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contract holders indirectly investing in the fund. If it did, expenses would be higher.<span style="font-weight:bold"> </span></div> Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) 0.0053 0 0.0014 0.0067 0.0053 0.0025 0.0014 0.0092 Example <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The following hypothetical example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The example does not reflect insurance-related charges or expenses. If it did, expenses would be higher. It assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem or hold all your shares at the end of those periods. It assumes a 5% return on your investment each year and that the fund’s operating expenses remain the same (except that any applicable fee waiver or expense reimbursement is reflected only through its expiration date). Your actual costs may be higher or lower. </div> 68 68 214 214 373 373 834 834 94 94 294 294 510 510 1132 1132 Portfolio turnover <div style="margin-top:6pt;margin-bottom:0pt;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The fund pays transaction-related costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or the above example, affect fund performance. The fund’s turnover rate in the most recent fiscal year was 13%. </div> 0.13 Investments, risks, and performance Investments <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The fund invests mainly in common stocks (growth or value stocks or both) of U.S. companies of any size that the Investment Manager, as defined below, believes have favorable investment potential. For example, the fund may purchase stocks of companies with stock prices that reflect a value lower than that which the Investment Manager places on the company. The Investment Manager may also consider other factors it believes will cause the stock price to rise. The Investment Manager may consider, among other factors, a company’s valuation, financial strength, growth potential, competitive position in its industry, projected future earnings, cash flows and dividends when deciding whether to buy or sell investments. Under normal circumstances, the fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in equity investments, including common stocks, preferred stocks, convertible securities, warrants, American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) and Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs). This policy may be changed only after 60 days’ notice to shareholders. </div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">It is important to understand that you can lose money by investing in the fund. </div> <div style="margin-top:6pt;margin-bottom:0pt;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Market risk:</span> The value of investments in the fund’s portfolio may fall or fail to rise over extended periods of time for a variety of reasons, including general economic, political or financial market conditions, investor sentiment and market perceptions, government actions, geopolitical events or changes, outbreaks of infectious illnesses or other widespread public health issues, and factors related to a specific issuer, asset class, geography, industry or sector. These and other factors may lead to increased volatility and reduced liquidity in the fund’s portfolio holdings, may negatively impact the fund’s performance, and may exacerbate other risks to which the fund is subject. </div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Common stock risk: </span>Common stock represents an ownership interest in a company. The value of a company’s stock may fall or fail to rise as a result of factors directly relating to that company, such as decisions made by its management or lower demand for the company’s products or services. A stock’s value may also fall because of factors affecting not just the company, but also other companies in the same industry or in a number of different industries, such as increases in production costs. Growth stocks may be more susceptible to earnings disappointments, and value stocks may fail to rebound. These risks are generally greater for small and midsize companies.<span style="font-weight:bold"> </span></div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Liquidity and illiquid investments risk:</span> The fund may invest up to 15% of its net assets in illiquid investments, which may be considered speculative and which may be difficult to sell. The fund may not be able to sell its illiquid investments when the Investment Manager considers it desirable to do so, or the fund may be able to sell them only at less than their value. </div> <div style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Short sales risk:</span> The fund may engage in short sales, which are transactions in which the fund sells a security it does not own to a third party by borrowing the security in anticipation of purchasing the same security at the market price on a later date to close out the short position. If the price of the security sold short increases between the time of the short sale and the time the fund replaces the borrowed security, the fund will incur a loss that is theoretically unlimited. The fund’s investment strategy of reinvesting proceeds received from selling securities short may effectively create leverage, which can amplify the effects of market volatility on the fund’s share price and make the fund’s returns more volatile. The use of leverage may also cause the fund to liquidate portfolio positions when it would not be advantageous to do so in order to satisfy its obligations. </div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Large shareholder transaction risk:</span> The fund is subject to the risk that shareholders will purchase or redeem large quantities of shares of the fund. The fund may be an investment option for mutual funds that are managed by the Investment Manager and its affiliates as “funds of funds.” Additionally, other investors from time to time may make substantial investments in the fund. Such shareholders may at times be considered to control the fund. In addition, a large number of shareholders may collectively purchase or redeem fund shares in large amounts rapidly or unexpectedly. Large shareholder transactions may adversely affect the fund’s liquidity and net assets. These redemptions may also adversely affect the fund’s performance if the fund is forced to sell securities, which may also increase the fund’s brokerage costs. </div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Management and operational risk:</span> There is no guarantee that the investment techniques, analyses, or judgments that the Investment Manager applies in making investment decisions for the fund will produce the intended outcome or that the investments selected for the fund will perform as well as other securities that were not selected for the fund. The Investment Manager, or the fund’s other service providers, may experience disruptions or operating errors that could negatively impact the fund. </div><div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The fund may not achieve its goal, and it is not intended to be a complete investment program. An investment in the fund is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. </div> An investment in the fund is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. Performance <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The accompanying bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the fund. The bar chart shows changes in the fund’s performance from year to year for Class IA shares. The table shows the average annual total returns of each class of the fund that has been in operation for at least one full calendar year and also compares the fund’s performance with the average annual total returns of a broad measure of market performance. Before June 30, 2018, the fund was managed with a materially different investment strategy and may have achieved materially different performance results under its current investment strategy from that shown for periods before this date. Performance for classes other than those shown may vary from the </div><div style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">performance shown to the extent the expenses for those classes differ. The fund makes updated performance information, including its current net asset value per share, available at www.franklintempleton.com. </div><div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-style:italic">The fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the fund will perform in the future. </span></div><div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">Insurance-related charges or expenses are not reflected in the performance information below, and if those charges were included, returns would be less than those shown. </div> The bar chart shows changes in the fund’s performance from year to year for Class IA shares. The table shows the average annual total returns of each class of the fund that has been in operation for at least one full calendar year and also compares the fund’s performance with the average annual total returns of a broad measure of market performance. www.franklintempleton.com The fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the fund will perform in the future. Annual total returns for class IA shares <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse:collapse;font-family:arial;font-size:8.5pt;width:100%;border-spacing:0px;margin:0 auto"> <tr> <td style="width:56%;"></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;width:1%;"></td> <td style="width:21%;"></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;width:1%;"></td> <td style="width:21%;"></td> </tr> <tr style="page-break-inside:avoid;font-family:arial;font-size:8.5pt"> <td style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #969696; BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #969696;vertical-align:top;">Best Quarter:</td> <td style=" BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #969696; BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #969696;vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #969696; BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #969696;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;">Q2 2020</td> <td style=" BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #969696; BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #969696;vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #969696; BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #969696;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;">21.34%</td> </tr> <tr style="page-break-inside:avoid;font-family:arial;font-size:8.5pt"> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #969696;vertical-align:top;">Worst Quarter:</td> <td style=" BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #969696;vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #969696;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;">Q1 2020</td> <td style=" BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #969696;vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #969696;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;">-22.84%</td> </tr> </table> Best Quarter: 2020-06-30 0.2134 Worst Quarter: 2020-03-31 -0.2284 Average annual total returns (for periods ended 12/31/25) 0.1711 0.1625 0.1549 0.1681 0.1596 0.1520 0.1715 0.1315 0.1429 <div style="margin-top:4pt;margin-bottom:0pt;font-size:8pt;font-family:arial;">Important data provider notices and terms are available at <span style="font-family:arial;font-size:8pt;color:#467886"><span style="text-decoration:underline">www.franklintempletondatasources.com</span></span><span style="font-family:arial">. Such information is subject to change. </span></div> Fund summary Goal <div style="margin-top: 8pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The fund seeks as high a level of current income as the Investment Manager (as defined below) believes is consistent with preservation of capital.</div> Fees and expenses <div style="margin-top: 8pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span>The following table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the fund. <span style="font-weight: bold;">You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below.</span> The fees and expenses information does not reflect insurance-related charges or expenses borne by contract holders indirectly investing in the fund. If it did, expenses would be higher.<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span></div> Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) 0.0052 0 0.0027 0.0001 0.0080 0.0052 0.0025 0.0027 0.0001 0.0105 Total annual fund operating expenses do not correlate with the ratios of expenses to average net assets reported in the fund’s financial highlights, which reflect the fund’s operating expenses and do not include acquired fund fees and expenses. Example <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The following hypothetical example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The example does not reflect insurance-related charges or expenses. If it did, expenses would be higher. It assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem or hold all your shares at the end of those periods. It assumes a 5% return on your investment each year and that the fund’s operating expenses remain the same (except that any applicable fee waiver or expense reimbursement is reflected only through its expiration date). Your actual costs may be higher or lower.</div> 82 82 256 256 444 444 990 990 107 107 334 334 579 579 1282 1282 Portfolio turnover <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The fund pays transaction-related costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher turnover rate may</div><div style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">indicate higher transaction costs. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or the above example, affect fund performance. The fund’s turnover rate in the most recent fiscal year was 391%.</div> 3.91 Investments, risks, and performance Investments <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The fund invests mainly in bonds that are securitized debt instruments (such as mortgage-backed investments) and related derivative instruments, and other obligations of companies and governments worldwide, including bank loans that are either investment-grade or below-investment-grade in quality (sometimes referred to as “junk bonds”) and have intermediate- to long-term maturities (three years or longer). The fund currently has significant investment exposure to residential and commercial mortgage-backed securities.</div><div style="margin-top: 8pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The Investment Manager, as defined below, may consider, among other factors, credit, interest rate and prepayment risks, as well as general market conditions, when deciding whether to buy or sell investments. The fund typically uses derivatives to a significant extent, including credit default swaps, interest rate swaps, total return swaps, to-be-announced (“TBA”) commitments, futures, options and swaptions, including on mortgage-backed securities and indices, and certain foreign currency transactions and credit default, total return and interest rate swap contracts for both hedging and non-hedging purposes, including to obtain or adjust exposure to mortgage-backed securities.</div> <div style="margin-top: 8pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">It is important to understand that you can lose money by investing in the fund.</div> <div style="margin-top: 8pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Market risk: </span>The value of investments in the fund’s portfolio may fall or fail to rise over extended periods of time for a variety of reasons, including general economic, political or financial market conditions, investor sentiment and market perceptions, government actions, geopolitical events or changes, outbreaks of infectious illnesses or other widespread public health issues, and factors related to a specific issuer, asset class, geography, industry or sector. These and other factors may lead to increased volatility and reduced liquidity in the fund’s portfolio holdings, may negatively impact the fund’s performance, and may exacerbate other risks to which the fund is subject.<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span></div> <div style="margin-top: 8pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Fixed income investments risk: </span>The risks associated with fixed income investments include interest rate risk, which is the risk that the value of the fund’s investments is likely to fall if interest rates rise. Fixed income investments are also subject to credit risk, which is the risk that issuers of the fund’s investments may default on payment of interest or principal. Fixed income investments may be more susceptible to downgrades or defaults during economic downturns or other periods of economic stress. Interest rate risk is generally greater for longer-term fixed income securities, and credit risk is generally greater for below-investment-grade fixed income securities (a significant part of the fund’s investments), which can be more sensitive to <span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span></div><div style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">changes in markets, credit conditions, and interest rates, and may be considered speculative. Mortgage-backed investments, unlike traditional debt investments, are also subject to prepayment risk, which means that they may increase in value less than other bonds when interest rates decline and decline in value more than other bonds when interest rates rise. The fund may have to invest the proceeds from prepaid investments, including mortgage-backed investments, in other investments with less attractive terms and yields. The fund’s investments in mortgage-backed securities, and in certain other securities and derivatives, may be or become illiquid.</div> <div style="margin-top: 8pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Focused investment risk: </span>The fund currently has significant investment exposure to privately issued residential and commercial mortgage-backed securities and mortgage-backed securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government or its agencies or instrumentalities, which may make the fund’s net asset value more susceptible to economic, market, political and other developments affecting the residential and commercial real estate markets and the servicing of mortgage loans secured by real estate properties. During periods of difficult economic conditions, delinquencies and losses on commercial mortgage-backed investments in particular generally increase, including as a result of the effects of those conditions on commercial real estate markets, the ability of commercial tenants to make loan payments, and the ability of a property to attract and retain commercial tenants.<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span></div> <div style="margin-top: 8pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Foreign investments risk: </span>The value of international investments traded in foreign currencies may be adversely impacted by fluctuations in exchange rates. International investments, particularly investments in emerging markets, may carry risks associated with potentially less stable economies or governments (such as the risk of seizure by a foreign government, the imposition of economic sanctions or currency or other restrictions, or high levels of inflation), and may be or become illiquid.<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span></div> <div style="margin-top: 8pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Derivatives risk: </span>The fund’s use of derivatives may increase the risks of investing in the fund by increasing investment exposure (which may be considered leverage) or, in the case of many over-the-counter instruments, because of the potential inability to terminate or sell derivative positions and the potential failure of the other party to the instrument to meet its obligations. The risk of a party failing to meet its obligations may increase if the fund has significant exposure to that counterparty. The value of derivatives may move in unexpected ways due to unanticipated market movements, the use of leverage, imperfect correlation between the derivative instrument and the reference asset, or other factors, especially in unusual market conditions, and volatility in the value of derivatives could adversely impact the fund’s returns, obligations and exposures. Derivatives are also subject to other risks, including liquidity risk (e.g., liquidity demands arising from the requirement to make payments to a derivative counterparty), operational risk (e.g., settlement issues or system failures) and legal risk (e.g., insufficient legal documentation or contract enforceability issues).