01%

#### Supplemental

#### data
Net

assets

,

end

of

period

(000's)

........

$784,848

$615,016

$373,874

$109,051

$19,910

$3,699

Portfolio

turnover

rate

................

20.79%

52.45%

16.69%

27.73%

30.22%

32.50%

a

The

amount

shown

for

a

share

outstanding

throughout

the

period

may

not

correlate

with

the

Statement

of

Operations

for

the

period

due

to

the

timing

of

sales

and

repurchases

of

the

Fund's

shares

in

relation

to

income

earned

and/or

fluctuating

fair

value

of

the

investments

of

the

Fund.

b

Based

on

average

daily

shares

outstanding.

c

Amount

rounds

to

less

than

$0.01

per

share.

d

Total

return

is

not

annualized

for

periods

less

than

one

year.

e

Ratios

are

annualized

for

periods

less

than

one

year.

f

Benefit

of

expense

reduction

rounds

to

less

than

0.01%.

Franklin

Strategic

Series

Schedule

of

Investments

(unaudited),

February

28,

2026

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### I
franklintempleton.com

Semiannual

Report

The

accompanying

notes

are

an

integral

part

of

these

financial

statements.

a

a

#### Shares
a

#### Value
a

#### Common

#### Stocks

#### 0.3%

#### Banks

#### 0.3%
Bank

of

America

Corp.

...............................................

45,000

$

2,242,350

#### Pharmaceuticals

#### 0.0%

#### †
a

Keenova

Therapeutics

plc

.............................................

1,196

109,315

a

#### Total

#### Common

#### Stocks

#### (Cost

#### $

#### 1,346,417

####)
.......................................

#### 2,351,665
a

b

#### Equity-Linked

#### Securities

#### 0.0%

#### †

#### Energy

#### Equipment

#### &

#### Services

#### 0.0%

#### †
c

Citigroup

Global

Markets

Holdings,

Inc.

into

Halliburton

Co.

,

144A,

%

,

1/21/27

....

6,000

206,034

#### Total

#### Equity-Linked

#### Securities

#### (Cost

#### $

#### 196,320

####)
..................................

#### 206,034

#### Principal

#### Amount
a

#### a
a

#### Corporate

#### Bonds

#### 77.1%

#### Aerospace

#### &

#### Defense

#### 2.2%
c

TransDigm,

Inc.

,

Senior

Secured

Note

,

144A,

6.75 %

,

8/15/28

..............................

$

1,500,000

1,528,582

Senior

Secured

Note

,

144A,

6.875 %

,

12/15/30

............................

2,500,000

2,603,370

Senior

Secured

Note

,

144A,

6.625 %

,

3/01/32

.............................

8,000,000

8,297,936

Senior

Sub.

Note

,

144A,

6.75 %

,

1/31/34

.................................

4,250,000

4,414,205

16,844,093

#### Automobile

#### Components

#### 0.6%
c

Dornoch

Debt

Merger

Sub,

Inc.

,

Senior

Note

,

144A,

6.625 %

,

10/15/29

...........

5,000,000

4,521,073

#### Automobiles

#### 0.2%
c

Rivian

Holdings

LLC

/

Rivian

LLC

/

Rivian

Automotive

LLC

,

Senior

Secured

Note

,

144A,

%

,

1/15/31

................................................

2,000,000

1,893,453

#### Banks

#### 2.0%
Bank

of

America

Corp.

,

d

Junior

Sub.

Bond

,

6.25%

to

7/25/30,

FRN

thereafter

,

Perpetual

...............

4,000,000

4,118,209

Sub.

Bond

,

5.425%

to

8/14/34,

FRN

thereafter

,

8/15/35

.....................

50,000

51,243

Barclays

plc

,

d

Junior

Sub.

Bond

,

7.625%

to

9/14/35,

FRN

thereafter

,

Perpetual

...............

2,000,000

2,124,420

Sub.

Bond

,

7.119%

to

6/26/33,

FRN

thereafter

,

6/27/34

.....................

200,000

224,672

d

Citigroup,

Inc.

,

GG

,

Junior

Sub.

Bond

,

6.875%

to

8/14/30,

FRN

thereafter

,

Perpetual

.

5,000,000

5,129,775

Fifth

Third

Bancorp

,

Senior

Note

,

6.339%

to

7/26/28,

FRN

thereafter

,

7/27/29

......

50,000

52,584

Wells

Fargo

&

Co.

,

d

Junior

Sub.

Bond

,

6.85%

to

9/14/29,

FRN

thereafter

,

Perpetual

...............

4,000,000

4,221,612

Senior

Bond

,

6.491%

to

10/22/33,

FRN

thereafter

,

10/23/34

..................

100,000

111,074

16,033,589

#### Biotechnology

#### 0.5%
c

Genmab

A/S

/

Genmab

Finance

LLC

,

Senior

Note

,

144A,

7.25 %

,

12/15/33

....................................

1,250,000

1,327,138

Senior

Secured

Note

,

144A,

6.25 %

,

12/15/32

.............................

2,750,000

2,855,856

4,182,994

#### Building

#### Products

#### 0.7%
c

EMRLD

Borrower

LP

/

Emerald

Co-Issuer,

Inc.

,

Senior

Secured

Note

,

144A,

6.625 %

,

12/15/30

........................................................

2,000,000

2,072,490

c

Quikrete

Holdings,

Inc.

,

Senior

Secured

Note

,

144A,

6.375 %

,

3/01/32

............

3,000,000

3,119,844

5,192,334

Franklin

Strategic

Series

Schedule

of

Investments

(unaudited)

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### I
(continued)

franklintempleton.com

The

accompanying

notes

are

an

integral

part

of

these

financial

statements.

Semiannual

Report

a

a

#### Principal

#### Amount
a

#### Value
a

a

#### a
a

#### Corporate

#### Bonds
(continued)

#### Capital

#### Markets

#### 0.3%
Charles

Schwab

Corp.

(The)

,

Senior

Note

,

5.643%

to

5/18/28,

FRN

thereafter

,

5/19/29

$

50,000

$

51,907

d

Goldman

Sachs

Group,

Inc.

(The)

,

Junior

Sub.

Bond

,

6.85%

to

2/09/30,

FRN

thereafter

,

Perpetual

........................................................

2,000,000

2,095,676

Morgan

Stanley

,

Senior

Bond

,

6.627%

to

10/31/33,

FRN

thereafter

,

11/01/34

..................

100,000

112,377

Sub.

Bond

,

5.948%

to

1/18/33,

FRN

thereafter

,

1/19/38

.....................

50,000

52,727

2,312,687

#### Chemicals

#### 4.7%
Celanese

US

Holdings

LLC

,

Senior

Bond

,

7.379 %

,

7/15/32

........................................

2,000,000

2,110,224

Senior

Bond

,

7.2 %

,

11/15/33

.........................................

3,500,000

3,762,784

Senior

Note

,

7.05 %

,

11/15/30

.........................................

1,000,000

1,066,989

c

Rain

Carbon,

Inc.

,

Senior

Secured

Note

,

144A,

12.25 %

,

9/01/29

................

3,500,000

3,731,476

c

SCIH

Salt

Holdings,

Inc.

,

Senior

Note

,

144A,

6.625 %

,

5/01/29

..................

6,000,000

5,989,860

c

Tronox,

Inc.

,

Senior

Note

,

144A,

4.625 %

,

3/15/29

....................................

13,000,000

10,062,816

Senior

Secured

Note

,

144A,

9.125 %

,

9/30/30

.............................

10,000,000

9,827,327

36,551,476

#### Commercial

#### Services

#### &

#### Supplies

#### 0.3%
c

RR

Donnelley

&

Sons

Co.

,

Senior

Secured

Note

,

144A,

9.5 %

,

8/01/29

...........

2,500,000

2,578,497

#### Consumer

#### Finance

#### 0.5%
AerCap

Ireland

Capital

DAC

/

AerCap

Global

Aviation

Trust

,

Senior

Bond

,

5.3 %

,

1/19/34

.........................................................

200,000

205,820

Ford

Motor

Credit

Co.

LLC

,

Senior

Note

,

7.2 %

,

6/10/30

.......................

3,000,000

3,240,260

c

Macquarie

Airfinance

Holdings

Ltd.

,

Senior

Note

,

144A,

6.4 %

,

3/26/29

............

50,000

52,740

3,498,820

#### Containers

#### &

#### Packaging

#### 4.7%
c

Ardagh

Group

SA

,

e

Secured

Note

,

144A,

PIK,

%

,

12/01/30

................................

6,000,000

5,721,417

Senior

Secured

Note

,

144A,

9.5 %

,

12/01/30

..............................

7,315,000

7,927,464

c

Ardagh

Metal

Packaging

Finance

USA

LLC

/

Ardagh

Metal

Packaging

Finance

plc

,

Senior

Note

,

144A,

%

,

9/01/29

.......................................

1,000,000

955,291

c

Clydesdale

Acquisition

Holdings,

Inc.

,

Senior

Secured

Note

,

144A,

6.75 %

,

4/15/32

..

2,500,000

2,520,839

c

Mauser

Packaging

Solutions

Holding

Co.

,

Secured

Note

,

144A,

9.25 %

,

4/15/30

...................................

12,000,000

11,835,223

Senior

Secured

Note

,

144A,

7.875 %

,

4/15/30

.............................

5,500,000

5,633,513

c

Toucan

FinCo

Ltd.

/

Toucan

FinCo

Can,

Inc.

/

Toucan

FinCo

US

LLC

,

Senior

Secured

Note

,

144A,

9.5 %

,

5/15/30

...........................................

2,000,000

1,899,643

36,493,390

#### Diversified

#### REITs

#### 0.0%

#### †
c

VICI

Properties

LP

/

VICI

Note

Co.,

Inc.

,

Senior

Bond

,

144A,

4.625 %

,

12/01/29

.....

50,000

49,968

#### Diversified

#### Telecommunication

#### Services

#### 7.0%
c

APLD

ComputeCo

LLC

,

Senior

Secured

Note

,

144A,

9.25 %

,

12/15/30

............

3,500,000

3,676,337

c

CCO

Holdings

LLC

/

CCO

Holdings

Capital

Corp.

,

Senior

Bond

,

144A,

5.125 %

,

5/01/27

...................................

1,538,000

1,540,109

Senior

Bond

,

144A,

%

,

2/01/28

.......................................

7,500,000

7,488,404

Senior

Note

,

144A,

6.375 %

,

9/01/29

....................................

11,000,000

11,153,482

Senior

Note

,

144A,

%

,

2/01/33

.......................................

18,000,000

18,417,618

c

Cipher

Compute

LLC

,

Senior

Secured

Note

,

144A,

7.125 %

,

11/15/30

............

3,500,000

3,652,579

c

Connect

Holding

II

LLC

,

Senior

Secured

Note

,

144A,

10.5 %

,

4/03/31

.............

5,500,000

5,324,946

Franklin

Strategic

Series

Schedule

of

Investments

(unaudited)

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### I
(continued)

franklintempleton.com

Semiannual

Report

The

accompanying

notes

are

an

integral

part

of

these

financial

statements.

a

a

#### Principal

#### Amount
a

#### Value
a

a

#### a
a

#### Corporate

#### Bonds
(continued)

#### Diversified

#### Telecommunication

#### Services
(continued)

c

WULF

Compute

LLC

,

Senior

Secured

Note

,

144A,

7.75 %

,

10/15/30

.............

$

3,500,000

$

3,709,209

54,962,684

#### Electric

#### Utilities

#### 2.7%
c

NRG

Energy,

Inc.

,

Senior

Bond

,

144A,

6.25 %

,

11/01/34

...................................

3,000,000

3,104,081

Senior

Bond

,

144A,

%

,

1/15/36

.......................................

10,000,000

10,182,820

Senior

Note

,

144A,

%

,

2/01/33

.......................................

3,000,000

3,074,171

Senior

Secured

Bond

,

144A,

%

,

3/15/33

................................

