Franklin Templeton Investments announced the expansion of its institutional sales, relationship management and consultant relations team with three key hires to address growing and distinct opportunities in the US institutional marketplace. Elizabeth Murphy has joined the firm as senior vice president, Institutional Sales. In this role, she will manage and deepen key relationships with large institutional clients, primarily in the Northeast, including endowments, foundations, corporations and public funds.

Prior to joining Franklin Templeton, Murphy was a director at BlackRock for nine years, where she was primarily responsible for developing and broadening relationships with the firm's large clients and consultants. Prior to that, Murphy was a director at Deutsche Asset Management, tasked with improving and growing the firm's relationship with institutional clients. Also joining Lee's team is Mary Beth Glotzbach as vice president, Institutional DCIO.

She will focus on developing and broadening the firm's products and solutions for institutional 401(k) plans. Glotzbach is based in San Mateo, CA and reports to Drew Carrington, senior vice president, head of Institutional DCIO. Glotzbach most recently served as senior vice president of Retirement Solutions at Morningstar Inc., where she implemented Morningstar's retirement strategy across institutional software product groups, targeting solutions for advisors, consultants and asset managers.

Glotzbach is also a board member for the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association (DCIIA). Christina Manonian, is assuming the role of vice president, Consultant Relations, reporting to Dennis Rothe, senior vice president and head of the Consultant and Investment Research Group - North America. Manonian most recently served as director of Global Consultants and Financial Institutions, where she was instrumental in strengthening Franklin Templeton's cross-border distribution across Asia and Australia.

In her new role, she will manage strategic relationships with consultants across the West Coast. Manonian has relocated from Melbourne to the firm's headquarters in San Mateo, CA.