<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span></div> <div style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Frequent trading risk: </span>The fund expects to engage in frequent trading. Funds with high turnover may incur higher transaction costs than funds with relatively lower turnover, which may detract from performance.<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span></div> <div style="margin-top: 8pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Large shareholder transaction risk: </span>The fund is subject to the risk that shareholders will purchase or redeem large quantities of shares of the fund. The fund may be an investment option for mutual funds that are managed by the Investment Manager and its affiliates as “funds of funds.” Additionally, other investors from time to time may make substantial investments in the fund. Such shareholders may at times be considered to control the fund. In addition, a large number of shareholders may collectively purchase or redeem fund shares in large amounts rapidly or unexpectedly. Large shareholder transactions may adversely affect the fund’s liquidity and net assets. These redemptions may also adversely affect the fund’s performance if the fund is forced to sell securities, which may also increase the fund’s brokerage costs.<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span></div> <div style="margin-top: 8pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Management and operational risk: </span>There is no guarantee that the investment techniques, analyses, or judgments that the Investment Manager applies in making investment decisions for the fund will produce the intended outcome or that the investments selected for the fund will perform as well as other securities that were not selected for the fund. The Investment Manager, or the fund’s other service providers, may experience disruptions or operating errors that could negatively impact the fund.<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span></div><div style="margin-top: 8pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The fund may not achieve its goal, and it is not intended to be a complete investment program. An investment in the fund is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.</div> An investment in the fund is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. Performance <div style="margin-top: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The accompanying bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the fund. The bar chart shows changes in the fund’s performance from year to year for Class IA shares. The table shows the average annual total returns of each class of the fund that has been in operation for at least one full calendar year and also compares the fund’s performance with the average annual total returns of a broad measure of market performance and an additional index with characteristics relevant to the fund. Performance for classes other than those shown may vary from the performance shown to the extent the expenses for those classes differ. The fund makes updated performance information, including its current net asset value per share, available at www.franklintempleton.com.</div><div style="margin-top: 8pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-style: italic;">The fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the fund will perform in the future. </span></div><div style="margin-top: 8pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">Insurance-related charges or expenses are not reflected in the performance information below, and if those charges were included, returns would be less than those shown.</div> The bar chart shows changes in the fund’s performance from year to year for Class IA shares. The table shows the average annual total returns of each class of the fund that has been in operation for at least one full calendar year and also compares the fund’s performance with the average annual total returns of a broad measure of market performance and an additional index with characteristics relevant to the fund. www.franklintempleton.com The fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the fund will perform in the future. Annual total returns for class IA shares <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: simhei; font-size: 8.5pt; width: 98%; border-spacing: 0px; margin-left: auto;"> <tr> <td style="width: 79%;"></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom; width: 1%;"></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom; width: 1%;"></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom; width: 1%;"></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> </tr> <tr style="font-size: 1pt;"> <td style="border-top: 0.75pt solid #999999; height: 1.5pt;"> </td> <td colspan="4" style="border-top: 0.75pt solid #999999; height: 1.5pt;"> </td> <td colspan="4" style="border-top: 0.75pt solid #999999; height: 1.5pt;"> </td> <td colspan="4" style="border-top: 0.75pt solid #999999; height: 1.5pt;"> </td> </tr> <tr style="page-break-inside: avoid; font-family: simhei; font-size: 8.5pt;"> <td style="padding-bottom: 2pt; vertical-align: top;"> <div style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 1.00em; text-indent: -1.00em; font-size: 8.5pt; font-family: arial;">Best Quarter:</div> </td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom;">  </td> <td style="padding-bottom: 2pt; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></td> <td style="padding-bottom: 2pt; vertical-align: top; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Q2 2020</span></td> <td style="padding-bottom: 2pt; white-space: nowrap; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom;">  </td> <td style="padding-bottom: 2pt; white-space: nowrap; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></td> <td style="padding-bottom: 2pt; white-space: nowrap; vertical-align: top; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: arial;">    </span></td> <td style="padding-bottom: 2pt; white-space: nowrap; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom;">  </td> <td style="padding-bottom: 2pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></td> <td style="padding-bottom: 2pt; vertical-align: bottom; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: arial;">6.80%</span></td> <td style="padding-bottom: 2pt; white-space: nowrap; vertical-align: bottom;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></td> </tr> <tr style="font-size: 1pt;"> <td style="border-top: 0.75pt solid #999999; height: 1.5pt;"> </td> <td colspan="4" style="border-top: 0.75pt solid #999999; height: 1.5pt;"> </td> <td colspan="4" style="border-top: 0.75pt solid #999999; height: 1.5pt;"> </td> <td colspan="4" style="border-top: 0.75pt solid #999999; height: 1.5pt;"> </td> </tr> <tr style="page-break-inside: avoid; font-family: simhei; font-size: 8.5pt;"> <td style="padding-bottom: 2pt; border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #999999; vertical-align: top;"> <div style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 1.00em; text-indent: -1.00em; font-size: 8.5pt; font-family: arial;">Worst Quarter:</div> </td> <td style="border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #999999; vertical-align: bottom;">  </td> <td style="padding-bottom: 2pt; border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #999999; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></td> <td style="padding-bottom: 2pt; border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #999999; vertical-align: top; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Q1 2020</span></td> <td style="padding-bottom: 2pt; border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #999999; white-space: nowrap; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></td> <td style="border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #999999; vertical-align: bottom;">  </td> <td style="border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #999999; vertical-align: top;"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #999999; vertical-align: top;"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #999999; vertical-align: top;"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #999999; vertical-align: bottom;">  </td> <td style="padding-bottom: 2pt; border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #999999; vertical-align: bottom;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></td> <td style="padding-bottom: 2pt; border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #999999; vertical-align: bottom; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: arial;">-12.79%</span></td> <td style="padding-bottom: 2pt; border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #999999; white-space: nowrap; vertical-align: bottom;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></td> </tr> </table> Best Quarter: 2020-06-30 0.0680 Worst Quarter: 2020-03-31 -0.1279 Average annual total returns (for periods ended 12/31/25) 0.0894 0.0208 0.0330 0.0858 0.0181 0.0303 0.0730 -0.0036 0.0201 <div style="margin-top: 8pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">Important data provider notices and terms are available at <span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 9pt; color: #388491;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">www.franklintempletondatasources.com</span></span><span style="font-family: arial;">. Such information is subject to change. </span></div> Fund summary Goal <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The fund seeks long-term capital appreciation.</div> Fees and expenses <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The following table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the fund. <span style="font-weight: bold;">You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below.</span> The fees and expenses information does not reflect insurance-related charges or expenses borne by contract holders indirectly investing in the fund. If it did, expenses would be higher.</div> Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) 0.0090 0 0.0055 0.0001 0.0146 -0.0036 0.0110 0.0090 0.0025 0.0055 0.0001 0.0171 -0.0036 0.0135 Total annual fund operating expenses do not correlate with the ratios of expenses to average net assets reported in the fund’s financial highlights, which reflect the fund’s operating expenses and do not include acquired fund fees and expenses. April 30, 2027 Example <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The following hypothetical example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The example</div> <div style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">does not reflect insurance-related charges or expenses. If it did, expenses would be higher. It assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem or hold all your shares at the end of those periods. It assumes a 5% return on your investment each year and that the fund’s operating expenses remain the same (except that any applicable fee waiver or expense reimbursement is reflected only through its expiration date). Your actual costs may be higher or lower.</div> 112 112 426 426 763 763 1715 1715 137 137 503 503 894 894 1989 1989 Portfolio turnover <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The fund pays transaction-related costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or the above example, affect fund performance. The fund’s turnover rate in the most recent fiscal year was 77%.</div> 0.77 Investments, risks, and performance Investments <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The fund invests mainly in common stocks (growth or value stocks or both) of emerging market companies of any size that the Investment Manager, as defined below, believes have favorable investment potential. For example, the fund may purchase stocks of companies with stock prices that reflect a value lower than that which the Investment Manager places on the company. The Investment manager may also consider other factors that it believes will cause the stock price to rise. Under normal circumstances, the fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in equity securities of emerging market companies. This policy may be changed only after 60 days’ notice to shareholders.</div> <div style="margin-top: 8pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">Emerging markets include countries in the MSCI Emerging Market Index or that the Investment Manager considers to be emerging markets based on its evaluation of their level of economic development or the size and nature of their securities markets. The Investment Manager may consider, among other factors, a company’s valuation, financial strength, growth potential, competitive position in its industry, projected future earnings, cash flows and dividends when deciding whether to buy or sell investments. The Investment Manager may also use derivatives, such as futures, options, certain foreign currency transactions, warrants and swap contracts, for both hedging and non-hedging purposes.</div> <div style="margin-top: 8pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The fund is “non-diversified,” which means it may invest a greater percentage of its assets in fewer issuers than a “diversified” fund. The fund expects to invest in a limited number of issuers.</div> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">It is important to understand that you can lose money by investing in the fund.</div> <div style="margin-top: 8pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Market risk:</span> The value of investments in the fund’s portfolio may fall or fail to rise over extended periods of time for a variety of reasons, including general economic, political or financial market conditions, investor sentiment and market perceptions, government actions, geopolitical events or changes, outbreaks of infectious illnesses or other widespread public health issues, and factors related to a specific issuer, asset class, geography, industry or sector. These and other factors may lead to increased volatility and reduced liquidity in the fund’s portfolio holdings, may negatively impact the fund’s performance, and may exacerbate other risks to which the fund is subject.</div> <div style="margin-top: 8pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Common stock risk:</span> Common stock represents an ownership interest in a company. The value of a company’s stock may fall or fail to rise as a result of factors directly relating to that company, such as decisions made by its management or lower demand for the company’s products or services. A stock’s value may also fall because of factors affecting not just the company, but also other companies in the same industry or in a number of different industries, such as increases in production costs. Growth stocks may be more susceptible to earnings disappointments, and value stocks may fail to rebound. These risks are generally greater for small and midsize companies.</div> <div style="margin-top: 8pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Geographic focus risk:</span> Investments focused in a single region may be affected by common economic forces and other factors. In addition, events in any one country within the region may impact the other countries or the region as a whole. From time to time, the fund may invest a significant portion of its assets in companies in one or more related industries or sectors, such as Asian or Pacific Basin countries, which would make the fund more vulnerable to adverse developments affecting those regions, industries or sectors.</div> <div style="margin-top: 8pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Foreign investments risk:</span> The value of international investments traded in foreign currencies may be adversely impacted by fluctuations in exchange rates. International investments, particularly investments in emerging markets, may carry risks associated with potentially less stable economies or governments (such as the risk of seizure by a foreign government, the imposition of economic sanctions or currency or other restrictions, or high levels of inflation), and may be or become illiquid.</div> <div style="margin-top: 8pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Non-diversified fund risk:</span> The fund’s “non-diversified” status, which means the fund may invest a greater percentage of its assets in fewer issuers than a “diversified” fund, can increase the fund’s vulnerability to adverse developments affecting a single industry, country or issuer, which may result in greater losses and volatility for the fund.</div> <div style="margin-top: 8pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Derivatives risk:</span> The fund’s use of derivatives may increase the risks of investing in the fund by increasing investment exposure (which may be considered leverage) or, in the case of many over-the-counter instruments, because of the potential inability to terminate or sell derivative positions and the potential failure of the other party to the instrument to meet its obligations.</div><div style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The risk of a party failing to meet its obligations may increase if the fund has significant exposure to that counterparty. The value of derivatives may move in unexpected ways due to unanticipated market movements, the use of leverage, imperfect correlation between the derivative instrument and the reference asset, or other factors, especially in unusual market conditions, and volatility in the value of derivatives could adversely impact the fund’s returns, obligations and exposures. Derivatives are also subject to other risks, including liquidity risk (e.g., liquidity demands arising from the requirement to make payments to a derivative counterparty), operational risk (e.g., settlement issues or system failures) and legal risk (e.g., insufficient legal documentation or contract enforceability issues).</div> <div style="margin-top: 8pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Large shareholder transaction risk:</span> The fund is subject to the risk that shareholders will purchase or redeem large quantities of shares of the fund. The fund may be an investment option for mutual funds that are managed by the Investment Manager and its affiliates as “funds of funds.” Additionally, other investors from time to time may make substantial investments in the fund. Such shareholders may at times be considered to control the fund. In addition, a large number of shareholders may collectively purchase or redeem fund shares in large amounts rapidly or unexpectedly. Large shareholder transactions may adversely affect the fund’s liquidity and net assets. These redemptions may also adversely affect the fund’s performance if the fund is forced to sell securities, which may also increase the fund’s brokerage costs.</div> <div style="margin-top: 8pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Management and operational risk:</span> There is no guarantee that the investment techniques, analyses, or judgments that the Investment Manager applies in making investment decisions for the fund will produce the intended outcome or that the investments selected for the fund will perform as well as other securities that were not selected for the fund. The Investment Manager, or the fund’s other service providers, may experience disruptions or operating errors that could negatively impact the fund.</div> An investment in the fund is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. Performance <div style="margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The accompanying bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the fund. The bar chart shows changes in the fund’s performance from year to year for Class IA shares. The table shows the average annual total returns of each class of the fund that has been in operation for at least one full calendar year and also compares the fund’s performance with the average annual total returns of a broad measure of market performance, an additional index with characteristics relevant to the fund and the Putnam VT Emerging Markets Equity Linked Benchmark, which represents the performance of the MSCI EAFE Growth Index-NR through April 29, 2020, and the performance of the MSCI Emerging Markets Index-NR thereafter. Before April 30, 2020, the fund was managed with a different investment strategy and</div> <div style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">may have achieved different performance results under its current investment strategy from that shown for periods before this date. Performance for classes other than those shown may vary from the performance shown to the extent the expenses for those classes differ. The fund makes updated performance information, including its current net asset value per share, available at www.franklintempleton.com.