50,000

55,674

Pacific

Gas

and

Electric

Co.

,

Senior

Bond

,

6.4 %

,

6/15/33

.....................

50,000

54,492

PG&E

Corp.

,

Senior

Secured

Note

,

%

,

7/01/28

............................

50,000

49,897

c

Vistra

Operations

Co.

LLC

,

Senior

Note

,

144A,

6.875 %

,

4/15/32

....................................

4,000,000

4,209,960

Senior

Secured

Bond

,

144A,

6.95 %

,

10/15/33

............................

50,000

56,085

20,787,180

#### Electrical

#### Equipment

#### 0.0%

#### †
Regal

Rexnord

Corp.

,

Senior

Note

,

6.05 %

,

4/15/28

..........................

50,000

51,854

#### Energy

#### Equipment

#### &

#### Services

#### 0.9%
c

Transocean

International

Ltd.

,

Senior

Note

,

144A,

8.5 %

,

5/15/31

................

2,500,000

2,645,301

c

Weatherford

International

Ltd.

,

Senior

Note

,

144A,

8.625 %

,

4/30/30

....................................

2,384,000

2,457,942

Senior

Note

,

144A,

6.75 %

,

10/15/33

....................................

2,000,000

2,092,028

7,195,271

#### Entertainment

#### 0.0%

#### †
c

Netflix,

Inc.

,

Senior

Bond

,

144A,

5.375 %

,

11/15/29

..........................

100,000

104,364

#### Food

#### Products

#### 0.3%
JBS

NV

/

JBS

USA

Foods

Group

Holdings,

Inc.

/

JBS

USA

Food

Co.

Holdings

,

Senior

Note

,

5.75 %

,

4/01/33

...............................................

50,000

52,612

c

Post

Holdings,

Inc.

,

Senior

Secured

Note

,

144A,

6.25 %

,

2/15/32

................

2,000,000

2,059,894

2,112,506

#### Ground

#### Transportation

#### 0.0%

#### †
c

Ashtead

Capital,

Inc.

,

Senior

Bond

,

144A,

5.95 %

,

10/15/33

....................

200,000

213,501

#### Health

#### Care

#### Equipment

#### &

#### Supplies

#### 0.6%
c

Medline

Borrower

LP

,

Senior

Note

,

144A,

5.25 %

,

10/01/29

....................

5,000,000

5,002,853

#### Health

#### Care

#### Providers

#### &

#### Services

#### 18.0%
c

CHS/Community

Health

Systems,

Inc.

,

144A,

10.75 %

,

6/15/33

..............................................

17,500,000

18,745,212

Secured

Note

,

144A,

6.875 %

,

4/15/29

..................................

15,000,000

14,504,805

Secured

Note

,

144A,

6.125 %

,

4/01/30

..................................

30,000,000

26,554,219

Senior

Secured

Note

,

144A,

10.875 %

,

1/15/32

............................

12,800,000

13,887,693

Senior

Secured

Note

,

144A,

9.75 %

,

1/15/34

..............................

10,000,000

10,550,690

CVS

Health

Corp.

,

Junior

Sub.

Bond

,

6.75%

to

12/09/34,

FRN

thereafter

,

12/10/54

...............

2,500,000

2,601,875

Junior

Sub.

Bond

,

7%

to

3/09/30,

FRN

thereafter

,

3/10/55

...................

5,000,000

5,262,045

c

DaVita,

Inc.

,

Senior

Bond

,

144A,

3.75 %

,

2/15/31

....................................

6,000,000

5,610,617

Senior

Note

,

144A,

6.875 %

,

9/01/32

....................................

3,000,000

3,119,133

Senior

Note

,

144A,

6.75 %

,

7/15/33

.....................................

500,000

519,496

c

Kedrion

SpA

,

Senior

Secured

Note

,

144A,

6.5 %

,

9/01/29

......................

1,000,000

973,965

Tenet

Healthcare

Corp.

,

Senior

Note

,

6.125 %

,

10/01/28

........................................

12,000,000

12,034,716

Senior

Secured

Note

,

6.125 %

,

6/15/30

..................................

11,000,000

11,233,134

Franklin

Strategic

Series

Schedule

of

Investments

(unaudited)

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### I
(continued)

franklintempleton.com

The

accompanying

notes

are

an

integral

part

of

these

financial

statements.

Semiannual

Report

a

a

#### Principal

#### Amount
a

#### Value
a

a

#### a
a

#### Corporate

#### Bonds
(continued)

#### Health

#### Care

#### Providers

#### &

#### Services
(continued)

Tenet

Healthcare

Corp.,

(continued)

Senior

Secured

Note

,

6.75 %

,

5/15/31

...................................

$

15,000,000

$

15,615,368

141,212,968

#### Hotels,

#### Restaurants

#### &

#### Leisure

#### 6.0%
c

Caesars

Entertainment,

Inc.

,

Senior

Note

,

144A,

%

,

10/15/32

......................................

8,000,000

7,826,931

Senior

Secured

Note

,

144A,

%

,

2/15/30

................................

4,500,000

4,615,893

c

Carnival

Corp.

,

Senior

Note

,

144A,

6.125 %

,

2/15/33

.........................

8,500,000

8,804,861

c

Fertitta

Entertainment

LLC

/

Fertitta

Entertainment

Finance

Co.,

Inc.

,

Senior

Note

,

144A,

6.75 %

,

1/15/30

...............................................

12,000,000

11,328,178

c

Mohegan

Tribal

Gaming

Authority

/

MS

Digital

Entertainment

Holdings

LLC

,

Senior

Secured

Note

,

144A,

8.25 %

,

4/15/30

...................................

3,000,000

3,128,349

c

NCL

Corp.

Ltd.

,

Senior

Note

,

144A,

6.75 %

,

2/01/32

..........................

750,000

772,890

c

Wynn

Resorts

Finance

LLC

/

Wynn

Resorts

Capital

Corp.

,

Senior

Note

,

144A,

7.125 %

,

2/15/31

.........................................................

10,000,000

10,804,250

47,281,352

#### Household

#### Durables

#### 0.9%
Newell

Brands,

Inc.

,

c

Senior

Note

,

144A,

8.5 %

,

6/01/28

.....................................

5,000,000

5,265,707

Senior

Note

,

6.375 %

,

5/15/30

.........................................

2,000,000

2,007,744

7,273,451

#### Independent

#### Power

#### and

#### Renewable

#### Electricity

#### Producers

#### 1.3%
c

,d

Vistra

Corp.

,

Junior

Sub.

Bond

,

144A,

8%

to

10/14/26,

FRN

thereafter

,

Perpetual

....

10,000,000

10,193,410

#### Insurance

#### 1.0%
c

Asurion

LLC

and

Asurion

Co-Issuer,

Inc.

,

Senior

Secured

Note

,

144A,

%

,

12/31/32

...............................

4,000,000

4,204,672

Senior

Secured

Note

,

144A,

8.375 %

,

2/01/34

.............................

4,000,000

3,983,147

8,187,819

#### IT

#### Services

#### 0.9%
c

CoreWeave,

Inc.

,

Senior

Note

,

144A,

9.25 %

,

6/01/30

........................

7,500,000

7,353,674

#### Media

#### 0.4%
c

Stagwell

Global

LLC

,

Senior

Note

,

144A,

5.625 %

,

8/15/29

.....................

200,000

184,541

c

Univision

Communications,

Inc.

,

Senior

Secured

Note

,

144A,

9.375 %

,

8/01/32

.....

2,500,000

2,647,503

2,832,044

#### Metals

#### &

#### Mining

#### 2.4%
c

Alcoa

Nederland

Holding

BV

,

Senior

Note

,

144A,

4.125 %

,

3/31/29

...............

750,000

738,092

ArcelorMittal

SA

,

Senior

Bond

,

6.8 %

,

11/29/32

..............................

50,000

56,762

c

Cleveland-Cliffs,

Inc.

,

Senior

Note

,

144A,

7.375 %

,

5/01/33

....................................

8,000,000

8,216,537

Senior

Note

,

144A,

7.625 %

,

1/15/34

....................................

2,250,000

2,310,618

c

Fortescue

Treasury

Pty.

Ltd.

,

Senior

Bond

,

144A,

4.375 %

,

4/01/31

...................................

800,000

776,155

Senior

Bond

,

144A,

6.125 %

,

4/15/32

...................................

6,000,000

6,289,454

c

Mineral

Resources

Ltd.

,

Senior

Note

,

144A,

8.5 %

,

5/01/30

....................

550,000

569,532

18,957,150

#### Oil,

#### Gas

#### &

#### Consumable

#### Fuels

#### 8.9%
c

Calumet

Specialty

Products

Partners

LP

/

Calumet

Finance

Corp.

,

Senior

Note

,

144A,

9.75 %

,

7/15/28

.....................................

3,000,000

3,132,585

Senior

Note

,

144A,

9.75 %

,

2/15/31

.....................................

4,000,000

4,264,160

Senior

Secured

Note

,

144A,

9.25 %

,

7/15/29

..............................

3,000,000

3,075,000

Franklin

Strategic

Series

Schedule

of

Investments

(unaudited)

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### I
(continued)

franklintempleton.com

Semiannual

Report

The

accompanying

notes

are

an

integral

part

of

these

financial

statements.

a

a

#### Principal

#### Amount
a

#### Value
a

a

#### a
a

#### Corporate

#### Bonds
(continued)

#### Oil,

#### Gas

#### &

#### Consumable

#### Fuels
(continued)

Cheniere

Corpus

Christi

Holdings

LLC

,

Senior

Secured

Note

,

3.7 %

,

11/15/29

......

$

100,000

$

98,655

Energy

Transfer

LP

,

Senior

Bond

,

6.55 %

,

12/01/33

..........................

50,000

55,392

c

Hilcorp

Energy

I

LP

/

Hilcorp

Finance

Co.

,

Senior

Bond

,

144A,

7.25 %

,

2/15/35

....................................

7,000,000

6,937,539

Senior

Note

,

144A,

%

,

4/15/30

.......................................

1,000,000

988,031

c

Matador

Resources

Co.

,

Senior

Note

,

144A,

6.5 %

,

4/15/32

....................

4,000,000

4,087,183

Occidental

Petroleum

Corp.

,

Senior

Note

,

8.875 %

,

7/15/30

....................

50,000

58,128

c

Venture

Global

LNG,

Inc.

,

d

Junior

Sub.

Bond

,

144A,

9%

to

9/29/29,

FRN

thereafter

,

Perpetual

.............

16,000,000

14,004,975

Senior

Secured

Note

,

144A,

8.125 %

,

6/01/28

.............................

10,000,000

10,266,150

Senior

Secured

Note

,

144A,

9.875 %

,

2/01/32

.............................

14,000,000

14,842,436

c

Venture

Global

Plaquemines

LNG

LLC

,

Senior

Secured

Bond

,

144A,

7.75 %

,

5/01/35

.............................

2,000,000

2,269,544

Senior

Secured

Note

,

144A,

6.125 %

,

12/15/30

............................

2,000,000

2,078,586

Senior

Secured

Note

,

144A,

6.5 %

,

6/15/34

...............................

3,000,000

3,151,398

Williams

Cos.,

Inc.

(The)

,

Senior

Bond

,

5.65 %

,

3/15/33

.......................

100,000

105,847

69,415,609

#### Passenger

#### Airlines

#### 0.6%
American

Airlines,

Inc.

/

AAdvantage

Loyalty

IP

Ltd.

,

c

Senior

Secured

Note

,

144A,

5.5 %

,

4/20/26

...............................

333,333

333,998

c

Delta

Air

Lines,

Inc.

/

SkyMiles

IP

Ltd.

,

Senior

Secured

Note

,

144A,

4.75 %

,

10/20/28

.

45,833

46,245

c

JetBlue

Airways

Corp.

