AA vs BEN Comparison

Alcoa is a vertically integrated aluminum company whose operations include bauxite mining, alumina refining, and manufacturing primary aluminum. It is one of the world's largest bauxite miners and alumina refiners by production volume, but sits outside the top-10 aluminum producers, a list dominated by Chinese companies. Profits are closely tied to prevailing commodity prices along the aluminum supply chain.Alcoa was the first mass producer of aluminum, launching the world-changing Hall-Heroult smelting process in the 1880s, making aluminum affordable. It listed as a public company in 1925. In 2016, Alcoa spun off its automotive and aerospace metal parts segment to focus on mining, smelting, and refining. It bought the 40% unowned balance of AWAC in mid-2024.

Franklin Resources provides investment services for individual and institutional investors. At the end of December 2025, Franklin had $1.684 trillion in managed assets, composed primarily of equity (41%), fixed-income (26%), multi-asset/balanced (12%) funds, alternatives (16%), and money market funds (5%). Distribution tends to be weighted between retail investors (57% of AUM) and institutional accounts (40%), with high-net-worth clients accounting for the remainder. Franklin is one of the more global of the US-based asset managers we cover, with 30% of its assets under management invested in global/international strategies and 29% sourced from clients domiciled outside the United States.