</div> <div style="margin-top: 8pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-style: italic;">The fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the fund will perform in the future. </span></div> <div style="margin-top: 8pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">Insurance-related charges or expenses are not reflected in the performance information below, and if those charges were included, returns would be less than those shown.</div> The bar chart shows changes in the fund’s performance from year to year for Class IA shares. The table shows the average annual total returns of each class of the fund that has been in operation for at least one full calendar year and also compares the fund’s performance with the average annual total returns of a broad measure of market performance, an additional index with characteristics relevant to the fund and the Putnam VT Emerging Markets Equity Linked Benchmark, which represents the performance of the MSCI EAFE Growth Index-NR through April 29, 2020, and the performance of the MSCI Emerging Markets Index-NR thereafter. www.franklintempleton.com The fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the fund will perform in the future. Annual total returns for class IA shares <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: simhei; font-size: 8.5pt; width: 98%; border-spacing: 0px; margin-left: auto;"> <tr> <td style="width: 79%;"></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom; width: 1%;"></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom; width: 1%;"></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom; width: 1%;"></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> </tr> <tr style="font-size: 1pt;"> <td style="border-top: 0.75pt solid #999999; height: 1.5pt;"> </td> <td colspan="4" style="border-top: 0.75pt solid #999999; height: 1.5pt;"> </td> <td colspan="4" style="border-top: 0.75pt solid #999999; height: 1.5pt;"> </td> <td colspan="4" style="border-top: 0.75pt solid #999999; height: 1.5pt;"> </td> </tr> <tr style="page-break-inside: avoid; font-family: simhei; font-size: 8.5pt;"> <td style="padding-bottom: 2pt; vertical-align: top;"> <div style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 1.00em; text-indent: -1.00em; font-size: 8.5pt; font-family: arial;">Best Quarter:</div> </td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom;">  </td> <td style="padding-bottom: 2pt; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></td> <td style="padding-bottom: 2pt; vertical-align: top; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Q2 2020</span></td> <td style="padding-bottom: 2pt; white-space: nowrap; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom;">  </td> <td style="padding-bottom: 2pt; white-space: nowrap; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></td> <td style="padding-bottom: 2pt; white-space: nowrap; vertical-align: top; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: arial;">    </span></td> <td style="padding-bottom: 2pt; white-space: nowrap; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom;">  </td> <td style="padding-bottom: 2pt; vertical-align: bottom;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></td> <td style="padding-bottom: 2pt; vertical-align: bottom; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: arial;">21.39%</span></td> <td style="padding-bottom: 2pt; white-space: nowrap; vertical-align: bottom;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></td> </tr> <tr style="font-size: 1pt;"> <td style="border-top: 0.75pt solid #999999; height: 1.5pt;"> </td> <td colspan="4" style="border-top: 0.75pt solid #999999; height: 1.5pt;"> </td> <td colspan="4" style="border-top: 0.75pt solid #999999; height: 1.5pt;"> </td> <td colspan="4" style="border-top: 0.75pt solid #999999; height: 1.5pt;"> </td> </tr> <tr style="page-break-inside: avoid; font-family: simhei; font-size: 8.5pt;"> <td style="padding-bottom: 2pt; border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #999999; vertical-align: top;"> <div style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 1.00em; text-indent: -1.00em; font-size: 8.5pt; font-family: arial;">Worst Quarter:</div> </td> <td style="border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #999999; vertical-align: bottom;">  </td> <td style="padding-bottom: 2pt; border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #999999; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></td> <td style="padding-bottom: 2pt; border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #999999; vertical-align: top; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Q1 2020</span></td> <td style="padding-bottom: 2pt; border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #999999; white-space: nowrap; vertical-align: top;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></td> <td style="border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #999999; vertical-align: bottom;">  </td> <td style="border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #999999; vertical-align: top;"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #999999; vertical-align: top;"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #999999; vertical-align: top;"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #999999; vertical-align: bottom;">  </td> <td style="padding-bottom: 2pt; border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #999999; vertical-align: bottom;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></td> <td style="padding-bottom: 2pt; border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #999999; vertical-align: bottom; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: arial;">-21.47%</span></td> <td style="padding-bottom: 2pt; border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #999999; white-space: nowrap; vertical-align: bottom;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></td> </tr> </table> Best Quarter: 2020-06-30 0.2139 Worst Quarter: 2020-03-31 -0.2147 Average annual total returns (for periods ended 12/31/25) 0.3449 0.0402 0.0729 0.3416 0.0375 0.0701 0.3239 0.0791 0.0841 0.3357 0.0420 0.0842 0.3357 0.0420 0.0801 <div style="margin-top: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">Important data provider notices and terms are available at <span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 9pt; color: #388491;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">www.franklintempletondatasources.com</span></span><span style="font-family: arial;">. Such information is subject to change. </span></div> Fund summary Goal <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The fund seeks capital appreciation.</div> Fees and expenses <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The following table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the fund. <span style="font-weight: bold;">You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below.</span> The fees and expenses information does not reflect insurance-related charges or expenses borne by contract holders indirectly investing in the fund. If it did, expenses would be higher.</div> Annual Fund Operating Expenses(expenses you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) 0.0067 0 0.0016 0.0083 -0.0005 0.0078 0.0067 0.0025 0.0016 0.0108 -0.0005 0.0103 April 30, 2027 Example <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The following hypothetical example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The example does not reflect insurance-related charges or expenses. If it did, expenses would be higher. It assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem or hold all your shares at the end of those periods. It assumes a 5% return on your investment each year and that the fund’s operating expenses remain the same (except that any applicable fee waiver or expense reimbursement is reflected only through its expiration date). Your actual costs may be higher or lower.</div> 80 80 260 260 456 456 1021 1021 105 105 338 338 590 590 1313 1313 Portfolio turnover <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The fund pays transaction-related costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher turnover rate may</div> <div style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">indicate higher transaction costs. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or the above example, affect fund performance. The fund’s turnover rate in the most recent fiscal year was 35%.</div> 0.35 Investments, risks, and performance Investments <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The fund invests mainly in common stocks (growth or value stocks or both) of companies of any size outside the United States that the Investment Manager, as defined below, believes have favorable investment potential. The Investment Manager considers a company to be located outside the United States if the company’s securities trade outside the United States, the company is headquartered or organized outside the United States or the company derives a majority of its revenues or profits outside the United States. Under normal circumstances, the fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in equity investments. This policy may be changed only after 60 days’ notice to shareholders. The fund’s equity investments may include common stocks, preferred stocks, convertible securities, warrants, American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”) and Global Depositary Receipts (“GDRs”). The fund invests in both developed countries and in emerging markets.</div> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The Investment Manager may consider, among other factors, a company’s valuation, financial strength, growth potential, competitive position in its industry, projected future earnings, cash flows and dividends when deciding whether to buy or sell investments. The Investment Manager may also consider other factors that it believes will cause the stock price to rise. The fund may also use derivatives, such as futures, options, warrants and swap contracts, including credit default swaps and credit default swap indexes, for both hedging and non‑hedging purposes. The fund expects from time to time to invest in credit default swaps and/or credit default swap indexes to hedge against equity market risk.</div> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The fund is “non‑diversified,” which means it may invest a greater percentage of its assets in fewer issuers than a “diversified” fund. The fund expects to invest in a limited number of issuers.</div> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">It is important to understand that you can lose money by investing in the fund.</div> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Market risk: </span>The value of investments in the fund’s portfolio may fall or fail to rise over extended periods of time for a variety of reasons, including general economic, political or financial market conditions, investor sentiment and market perceptions, government actions, geopolitical events or changes, outbreaks of infectious illnesses or other widespread public health issues, and factors related to a specific issuer, asset class, geography, industry or sector. These and other factors may lead to increased volatility and reduced liquidity in the fund’s portfolio holdings, may negatively impact the fund’s performance, and may exacerbate other risks to which the fund is subject. The fund will be</div><div style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">more susceptible to these risks than other funds because it invests in a limited number of issuers, industries or sectors, and the fund may perform poorly as a result of adverse developments affecting those issuers, industries or sectors.</div> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Foreign investments risk: </span>The value of international investments traded in foreign currencies may be adversely impacted by fluctuations in exchange rates. International investments, particularly investments in emerging markets, may carry risks associated with potentially less stable economies or governments (such as the risk of seizure by a foreign government, the imposition of economic sanctions or currency or other restrictions, or high levels of inflation), and may be or become illiquid.</div> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Geographic focus risk: </span>Investments focused in a single region may be affected by common economic forces and other factors. In addition, events in any one country within the region may impact the other countries or the region as a whole. Because the fund currently invests, and may in the future invest, significantly in European and Asian companies, the fund is particularly susceptible to economic, political, regulatory and other events or conditions affecting issuers in Europe and Asia. European financial markets have in recent years experienced increased volatility due to concerns with some countries’ high levels of sovereign debt, budget deficits, and unemployment. Asia includes countries in various stages of economic development, from emerging market economies to the highly developed economy of Japan. Some parts of Asia may be subject to a greater degree of economic, political and social instability than is the case in the United States.</div> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Common stock risk: </span>Common stock represents an ownership interest in a company. The value of a company’s stock may fall or fail to rise as a result of factors directly relating to that company, such as decisions made by its management or lower demand for the company’s products or services. A stock’s value may also fall because of factors affecting not just the company, but also other companies in the same industry or in a number of different industries, such as increases in production costs.</div> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Non‑diversified fund risk:</span> The fund’s “non‑diversified” status, which means the fund may invest a greater percentage of its assets in fewer issuers than a “diversified” fund, can increase the fund’s vulnerability to adverse developments affecting a single industry, country or issuer, which may result in greater losses and volatility for the fund.</div> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Derivatives risk: </span>The fund’s use of derivatives, including credit default swaps and credit default swap indexes, may increase the risks of investing in the fund by increasing investment exposure (which may be considered leverage) or, in the case of many over‑the‑counter instruments, because of the potential inability to terminate or sell derivative positions and the potential failure of the other party to the instrument to meet its obligations. The risk of a party failing to meet its obligations may increase if the fund has significant exposure to that counterparty. The value of derivatives may move in unexpected ways due to unanticipated market movements, the use of leverage, imperfect correlation between the derivative instrument and the reference asset, or other factors,</div><div style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">especially in unusual market conditions, and volatility in the value of derivatives could adversely impact the fund’s returns, obligations and exposures. Derivatives are also subject to other risks, including liquidity risk (e.g., liquidity demands arising from the requirement to make payments to a derivative counterparty), operational risk (e.g., settlement issues or system failures) and legal risk (e.g., insufficient legal documentation or contract enforceability issues).</div><div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">Investments in credit default swaps or credit default swap indexes are subject to special risks, including the risk that the investment may expire worthless and only generate income in the event of an actual default by the issuer(s) of the underlying obligation(s) (or, as applicable, a credit downgrade or other indication of financial instability) and the risk that the counterparty may fail to satisfy its payment obligations to the fund in the event of a default.</div> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Large shareholder transaction risk: </span>The<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span>fund is subject to the risk that shareholders will purchase or redeem large quantities of shares of the fund. The fund may be an investment option for mutual funds that are managed by the Investment Manager and its affiliates as “funds of funds.” Additionally, other investors from time to time may make substantial investments in the fund. Such shareholders may at times be considered to control the fund. In addition, a large number of shareholders may collectively purchase or redeem fund shares in large amounts rapidly or unexpectedly. Large shareholder transactions may adversely affect the fund’s liquidity and net assets. These redemptions may also adversely affect the fund’s performance if the fund is forced to sell securities, which may also increase the fund’s brokerage costs.</div> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Management and operational risk: </span>There is no guarantee that the investment techniques, analyses, or judgments that the Investment Manager applies in making investment decisions for the fund will produce the intended outcome or that the investments selected for the fund will perform as well as other securities that were not selected for the fund. The Investment Manager, or the fund’s other service providers, may experience disruptions or operating errors that could negatively impact the fund.</div> An investment in the fund is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. Performance <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The accompanying bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the fund. The bar chart shows changes in the fund’s performance from year to year for Class IA shares. The table shows the average annual total returns of each class of the fund that has been in operation for at least one full calendar year and also compares the fund’s performance with the average annual total returns of a broad measure of market performance and the Putnam VT Focused International Equity Linked Benchmark, which represents the performance of the MSCI World Index‑NR through April 29, 2021, and the performance of the MSCI ACWI ex USA Index‑NR thereafter.</div> <div style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">Before April 30, 2021, the fund was managed with a materially different investment strategy and may have achieved materially different performance results under its current investment strategy from that shown for the periods before this date. Performance for classes other than those shown may vary from the performance shown to the extent the expenses for those classes differ. The fund makes updated performance information, including its current net asset value per share, available at www.franklintempleton.com.</div> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0%; text-indent: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-style: italic;">The fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the fund will perform in the future. </span></div> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">Insurance-related charges or expenses are not reflected in the performance information below, and if those charges were included, returns would be less than those shown.