/

JetBlue

Loyalty

LP

,

Senior

Secured

Note

,

144A,

9.875 %

,

9/20/31

.........................................................

4,500,000

4,577,179

4,957,422

#### Personal

#### Care

#### Products

#### 0.4%
c

Opal

Bidco

SAS

,

Senior

Secured

Note

,

144A,

6.5 %

,

3/31/32

...................

3,000,000

3,091,941

#### Pharmaceuticals

#### 3.5%
c

1261229

BC

Ltd.

,

Senior

Secured

Note

,

144A,

%

,

4/15/32

...................

13,000,000

13,455,100

c

Endo

Finance

Holdings

LP

,

Senior

Secured

Note

,

144A,

8.5 %

,

4/15/31

...........

2,000,000

2,126,856

c

Organon

&

Co.

/

Organon

Foreign

Debt

Co-Issuer

BV

,

Senior

Bond

,

144A,

5.125 %

,

4/30/31

...................................

2,500,000

2,223,726

Senior

Note

,

144A,

7.875 %

,

5/15/34

....................................

7,500,000

6,999,092

Senior

Secured

Note

,

144A,

4.125 %

,

4/30/28

.............................

3,000,000

2,946,827

27,751,601

#### Semiconductors

#### &

#### Semiconductor

#### Equipment

#### 0.4%
Micron

Technology,

Inc.

,

Senior

Bond

,

5.875 %

,

2/09/33

.......................

200,000

215,461

c

Qnity

Electronics,

Inc.

,

Senior

Note

,

144A,

6.25 %

,

8/15/33

.....................................

1,000,000

1,039,549

Senior

Secured

Note

,

144A,

5.75 %

,

8/15/32

..............................

1,500,000

1,536,625

2,791,635

#### Software

#### 1.8%
c

Cloud

Software

Group,

Inc.

,

Secured

Note

,

144A,

%

,

9/30/29

.....................................

6,000,000

5,882,065

Senior

Secured

Note

,

144A,

6.5 %

,

3/31/29

...............................

3,000,000

2,944,641

c

McAfee

Corp.

,

Senior

Note

,

144A,

7.375 %

,

2/15/30

..........................

6,000,000

4,916,367

13,743,073

#### Specialized

#### REITs

#### 0.3%
American

Tower

Corp.

,

Senior

Note

,

4.05 %

,

3/15/32

.........................

50,000

49,308

c

Millrose

Properties,

Inc.

,

Senior

Note

,

144A,

6.375 %

,

8/01/30

..................

2,500,000

2,566,250

2,615,558

Franklin

Strategic

Series

Schedule

of

Investments

(unaudited)

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### I
(continued)

franklintempleton.com

The

accompanying

notes

are

an

integral

part

of

these

financial

statements.

Semiannual

Report

a

a

#### Principal

#### Amount
a

#### Value
a

a

#### a
a

#### Corporate

#### Bonds
(continued)

#### Specialty

#### Retail

#### 0.0%

#### †
Lowe's

Cos.,

Inc.

,

Senior

Bond

,

%

,

4/15/33

...............................

$

60,000

$

61,953

#### Technology

#### Hardware,

#### Storage

#### &

#### Peripherals

#### 0.0%

#### †
Hewlett

Packard

Enterprise

Co.

,

Senior

Bond

,

%

,

10/15/34

...................

50,000

49,568

HP,

Inc.

,

Senior

Bond

,

5.5 %

,

1/15/33

.....................................

80,000

82,230

131,798

#### Textiles,

#### Apparel

#### &

#### Luxury

#### Goods

#### 1.8%
c

,e

Beach

Acquisition

Bidco

LLC

,

Senior

Note

,

144A,

PIK,

%

,

7/15/33

.............

13,175,607

14,391,587

#### Tobacco

#### 0.0%

#### †
BAT

Capital

Corp.

,

Senior

Bond

,

6.421 %

,

8/02/33

...........................

50,000

55,630

#### Trading

#### Companies

#### &

#### Distributors

#### 0.3%
c

Herc

Holdings,

Inc.

,

Senior

Note

,

144A,

%

,

6/15/30

.........................

2,000,000

2,097,084

c

United

Rentals

North

America,

Inc.

,

Senior

Secured

Note

,

144A,

%

,

12/15/29

.....

50,000

51,316

2,148,400

#### Total

#### Corporate

#### Bonds

#### (Cost

#### $

#### 581,696,788

####)
.....................................

#### 605,030,662
f

#### Senior

#### Floating

#### Rate

#### Interests

#### 2.7%

#### Containers

#### &

#### Packaging

#### 0.3%
g

Clydesdale

Acquisition

Holdings,

Inc.,

First

Lien,

2025

Incremental

Closing

Date

CME

Term

Loan,

B

,

6.923 %

,

(1-month

SOFR

+

3.25 %),

4/01/32

...................

2,480,465

2,458,761

#### Health

#### Care

#### Equipment

#### &

#### Supplies

#### 1.3%
g

,h

Hologic,

Inc.,

First

Lien,

CME

Term

Loan

,

%

,

(3-month

SOFR

+

%),

1/14/33

......

7,000,000

6,922,706

g

,h

Hologic,

Inc.,

First

Lien,

CME

Term

Loan,

B

,

5.755 %

,

(12-month

SOFR

+

2.25 %),

1/14/33

.........................................................

3,000,000

2,968,125

9,890,831

a

a

a

a

a

#### Health

#### Care

#### Providers

#### &

#### Services

#### 0.1%
g

MPH

Acquisition

Holdings

LLC,

First

Lien,

Exchange

First

Out

CME

Term

Loan

,

7.417 %

,

(3-month

SOFR

+

3.75 %),

12/31/30

.............................

533,370

527,504

#### IT

#### Services

#### 0.8%
g

X

Corp.,

First

Lien,

CME

Term

Loan,

B1

,

10.448 %

,

(6-month

SOFR

+

6.5 %),

10/26/29

5,938,776

5,961,670

#### Personal

#### Care

#### Products

#### 0.2%
g

OPAL

US

LLC,

First

Lien,

CME

Term

Loan,

B4

,

6.686 %

,

(3-month

SOFR

+

%),

4/28/32

.........................................................

1,995,000

1,995,249

#### Total

#### Senior

#### Floating

#### Rate

#### Interests

#### (Cost

#### $

#### 20,695,825

####)
..........................

#### 20,834,015

#### Mortgage-Backed

#### Securities

#### 18.4%

#### Federal

#### Home

#### Loan

#### Mortgage

#### Corp.
(FHLMC)

#### Fixed

#### Rate

#### 6.4%
FHLMC

Pool,

Year

,

%,

5/01/53

-

11/01/54

..............................

6,073,276

6,115,873

FHLMC

Pool,

Year

,

%,

12/01/54

.....................................

10,147,784

10,208,970

FHLMC

Pool,

Year

,

5.5 %,

12/01/54

....................................

9,361,975

9,523,206

FHLMC

Pool,

Year

,

5.5 %,

7/01/53

-

2/01/55

.............................

15,159,603

15,438,413

FHLMC

Pool,

Year

,

%,

6/01/53

......................................

2,098,774

2,167,645

FHLMC

Pool,

Year

,

%,

9/01/55

......................................

6,275,009

6,439,125

49,893,232

#### Federal

#### National

#### Mortgage

#### Association
(FNMA)

#### Fixed

#### Rate

#### 3.8%
FNMA,

Year

,

%,

5/01/53

-

11/01/53

...................................

5,874,274

5,926,803

FNMA,

Year

,

5.5 %,

11/01/54

-

1/01/56

.................................

18,032,066

18,340,379

FNMA,

Year

,

%,

8/01/55

...........................................

5,253,008

5,391,625

29,658,807

Franklin

Strategic

Series

Schedule

of

Investments

(unaudited)

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### I
(continued)

franklintempleton.com

Semiannual

Report

The

accompanying

notes

are

an

integral

part

of

these

financial

statements.

a

a

#### Principal

#### Amount
a

#### Value
a

a

#### a
a

#### Mortgage-Backed

#### Securities
(continued)

#### Government

#### National

#### Mortgage

#### Association
(GNMA)

#### Fixed

#### Rate

#### 8.2%
GNMA

II,

Single-family,

Year

,

5.5 %,

5/20/55

.............................

$

8,090,910

$

8,206,230

GNMA

II,

Single-family,

Year

,

5.5 %,

6/20/55

.............................

3,576,425

3,626,562

GNMA

II,

Single-family,

Year

,

5.5 %,

8/20/55

.............................

5,901,907

5,985,619

GNMA

II,

Single-family,

Year

,

5.5 %,

10/20/55

............................

21,762,878

22,077,940

GNMA

II,

Single-family,

Year

,

5.5 %,

12/20/55

............................

10,698,392

10,870,617

GNMA

II,

Single-family,

Year

,

%,

8/20/55

...............................

7,832,790

7,999,800

GNMA

II,

Single-family,

Year

,

%,

1/20/56

...............................

5,887,621

6,027,451

64,794,219

#### Total

#### Mortgage-Backed

#### Securities

#### (Cost

#### $

#### 142,216,230

####)
...........................

#### 144,346,258

#### Total

#### Long

#### Term

#### Investments

#### (Cost

#### $

#### 746,151,580

####)
...............................

#### 772,768,634

#### a
a

a

a

#### Short

#### Term

#### Investments

#### 1.1%

#### Shares
a

#### Money

#### Market

#### Funds

#### 1.1%
i,j

Franklin

Institutional

U.S.

Government

Money

Market

Fund

,

3.583 %

.............

8,674,846

8,674,846

#### Total

#### Money

#### Market

#### Funds

#### (Cost

#### $

#### 8,674,846

####)
...................................

#### 8,674,846

#### Total

#### Short

#### Term

#### Investments

#### (Cost

#### $

#### 8,674,846

####)
.................................

#### 8,674,846

#### a

#### Total

#### Investments

#### (Cost

#### $

#### 754,826,426

####)
99.6 #### %
...................................

#### $781,443,480

#### Other

#### Assets,

#### less

#### Liabilities
0.4 #### %
.............................................

#### 3,404,617

#### Net

#### Assets

#### 100.0%

#### ...........................................................

#### $784,848,097
See

Abbreviations

on

.

†

Rounds

to

less

than

0.1%

of

net

assets.

a

Non-income

producing.

b

See

Note

1(d)

regarding

equity-linked

securities.

c

Security

was

purchased

pursuant

to

Rule

144A

or

Regulation

S

under

the

Securities

Act

of

1933. 144A

securities

may

be

sold

in

transactions

exempt

from

registration

only

to

qualified

institutional

buyers

or

in

a

public

offering

registered

under

the

Securities

Act

of

1933. Regulation

S

securities

cannot

be

sold

in

the

United

States

without

either

an

effective

registration

statement

filed

pursuant

to

the

Securities

Act

of

1933,

or

pursuant

to

an

exemption

from

registration.

At

February

28,

2026,

the

aggregate

value

of

these

securities

was

$526,651,672,

representing

67.1%

of

net

assets.

d

Perpetual

security

with

no

stated

maturity

date.

e

Income

may

be

received

in

additional

securities

and/or

cash.

f

See

Note

1(e)

regarding

senior

floating

rate

interests.

g

The

coupon

rate

shown

represents

the

rate

inclusive

of

any

caps

or

floors,

if

applicable,

in

effect

at

period

end.

h

A

portion

or

all

of

the

security

purchased

on

a

delayed

delivery

basis.

See

Note

1(c).

i

See

Note

3(d)

regarding

investments

in

affiliated

management

investment

companies.

j

The

rate

shown

is

the

annualized

seven-day

effective

yield

at

period

end.

Franklin

Strategic

Series

Financial

Statements

Statements

of

Assets

and

Liabilities

February

28,

2026

(unaudited)

franklintempleton.com

The

accompanying

notes

are

an

integral

part

of

these

financial

statements.