</div> The bar chart shows changes in the fund’s performance from year to year for Class IA shares. The table shows the average annual total returns of each class of the fund that has been in operation for at least one full calendar year and also compares the fund’s performance with the average annual total returns of a broad measure of market performance and the Putnam VT Focused International Equity Linked Benchmark, which represents the performance of the MSCI World Index‑NR through April 29, 2021, and the performance of the MSCI ACWI ex USA Index‑NR thereafter. www.franklintempleton.com The fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the fund will perform in the future. Annual total returns for class IA shares <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: simhei; font-size: 1pt; width: 98%; border-spacing: 0px; margin-left: auto;"> <tr> <td style="width: 58%;"></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom;"></td> <td style="width: 19%;"></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom; width: 1%;"></td> <td style="width: 19%;"></td> </tr> <tr style="page-break-inside: avoid; font-family: simhei; font-size: 1pt; background-color: #cccccc;"> <td style="vertical-align: top;"></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom;">  </td> <td style="vertical-align: top;"></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom;">  </td> <td style="vertical-align: top;"></td> </tr> <tr style="page-break-inside: avoid; font-family: simhei; font-size: 10pt;"> <td style="vertical-align: top;"> <div style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 1.00em; text-indent: -1.00em; font-size: 10pt; font-family: arial;">Best Quarter:</div> </td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom;">  </td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Q2 2020</span></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom;">  </td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: arial;">22.73%</span></td> </tr> <tr style="page-break-inside: avoid; font-family: simhei; font-size: 1pt; background-color: #cccccc;"> <td style="vertical-align: top;"></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom;">  </td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom;"></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom;">  </td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom;"></td> </tr> <tr style="page-break-inside: avoid; font-family: simhei; font-size: 10pt;"> <td style="vertical-align: top;"> <div style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 1.00em; text-indent: -1.00em; font-size: 10pt; font-family: arial;">Worst Quarter:</div> </td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom;">  </td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Q1 2020</span></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom;">  </td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: arial;">-24.51%</span></td> </tr> <tr style="page-break-inside: avoid; font-family: simhei; font-size: 1pt; background-color: #cccccc;"> <td style="vertical-align: top;"></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom;">  </td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom;"></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom;">  </td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom;"></td> </tr> </table> Best Quarter: 2020-06-30 0.2273 Worst Quarter: 2020-03-31 -0.2451 Average annual total returns (for periods ended 12/31/25) 0.3675 0.0941 0.0966 0.3644 0.0913 0.0938 0.3239 0.0791 0.0841 0.3239 0.0851 0.1033 <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">Important data provider notices and terms are available at <span style="text-decoration: underline;">www.franklintempletondatasources.com</span>. Such information is subject to change.</div> Fund summary Goal <div style="margin-top:6pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The fund seeks to provide a balanced investment composed of a well-diversified portfolio of stocks and bonds which produce both capital growth and current income. </div> Fees and expenses <div style="margin-top:6pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The following table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the fund. <span style="font-weight:bold">You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below</span>. The fees and expenses information does not reflect insurance-related charges or expenses borne by contract holders indirectly investing in the fund. If it did, expenses would be higher. </div> Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) 0.0050 0 0.0013 0.0063 0.0050 0.0025 0.0013 0.0088 Example <div style="margin-top:6pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The following hypothetical example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The example does not reflect insurance-related charges or expenses. If it did, expenses would be higher. It assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem or hold all your shares at the end of those periods. It assumes a 5% return on your investment each year and that the fund’s operating expenses remain the same (except that any applicable fee waiver or expense reimbursement is reflected only through its expiration date). Your actual costs may be higher or lower. </div> 64 64 201 201 350 350 786 786 90 90 281 281 488 488 1084 1084 Portfolio turnover <div style="margin-top:6pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The fund pays transaction-related costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs. These costs, which are not reflected in </div><div style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"> annual fund operating expenses or the above example, affect fund performance. The fund’s turnover rate in the most recent fiscal year was 107%. </div> 1.07 Investments, risks, and performance Investments <div style="margin-top:6pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The fund invests mainly in a combination of bonds and common stocks (growth or value stocks or both) of large U.S. companies, with a greater focus on common stocks. For example, the fund may purchase stocks of companies with stock prices that reflect a value lower than that which the Investment Manager, as defined below, places on the company. The Investment Manager may also consider other factors that it believes will cause the stock price to rise. The fund buys bonds of governments and private companies that are mostly investment-grade in quality with intermediate- to long-term maturities (three years or longer). The Investment Manager may consider, among other factors, a company’s valuation, financial strength, growth potential, competitive position in its industry, projected future earnings, cash flows and dividends when deciding whether to buy or sell equity investments, and, among other factors, credit, interest rate and prepayment risks, as well as general market conditions, when deciding whether to buy or sell fixed-income investments. The fund may also use derivatives, such as futures, options, warrants and swap contracts, for both hedging and non-hedging purposes. </div> <div style="margin-top:6pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">It is important to understand that you can lose money by investing in the fund. </div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Market risk: </span>The value of investments in the fund’s portfolio may fall or fail to rise over extended periods of time for a variety of reasons, including general economic, political or financial market conditions, investor sentiment and market perceptions, government actions, geopolitical events or changes, outbreaks of infectious illnesses or other widespread public health issues, and factors related to a specific issuer, asset class, geography, industry or sector. These and other factors may lead to increased volatility and reduced liquidity in the fund’s portfolio holdings, may negatively impact the fund’s performance, and may exacerbate other risks to which the fund is subject. Growth stocks may be more susceptible to earnings disappointments, and value stocks may fail to rebound.<span style="font-weight:bold"> </span></div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Fixed income investments risk: </span>The risks associated with fixed income investments include interest rate risk, which is the risk that the value of the fund’s investments is likely to fall if interest rates rise. Fixed income investments are also subject to credit risk, which is the risk that issuers of the fund’s investments may default on payment of interest or principal. Fixed income investments may be more susceptible to downgrades or defaults during economic downturns or other periods of economic stress. Interest rate risk is generally greater for longer-term fixed income securities, and credit risk is generally greater for below-investment-grade fixed income securities (sometimes referred to as “junk bonds”), which can be more sensitive to<span style="font-weight:bold"> </span></div><div style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold"></span>changes in markets, credit conditions, and interest rates, and may be considered speculative.<span style="font-weight:bold"> </span></div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold"></span><span style="font-weight:bold">Derivatives risk: </span>The fund’s use of derivatives may increase the risks of investing in the fund by increasing investment exposure (which may be considered leverage) or, in the case of many over-the-counter instruments, because of the potential inability to terminate or sell derivative positions and the potential failure of the other party to the instrument to meet its obligations. The risk of a party failing to meet its obligations may increase if the fund has significant exposure to that counterparty. The value of derivatives may move in unexpected ways due to unanticipated market movements, the use of leverage, imperfect correlation between the derivative instrument and the reference asset, or other factors, especially in unusual market conditions, and volatility in the value of derivatives could adversely impact the fund’s returns, obligations and exposures. Derivatives are also subject to other risks, including liquidity risk (e.g., liquidity demands arising from the requirement to make payments to a derivative counterparty), operational risk (e.g., settlement issues or system failures) and legal risk (e.g., insufficient legal documentation or contract enforceability issues).<span style="font-weight:bold"> </span></div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Large shareholder transaction risk: </span>The fund is subject to the risk that shareholders will purchase or redeem large quantities of shares of the fund. The fund may be an investment option for mutual funds that are managed by the Investment Manager and its affiliates as “funds of funds.” Additionally, other investors from time to time may make substantial investments in the fund. Such shareholders may at times be considered to control the fund. <span style="font-weight:bold"></span>In addition, a large number of shareholders may collectively purchase or redeem fund shares in large amounts rapidly or unexpectedly. Large shareholder transactions may adversely affect the fund’s liquidity and net assets. These redemptions may also adversely affect the fund’s performance if the fund is forced to sell securities, which may also increase the fund’s brokerage costs.<span style="font-weight:bold"> </span></div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Management and operational risk: </span>There is no guarantee that the investment techniques, analyses, or judgments that the Investment Manager applies in making investment decisions for the fund will produce the intended outcome or that the investments selected for the fund will perform as well as other securities that were not selected for the fund. The Investment Manager, or the fund’s other service providers, may experience disruptions or operating errors that could negatively impact the fund.<span style="font-weight:bold"> </span></div> An investment in the fund is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. Performance <div style="margin-top:10pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The accompanying bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the fund. The bar chart shows changes in the fund’s performance from year to year for Class IA shares. The table shows the average annual total returns of each class of the fund that has been in operation for at least </div><div style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">one full calendar year and also compares the fund’s performance with the average annual total returns of a broad measure of market performance, an additional index with characteristics relevant to the fund and the George Putnam Blended Index, which is comprised of 60% S&amp;P 500 Index and 40% of Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index. Performance for classes other than those shown may vary from the performance shown to the extent the expenses for those classes differ. The fund makes updated performance information, including its current net asset value per share, available at www.franklintempleton.com. </div><div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-style:italic">The fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the fund will perform in the future. </span></div><div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">Insurance-related charges or expenses are not reflected in the performance information below, and if those charges were included, returns would be less than those shown. </div> The bar chart shows changes in the fund’s performance from year to year for Class IA shares. The table shows the average annual total returns of each class of the fund that has been in operation for at leastone full calendar year and also compares the fund’s performance with the average annual total returns of a broad measure of market performance, an additional index with characteristics relevant to the fund and the George Putnam Blended Index, which is comprised of 60% S&P 500 Index and 40% of Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index. www.franklintempleton.com The fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the fund will perform in the future. Annual total returns for class IA shares <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse:collapse;font-family:simhei;font-size:8.5pt;width:98%;border-spacing:0px;margin-left:auto"> <tr> <td style="width:79%;"></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;width:1%;"></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;width:1%;"></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;width:1%;"></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> </tr> <tr style="font-size:1pt"> <td style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #999999;height:1.5pt;"> </td> <td colspan="4" style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #999999;height:1.5pt;"> </td> <td colspan="4" style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #999999;height:1.5pt;"> </td> <td colspan="4" style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #999999;height:1.5pt;"> </td> </tr> <tr style="page-break-inside:avoid;font-family:simhei;font-size:8.5pt"> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;vertical-align:top;"> <div style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:1.00em;text-indent:-1.00em;font-size:8.5pt;font-family:arial;">Best Quarter:</div> </td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;vertical-align:top;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;"><span style="font-family:arial">Q2 2020</span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:top;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:top;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;"><span style="font-family:arial">    </span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:top;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;vertical-align:bottom;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;vertical-align:bottom;text-align:right;"><span style="font-family:arial">14.44%</span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:bottom;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> </tr> <tr style="font-size:1pt"> <td style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #999999;height:1.5pt;"> </td> <td colspan="4" style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #999999;height:1.5pt;"> </td> <td colspan="4" style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #999999;height:1.5pt;"> </td> <td colspan="4" style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #999999;height:1.5pt;"> </td> </tr> <tr style="page-break-inside:avoid;font-family:simhei;font-size:8.5pt"> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:top;"> <div style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:1.00em;text-indent:-1.00em;font-size:8.5pt;font-family:arial;">Worst Quarter:</div> </td> <td style=" BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:top;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;"><span style="font-family:arial">Q1 2020</span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:top;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style=" BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:top;"> </td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:top;"> </td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:top;"> </td> <td style=" BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:bottom;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:bottom;text-align:right;"><span style="font-family:arial">-11.64%</span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:bottom;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> </tr> </table> Best Quarter: 2020-06-30 0.1444 Worst Quarter: 2020-03-31 -0.1164 Average annual total returns (for periods ended 12/31/25) 0.1431 0.0911 0.1044 0.1395 0.0885 0.1017 0.1715 0.1315 0.1429 0.0730 -0.0036 0.0201 0.1402 0.0864 0.0998 <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">Important data provider notices and terms are available at <span style="font-family:arial;font-size:9pt;color:#388491"><span style="text-decoration:underline">www.franklintempletondatasources.com</span></span><span style="font-family:arial">. Such information is subject to change. </span></div> Fund summary Goal <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The fund seeks long-term return consistent with preservation of capital. </div> Fees and expenses <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The following table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the fund. <span style="font-weight:bold">You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below</span>. The fees and expenses information does not reflect insurance-related charges or expenses borne by contract holders indirectly investing in the fund. If it did, expenses would be higher. </div> Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) 0.0057 0 0.0029 0.0086 -0.0002 0.0084 0.0057 0.0025 0.0029 0.0111 -0.0002 0.0109 April 30, 2027 Example <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The following hypothetical example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The example does not reflect insurance-related charges or expenses. If it did, expenses would be higher. It assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem or hold all your shares at the end of those periods. It assumes a 5% return on your investment each year and that the fund’s operating expenses remain the same (except that any applicable fee waiver or expense reimbursement is reflected only through its expiration date). Your actual costs may be higher or lower. </div> 86 86 272 272 474 474 1058 1058 111 111 351 351 610 610 1351 1351 Portfolio turnover <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The fund pays transaction-related costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or the above example, affect fund performance. The fund’s turnover rate in the most recent fiscal year was 167%. </div> 1.67 Investments, risks, and performance Investments <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The fund invests a majority of its assets in a diversified portfolio of equity securities (growth or value stocks or both) of both U.S. and foreign companies of any size. The Investment Manager, as defined below, may consider, among other factors, a company’s valuation, financial strength, growth potential, competitive position in its industry, projected future earnings, cash flows and dividends when deciding whether to buy or sell equity investments. The fund may also invest in a diversified portfolio of fixed-income investments, including both U.S. and foreign government obligations, corporate obligations and securitized debt instruments (such as mortgage-backed investments). The Investment Manager may consider, among other factors, credit, interest rate and prepayment risks, as well as general market conditions, when deciding whether to buy or sell fixed income investments. The Investment Manager may also select other investments that do not fall within these asset classes. The Investment Manager may also use to a significant extent derivatives, such as futures, options, certain foreign currency transactions, warrants and swap contracts, for both hedging and non-hedging purposes. </div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">It is important to understand that you can lose money by investing in the fund. </div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Market risk:</span> The value of investments in the fund’s portfolio may fall or fail to rise over extended periods of time for a variety of reasons, including general economic, political or financial market conditions, investor sentiment and market perceptions, government actions, geopolitical events or changes, outbreaks of infectious illnesses or other widespread public health issues, and </div><div style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"> factors related to a specific issuer, asset class, geography, industry or sector. These and other factors may lead to increased volatility and reduced liquidity in the fund’s portfolio holdings, may negatively impact the fund’s performance, and may exacerbate other risks to which the fund is subject. </div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Common stock risk:</span> Common stock represents an ownership interest in a company. The value of a company’s stock may fall or fail to rise as a result of factors directly relating to that company, such as decisions made by its management or lower demand for the company’s products or services. A stock’s value may also fall because of factors affecting not just the company, but also other companies in the same industry or in a number of different industries, such as increases in production costs. Growth stocks may be more susceptible to earnings disappointments, and value stocks may fail to rebound. These risks are generally greater for small and midsize companies. </div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Fixed income investments risk:</span> The risks associated with fixed income investments include interest rate risk, which is the risk that the value of the fund’s investments is likely to fall if interest rates rise. Fixed income investments are also subject to credit risk, which is the risk that issuers of the fund’s investments may default on payment of interest or principal. Fixed income investments may be more susceptible to downgrades or defaults during economic downturns or other periods of economic stress. Interest rate risk is generally greater for longer-term fixed income securities, and credit risk is generally greater for below-investment-grade fixed income securities (sometimes referred to as “junk bonds”), which can be more sensitive to changes in markets, credit conditions, and interest rates, and may be considered speculative. Mortgage- and asset-backed investments, unlike traditional debt investments, are also subject to prepayment risk, which means that they may increase in value less than other bonds when interest rates decline and decline in value more than other bonds when interest rates rise. The fund may have to invest the proceeds from prepaid investments, including mortgage- and asset-backed investments, in other investments with less attractive terms and yields. The fund’s investments in mortgage- and asset-backed securities, and in certain other securities and derivatives, may be or become illiquid. </div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Foreign investments risk:</span> The value of international investments traded in foreign currencies may be adversely impacted by fluctuations in exchange rates. International investments, particularly investments in emerging markets, may carry risks associated with potentially less stable economies or governments (such as the risk of seizure by a foreign government, the imposition of economic sanctions or currency or other restrictions, or high levels of inflation), and may be or become illiquid. </div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold"></span><span style="font-weight:bold">Derivatives risk:</span> The fund’s use of derivatives may increase the risks of investing in the fund by increasing investment exposure (which may be considered leverage) or, in the case of many over-the-counter instruments, because of the potential inability to terminate or sell derivative positions and the potential failure of the other party to the instrument to meet its obligations. The risk of a party failing to meet its obligations may increase if the fund has </div><div style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">significant exposure to that counterparty. The value of derivatives may move in unexpected ways due to unanticipated market movements, the use of leverage, imperfect correlation between the derivative instrument and the reference asset, or other factors, especially in unusual market conditions, and volatility in the value of derivatives could adversely impact the fund’s returns, obligations and exposures. Derivatives are also subject to other risks, including liquidity risk (e.g., liquidity demands arising from the requirement to make payments to a derivative counterparty), operational risk (e.g., settlement issues or system failures) and legal risk (e.g., insufficient legal documentation or contract enforceability issues). </div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Large shareholder transaction risk:</span> The fund is subject to the risk that shareholders will purchase or redeem large quantities of shares of the fund. The fund may be an investment option for mutual funds that are managed by the Investment Manager and its affiliates as “funds of funds.” Additionally, other investors from time to time may make substantial investments in the fund. Such shareholders may at times be considered to control the fund. In addition, a large number of shareholders may collectively purchase or redeem fund shares in large amounts rapidly or unexpectedly. Large shareholder transactions may adversely affect the fund’s liquidity and net assets. These redemptions may also adversely affect the fund’s performance if the fund is forced to sell securities, which may also increase the fund’s brokerage costs. </div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Management and operational risk:</span> There is no guarantee that the investment techniques, analyses, or judgments that the Investment Manager applies in making investment decisions for the fund will produce the intended outcome or that the investments selected for the fund will perform as well as other securities that were not selected for the fund. The Investment Manager, or the fund’s other service providers, may experience disruptions or operating errors that could negatively impact the fund. </div> An investment in the fund is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. Performance <div style="margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The accompanying bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the fund. The bar chart shows changes in the fund’s performance from year to year for Class IA shares. The table shows the average annual total returns of each class of the fund that has been in operation for at least one full calendar year and also compares the fund’s performance with the average annual total returns of a broad measure of market performance. Prior to February 1, 2026, the fund also compared its performance to the Putnam Balanced Blended Benchmark, which was comprised of 50% Russell 3000<sup style="font-size:75%;vertical-align:top">®</sup> Index, 35% Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Index, 10% MSCI EAFE Index-NR and 5% JPMorgan Developed High Yield Index. Effective February 1, 2026, the Putnam Balanced Blended Benchmark was replaced by the Putnam VT Balanced Blended Benchmark which, through January 31, 2026, had the same </div><div style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"> composition as the Putnam Balanced Blended Benchmark and thereafter, is comprised of 48% Russell 3000<sup style="font-size:75%;vertical-align:top">®</sup> Index, 38% Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index, 12% MSCI All Country World Ex-U.S. Index-NR and 2% Bloomberg U.S. Corporate High Yield Index. Performance for classes other than those shown may vary from the performance shown to the extent the expenses for those classes differ. The fund makes updated performance information, including its current net asset value per share, available at www.franklintempleton.com. </div><div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-style:italic">The fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the fund will perform in the future. </span></div><div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">Insurance-related charges or expenses are not reflected in the performance information below, and if those charges were included, returns would be less than those shown. </div> The bar chart shows changes in the fund’s performance from year to year for Class IA shares. The table shows the average annual total returns of each class of the fund that has been in operation for at least one full calendar year and also compares the fund’s performance with the average annual total returns of a broad measure of market performance. www.franklintempleton.com The fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the fund will perform in the future. Annual total returns for class IA shares <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse:collapse;font-family:simhei;font-size:8.5pt;width:98%;border-spacing:0px;margin-left:auto"> <tr> <td style="width:79%;"></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;width:1%;"></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;width:1%;"></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;width:1%;"></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> </tr> <tr style="font-size:1pt"> <td style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #999999;height:1.5pt;"> </td> <td colspan="4" style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #999999;height:1.5pt;"> </td> <td colspan="4" style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #999999;height:1.5pt;"> </td> <td colspan="4" style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #999999;height:1.5pt;"> </td> </tr> <tr style="page-break-inside:avoid;font-family:simhei;font-size:8.5pt"> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;vertical-align:top;"> <div style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:1.00em;text-indent:-1.00em;font-size:8.5pt;font-family:arial;">Best Quarter:</div> </td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;vertical-align:top;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;"><span style="font-family:arial">Q2 2020</span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:top;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:top;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;"><span style="font-family:arial">    </span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:top;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;vertical-align:bottom;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;vertical-align:bottom;text-align:right;"><span style="font-family:arial">12.90%</span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:bottom;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> </tr> <tr style="font-size:1pt"> <td style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #999999;height:1.5pt;"> </td> <td colspan="4" style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #999999;height:1.5pt;"> </td> <td colspan="4" style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #999999;height:1.5pt;"> </td> <td colspan="4" style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #999999;height:1.5pt;"> </td> </tr> <tr style="page-break-inside:avoid;font-family:simhei;font-size:8.5pt"> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:top;"> <div style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:1.00em;text-indent:-1.00em;font-size:8.5pt;font-family:arial;">Worst Quarter:</div> </td> <td style=" BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:top;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;"><span style="font-family:arial">Q1 2020</span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:top;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style=" BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:top;"> </td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:top;"> </td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:top;"> </td> <td style=" BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:bottom;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:bottom;text-align:right;"><span style="font-family:arial">-12.77%</span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:bottom;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> </tr> </table> Best Quarter: 2020-06-30 0.1290 Worst Quarter: 2020-03-31 -0.1277 Average annual total returns (for periods ended 12/31/25) 0.1469 0.0867 0.0871 0.1438 0.0839 0.0843 0.1715 0.1315 0.1429 0.1467 0.0763 0.0914 0.1467 0.0763 0.0914 Effective February 1, 2026, the Putnam VT Balanced Blended Benchmark replaced the Putnam Balanced Blended Benchmark as the fund’s benchmark. The Investment Manager believes that the Putnam VT Balanced Blended Benchmark better reflects the fund’s current portfolio. <div style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">Important data provider notices and terms are available at <span style="font-family:arial;font-size:9pt;color:#388491"><span style="text-decoration:underline">www.franklintempletondatasources.com</span></span><span style="font-family:arial">. Such information is subject to change. </span></div> Fund summary Goal <div style="margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The fund seeks capital appreciation. </div> Fees and expenses <div style="margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The following table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below. The fees and expenses information does not reflect insurance-related charges or expenses borne by contract holders indirectly investing in the fund. If it did, expenses would be higher. </div> Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) 0.0060 0 0.0015 0.0075 0.0060 0.0025 0.0015 0.0100 Example <div style="margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The following hypothetical example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The example does not reflect insurance-related charges or expenses. If it did, expenses would be higher. It assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem or hold all your shares at the end of those periods. It assumes a 5% return on your investment each year and that the fund’s operating expenses remain the same (except that any applicable fee waiver or expense reimbursement is reflected only through its expiration date). Your actual costs may be higher or lower. </div> 77 77 240 240 417 417 930 930 102 102 318 318 552 552 1224 1224 Portfolio turnover <div style="margin-top:6pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The fund pays transaction-related costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or the above example, affect fund performance. The fund’s turnover rate in the most recent fiscal year was 78%. </div> 0.78 Investments, risks, and performance Investments <div style="margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">As a non-diversified fund concentrating in the health care industries, the fund invests mainly in common stocks (growth or value stocks or both) of large and midsize companies worldwide that the Investment Manager, as defined below, believes have favorable investment potential. Under normal circumstances, the fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in securities of companies in the health care industries. This policy may be changed only after 60 days’ notice to shareholders. Potential investments include companies that manufacture health care supplies or provide health care-related services, and companies in the research, development, production and marketing of pharmaceuticals and biotechnology products. The fund may purchase stocks of companies with stock prices that reflect a value lower than that which that Investment Manager places on the company. The Investment Manager may consider, among other factors, a company’s valuation, financial strength, growth potential, competitive position in its industry, projected future earnings, cash flows and dividends when deciding whether to buy or sell investments. The Investment Manager may also consider other factors that it believes will cause the stock price to rise. The fund may also use derivatives, such as certain foreign currency transactions, futures, options, warrants and swap contracts, for both hedging and non-hedging purposes, and may engage in short sales of securities. For example, the fund typically uses foreign currency forward contracts in connection with the fund’s investments in foreign securities in order to hedge the fund’s currency exposure relative to the fund’s benchmark index. </div><div style="margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The use of the term “global” in the fund’s name is meant to emphasize that the Investment Manager looks for investment opportunities on a worldwide basis and that the fund’s investment strategies are not constrained by the countries or regions in which companies are located. Under normal market conditions, the fund intends to invest in at least five different countries and at least 40% of its net assets in securities of foreign companies (or, if less, at least the percentage of net assets that is ten percentage points less than the percentage of the fund’s benchmark represented by foreign companies, as determined by the providers of the benchmark). </div> <div style="margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">It is important to understand that you can lose money by investing in the fund. </div> <div style="margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Market risk:</span> The value of investments in the fund’s portfolio may fall or fail to rise over extended periods of time for a variety of reasons, including general economic, political or financial market conditions, investor sentiment and market perceptions, government actions, geopolitical events or changes, outbreaks of infectious illnesses or other widespread public health issues, and factors related to a specific issuer, asset class, geography, industry or sector. These and other factors may lead to increased volatility and reduced liquidity in </div><div style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">the fund’s portfolio holdings, may negatively impact the fund’s performance, and may exacerbate other risks to which the fund is subject. </div> <div style="margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Common stock risk:</span> Common stock represents an ownership interest in a company. The value of a company’s stock may fall or fail to rise as a result of factors directly relating to that company, such as decisions made by its management or lower demand for the company’s products or services. A stock’s value may also fall because of factors affecting not just the company, but also other companies in the same industry or in a number of different industries, such as increases in production costs. Growth stocks may be more susceptible to earnings disappointments, and value stocks may fail to rebound. These risks are generally greater for small and midsize companies. </div> <div style="margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Industry focus risk:</span> The health care industries may be affected by product obsolescence, dependence on patents and intellectual property rights, expenses and losses from product liability and similar claims, changes in government programs or regulatory requirements (including approval policies for drugs, medical devices or procedures), and pricing pressures (including as a result of increased competition, changes in governmental and private reimbursement rates and payment systems, or other reforms). </div> <div style="margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Non-diversified fund risk:</span> The fund’s policy of concentrating on a limited group of industries and the fund’s “non-diversified” status, which means the fund may invest a greater percentage of its assets in fewer issuers than a “diversified” fund, can increase the fund’s vulnerability to adverse developments affecting a single industry, country or issuer, which may result in greater losses and volatility for the fund. </div> <div style="margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Foreign investments risk:</span> The value of international investments traded in foreign currencies may be adversely impacted by fluctuations in exchange rates. International investments, particularly investments in emerging markets, may carry risks associated with potentially less stable economies or governments (such as the risk of seizure by a foreign government, the imposition of economic sanctions or currency or other restrictions, or