Semiannual

Report

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### CH

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### E

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### H

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### I
Assets:

Investments

in

securities:

Cost

-

Unaffiliated

issuers

................

$35,343,368

$458,920,184

$37,256,199

$746,151,580

Cost

-

Non-controlled

affiliates

(Note

d)

.....

—

11,625,019

3,705,356

8,674,846

Value

-

Unaffiliated

issuers

...............

$36,443,595

$518,295,008

$38,230,122

$772,768,634

Value

-

Non-controlled

affiliates

(Note

d)

....

—

11,625,019

3,817,500

8,674,846

Cash

.................................

63,627

22,164

20,828

14,179

Receivables:

Capital

shares

sold

.....................

605,743

3,963

938,543

Dividends

and

interest

..................

639,283

1,043,567

536,806

12,902,189

Affiliates

.............................

9,084

29,587

11,794

37,467

Total

assets

.......................

37,155,759

531,621,088

42,621,013

795,335,858

Liabilities:

Payables:

Investment

securities

purchased

...........

1,011,265

—

538,834

9,922,500

Capital

shares

redeemed

................

—

376,766

28,369

541,562

Transfer

agent

fees

.....................

(198) (249) (8,589)

Professional

fees

......................

32,939

23,963

32,048

24,700

Trustees'

fees

and

expenses

..............

Distributions

to

shareholders

..............

141,235

—

150,173

—

Accrued

expenses

and

other

liabilities

........

21,070

2,468

25,648

7,578

Total

liabilities

......................

1,206,882

403,006

775,012

10,487,761

Net

assets,

at

value

..............

$35,948,877

$531,218,082

$41,846,001

$784,848,097

Net

assets

consist

of:

Paid-in

capital

..........................

$35,173,530

$458,738,203

$41,059,118

$762,662,831

Total

distributable

earnings

(losses)

..........

775,347

72,479,879

786,883

22,185,266

Net

assets,

at

value

..............

$35,948,877

$531,218,082

$41,846,001

$784,848,097

Shares

outstanding

......................

4,127,195

36,724,046

4,463,087

95,908,345

Net

asset

value

per

share

a

.................

$8.71

$14.47

$9.38

$8.18

a

Net

asset

value

per

share

may

not

recalculate

due

to

rounding.

Franklin

Strategic

Series

Financial

Statements

Statements

of

Operations

for

the

six

months

ended

February

28,

2026

(unaudited)

franklintempleton.com

Semiannual

Report

The

accompanying

notes

are

an

integral

part

of

these

financial

statements.

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### CH

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### E

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### H

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### I
Investment

income:

Dividends:

(net

of

foreign

taxes

of

$–,

$72,208,

$–

and

$–,

respectively)

Unaffiliated

issuers

.....................

$—

$6,464,218

$—

$25,424

Non-controlled

affiliates

(Note

d)

..........

—

83,867

41,718

133,700

Interest:

Unaffiliated

issuers

.....................

886,535

2,960

840,463

26,075,065

Other

income

a

..........................

—

7,907

3,717

13,306

Total

investment

income

................

886,535

6,558,952

885,898

26,247,495

Expenses:

Transfer

agent

fees

(Note

3c)

...............

2,920

41,270

2,862

56,925

Custodian

fees

..........................

989

1,336

Reports

to

shareholders

fees

...............

1,696

4,674

1,937

4,669

Registration

and

filing

fees

.................

6,448

19,197

6,528

25,678

Professional

fees

........................

36,469

44,895

36,208

58,502

Trustees'

fees

and

expenses

...............

2,344

3,493

Pricing

fees

............................

9,291

1,697

18,397

4,195

Other

.................................

2,599

3,909

2,584

4,978

Total

expenses

......................

59,796

118,975

68,839

159,776

Expenses

waived/paid

by

affiliates

(Note

d

and

e)

...........................

(59,796)

(118,975)

(68,839)

(159,776)

Net

expenses

......................

—

—

—

—

Net

investment

income

.............

886,535

6,558,952

885,898

26,247,495

Realized

and

unrealized

gains

(losses):

Net

realized

gain

(loss)

from:

Investments:

Unaffiliated

issuers

...................

(132,510)

27,287,217

(150,990)

(2,868,075)

Non-controlled

affiliates

(Note

d)

........

—

—

3,300

—

Foreign

currency

transactions

.............

—

44,434

—

(5,260)

Net

realized

gain

(loss)

...............

(132,510)

27,331,651

(147,690)

(2,873,335)

Net

change

in

unrealized

appreciation

(depreciation)

on:

Investments:

Unaffiliated

issuers

...................

1,316,454

15,765,959

1,801,119

12,860,799

Non-controlled

affiliates

(Note

d)

........

—

—

101,760

—

Translation

of

other

assets

and

liabilities

denominated

in

foreign

currencies

........

—

2,370

—

—

Net

change

in

unrealized

appreciation

(depreciation)

......................

1,316,454

15,768,329

1,902,879

12,860,799

Net

realized

and

unrealized

gain

(loss)

.........

1,183,944

43,099,980

1,755,189

9,987,464

Net

increase

(decrease)

in

net

assets

resulting

from

operations

...............................

$2,070,479

$49,658,932

$2,641,087

$36,234,959

a

Other

income

includes

payments

by

Advisers

for

acquired

fund

fees

and

expenses

(See

Note

3e).

Franklin

Strategic

Series

Financial

Statements

Statements

of

Changes

in

Net

Assets

franklintempleton.com

The

accompanying

notes

are

an

integral

part

of

these

financial

statements.

Semiannual

Report

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### CH

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### E

#### Six

#### Months

#### Ended

#### February

#### 28,

#### 2026
(unaudited)

#### Year

#### Ended

#### August

#### 31,

#### 2025

#### Six

#### Months

#### Ended

#### February

#### 28,

#### 2026
(unaudited)

#### Year

#### Ended

#### August

#### 31,

#### 2025
Increase

(decrease)

in

net

assets:

Operations:

Net

investment

income

............

$886,535

$1,479,743

$6,558,952

$8,043,888

Net

realized

gain

(loss)

............

(132,510)

(123,303)

27,331,651

8,987,380

Net

change

in

unrealized

appreciation

(depreciation)

.................

1,316,454

(1,774,015)

15,768,329

24,089,546

Net

increase

(decrease)

in

net

assets

resulting

from

operations

.

2,070,479

(417,575)

49,658,932

41,120,814

Distributions

to

shareholders

.........

(881,172)

(1,467,378)

(16,359,370)

(19,727,030)

Capital

share

transactions

(Note

2)

.....

7,352,719

6,382,300

84,069,087

174,524,065

Net

increase

(decrease)

in

net

assets

.....................

8,542,026

4,497,347

117,368,649

195,917,849

Net

assets:

Beginning

of

period

................

27,406,851

22,909,504

413,849,433

217,931,584

End

of

period

.....................

$35,948,877

$27,406,851

$531,218,082

$413,849,433

Franklin

Strategic

Series

Financial

Statements

Statements

of

Changes

in

Net

Assets

(continued)

franklintempleton.com

Semiannual

Report

The

accompanying

notes

are

an

integral

part

of

these

financial

statements.

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### H

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### I

#### Six

#### Months

#### Ended

#### February

#### 28,

#### 2026
(unaudited)

#### Year

#### Ended

#### August

#### 31,

#### 2025

#### Six

#### Months

#### Ended

#### February

#### 28,

#### 2026
(unaudited)

#### Year

#### Ended

#### August

#### 31,

#### 2025
Increase

(decrease)

in

net

assets:

Operations:

Net

investment

income

............

$885,898

$1,058,965

$26,247,495

$37,222,883

Net

realized

gain

(loss)

............

(147,690)

18,748

(2,873,335)

447,152

Net

change

in

unrealized

appreciation

(depreciation)

.................

1,902,879

(1,384,681)

12,860,799

1,112,773

Net

increase

(decrease)

in

net

assets

resulting

from

operations

.

2,641,087

(306,968)

36,234,959

38,782,808

Distributions

to

shareholders

.........

(879,486)

(1,045,091)

(26,457,952)

(38,285,671)

Capital

share

transactions

(Note

2)

.....

13,253,330

15,530,069

160,054,926

240,644,721

Net

increase

(decrease)

in

net

assets

.....................

15,014,931

14,178,010

169,831,933

241,141,858

Net

assets:

Beginning

of

period

................

26,831,070

12,653,060

615,016,164

373,874,306

End

of

period

.....................

$41,846,001

$26,831,070

$784,848,097

$615,016,164

Franklin

Strategic

Series

franklintempleton.com

Semiannual

Report

Notes

to

Financial

Statements

(unaudited)

1. #### Organization

#### and

#### Significant

#### Accounting

#### Policies
Franklin

Strategic

Series (Trust)

is

registered

under

the

Investment

Company

Act

of

1940

(1940

Act)

as

an

open-

end

management

investment

company,

consisting

of

twelve

separate

funds, four of

which

are

included

in

this

report

(Funds).

The Funds

follow

the

accounting

and

reporting

guidance

in

Financial

Accounting

Standards

Board

(FASB)

Accounting

Standards

Codification

Topic

946,

Financial

Services

–

Investment

Companies

(ASC

946)

and

apply

the

specialized

accounting

and

reporting

guidance

in

U.S.

Generally

Accepted

Accounting

Principles

(U.S.

GAAP),

including,

but

not

limited

to,

ASC

946. The

following

summarizes

the Funds'

significant

accounting

policies.

a. #### Financial

#### Instrument

#### Valuation
The Funds'

investments

in

financial

instruments

are

carried

at

fair

value

daily.

Fair

value

is

the

price

that

would

be

received

to

sell

an

asset

or

paid

to

transfer

a

liability

in

an

orderly

transaction

between

market

participants

on

the

measurement

date.

The Funds calculate the

net

asset

value

(NAV)

per

share

each

business

day

as

of

p.m.

Eastern

time

or

the

regularly

scheduled

close

of

the

New

York

Stock

Exchange

(NYSE),

whichever

is

earlier. Under

compliance

policies

and

procedures

approved

by

the

Trust's

Board

of

Trustees

(the

Board),

the

Board

has

designated

the

Funds'

investment

manager

as

the

valuation

designee

and

has

responsibility

for

oversight

of

valuation.

The

investment

manager

is

assisted

by

the

Funds'

administrator

in

performing

this

responsibility,

including

leading

the

cross-

functional

Valuation

Committee

(VC).

The

Funds

may

utilize

independent

pricing

services,

quotations

from

securities

and

financial

instrument

dealers,

and

other

market

sources

to

determine

fair

value.

Equity

securities

and

exchange

traded

funds listed

on

an

exchange

or

on

the

NASDAQ

National

Market

System

are

valued

at

the

last

quoted

sale

price

or

the

official

closing

price of

the

day,

respectively.

Foreign

equity

securities

are

valued

as

of

the

close

of

trading

on

the

foreign

stock

exchange

on

which

the

security

is

primarily

traded,

or

as

of

p.m.

Eastern

time.

The

value

is

then

converted

into

its

U.S.

dollar

equivalent

at

the

foreign

exchange

rate

in

effect

at

p.m.

Eastern

time

on

the

day

that

the

value

of

the

security

is

determined.

Over-the-counter

(OTC)

securities

are

valued

within

the

range

of

the

most

recent

quoted

bid

and

ask

prices.

Securities

that

trade

in

multiple

markets

or

on

multiple

exchanges

are

valued

according

to

the

broadest

and

most

representative

market.

Certain

equity

securities

are

valued

based

upon

fundamental

characteristics

or

relationships

to

similar

securities.

Debt

securities

generally

trade

in

the

OTC

market rather

than

on

a

securities

exchange.

The

Funds'

pricing

services

use

multiple

valuation

techniques

to

determine

fair

value.

In

instances

where

sufficient

market

activity

exists,

the

pricing

services

may

utilize

a

market-based

approach

through

which

quotes

from

market

makers

are

used

to

determine

fair

value.