high levels of inflation), and may be or become illiquid. </div> <div style="margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Derivatives risk:</span> The fund’s use of derivatives may increase the risks of investing in the fund by increasing investment exposure (which may be considered leverage) or, in the case of many over-the-counter instruments, because of the potential inability to terminate or sell derivative positions and the potential failure of the other party to the instrument to meet its obligations. The risk of a party failing to meet its obligations may increase if the fund has significant exposure to that counterparty. The value of derivatives may move in unexpected ways due to unanticipated market movements, the use of leverage, imperfect correlation between the derivative instrument and the reference asset, or other factors, especially in unusual market conditions, and volatility in the value of derivatives could adversely impact the fund’s returns, obligations and exposures. Derivatives are also subject to other risks, including liquidity risk (e.g., liquidity demands arising from the requirement to make payments to a derivative counterparty), operational risk (e.g., settlement issues </div><div style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">or system failures) and legal risk (e.g., insufficient legal documentation or contract enforceability issues). </div> <div style="margin-top:6pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Short sales risk:</span> The fund may engage in short sales, which are transactions in which the fund sells a security it does not own to a third party by borrowing the security in anticipation of purchasing the same security at the market price on a later date to close out the short position. If the price of the security sold short increases between the time of the short sale and the time the fund replaces the borrowed security, the fund will incur a loss that is theoretically unlimited. The fund’s investment strategy of reinvesting proceeds received from selling securities short may effectively create leverage, which can amplify the effects of market volatility on the fund’s share price and make the fund’s returns more volatile. The use of leverage may also cause the fund to liquidate portfolio positions when it would not be advantageous to do so in order to satisfy its obligations. </div> <div style="margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Large shareholder transaction risk:</span> The fund is subject to the risk that shareholders will purchase or redeem large quantities of shares of the fund. The fund may be an investment option for mutual funds that are managed by the Investment Manager and its affiliates as “funds of funds.” Additionally, other investors from time to time may make substantial investments in the fund. Such shareholders may at times be considered to control the fund. In addition, a large number of shareholders may collectively purchase or redeem fund shares in large amounts rapidly or unexpectedly. Large shareholder transactions may adversely affect the fund’s liquidity and net assets. These redemptions may also adversely affect the fund’s performance if the fund is forced to sell securities, which may also increase the fund’s brokerage costs. </div> <div style="margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Management and operational risk:</span> There is no guarantee that the investment techniques, analyses, or judgments that the Investment Manager applies in making investment decisions for the fund will produce the intended outcome or that the investments selected for the fund will perform as well as other securities that were not selected for the fund. The Investment Manager, or the fund’s other service providers, may experience disruptions or operating errors that could negatively impact the fund. </div> An investment in the fund is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. Performance <div style="margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The accompanying bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the fund. The bar chart shows changes in the fund’s performance from year to year for Class IA shares. The table shows the average annual total returns of each class of the fund that has been in operation for at least one full calendar year and also compares the fund’s performance with the average annual total returns of a broad measure of market performance and an additional index with characteristics relevant to the fund. Performance for classes other than those shown may vary from the performance shown to the </div><div style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">extent the expenses for those classes differ. The fund makes updated performance information, including its current net asset value per share, available at www.franklintempleton.com. </div><div style="margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-style:italic">The fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the fund will perform in the future. </span></div><div style="margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">Insurance-related charges or expenses are not reflected in the performance information below, and if those charges were included, returns would be less than those shown. </div> The bar chart shows changes in the fund’s performance from year to year for Class IA shares. The table shows the average annual total returns of each class of the fund that has been in operation for at least one full calendar year and also compares the fund’s performance with the average annual total returns of a broad measure of market performance and an additional index with characteristics relevant to the fund. www.franklintempleton.com The fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the fund will perform in the future. Annual total returns for class IA shares <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse:collapse;font-family:simhei;font-size:8.5pt;width:96%;border-spacing:0px;margin:0 auto"> <tr> <td style="width:52%;"></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;width:1%;"></td> <td style="width:26%;"></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;width:1%;"></td> <td style="width:20%;"></td> </tr> <tr style="page-break-inside:avoid;font-family:simhei;font-size:8.5pt"> <td style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #cccccc; BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #cccccc;vertical-align:top;"> <div style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:1.00em;text-indent:-1.00em;font-size:8.5pt;font-family:arial;">Best Quarter:</div> </td> <td style=" BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #cccccc; BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #cccccc;vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #cccccc; BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #cccccc;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;"><span style="font-family:arial">Q4 2019</span></td> <td style=" BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #cccccc; BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #cccccc;vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #cccccc; BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #cccccc;vertical-align:bottom;text-align:right;"><span style="font-family:arial">17.58%</span></td> </tr> <tr style="page-break-inside:avoid;font-family:simhei;font-size:8.5pt"> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #cccccc;vertical-align:top;"> <div style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:1.00em;text-indent:-1.00em;font-size:8.5pt;font-family:arial;">Worst Quarter:</div> </td> <td style=" BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #cccccc;vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #cccccc;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;"><span style="font-family:arial">Q4 2024</span></td> <td style=" BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #cccccc;vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #cccccc;vertical-align:bottom;text-align:right;"><span style="font-family:arial">-12.23%</span></td> </tr> </table> Best Quarter: 2019-12-31 0.1758 Worst Quarter: 2024-12-31 -0.1223 Average annual total returns (for periods ended 12/31/25) 0.1534 0.0799 0.0863 0.1505 0.0771 0.0836 0.2234 0.1119 0.1172 0.1483 0.0643 0.0814 <div style="margin-top:6pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">Important data provider notices and terms are available at <span style="font-family:arial;font-size:9pt;color:#467886"><span style="text-decoration:underline">www.franklintempletondatasources.com</span></span><span style="font-family:arial">. Such information is subject to change. </span></div> Fund summary Goal <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The fund seeks as high a rate of current income as the Investment Manager (as defined below) believes is consistent with preservation of capital and maintenance of liquidity.</div> Fees and expenses <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The following table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the fund. <span style="font-weight: bold;">You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below.</span> The fees and expenses information does not reflect insurance-related charges or expenses borne by contract holders indirectly investing in the fund. If it did, expenses would be higher.</div> Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) 0.0026 0 0.0018 0.0044 0.0026 0.0025 0.0018 0.0069 Example <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The following hypothetical example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The example does not reflect insurance-related charges or expenses. If it did, expenses would be higher. It assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem or hold all your shares at the end of those periods. It assumes a 5% return on your investment each year and that the fund’s operating expenses remain the same (except that any applicable fee waiver or expense reimbursement is reflected only through its expiration date). Your actual costs may be higher or lower.</div> 45 45 141 141 246 246 553 553 70 70 221 221 384 384 859 859 Investments, risks, and performance Investments <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The fund invests at least 99.5 percent of its total assets in cash, U.S. government securities and repurchase agreements that are fully collateralized</div> <div style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">by U.S. government securities or cash. The fund invests mainly in debt securities that are obligations of the U.S. government, its agencies and instrumentalities and accordingly are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States (e.g., U.S. Treasury bills) or by the credit of a federal agency or government-sponsored entity (e.g., securities issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac). The U.S. government securities in which the fund invests may also include variable and floating rate instruments and when-issued and delayed delivery securities (i.e., payment or delivery of the securities occurs at a future date for a predetermined price). Under normal circumstances, the fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in U.S. government securities and repurchase agreements that are fully collateralized by U.S. government securities. This policy may be changed only after 60 days’ notice to shareholders. The securities purchased by the fund are subject to quality, maturity, diversification and other requirements pursuant to rules promulgated by the SEC. The Investment Manager may consider, among other factors, credit and interest rate risks and characteristics of the issuer or counterparty, as well as general market conditions, when deciding whether to buy or sell investments.</div> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">It is important to understand that you can lose money by investing in the fund.</div> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Market risk: </span>The value of investments in the fund’s portfolio may fall or fail to rise over extended periods of time for a variety of reasons, including general economic, political or financial market conditions, investor sentiment and market perceptions, government actions, geopolitical events or changes, outbreaks of infectious illnesses or other widespread public health issues, and factors related to a specific issuer, asset class, geography, industry or sector. These and other factors may lead to increased volatility and reduced liquidity in the fund’s portfolio holdings, may negatively impact the fund’s performance, and may exacerbate other risks to which the fund is subject.<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span></div> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Interest rate risk: </span>The values of money market investments usually rise and fall in response to changes in interest rates. Interest rate risk is generally lowest for investments with short maturities (a significant part of the fund’s investments). <span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span></div> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Credit quality risk: </span>Changes in the financial condition of an issuer or counterparty, changes in specific economic or political conditions that affect a particular type of issuer, and changes in general economic or political conditions can increase the risk of default by an issuer or counterparty, which can affect a security’s or instrument’s credit quality or value. Certain securities in which the fund may invest, including securities issued by certain U.S. government agencies and U.S. government sponsored enterprises, are not guaranteed by the U.S. government or supported by the full faith and credit of the United States.<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span></div> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Management and operational risk: </span>There is no guarantee that the investment techniques, analyses, or judgments that the Investment Manager applies in <span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span></div> <div style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">making investment decisions for the fund will produce the intended outcome or that the investments selected for the fund will perform as well as other securities that were not selected for the fund. The Investment Manager, or the fund’s other service providers, may experience disruptions or operating errors that could negatively impact the fund.</div> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The fund may not achieve its goal, and it is not intended to be a complete investment program. You could lose money by investing in the fund. Although the fund seeks to preserve the value of your investment at $1.00 per share, it cannot guarantee it will do so. An investment in the fund is not a bank account and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. The fund’s sponsor is not required to reimburse the fund for losses, and you should not expect that the sponsor will provide financial support to the fund at any time, including during periods of market stress.</div> Although the fund seeks to preserve the value of your investment at $1.00 per share, it cannot guarantee it will do so. An investment in the fund is not a bank account and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. The fund’s sponsor is not required to reimburse the fund for losses, and you should not expect that the sponsor will provide financial support to the fund at any time, including during periods of market stress. Performance <div style="margin-top: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The accompanying bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the fund. The bar chart shows changes in the fund’s performance from year to year for Class IA shares. The table shows the average annual total returns of each class of the fund that has been in operation for at least one full calendar year. Performance for classes other than those shown may vary from the performance shown to the extent the expenses for those classes differ. The fund makes updated performance information, including its current net asset value, available at www.franklintempleton.com.</div> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-style: italic;">The fund’s past performance is not necessarily an indication of how the fund will perform in the future. </span></div> The bar chart shows changes in the fund’s performance from year to year for Class IA shares. The table shows the average annual total returns of each class of the fund that has been in operation for at least one full calendar year. www.franklintempleton.com The fund’s past performance is not necessarily an indication of how the fund will perform in the future. Annual total returns for class IA shares <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: simhei; font-size: 8.5pt; width: 100%; border-spacing: 0px; margin: 0 auto;"> <tr> <td style="width: 82%;"></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom; width: 1%;"></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom; width: 1%;"></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> </tr> <tr style="page-break-inside: avoid; font-family: simhei; font-size: 8.5pt;"> <td style="border-top: 1.00pt solid #bfbfbf; vertical-align: top;"> <div style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 1.00em; text-indent: -1.00em; font-size: 8.5pt; font-family: arial;">Best Quarter:</div> </td> <td style="border-top: 1.00pt solid #bfbfbf; vertical-align: bottom;">  </td> <td style="border-top: 1.00pt solid #bfbfbf; white-space: nowrap; vertical-align: bottom;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></td> <td style="border-top: 1.00pt solid #bfbfbf; white-space: nowrap; vertical-align: bottom; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Q3 2024    </span></td> <td style="border-top: 1.00pt solid #bfbfbf; white-space: nowrap; vertical-align: bottom;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></td> <td style="border-top: 1.00pt solid #bfbfbf; vertical-align: bottom;">  </td> <td style="border-top: 1.00pt solid #bfbfbf; white-space: nowrap; vertical-align: bottom;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></td> <td style="border-top: 1.00pt solid #bfbfbf; white-space: nowrap; vertical-align: bottom; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: arial;">1.25%</span></td> <td style="border-top: 1.00pt solid #bfbfbf; white-space: nowrap; vertical-align: bottom;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></td> </tr> <tr style="page-break-inside: avoid; font-family: simhei; font-size: 8.5pt;"> <td style="border-top: 1.00pt solid #bfbfbf; border-bottom: 1.00pt solid #bfbfbf; vertical-align: top;"> <div style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 1.00em; text-indent: -1.00em; font-size: 8.5pt; font-family: arial;">Worst Quarter:</div> </td> <td style="border-top: 1.00pt solid #bfbfbf; border-bottom: 1.00pt solid #bfbfbf; vertical-align: bottom;">  </td> <td style="border-top: 1.00pt solid #bfbfbf; border-bottom: 1.00pt solid #bfbfbf; white-space: nowrap; vertical-align: bottom;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></td> <td style="border-top: 1.00pt solid #bfbfbf; border-bottom: 1.00pt solid #bfbfbf; white-space: nowrap; vertical-align: bottom; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Q1 2022    </span></td> <td style="border-top: 1.00pt solid #bfbfbf; border-bottom: 1.00pt solid #bfbfbf; white-space: nowrap; vertical-align: bottom;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></td> <td style="border-top: 1.00pt solid #bfbfbf; border-bottom: 1.00pt solid #bfbfbf; vertical-align: bottom;">  </td> <td style="border-top: 1.00pt solid #bfbfbf; border-bottom: 1.00pt solid #bfbfbf; white-space: nowrap; vertical-align: bottom;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></td> <td style="border-top: 1.00pt solid #bfbfbf; border-bottom: 1.00pt solid #bfbfbf; white-space: nowrap; vertical-align: bottom; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: arial;">0.00%</span></td> <td style="border-top: 1.00pt solid #bfbfbf; border-bottom: 1.00pt solid #bfbfbf; white-space: nowrap; vertical-align: bottom;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></td> </tr> </table> Best Quarter: 2024-09-30 0.0125 Worst Quarter: 2022-03-31 0.0000 Average annual total returns (for periods ended 12/31/25) 0.0395 0.0296 0.0187 0.0369 0.0277 0.0170 Fund summary Goal The fund seeks high current income. Capital growth is a secondary goal when consistent with achieving high current income. Fees and expenses <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The following table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the fund. <span style="font-weight: bold;">You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below.