In

instances

where

sufficient

market

activity

may

not

exist

or

is

limited,

the

pricing

services

also

utilize

proprietary

valuation

models

which

may

consider

market

characteristics

such

as

benchmark

yield

curves,

credit

spreads,

estimated

default

rates,

anticipated

market

interest

rate

volatility,

coupon

rates,

anticipated

timing

of

principal

repayments,

underlying

collateral,

and

other

unique

security

features

in

order

to

estimate

the

relevant

cash

flows,

which

are

then

discounted

to

calculate

the

fair

value.

Investments

in open-end mutual

funds

are

valued

at

the

closing

NAV.

The

Funds

have

procedures

to

determine

the

fair

value

of

financial

instruments

for

which

market

prices

are

not

reliable

or

readily

available.

Under

these

procedures,

the

Funds

primarily

employ

a

market-based

approach

which

may

use

related

or

comparable

assets

or

liabilities,

recent

transactions,

market

multiples,

and

other

relevant

information

for

the

investment

to

determine

the

fair

value

of

the

investment.

An

income-based

valuation

approach

may

also

be

used

in

which

the

anticipated

future

cash

flows

of

the

investment

are

discounted

to

calculate

fair

value.

Discounts

may

also

be

applied

due

to

the

nature

or

duration

of

any

restrictions

on

the

disposition

of

the

investments.

Due

to

the

inherent

uncertainty

of

valuations

of

such

investments,

the

fair

values

may

differ

significantly

from

the

values

that

would

have

been

used

had

an

active

market

existed.

Trading

in

securities

on

foreign

securities

stock

exchanges

and

OTC

markets

may

be

completed

before

p.m.

Eastern

time.

In

addition,

trading

in

certain

foreign

markets

may

not

take

place

on

every

Funds'

business

day.

Events

can occur

between

the

time

at

which

trading

in

a

foreign

security

is

completed

and

p.m.

Eastern

time

that

might

call

into

question

the

reliability

of

the

value

of

a

portfolio

security

held

by

the

Fund.

As

a

result,

differences

may

arise

between

the

value

of

the

Funds'

portfolio

securities

as

determined

at

the

foreign

market

close

and

the

latest

indications

of

value

at

Franklin

Strategic

Series

Notes

to

Financial

Statements

(unaudited)

franklintempleton.com

Semiannual

Report

p.m.

Eastern

time.

In

order

to

minimize

the

potential

for

these

differences,

an

independent

pricing

service

may

be

used

to

adjust

the

value

of

the

Funds'

portfolio

securities

to

the

latest

indications

of

fair

value

at

p.m.

Eastern

time.

At

February

28,

2026,

certain

securities

may

have

been

fair

valued

using

these

procedures,

in

which

case

the

securities

were

categorized

as

Level

within

the

fair

value

hierarchy

(referred

to

as

"market

level

fair

value").

See

the

Fair

Value

Measurements

note

for

more

information.

When

the

last

day

of

the

reporting

period

is

a

non-business

day,

certain

foreign

markets

may

be

open

on

those

days

that

the

Funds'

NAV

is

not

calculated,

which

could

result

in

differences

between

the

value

of

the

Funds'

portfolio

securities

on

the

last

business

day

and

the

last

calendar

day

of

the

reporting

period.

Any

security

valuation

changes

due

to

an

open

foreign

market

are

adjusted

and

reflected

by

the

Funds

for

financial

reporting

purposes.

b. #### Foreign

#### Currency

#### Translation
Portfolio

securities

and

other

assets

and

liabilities

denominated

in

foreign

currencies

are

translated

into

U.S.

dollars

based

on

the

exchange

rate

of

such

currencies

against

U.S.

dollars

on

the

date

of

valuation.

The

Funds

may

enter

into

foreign

currency

exchange

contracts

to

facilitate

transactions

denominated

in

a

foreign

currency.

Purchases

and

sales

of

securities,

income

and

expense

items

denominated

in

foreign

currencies

are

translated

into

U.S.

dollars

at

the

exchange

rate

in

effect

on

the

transaction

date.

Portfolio

securities

and

assets

and

liabilities

denominated

in

foreign

currencies

contain

risks

that

those

currencies

will

decline

in

value

relative

to

the

U.S.

dollar.

Occasionally,

events

may

impact

the

availability

or

reliability

of

foreign

exchange

rates

used

to

convert

the

U.S.

dollar

equivalent

value.

If

such

an

event

occurs,

the

foreign

exchange

rate

will

be

valued

at

fair

value

using

procedures

established

and

approved

by

the

Board.

The

Funds

do

not

separately

report

the

effect

of

changes

in

foreign

exchange

rates

from

changes

in

market

prices

on

securities

held.

Such

changes

are

included

in

net

realized

and

unrealized

gain

or

loss

from

investments

in

the

Statements

of

Operations.

Realized

foreign

exchange

gains

or

losses

arise

from

sales

of

foreign

currencies,

currency

gains

or

losses

realized

between

the

trade

and

settlement

dates

on

securities

transactions

and

the

difference

between

the

recorded

amounts

of

dividends,

interest,

and

foreign

withholding

taxes

and

the

U.S.

dollar

equivalent

of

the

amounts

actually

received

or

paid.

Net

unrealized

foreign

exchange

gains

and

losses

arise

from

changes

in

foreign

exchange

rates

on

foreign

denominated

assets

and

liabilities

other

than

investments

in

securities

held

at

the

end

of

the

reporting

period.

c. #### Securities

#### Purchased

#### on

#### a

#### When-Issued,

#### Forward

#### Commitment or

#### Delayed

#### Delivery

#### Basis
Certain

or

all

Funds

may

purchase

securities

on

a

when-

issued,

forward

commitment

or

delayed

delivery

basis,

with

payment

and

delivery

scheduled

for

a

future

date.

These

transactions

are

subject

to

market

fluctuations

and

are

subject

to

the

risk

that

the

value

at

delivery

may

be

more

or

less

than

the

trade

date

purchase

price.

Although

the

Funds

will

generally

purchase

these

securities

with

the

intention

of

holding

the

securities, they

may

sell

the

securities

before

the

settlement

date.

d. #### Equity-Linked

#### Securities
Certain

or

all

Funds

invest in

equity-linked

securities.

Equity-linked

securities

are

hybrid

financial

instruments

that

generally

combine

both

debt

and

equity

characteristics

into

a

single

note

form.

Income

received

from

equity-linked

securities

is

recorded

as

realized

gains

in

the

Statements

of

Operations

and

may

be

based

on

the

performance

of

an

underlying

equity

security,

an

equity

index,

or

an

option

position.

The

risks

of

investing

in

equity-linked

securities

include

unfavorable

price

movements

in

the

underlying

security

and

the

credit

risk

of

the

issuing

financial

institution.

There

may

be

no

guarantee

of

a

return

of

principal

with

equity-linked

securities

and

the

appreciation

potential

may

be

limited.

Equity-linked

securities

may

be

more

volatile

and

less

liquid

than

other

investments

held

by

the

Funds.

e. #### Senior

#### Floating

#### Rate

#### Interests
Certain

or

all

Funds

invest

in

senior

secured

corporate

loans

that

pay

interest

at

rates

which

are

periodically

reset

by

reference

to

a

base

lending

rate

plus

a

spread.

These

base

lending

rates

are

generally

the

prime

rate

offered

by

a

designated

U.S.

bank

or

the

Secured

Overnight

Financing

Rate

(SOFR).

Senior

secured

corporate

loans

often

require

1. #### Organization

#### and

#### Significant

#### Accounting

#### Policies
(continued)

a. #### Financial

#### Instrument

#### Valuation
(continued)

Franklin

Strategic

Series

Notes

to

Financial

Statements

(unaudited)

franklintempleton.com

Semiannual

Report

prepayment

of

principal

from

excess

cash

flows

or

at

the

discretion

of

the

borrower.

As

a

result,

actual

maturity

may

be

substantially

less

than

the

stated

maturity.

Senior

secured

corporate

loans

in

which

the

Funds

invest

are

generally

readily

marketable,

but

may

be

subject

to

certain

restrictions

on

resale.

f. #### Income

#### and

#### Deferred

#### Taxes
It

is each

Fund's

policy

to

qualify

as

a

regulated

investment

company

under

the

Internal

Revenue

Code. Each

Fund

intends

to

distribute

to

shareholders

substantially

all

of

its

income

and

net

realized

gains

to

relieve

it

from

federal

income

and excise

taxes.

As

a

result,

no

provision

for

U.S.

federal

income

taxes

is

required.

The

Funds

may

be

subject

to

foreign

taxation

related

to

income

received,

capital

gains

on

the

sale

of

securities

and

certain

foreign

currency

transactions

in

the

foreign

jurisdictions

in

which

the

Funds

invest.

Foreign

taxes,

if

any,

are

recorded

based

on

the

tax

regulations

and

rates

that

exist

in

the

foreign

markets

in

which

the

Funds

invest.

In

some

cases,

the

Funds

may

be

entitled

to

reclaim

all

or

a

portion

of

such

taxes,

and

such

reclaim

amounts,

if

any,

are

reflected

as

a

dividend

receivable

in

the

Statements

of

Assets

and

Liabilities

and

dividend

income

in

the

Statements

of

Operations.

In

many

cases,

however,

the

Funds

may

not

receive

such

amounts

for

an

extended

period

of

time,

depending

on

the

country

of

investment.

When

a

capital

gain

tax

is

determined

to

apply,

certain

or

all

Funds

record

an

estimated

deferred

tax

liability

in

an

amount

that

would

be

payable

if

the

securities

were

disposed

of

on

the

valuation

date.

Each

Fund

may

recognize

an

income

tax

liability

related

to

its

uncertain

tax

positions

under

U.S.

GAAP

when

the

uncertain

tax

position

has

a

less

than

50%

probability

that

it

will

be

sustained

upon

examination

by

the

tax

authorities

based

on

its

technical

merits.

As

of

February

28,

2026, each

Fund

has

determined

that

no

tax

liability

is

required

in

its

financial

statements

related

to

uncertain

tax

positions

for

any

open

tax

years

(or

expected

to

be

taken

in

future

tax

years).

The

Funds'

federal

and

state

income

and

federal

excise

tax

returns

for

the

prior

three

fiscal

years

are

subject

to

examination

by

the

Internal

Revenue

Service

and

state

departments

of

revenue.

g. #### Security

#### Transactions,

#### Investment

#### Income,

#### Expenses

#### and

#### Distributions
Security

transactions

are

accounted

for

on

trade

date.

Realized

gains

and

losses

on

security

transactions

are

determined

on

a

specific

identification

basis.

Interest

income

(including

interest

income

from

payment-in-kind

securities,

if

any)

and

estimated

expenses

are

accrued

daily.

Amortization

of

premium

and

accretion

of

discount

on

debt

securities

are

included

in

interest

income.

Paydown

gains

and

losses

are

recorded as

an

adjustment

to

interest

income.

Certain

or

all

Funds

may

receive

other

income

from

investments

in

senior

secured

corporate loans

or

unfunded

commitments,

including

amendment

fees,

consent

fees

or

commitment

fees.

These

fees

are

recorded

as

income

when

received

by

the

Funds.

Facility

fees

are

recognized

as

income

over

the

expected

term

of

the

loan.

Dividend

income

is

recorded

on

the

ex-dividend

date

except

for

certain

dividends

from

securities

where

the

dividend

rate

is

not

available.

In

such

cases,

the

dividend

is

recorded

as

soon

as

the

information

is

received

by

the

Funds.

Dividends

from

net

investment

income

are

normally

declared

daily;

these

dividends

may

be

reinvested

or

paid

monthly

to

shareholders

for

Franklin

Templeton

SMACS:

Series

CH

and

Franklin

Templeton

SMACS:

Series

H,

and

recorded

on

ex-dividend

date

for

Franklin

Templeton

SMACS:

Series

E

and

Franklin

Templeton SMACS:

Series

I. Distributions

from

realized

capital

gains

and

other

distributions,

if

any,

are

recorded

on

the

ex-dividend

date.

Distributable

earnings

are

determined

according

to

income

tax

regulations

(tax

basis)

and

may

differ

from

earnings

recorded

in

accordance

with

U.S.

GAAP.

These

differences

may

be

permanent

or

temporary.

Permanent

differences

are

reclassified

among

capital

accounts

to

reflect

their

tax

character.

These

reclassifications

have

no

impact

on

net

assets

or

the

results

of

operations.

Temporary

differences

are

not

reclassified,

as

they

may

reverse

in

subsequent

periods.

Common

expenses

incurred

by

the

Trust

are

allocated

among

the

Funds

based

on

the

ratio

of

net

assets

of

each

Fund

to

the

combined

net

assets

of

the

Trust

or

based

on

the

ratio

of

number

of

shareholders

of

each

Fund

to

the

combined

number

of

shareholders

of

the

Trust.

Fund

specific

expenses

are

charged

directly

to

the

Fund

that

incurred

the

expense.

1. #### Organization

#### and

#### Significant

#### Accounting

#### Policies
(continued)

e. #### Senior

#### Floating

#### Rate

#### Interests
(continued)

Franklin

Strategic

Series

Notes

to

Financial

Statements

(unaudited)

franklintempleton.com

Semiannual

Report

h. #### Accounting

#### Estimates
The

preparation

of

financial

statements

in

accordance

with

U.S.

GAAP

requires

management

to

make

estimates

and

assumptions

that

affect

the

reported

amounts

of

assets

and

liabilities

at

the

date

of

the

financial

statements

and

the

amounts

of

income

and

expenses

during

the

reporting

period.

Actual

results

could

differ

from

those

estimates.

i. #### Guarantees

#### and

#### Indemnifications
Under

the Trust's

organizational

documents,

its

officers

and trustees

are

indemnified

by

the Trust against

certain

liabilities

arising

out

of

the

performance

of

their

duties

to

the

Trust.

Additionally,

in

the

normal

course

of

business,

the Trust,

on

behalf

of

the

Funds, enters

into

contracts

with

service

providers

that

contain

general

indemnification

clauses.

The Trust's

maximum

exposure

under

these

arrangements

is

unknown

as

this

would

involve

future

claims

that

may

be

made

against

the Trust

that

have

not

yet

occurred.

Currently,

the Trust

expects

the

risk

of

loss

to

be

remote.

2. #### Shares

#### of

#### Beneficial

#### Interest
At

February

28,

2026,

there

were

an

unlimited

number

of

shares

authorized

(without

par value).

Transactions

in

the

Funds'

shares

were

as

follows:

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### CH

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### E

#### Shares

#### Amount

#### Shares

#### Amount
Single

Class

Six

Months

ended

February

28,

2026

Shares

sold

...................................

1,046,762

$9,016,573

8,668,661

$120,990,266

Shares

issued

in

reinvestment

of

distributions

..........

—

—

Shares

redeemed

...............................

(192,564)

(1,663,854)

(2,635,597)

(36,921,273)

Net

increase

(decrease)

..........................

854,198

$7,352,719

6,033,071

$84,069,087

Year

ended

August

31,

2025

Shares

sold

...................................

1,560,906

$13,711,654

17,441,028

$222,731,933

Shares

issued

in

reinvestment

of

distributions

..........

602

Shares

redeemed

...............................

(846,140)

(7,329,828)

(3,811,874)

(48,208,470)

Net

increase

(decrease)

..........................

714,819

$6,382,300

13,629,202

$174,524,065

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### H

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### I

#### Shares

#### Amount

#### Shares

#### Amount
Single

Class

Six

Months

ended

February

28,

2026

Shares

sold

...................................

1,601,005

$14,760,018

26,280,892

$213,173,439

Shares

issued

in

reinvestment

of

distributions

..........

—

—

Shares

redeemed

...............................

(162,952)

(1,506,688)

(6,545,493)

(53,118,789)

Net

increase

(decrease)

..........................

1,438,053

$13,253,330

19,735,433

$160,054,926

Year

ended

August

31,

2025

Shares

sold

...................................

2,030,344

$18,797,350

39,769,515

$318,217,572

Shares

issued

in

reinvestment

of

distributions

..........

1,539

Shares

redeemed

...............................

(350,266)

(3,267,759)

(9,715,769)

(77,574,390)

Net

increase

(decrease)

..........................

1,680,128

$15,530,069

30,053,939

$240,644,721

1. #### Organization

#### and

#### Significant

#### Accounting

#### Policies
(continued)

Franklin

Strategic

Series

Notes

to

Financial

Statements

(unaudited)

franklintempleton.com

Semiannual

Report

3. #### Transactions

#### with

#### Affiliates
Franklin

Resources,

Inc.

is

the

holding

company

for

various

subsidiaries

that

together

are

referred

to

as

Franklin

Templeton.

Certain

officers

and

trustees

of

the Trust are

also

officers

and/or

directors

of

the

following

subsidiaries:

a. #### Management

#### Fees
Advisers provides

investment

management

services

to

the

Funds.

The

Funds

do

not

pay

a

fee

for

these

services.

b. #### Administrative

#### Fees
Under

an

agreement

with

Advisers,

FT

Services

provides

administrative

services

to

the

Funds

and

is

not

paid

by

the

Funds

for

the services.

c. #### Transfer

#### Agent

#### Fees
The

Funds

pay

transfer

agent

fees,

calculated

monthly

and

paid

monthly, to

Investor

Services

for

its

performance

of

shareholder

servicing

obligations. The

fees

are based

on

a

fixed

margin

earned

by

Investor

Services

and

are allocated

to

the Funds

based

upon

relative

assets

and

relative

transactions. In

addition,

the

Fund reimburses

Investor

Services

for

out

of

pocket

expenses

incurred

and reimburses

shareholder

servicing

fees

paid

to

third

parties.

For

the

period

ended

February

28,

2026,

the Funds

paid

transfer

agent

fees

as

noted

in

the

Statements of

Operations

of

which

the

following

amounts

were

retained

by

Investor

Services:

d. #### Investments

#### in

#### Affiliated

#### Management

#### Investment

#### Companies
Certain

or

all

Funds

invest

in

one

or

more

affiliated

management

investment

companies.

As

defined

in

the

1940

Act,

an

investment

is

deemed

to

be

a

"Controlled

Affiliate"

of

a

fund

when

a

fund

owns,

either

directly

or

indirectly,

25%

or

more

of

the

affiliated

fund's

outstanding

shares

or

has

the

power

to

exercise

control

over

management

or

policies

of

such

fund.

The

Funds

do

not

invest

for

purposes

of

exercising

a

controlling

influence

over

the

management

or

policies. Advisers

has

contractually

agreed

to

reimburse

expenses

of

the

Funds

in

an

amount

equal

to

fees

indirectly

borne

by

the

Funds

on

assets

invested

in

the

affiliated

management

investment

companies,

as

noted

in

the

Statements

of

Operations.

During

the period

ended

February

28,

2026,

investments

in

affiliated

management

investment

companies

were

as

follows:

#### Subsidiary

#### Affiliation
Franklin

Advisers,

Inc.

(Advisers)

Investment

manager

Franklin

Templeton

Services,

LLC

(FT

Services)

Administrative

manager

Franklin

Distributors,

LLC

(Distributors)

Principal

underwriter

Franklin

Templeton

Investor

Services,

LLC

(Investor

Services)

Transfer

agent

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### CH

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### E

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### H

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### I
Transfer

agent

fees

........................

$2,365

$41,270

$2,415

$56,925

Franklin

Strategic

Series

Notes

to

Financial

Statements

(unaudited)

franklintempleton.com

Semiannual

Report

e. #### Waiver

#### and

#### Expense

#### Reimbursements
Advisers

has

contractually

agreed

in

advance

to

waive

or

limit

its

fees

and

to

assume

as

its

own

expense

certain

expenses

otherwise

payable

by

the

Funds

so

that

the

operating

expenses

(excluding

certain

non-routine

expenses

or

costs,

including

those

relating

to

litigation,

indemnification,

reorganizations,

and

liquidations)

and

acquired

fund

fees

and

expenses

of

the

Funds do

not

exceed

0.00%

based

on

the

average

net

assets

of

each

class

until

December

31,

2026. Total

expenses

waived

or

paid

are

not

subject

to

recapture

subsequent

to

the

Funds'

fiscal

year

end.

Acquired

fund

fees

and

expenses

are

indirect

expenses,

and

therefore

Advisers

may

make

payments,

if

necessary,

to

the

Funds

to

offset

these

estimated

indirect

expenses.

Payments

by

Advisers for

the period

ended

February

28,

2026,

are

reflected

as

other

income

in

the

Statements

of

Operations.

f. #### Interfund

#### Transactions
Certain

or

all

Funds

engaged

in

purchases

and

sales

of

investments

with

funds

or

other

accounts

that

have

common

investment

managers

(or

affiliated

investment

managers),

directors,

trustees

or

officers.

These

purchases,

sales

and

the

related

net

realized

gains

(losses),

if

any,

for

the

period

ended

February

28,

2026,

were

as

follows:

#### &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;aa

#### Value

#### at

#### Beginning

#### of

#### Period

#### Purchases

#### Sales

#### Realized

#### Gain
(Loss)

#### Net

#### Change

#### in

#### Unrealized

#### Appreciation
(Depreciation)

#### Value

#### at

#### End

#### of

#### Period

#### Number

#### of

#### Shares

#### Held

#### at

#### End

#### of

#### Period

#### Investment

#### Income

#### a&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

#### a

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### E

#### Non-Controlled

#### Affiliates
Dividends

Franklin

Institutional

U.S.

Government

Money

Market

Fund,

3.583%

............

$2,925,813

$116,184,555

$(107,485,349)

$—

$—

$11,625,019

11,625,019

$83,867

#### Total

#### Affiliated

#### Securities

#### ...
$2,925,813

$116,184,555

$(107,485,349)

$—

$—

$11,625,019

$83,867

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### H

#### Non-Controlled

#### Affiliates
Dividends

Franklin

Dynamic

Municipal

Bond

ETF

...................

$531,300

$3,728,500

$(547,360)

$3,300

$101,760

$3,817,500

150,000

$41,718

#### Total

#### Affiliated

#### Securities

#### ...
$531,300

$3,728,500

$(547,360)

$3,300

$101,760

$3,817,500

$41,718

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### I

#### Non-Controlled

#### Affiliates
Dividends

Franklin

Institutional

U.S.

Government

Money

Market

Fund,

3.583%

............

$2,921,629

$205,047,982

$(199,294,765)

$—

$—

$8,674,846

8,674,846

$133,700

#### Total

#### Affiliated

#### Securities

#### ...
$2,921,629

$205,047,982

$(199,294,765)

$—

$—

$8,674,846

$133,700

3. #### Transactions

#### with

#### Affiliates
(continued)

d. #### Investments

#### in

#### Affiliated

#### Management

#### Investment

#### Companies
(continued)

Franklin

Strategic

Series

Notes

to

Financial

Statements

(unaudited)

franklintempleton.com

Semiannual

Report

4. #### Income

#### Taxes
For

tax

purposes,

capital

losses

may

be

carried

over

to

offset

future

capital

gains.

At

August

31,

2025,

the

capital

loss

carryforwards

were

as

follows:

At

February

28,

2026,

the

cost

of

investments

and

net

unrealized

appreciation

(depreciation)

for

income

tax

purposes

were

as

follows:

Differences

between

income

and/or

capital

gains

as

determined

on

a

book

basis

and

a

tax

basis

are

primarily

due

to

differing

treatments

of

wash

sales,

bond

discounts

and

premiums

and

equity-linked

securities.

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### CH

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### H
Purchases

................................................................

$3,960,000

$5,300,000

Sales

....................................................................