</span> The fees and expenses information does not reflect insurance-related charges or expenses borne by contract holders indirectly investing in the fund. If it did, expenses would be higher.</div> Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) 0.0054 0 0.0017 0.0071 0.0054 0.0025 0.0017 0.0096 Example <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The following hypothetical example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The example does not reflect insurance-related charges or expenses. If it did, expenses would be higher. It assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem or hold all your shares at the end of those periods. It assumes a 5% return on your investment each year and that the fund’s operating expenses remain the same (except that any applicable fee waiver or expense reimbursement is reflected only through its expiration date). Your actual costs may be higher or lower.</div> 73 73 228 228 396 396 882 882 98 98 306 306 531 531 1177 1177 Portfolio turnover <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The fund pays transaction-related costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or the above example, affect fund performance. The fund’s turnover rate in the most recent fiscal year was 45%.</div> 0.45 Investments, risks, and performanceInvestments <div style="margin-top: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The fund invests mainly in bonds that are obligations of U.S. companies, are below investment-grade in quality (sometimes referred to as “junk bonds”), and have intermediate- to long-term maturities (three years or longer). Under normal circumstances, the fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in securities rated below investment-grade. This policy may be changed only after 60 days’ notice to shareholders.</div><div style="margin-top: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The fund may also invest in other debt instruments, including loans. The Investment Manager, as defined below, may consider, among other factors, credit, interest rate and prepayment risks, as well as general market conditions, when deciding whether to buy or sell investments. The fund may also use derivatives, such as futures, options, certain foreign currency transactions, and credit default swap contracts, for both hedging and non‑hedging purposes.</div> <div style="margin-top: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">It is important to understand that you can lose money by investing in the fund.</div> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Market risk: </span>The value of investments in the fund’s portfolio may fall or fail to rise over extended periods of time for a variety of reasons, including general economic, political or financial market conditions, investor sentiment and market perceptions, government actions, geopolitical events or changes, outbreaks of infectious illnesses or other widespread public health issues, and factors related to a specific issuer, asset class, geography, industry or sector. These and other factors may lead to increased volatility and reduced liquidity in the fund’s portfolio holdings, may negatively impact the fund’s performance, and may exacerbate other risks to which the fund is subject.</div> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Fixed income investments risk:</span> The risks associated with fixed income investments include interest rate risk, which is the risk that the value of the fund’s investments is likely to fall if interest rates rise. Fixed income investments are also subject to credit risk, which is the risk that issuers of the fund’s investments may default on payment of interest or principal. Fixed income investments may be more susceptible to downgrades or defaults during economic downturns or other periods of economic stress. Interest rate risk is generally greater for longer-term fixed income securities, and credit risk is generally greater for below-investment-grade fixed income securities (a significant part of the fund’s investments), which can be more sensitive to changes in markets, credit conditions, and interest rates, and may be considered speculative.</div> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Derivatives risk: </span>The fund’s use of derivatives may increase the risks of investing in the fund by increasing investment exposure (which may be considered leverage) or, in the case of many over‑the‑counter instruments, because of the potential inability to terminate or sell derivative positions and</div><div style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">the potential failure of the other party to the instrument to meet its obligations. The risk of a party failing to meet its obligations may increase if the fund has significant exposure to that counterparty. The value of derivatives may move in unexpected ways due to unanticipated market movements, the use of leverage, imperfect correlation between the derivative instrument and the reference asset, or other factors, especially in unusual market conditions, and volatility in the value of derivatives could adversely impact the fund’s returns, obligations and exposures. Derivatives are also subject to other risks, including liquidity risk (e.g., liquidity demands arising from the requirement to make payments to a derivative counterparty), operational risk (e.g., settlement issues or system failures) and legal risk (e.g., insufficient legal documentation or contract enforceability issues).</div> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Large shareholder transaction risk: </span>The<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span>fund is subject to the risk that shareholders will purchase or redeem large quantities of shares of the fund. The fund may be an investment option for mutual funds that are managed by the Investment Manager and its affiliates as “funds of funds.” Additionally, other investors from time to time may make substantial investments in the fund. Such shareholders may at times be considered to control the fund. In addition, a large number of shareholders may collectively purchase or redeem fund shares in large amounts rapidly or unexpectedly. Large shareholder transactions may adversely affect the fund’s liquidity and net assets. These redemptions may also adversely affect the fund’s performance if the fund is forced to sell securities, which may also increase the fund’s brokerage costs.</div> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Management and operational risk: </span>There is no guarantee that the investment techniques, analyses, or judgments that the Investment Manager applies in making investment decisions for the fund will produce the intended outcome or that the investments selected for the fund will perform as well as other securities that were not selected for the fund. The Investment Manager, or the fund’s other service providers, may experience disruptions or operating errors that could negatively impact the fund.</div> An investment in the fund is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. Performance <div style="margin-top: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The accompanying bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the fund. The bar chart shows changes in the fund’s performance from year to year for Class IA shares. The table shows the average annual total returns of each class of the fund that has been in operation for at least one full calendar year and also compares the fund’s performance with the average annual total returns of a broad measure of market performance and an additional index with characteristics relevant to the fund. Performance for classes other than those shown may vary from the performance shown to the extent the expenses for those classes differ. The fund makes updated</div><div style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">performance information, including its current net asset value per share, available at www.franklintempleton.com.</div><div style="margin-top: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0%; text-indent: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-style: italic;">The fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the fund will perform in the future. </span></div><div style="margin-top: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">Insurance-related charges or expenses are not reflected in the performance information below, and if those charges were included, returns would be less than those shown.</div> The bar chart shows changes in the fund’s performance from year to year for Class IA shares. The table shows the average annual total returns of each class of the fund that has been in operation for at least one full calendar year and also compares the fund’s performance with the average annual total returns of a broad measure of market performance and an additional index with characteristics relevant to the fund. www.franklintempleton.com The fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the fund will perform in the future. Annual total returns for class IA shares <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: simhei; font-size: 1pt; width: 98%; border-spacing: 0px; margin-left: auto;"> <tr> <td style="width: 58%;"></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom;"></td> <td style="width: 19%;"></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom; width: 1%;"></td> <td style="width: 19%;"></td> </tr> <tr style="page-break-inside: avoid; font-family: simhei; font-size: 1pt; background-color: #b2b2b2;"> <td style="vertical-align: top;"></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom;">  </td> <td style="vertical-align: top;"></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom;">  </td> <td style="vertical-align: top;"></td> </tr> <tr style="font-size: 1pt;"> <td style="height: 1.5pt;"></td> <td colspan="2" style="height: 1.5pt;"></td> <td colspan="2" style="height: 1.5pt;"></td> </tr> <tr style="page-break-inside: avoid; font-family: simhei; font-size: 8.5pt;"> <td style="vertical-align: top;"> <div style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 1.00em; text-indent: -1.00em; font-size: 8.5pt; font-family: arial;">Best Quarter:</div> </td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom;">  </td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Q2 2020</span></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom;">  </td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: arial;">9.63%</span></td> </tr> <tr style="page-break-inside: avoid; font-family: simhei; font-size: 1pt; background-color: #b2b2b2;"> <td style="vertical-align: top;"></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom;">  </td> <td style="vertical-align: top;"></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom;">  </td> <td style="vertical-align: top;"></td> </tr> <tr style="page-break-inside: avoid; font-family: simhei; font-size: 8.5pt;"> <td style="vertical-align: top;"> <div style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 1.00em; text-indent: -1.00em; font-size: 8.5pt; font-family: arial;">Worst Quarter:</div> </td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom;">  </td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Q1 2020</span></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom;">  </td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: arial;">-13.09%</span></td> </tr> <tr style="page-break-inside: avoid; font-family: simhei; font-size: 1pt; background-color: #b2b2b2;"> <td style="vertical-align: top;"></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom;">  </td> <td style="vertical-align: top;"></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom;">  </td> <td style="vertical-align: top;"></td> </tr> </table> Best Quarter: 2020-06-30 0.0963 Worst Quarter: 2020-03-31 -0.1309 Average annual total returns(for periods ended 12/31/25) 0.0886 0.0428 0.0594 0.0867 0.0405 0.0570 0.0730 -0.0036 0.0201 0.0865 0.0496 0.0671 <div style="margin-top: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">Important data provider notices and terms are available at</div><div style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 9pt; color: #467886;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">www.franklintempletondatasources.com</span></span><span style="font-family: arial;">. Such information is subject to change. </span></div> Fund summary Goal <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The fund seeks high current income consistent with what the Investment Manager (as defined below) believes to be prudent risk. </div> Fees and expenses <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The following table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the fund. <span style="font-weight:bold">You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below.</span> The fees and expenses information does not reflect insurance-related charges or expenses borne by contract holders indirectly investing in the fund. If it did, expenses would be higher. </div> Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) 0.0037 0 0.0020 0.0057 0.0037 0.0025 0.0020 0.0082 Example <div style="margin-top:6pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The following hypothetical example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The example does not reflect insurance-related charges or expenses. If it did, expenses would be higher. It assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem or hold all your shares at the end of those periods. It assumes a 5% return on your investment each year and that the fund’s operating expenses remain the same (except that any applicable fee waiver or expense reimbursement is reflected only through its expiration date). Your actual costs may be higher or lower. </div> 58 58 183 183 318 318 713 713 84 84 262 262 456 456 1015 1015 Portfolio turnover <div style="margin-top:6pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The fund pays transaction-related costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or the above example, affect fund performance. The fund’s turnover rate in the most recent fiscal year was 225%. </div> 2.25 Investments, risks, and performance Investments <div style="margin-top:6pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The fund invests mainly in bonds that are securitized debt instruments (such as mortgage-backed investments) and related derivative instruments, and other obligations of companies and governments worldwide denominated in U.S. dollars or (to a lesser extent) foreign currencies, that are either investment-grade or below-investment-grade in quality (sometimes referred to as “junk bonds”) and that have intermediate- to long-term maturities (three years or longer). The fund currently has significant investment exposure to residential and commercial mortgage-backed securities. </div><div style="margin-top:6pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The Investment Manager may consider, among other factors, credit, interest rate and prepayment risks, as well as general market conditions, when deciding whether to buy or sell investments. The fund typically uses, to a significant extent, derivatives, including credit default swaps, interest rate swaps, total return swaps, to-be-announced (“TBA”) commitments, futures, options and swaptions, including on mortgage-backed securities and indices, and certain foreign currency transactions for both hedging and non-hedging purposes including to obtain or adjust exposure to mortgage-backed investments. </div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">It is important to understand that you can lose money by investing in the fund. </div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Market risk: </span>The value of investments in the fund’s portfolio may fall or fail to rise over extended periods of time for a variety of reasons, including general economic, political or financial market conditions, investor sentiment and market perceptions, government actions, geopolitical events or changes, outbreaks of infectious illnesses or other widespread public health issues, and factors related to a specific issuer, asset class, geography, industry or sector. These and other factors may lead to increased volatility and reduced liquidity in the fund’s portfolio holdings, may negatively impact the fund’s performance, and may exacerbate other risks to which the fund is subject.<span style="font-weight:bold"> </span></div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Fixed income investments risk: </span>The risks associated with fixed income investments include interest rate risk, which is the risk that the value of the fund’s investments is likely to fall if interest rates rise. Fixed income investments are also subject to credit risk, which is the risk that issuers of the fund’s investments may default on payment of interest or principal. Fixed income investments may be more susceptible to downgrades or defaults during economic downturns or other periods of economic stress. Interest rate risk is generally greater for longer-term fixed income securities, and credit risk is generally greater for below-investment-grade fixed income securities (a significant part of the fund’s investments), which can be more sensitive to changes in markets, credit conditions, and interest rates, and may be considered speculative. Mortgage- and asset-backed investments, unlike traditional debt investments, are also subject to prepayment risk, which means <span style="font-weight:bold"> </span></div><div style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"> that they may increase in value less than other bonds when interest rates decline and decline in value more than other bonds when interest rates rise. The fund may have to invest the proceeds from prepaid investments, including mortgage- and asset-backed investments, in other investments with less attractive terms and yields. The fund’s investments in mortgage- and asset-backed securities, and in certain other securities and derivatives, may be or become illiquid. </div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold"></span><span style="font-weight:bold">Focused investment </span><span style="font-weight:bold">risk:</span> The fund currently has significant investment exposure to privately issued residential and commercial mortgage-backed securities and mortgage-backed securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government or its agencies or instrumentalities, which may make the fund’s net asset value more susceptible to economic, market, political and other developments affecting the residential and commercial real estate markets and the servicing of mortgage loans secured by real estate properties. During periods of difficult economic conditions, delinquencies and losses on commercial mortgage-backed investments in particular generally increase, including as a result of the effects of those conditions on commercial real estate markets, the ability of commercial tenants to make loan payments, and the ability of a property to attract and retain commercial tenants.<span style="font-weight:bold"> </span></div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold"></span><span style="font-weight:bold">Derivatives risk: </span>The fund’s use of derivatives may increase the risks of investing in the fund by increasing investment exposure (which may be considered leverage) or, in the case of many over-the-counter instruments, because of the potential inability to terminate or sell derivative positions and the potential failure of the other party to the instrument to meet its obligations. The risk of a party failing to meet its obligations may increase if the fund has significant exposure to that counterparty. The value of derivatives may move in unexpected ways due to unanticipated market movements, the use of leverage, imperfect correlation between the derivative instrument and the reference asset, or other factors, especially in unusual market conditions, and volatility in the value of derivatives could adversely impact the fund’s returns, obligations and exposures. Derivatives are also subject to other risks, including liquidity risk (e.g., liquidity demands arising from the requirement to make payments to a derivative counterparty), operational risk (e.g., settlement issues or system failures) and legal risk (e.g., insufficient legal documentation or contract enforceability issues).<span style="font-weight:bold"> </span></div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Frequent trading risk: </span>The fund expects to engage in frequent trading. Funds with high turnover may incur higher transaction costs than funds with relatively lower turnover, which may detract from performance.