$4,535,000

$8,865,000

Net

Realized

Gains

(Losses)

...................................................

—

—

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### CH

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### E

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### H

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### I

Capital

loss

carryforwards

not

subject

to

expiration:

Short

term

.............................

$

103,150

$

2,428,166

$

35,455

$

842,302

Long

term

.............................

124,544

—

142,795

—

Total

capital

loss

carryforwards

............

$227,694

$2,428,166

$178,250

$842,302

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### CH

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### E

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### H

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### I
a

a

a

a

a

Cost

of

investments

.......................

$35,313,791

$473,016,720

$40,928,569

$755,331,659

Unrealized

appreciation

.....................

$1,454,645

$77,101,365

$1,274,843

$29,176,290

Unrealized

depreciation

.....................

(324,841)

(20,198,058)

(155,790)

(3,064,469)

Net

unrealized

appreciation

(depreciation)

.......

$1,129,804

$56,903,307

$1,119,053

$26,111,821

3. #### Transactions

#### with

#### Affiliates
(continued)

f. #### Interfund

#### Transactions
(continued)

Franklin

Strategic

Series

Notes

to

Financial

Statements

(unaudited)

franklintempleton.com

Semiannual

Report

5. #### Investment

#### Transactions
Purchases

and

sales

of

investments

and

ETFs

(excluding

short

term

securities)

for

the

period

ended

February

28,

2026,

were

as

follows:

6. #### Credit

#### Risk
At

February

28,

2026, certain

or

all

Funds had a

portion of their

portfolio

invested

in

high

yield

or

other

securities

rated

below

investment

grade

as

determined

by

Nationally

Recognized

Statistical

Credit

Ratings

Organizations

and/or

internally,

by

investment

management

and

unrated

securities.

These

securities

may

be

more

sensitive

to

economic

conditions

causing

greater

price

volatility

and

are

potentially

subject

to

a

greater

risk

of

loss

due

to

default

than

higher

rated

securities.

7. #### Concentration

#### of

#### Risk
Franklin

Templeton

SMACS:

Series

CH

invests

a

large

percentage

of

its total

assets

in

obligations

of

issuers

within California

and

U.S.

territories.

Such

concentration

may

subject

the

Fund

to

risks

associated

with

industrial

or

regional

matters,

and

economic,

political

or

legal

developments

occurring

within California

and

U.S.

territories. Investments

in

these

securities

are

sensitive

to

interest

rate

changes

and

credit

risk

of

the

issuer

and

may

subject

the

Fund

to

increased

market

volatility.

The

market

for

these

investments

may

be

limited,

which

may

make

them

difficult

to

buy

or

sell.

8. #### Credit

#### Facility
The

Funds,

together

with

other

U.S.

registered

and

foreign

investment

funds

(collectively,

Borrowers),

managed

by

Franklin

Templeton,

are

borrowers

in

a

joint

syndicated

senior

unsecured

credit

facility

totaling

$2.995

billion

(Global

Credit

Facility)

which

matures

on

January

29,

2027. This

Global

Credit

Facility

provides

a

source

of

funds

to

the

Borrowers

for

temporary

and

emergency

purposes,

including

the

ability

to

meet

future

unanticipated

or

unusually

large

redemption

requests.

Under

the

terms

of

the

Global

Credit

Facility,

the

Funds

may,

in

addition

to

interest

charged

on

any

borrowings

made

by

the

Funds

and

other

costs

incurred

by

the

Funds,

pay

their

share

of

fees

and

expenses

incurred

in

connection

with

the

implementation

and

maintenance

of

the

Global

Credit

Facility,

based

upon

their

relative

share

of

the

aggregate

net

assets

of

all

of

the

Borrowers,

including

an

annual

commitment

fee

of

0.15%

based

upon

the

unused

portion

of

the

Global

Credit

Facility.

These

fees

are

reflected

in

other

expenses

in

the

Statements

of

Operations.

During

the

period ended

February

28,

2026,

the

Funds

did

not

use

the

Global

Credit

Facility.

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### CH

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### E

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### H

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### I
Purchases

..............................

$9,356,985

$329,998,150

$15,737,878

$302,316,256

Sales

..................................

$2,410,004

$251,897,825

$3,118,918

$142,104,284

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### CH

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### H

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### I
Credit

risk

.....................................................

53.2%

39.1%

74.8%

Franklin

Strategic

Series

Notes

to

Financial

Statements

(unaudited)

franklintempleton.com

Semiannual

Report

9. #### Fair

#### Value

#### Measurements
The Funds

follow

a

fair

value

hierarchy

that

distinguishes

between

market

data

obtained

from

independent

sources

(observable

inputs)

and

the Funds'

own

market

assumptions

(unobservable

inputs).

These

inputs

are

used

in

determining

the

value

of

the Funds' financial

instruments

and

are

summarized

in

the

following

fair

value

hierarchy:

Level

–

quoted

prices

in

active

markets

for

identical

financial

instruments

Level

–

other

significant

observable

inputs

(including

quoted

prices

for

similar

financial

instruments,

interest

rates,

prepayment

speed,

credit

risk,

etc.)

Level

–

significant

unobservable

inputs

(including

the Funds'

own

assumptions

in

determining

the

fair

value

of

financial

instruments)

The

input

levels

are

not

necessarily

an

indication

of

the

risk

or

liquidity

associated

with

financial

instruments

at

that

level.

A

summary

of

inputs

used

as

of

February

28,

2026,

in

valuing

the

Funds'

assets

carried

at

fair

value,

is

as

follows:

#### Level

#### 1

#### Level

#### 2

#### Level

#### 3

#### Total

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### CH

#### Assets:
Investments

in

Securities:

a

Common

Stocks

.........................

$

—

$

—

$

—

b

$

—

Corporate

Bonds

........................

—

251,396

—

251,396

Municipal

Bonds

:

Arizona

..............................

—

545,244

—

545,244

California

.............................

—

32,910,149

607,131

33,517,280

U.S.

Territories

..........................

Puerto

Rico

...........................

—

125,550

—

125,550

Short

Term

Investments

...................

—

2,004,125

—

2,004,125

Total

Investments

in

Securities

...........

$—

$35,836,464

$607,131

$36,443,595

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### E

#### Assets:
Investments

in

Securities:

a

Common

Stocks

:

Aerospace

&

Defense

...................

10,656,750

—

—

10,656,750

Air

Freight

&

Logistics

...................

5,102,240

—

—

5,102,240

Banks

...............................

14,109,420

—

—

14,109,420

Biotechnology

.........................

5,802,000

—

—

5,802,000

Capital

Markets

........................

2,658,075

—

—

2,658,075

Diversified

Telecommunication

Services

.....

5,418,000

—

—

5,418,000

Electric

Utilities

........................

3,334,400

—

—

3,334,400

Energy

Equipment

&

Services

.............

7,701,000

—

—

7,701,000

Ground

Transportation

..................

4,721,100

—

—

4,721,100

Health

Care

Equipment

&

Supplies

.........

6,347,900

—

—

6,347,900

Health

Care

Providers

&

Services

..........

15,918,402

—

—

15,918,402

Hotels,

Restaurants

&

Leisure

.............

9,761,800

—

—

9,761,800

IT

Services

...........................

5,218,000

—

—

5,218,000

Machinery

............................

4,456,980

—

—

4,456,980

Metals

&

Mining

.......................

1,359,013

—

—

1,359,013

Oil,

Gas

&

Consumable

Fuels

.............

17,914,600

9,423,647

—

27,338,247

Pharmaceuticals

.......................

6,454,379

—

—

6,454,379

Semiconductors

&

Semiconductor

Equipment

.

15,001,021

—

—

15,001,021

Software

.............................

6,790,598

—

—

6,790,598

Specialty

Retail

........................

2,661,233

—

—

2,661,233

Textiles,

Apparel

&

Luxury

Goods

..........

2,673,740

—

—

2,673,740

Tobacco

.............................

12,611,025

—

—

12,611,025

Franklin

Strategic

Series

Notes

to

Financial

Statements

(unaudited)

franklintempleton.com

Semiannual

Report

A

reconciliation

in

which

Level

inputs

are

used

in

determining

fair

value

is

presented

when

there

are

significant

Level

assets

and/or

liabilities

at

the

beginning

and/or

end

of

the period.

At

February

28,

2026,

the

reconciliation

is

as

follows:

#### Level

#### 1

#### Level

#### 2

#### Level

#### 3

#### Total

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### E
(continued)

#### Assets:
(continued)

Investments

in

Securities:

a

(continued)

Equity-Linked

Securities

...................

$

—

$

263,539,485

$

—

$

263,539,485

Convertible

Preferred

Stocks

................

78,660,200

—

—

78,660,200

Short

Term

Investments

...................

11,625,019

—

—

11,625,019

Total

Investments

in

Securities

...........

$256,956,895

$272,963,132

c

$—

$529,920,027

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### H

#### Assets:
Investments

in

Securities:

a

Common

Stocks

.........................

—

—

—

b

—

Management

Investment

Companies

.........

3,817,500

—

—

3,817,500

Corporate

Bonds

........................

—

251,396

—

251,396

Municipal

Bonds

.........................

—

37,178,726

—

37,178,726

Short

Term

Investments

...................

—

800,000

—

800,000

Total

Investments

in

Securities

...........

$3,817,500

$38,230,122

$—

$42,047,622

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### I

#### Assets:
Investments

in

Securities:

a

Common

Stocks

:

Banks

...............................

2,242,350

—

—

2,242,350

Pharmaceuticals

.......................

—

109,315

—

109,315

Equity-Linked

Securities

...................

—

206,034

—

206,034

Corporate

Bonds

........................

—

605,030,662

—

605,030,662

Senior

Floating

Rate

Interests

...............

—

20,834,015

—

20,834,015

Mortgage-Backed

Securities

................

—

144,346,258

—

144,346,258

Short

Term

Investments

...................

8,674,846

—

—

8,674,846

Total

Investments

in

Securities

...........

$10,917,196

$770,526,284

$—

$781,443,480

a

For

detailed

categories,

see

the

accompanying

Schedule

of

Investments.

b

Includes

financial

instruments

determined

to

have

no

value.

c

Includes

foreign

securities

valued

at

$9,423,647,

which

were

categorized

as

Level

as

a

result

of

the

application

of

market

level

fair

value

procedures.

See

the

Financial

Instrument

Valuation

note

for

more

information.

#### Balance

#### at

#### Beginning

#### of

#### Period

#### Purchases

#### a

#### Sales

#### Transfer

#### Into

#### Level

#### 3

#### Transfer

#### Out

#### of

#### Level

#### 3

#### Net

#### Accretion

#### (#### Amortiza

#### -

#### tion

####)

#### Net

#### Realized

#### Gain
(Loss)

#### Net

#### Unr

#### ealized

#### Appreciation
(Depreciation)

#### Balance

#### at

#### End

#### of

#### Period

#### Net

#### Change

#### in

#### Unrealized

#### Appreciation
(Depreciation)

#### on

#### Assets

#### Held

#### at

#### Period

#### End

#### a

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS

#### Series

#### CH

#### Assets:
Investments

in

Securities:

Common

Stocks

:

United

States

.

$

—

$

—

b

$

—

$

—

$

—

$

—

$

—

$

—

$

—

b

$

—

Municipal

Bonds

:

United

States

.

603,985

—

—

—

—

—

—

3,146

607,131

3,146

Total

Investments

in

Securities

.......

$603,985

$—

$—

$—

$—

$—

$—

$3,146

$607,131

$3,146

9. #### Fair

#### Value

#### Measurements
(continued)

Franklin

Strategic

Series

Notes

to

Financial

Statements

(unaudited)

franklintempleton.com

Semiannual

Report

Significant

unobservable

valuation

inputs

for

material

Level

3 assets

and/or

liabilities and

impact

to

fair

value

as

a

result

of

changes

in

unobservable

valuation

inputs

as

of

February

28,

2026,

are

as

follows:

10. #### Operating

#### Segments
Each

Fund

operates

as

a

single

operating

segment,

which

is

an

investment

portfolio.

The

portfolio

managers

assigned

to

the

Fund

within the

Funds'

investment

manager

serve

as

the

Chief

Operating

Decision

Maker

("CODM")

and are

responsible

for

evaluating each

Fund's

operating

results

and

allocating

resources

in

accordance

with each

Fund's

investment

strategy.

Internal

reporting

provided

to

the

CODM

aligns

with

the

accounting

policies

and

measurement

principles

used

in

the

financial

statements.

For

information

regarding

segment

assets,

segment

profit

or

loss,

and

significant

expenses,

refer

to

the

Statements

of

Assets

and

Liabilities

and

the

Statements

of

Operations,

along

with

the

related

notes

to

the

financial

statements.

The

Schedules

of

Investments

provides

details

of

the

Funds'

investments

that

generate

returns

such

as

interest,

dividends,

and

realized

and

unrealized

gains

or

losses.

Performance

metrics,

including

portfolio

turnover

and

expense

ratios,

are

disclosed

in

the

Financial

Highlights.

11. #### Subsequent

#### Events
The

Funds

have

evaluated

subsequent

events

through

the

issuance

of

the

financial

statements

and

determined

that

no

events

have

occurred

that

require

disclosure.

a

Purchases

include

all

purchases

of

securities

and

securities

received

in

corporate

actions.

b

Includes

financial

instruments

determined

to

have

no

value.

#### Description

#### Fair

#### Value

#### at

#### End

#### of

#### Period

#### Valuation

#### Technique

#### Unobservable

#### Inputs

#### Amount

#### Impact

#### to

#### Fair

#### Value

#### if

#### Input

#### Increases

#### a

#### Franklin

#### Templeton

#### SMACS:

#### Series

#### CH

#### Assets:
Investments

in

Securities:

Municipal

Bonds

California

.....................

$607,131

Discounted

cash

flow

Discount

rate

8.1%

Decrease

All

Other

Investments

.............

—

b

Total

$607,131

a

Represents

the

directional

change

in

the

fair

value

of

the

Level

financial

instruments

that

would

result

from

a

significant

and

reasonable

increase

in

the

corresponding

input.

A

significant

and

reasonable

decrease

in

the

input

would

have

the

opposite

effect.

Significant

increases

and

decreases

in

these

inputs

in

isolation

could

result

in

significantly

higher

or

lower

fair

value

measurements.

b

Includes

financial

instruments

determined

to

have

no

value.

9. #### Fair

#### Value

#### Measurements
(continued)

Franklin

Strategic

Series

Notes

to

Financial

Statements

(unaudited)

franklintempleton.com

Semiannual

Report

#### Abbreviations

#### Selected

#### Portfolio

#### AG
Assured

Guaranty,

Inc.

#### CME
Chicago

Mercantile

Exchange

#### ETF
Exchange-Traded

Fund

#### FHLMC
Federal

Home

Loan

Mortgage

Corp.

#### FNMA
Federal

National

Mortgage

Association

#### FRN
Floating

Rate

Note

#### GNMA
Government

National

Mortgage

Association

#### GO
General

Obligation

#### LOC
Letter

of

Credit

#### PIK
Payment-In-Kind

#### REIT
Real

Estate

Investment

Trust

#### SOFR
Secured

Overnight

Financing

Rate

#### SPA
Standby

Purchase

Agreement

Franklin

Strategic

Series

franklintempleton.com

Semiannual

Report

#### Changes

#### In

#### and

#### Disagreements

#### with

#### Accountants
For

the

period

covered

by

this

report

Not

applicable.

#### Results

#### of

#### Meeting(s)

#### of

#### Shareholders
For

the

period

covered

by

this

report

Not

applicable.

#### Remuneration

#### Paid

#### to

#### Directors,

#### Officers

#### and

#### Others
For

the

period

covered

by

this

report

Refer

to

the

financial

statements

included

herein.

Remuneration

to

officers

is

paid

by

the

Funds'

investment

manager

according

to

the

terms

of

the

agreement.

#### Board

#### Approval

#### of

#### Management

#### and

#### Subadvisory

#### Agreements
For

the

period

covered

by

this

report

Not

applicable.

FSS3-SFSOI

04/26©

2026

Franklin

Templeton.

All

rights

reserved.

ITEM 8. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS FOR OPEN-END MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT COMPANIES.

The information is disclosed as part of the Financial Statements included in Item 7 of this Form N-CSR.

ITEM 9. PROXY DISCLOSURES FOR OPEN-END MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT COMPANIES.

The information is disclosed as part of the Financial Statements included in Item 7 of this Form N-CSR.

ITEM 10. REMUNERATION PAID TO DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, AND OTHERS OF OPEN-END MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT COMPANIES.

The information is disclosed as part of the Financial Statements included in Item 7 of this Form N-CSR.

ITEM 11. STATEMENT REGARDING BASIS FOR APPROVAL OF INVESTMENT ADVISORY CONTRACT.

The information is disclosed as part of the Financial Statements included in Item 7 of this Form N-CSR, as applicable.

ITEM 12. DISCLOSURE OF PROXY VOTING POLICIES AND PROCEDURES FOR CLOSED-END MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT COMPANIES.

Not applicable.

ITEM 13. PORTFOLIO MANAGERS OF CLOSED-END MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT COMPANIES.

Not applicable.

ITEM 14. PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES BY CLOSED-END MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT COMPANY AND AFFILIATED PURCHASERS.

Not applicable.

---

| | |
|:---|:---|
| ITEM 15. | SUBMISSION OF MATTERS TO A VOTE OF SECURITY HOLDERS. |

---

There have been no changes to the procedures by which shareholders may recommend nominees to the Registrant's Board of Trustees that would require disclosure herein.

ITEM 16. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(a) The Registrant's chief executive officer and chief financial officer have
 concluded that the Registrant's disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rule 30a- 3(c) under the Investment Company Act
 of 1940, as amended (the "1940 Act")) are effective as of a date within 90 days of the filing date of this report that includes
 the disclosure required by this paragraph, based on their evaluation of the disclosure controls and procedures required by Rule 30a-3(b)
 under the 1940 Act and 15d-15(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(b) There were no changes in the Registrant's internal control over financial reporting
 (as defined in Rule 30a-3(d) under the 1940 Act) that occurred during the period covered by this report that have materially affected
 or are likely to materially affect the Registrant's internal control over financial reporting.

ITEM 17. DISCLOSURE OF SECURITIES LENDING ACTIVITIES FOR CLOSED-END MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT COMPANIES.

Not applicable.

ITEM 18. RECOVERY OF ERRONEOUSLY AWARDED COMPENSATION.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(a) Not applicable.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(b) Not applicable.

ITEM 19. EXHIBITS.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;(a) (1) Not applicable

Exhibit 99.CODE ETH

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;[(a) (3) Certifications pursuant to section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 attached hereto.](fss-efp23717_ex99cert.htm)

Exhibit 99.CERT

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;[(b) Certifications pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 attached hereto.](fss-efp23717_ex99906cert.htm)

Exhibit 99.906CERT

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, the registrant has duly caused this Report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, there unto duly authorized.

**Franklin Strategic Series** 

---

| | |
|:---|:---|
| By: | /s/ Christopher Kings |
|  | Christopher Kings |
|  | Chief Executive Officer - Finance and Administration |

---

Date: April 29, 2026

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.

---

| | |
|:---|:---|
| By: | /s/ Christopher Kings |
|  | Christopher Kings |
|  | Chief Executive Officer - Finance and Administration |

---

---

| | |
|:---|:---|
| Date: | April 29, 2026 |
| By: | /s/ Jeffrey White |
|  | Jeffrey White |
|  | Chief Financial Officer, Chief Accounting Officer and Treasurer |

---

Date: April 29, 2026

## Ex-99.Cert

CERTIFICATIONS PURSUANT TO SECTION 302

EX-99.CERT

**<u>CERTIFICATIONS</u>**

I, Christopher Kings, certify that:

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;1. I have reviewed this report on Form N-CSR of **Franklin Strategic Series;** 

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;2. Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary
to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period
covered by this report;

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all material
respects the financial condition, results of operations, changes in net assets, and cash flows (if the financial statements are required
to include a statement of cash flows) of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;4. The registrant's other certifying officers and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures
(as defined in Rule 30a-3(c) under the Investment Company Act of 1940) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rule
30a-3(d) under the Investment Company Act of 1940) for the registrant and have:

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;a) Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to
be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries,
is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared;

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;b) Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial
reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the
preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;c) Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure controls and procedures and presented
in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of a date within 90 days prior to
the filing date of this report based on such evaluation; and

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;d) Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's internal control over financial reporting
that occurred during the period covered by this report that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the
registrant's internal control over financial reporting; and

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;5. The registrant's other certifying officers and I have disclosed to the registrant's auditors
and the audit committee of the registrant's board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;a) All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over
financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant's ability to record, process, summarize, and
report financial information; and

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;b) Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant
role in the registrant's internal control over financial reporting.

---

| |
|:---|
| Date: April 30, 2026 |
| /s/ Christopher Kings |
| Christopher Kings |
| Chief Executive Officer – Finance and Administration |

---

**<u>CERTIFICATIONS</u>**

I, Jeffrey White, certify that:

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;1. I have reviewed this report on Form N-CSR of **Franklin Strategic Series**;

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;2. Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to
state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not
misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;3. Based on my knowledge, the financial information included in this report, and the financial statements
on which the financial information is based, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations, changes
in net assets, and cash flows (if the financial statements are required to include a statement of cash flows) of the registrant as of,
and for, the periods presented in this report;

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;4. The registrant's other certifying officers and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining
disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rule 30a-3(c) under the Investment Company Act of 1940) and internal control over financial
reporting (as defined in Rule 30a-3(d) under the Investment Company Act of 1940) for the registrant and have:

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;a) Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision,
to ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others
within those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared;

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;b) Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under
our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements
for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;c) Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure controls and procedures
and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of a date within 90
days prior to the filing date of this report based on such evaluation; and

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;d) Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the period
covered by this report that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant's internal control
over financial reporting; and

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;5. The registrant's other certifying officers and I have disclosed to the registrant's auditors
and the audit committee of the registrant's board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;a) All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over
financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant's ability to record, process, summarize, and
report financial information; and

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;b) Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant
role in the registrant's internal control over financial reporting.

---

| |
|:---|
| Date: April 30, 2026 |
| /s/ Jeffrey White |
| Jeffrey White |
| Chief Financial Officer, Chief Accounting Officer and Treasurer |

---

## Exhibit 99.906

CERTIFICATIONS PURSUANT TO SECTION 906

EX-99.906CERT

**CERTIFICATION**

**Christopher Kings,** Chief Executive Officer – Finance and Administration, and **Jeffrey White,** Chief Financial Officer, Chief Accounting Officer and Treasurer of **Franklin Strategic Series (the "Registrant"),** each certify to the best of their knowledge that:

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;1. The Registrant's periodic report on Form N-CSR for the period ended **February 28, 2026** (the "Form N-CSR") fully complies with the requirements of Section 13(a) or 15(d), as applicable, of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended; and

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;2. The information contained in the Form N-CSR fairly presents, in all material respects, the financial condition and results of operations of the Registrant.

---

| | |
|:---|:---|
| **Chief Executive Officer - Finance and Administration** | **Chief Financial Officer, Chief Accounting Officer and Treasurer** |
| Franklin Strategic Series | Franklin Strategic Series |

---

---

| | |
|:---|:---|
| /s/ Christopher Kings | /s/ Jeffrey White |
| Christopher Kings | Jeffrey White |
| Date: April 30, 2026 | Date: April 30, 2026 |

---

This certification is being furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission solely pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 1350 and is not being filed as part of the Form N-CSR with the Commission.