<span style="font-weight:bold"> </span></div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Large shareholder transaction risk: </span>The fund is subject to the risk that shareholders will purchase or redeem large quantities of shares of the fund. The fund may be an investment option for mutual funds that are managed by the Investment Manager and its affiliates as “funds of funds.” Additionally, other investors from time to time may make substantial investments in the fund. Such shareholders may at times be considered to control the fund. In addition, a large number of shareholders may collectively purchase or redeem fund shares in large amounts rapidly or unexpectedly. Large shareholder<span style="font-weight:bold"> </span></div><div style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">transactions may adversely affect the fund’s liquidity and net assets. These redemptions may also adversely affect the fund’s performance if the fund is forced to sell securities, which may also increase the fund’s brokerage costs. </div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Management and operational risk: </span>There is no guarantee that the investment techniques, analyses, or judgments that the Investment Manager applies in making investment decisions for the fund will produce the intended outcome or that the investments selected for the fund will perform as well as other securities that were not selected for the fund. The Investment Manager, or the fund’s other service providers, may experience disruptions or operating errors that could negatively impact the fund.<span style="font-weight:bold"> </span></div> An investment in the fund is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. Performance <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The accompanying bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the fund. The bar chart shows changes in the fund’s performance from year to year for Class IA shares. The table shows the average annual total returns of each class of the fund that has been in operation for at least one full calendar year and also compares the fund’s performance with the average annual total returns of a broad measure of market performance. Performance for classes other than those shown may vary from the performance shown to the extent the expenses for those classes differ. The fund makes updated performance information, including its current net asset value per share, available at www.franklintempleton.com. </div><div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-style:italic">The fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the fund will perform in the future. </span></div><div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">Insurance-related charges or expenses are not reflected in the performance information below, and if those charges were included, returns would be less than those shown. </div> The bar chart shows changes in the fund’s performance from year to year for Class IA shares. The table shows the average annual total returns of each class of the fund that has been in operation for at least one full calendar year and also compares the fund’s performance with the average annual total returns of a broad measure of market performance. www.franklintempleton.com The fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the fund will perform in the future. Annual total returns for class IA shares <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse:collapse;font-family:simhei;font-size:8.5pt;width:98%;border-spacing:0px;margin-left:auto"> <tr> <td style="width:80%;"></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;width:1%;"></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;width:1%;"></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;width:1%;"></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> </tr> <tr style="font-size:1pt"> <td style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #999999;height:1.5pt;"> </td> <td colspan="4" style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #999999;height:1.5pt;"> </td> <td colspan="4" style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #999999;height:1.5pt;"> </td> <td colspan="4" style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #999999;height:1.5pt;"> </td> </tr> <tr style="page-break-inside:avoid;font-family:simhei;font-size:8.5pt"> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;vertical-align:top;"> <div style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:1.00em;text-indent:-1.00em;font-size:8.5pt;font-family:arial;">Best Quarter:</div> </td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;vertical-align:top;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;"><span style="font-family:arial">Q4 2023</span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:top;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:top;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;"><span style="font-family:arial">    </span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:top;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;vertical-align:bottom;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;vertical-align:bottom;text-align:right;"><span style="font-family:arial">7.01%</span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:bottom;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> </tr> <tr style="font-size:1pt"> <td style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #999999;height:1.5pt;"> </td> <td colspan="4" style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #999999;height:1.5pt;"> </td> <td colspan="4" style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #999999;height:1.5pt;"> </td> <td colspan="4" style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #999999;height:1.5pt;"> </td> </tr> <tr style="page-break-inside:avoid;font-family:simhei;font-size:8.5pt"> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:top;"> <div style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:1.00em;text-indent:-1.00em;font-size:8.5pt;font-family:arial;">Worst Quarter:</div> </td> <td style=" BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:top;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;"><span style="font-family:arial">Q2 2022</span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:top;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style=" BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:top;"> </td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:top;"> </td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:top;"> </td> <td style=" BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:bottom;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:bottom;text-align:right;"><span style="font-family:arial">-5.77%</span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:bottom;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> </tr> </table> Best Quarter: 2023-12-31 0.0701 Worst Quarter: 2022-06-30 -0.0577 Average annual total returns (for periods ended 12/31/25) 0.0745 -0.0089 0.0215 0.0725 -0.0113 0.0189 0.0730 -0.0036 0.0201 <div style="margin-top:6pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">Important data provider notices and terms are available at <span style="font-family:arial;font-size:9pt;color:#388491"><span style="text-decoration:underline">www.franklintempletondatasources.com</span></span><span style="font-family:arial">. Such information is subject to change. </span></div> Fund summary Goal <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The fund seeks capital appreciation. </div> Fees and expenses <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The following table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the fund. <span style="font-weight:bold">You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below</span>. The fees and expenses information does not reflect insurance-related charges or expenses borne by contract holders indirectly investing in the fund. If it did, expenses would be higher. </div> Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) 0.0067 0 0.0014 0.0081 0.0067 0.0025 0.0014 0.0106 Example <div style="margin-top:6pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The following hypothetical example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The example does not reflect insurance-related charges or expenses. If it did, expenses would be higher. It assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem or hold all your shares at the end of those periods. It assumes a 5% return on your investment each year and that the fund’s operating expenses remain the same (except that any applicable fee waiver or expense reimbursement is reflected only through its expiration date). Your actual costs may be higher or lower. </div> 83 83 259 259 450 450 1003 1003 108 108 337 337 584 584 1293 1293 Portfolio turnover <div style="margin-top:6pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The fund pays transaction-related costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or the above example, affect fund performance. The fund’s turnover rate in the most recent fiscal year was 79%. </div> 0.79 Investments, risks, and performance Investments <div style="margin-top:6pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The fund invests mainly in common stocks (growth or value stocks or both) of large and midsize companies outside the United States that the Investment Manager, as defined below, believes have favorable investment potential. For example, the fund may purchase stocks of companies with stock prices that reflect a value lower than that which the Investment Manager places on the company. Under normal circumstances, the fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in equity investments. This policy may be changed only after 60 days’ notice to shareholders. The Investment Manager may consider, among other factors, a company’s valuation, financial strength, growth potential, competitive position in its industry, projected future earnings, cash flows and dividends when deciding whether to buy or sell investments. The Investment Manager may also consider other factors that the Investment Manager believes will cause the stock price to rise. The fund invests mainly in developed countries but may invest in emerging markets. The fund may also use derivatives, such as certain foreign currency transactions, futures, options, warrants and swap contracts, for both hedging and non-hedging purposes. For example, the Investment Manager typically uses foreign currency forward contracts in connection with the fund’s investments in foreign securities in order to hedge the fund’s currency exposure relative to the MSCI EAFE Index-NR. </div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">It is important to understand that you can lose money by investing in the fund. </div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Market risk: </span>The value of investments in the fund’s portfolio may fall or fail to rise over extended periods of time for a variety of reasons, including general economic, political or financial market conditions, investor sentiment and market perceptions, government actions, geopolitical events or changes, outbreaks of infectious illnesses or other widespread public health issues, and factors related to a specific issuer, asset class, geography, industry or sector. These and other factors may lead to increased volatility and reduced liquidity in the fund’s portfolio holdings, may negatively impact the fund’s performance, and may exacerbate other risks to which the fund is subject.<span style="font-weight:bold"> </span></div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Foreign investments risk: </span>The value of international investments traded in foreign currencies may be adversely impacted by fluctuations in exchange rates. International investments, particularly investments in emerging markets, may carry risks associated with potentially less stable economies or governments (such as the risk of seizure by a foreign government, the imposition of economic sanctions or currency or other restrictions, or high levels of inflation), and may be or become illiquid.<span style="font-weight:bold"> </span></div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Geographic focus risk: </span>Investments focused in a single region may be affected by common economic forces and other factors. In addition, events in <span style="font-weight:bold"> </span></div><div style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">any one country within the region may impact the other countries or the region as a whole. Because the fund currently invests, and may in the future invest, significantly in European and Asian companies, the fund is particularly susceptible to economic, political, regulatory and other events or conditions affecting issuers in Europe and Asia. European financial markets have in recent years experienced increased volatility due to concerns with some countries’ high levels of sovereign debt, budget deficits, and unemployment. Asia includes countries in various stages of economic development, from emerging market economies to the highly developed economy of Japan. Some parts of Asia may be subject to a greater degree of economic, political and social instability than is the case in the United States. </div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold"></span><span style="font-weight:bold">Derivatives risk:</span> The fund’s use of derivatives may increase the risks of investing in the fund by increasing investment exposure (which may be considered leverage) or, in the case of many over-the-counter instruments, because of the potential inability to terminate or sell derivative positions and the potential failure of the other party to the instrument to meet its obligations. The risk of a party failing to meet its obligations may increase if the fund has significant exposure to that counterparty. The value of derivatives may move in unexpected ways due to unanticipated market movements, the use of leverage, imperfect correlation between the derivative instrument and the reference asset, or other factors, especially in unusual market conditions, and volatility in the value of derivatives could adversely impact the fund’s returns, obligations and exposures. Derivatives are also subject to other risks, including liquidity risk (e.g., liquidity demands arising from the requirement to make payments to a derivative counterparty), operational risk (e.g., settlement issues or system failures) and legal risk (e.g., insufficient legal documentation or contract enforceability issues). </div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Common stock risk:</span> Common stock represents an ownership interest in a company. The value of a company’s stock may fall or fail to rise as a result of factors directly relating to that company, such as decisions made by its management or lower demand for the company’s products or services. A stock’s value may also fall because of factors affecting not just the company, but also other companies in the same industry or in a number of different industries, such as increases in production costs. Companies whose stocks the Investment Manager believes are undervalued by the market may have experienced adverse business developments or may be subject to special risks that have caused their stocks to be out of favor. Value stocks may fail to rebound, and the market may not favor value-style investing. These risks are generally greater for small and midsize companies. From time to time, the fund may invest a significant portion of its assets in companies in one or more related industries or sectors, which would make the fund more vulnerable to adverse developments affecting those industries or sectors. </div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Large shareholder transaction risk:</span> The fund is subject to the risk that shareholders will purchase or redeem large quantities of shares of the fund. The fund may be an investment option for mutual funds that are managed by the Investment Manager and its affiliates as “funds of funds.” Additionally, other </div><div style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"> investors from time to time may make substantial investments in the fund. Such shareholders may at times be considered to control the fund. In addition, a large number of shareholders may collectively purchase or redeem fund shares in large amounts rapidly or unexpectedly. Large shareholder transactions may adversely affect the fund’s liquidity and net assets. These redemptions may also adversely affect the fund’s performance if the fund is forced to sell securities, which may also increase the fund’s brokerage costs. </div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Management and operational risk: </span>There is no guarantee that the investment techniques, analyses, or judgments that the Investment Manager applies in making investment decisions for the fund will produce the intended outcome or that the investments selected for the fund will perform as well as other securities that were not selected for the fund. The Investment Manager, or the fund’s other service providers, may experience disruptions or operating errors that could negatively impact the fund.<span style="font-weight:bold"> </span></div> An investment in the fund is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. Performance <div style="margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The accompanying bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the fund. The bar chart shows changes in the fund’s performance from year to year for Class IA shares. The table shows the average annual total returns of each class of the fund that has been in operation for at least one full calendar year and also compares the fund’s performance with the average annual total returns of a broad measure of market performance and an additional index with characteristics relevant to the fund. Performance for classes other than those shown may vary from the performance shown to the extent the expenses for those classes differ. The fund makes updated performance information, including its current net asset value per share, available at www.franklintempleton.com. </div><div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-style:italic">The fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the fund will perform in the future. </span></div><div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">Insurance-related charges or expenses are not reflected in the performance information below, and if those charges were included, returns would be less than those shown. </div> The bar chart shows changes in the fund’s performance from year to year for Class IA shares. The table shows the average annual total returns of each class of the fund that has been in operation for at least one full calendar year and also compares the fund’s performance with the average annual total returns of a broad measure of market performance and an additional index with characteristics relevant to the fund. www.franklintempleton.com The fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the fund will perform in the future. Annual total returns for class IA shares <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse:collapse;font-family:simhei;font-size:8.5pt;width:98%;border-spacing:0px;margin-left:auto"> <tr> <td style="width:79%;"></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;width:1%;"></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;width:1%;"></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;width:1%;"></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> </tr> <tr style="font-size:1pt"> <td style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #999999;height:1.5pt;"> </td> <td colspan="4" style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #999999;height:1.5pt;"> </td> <td colspan="4" style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #999999;height:1.5pt;"> </td> <td colspan="4" style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #999999;height:1.5pt;"> </td> </tr> <tr style="page-break-inside:avoid;font-family:simhei;font-size:8.5pt"> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;vertical-align:top;"> <div style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:1.00em;text-indent:-1.00em;font-size:8.5pt;font-family:arial;">Best Quarter:</div> </td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;vertical-align:top;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;"><span style="font-family:arial">Q4 2022</span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:top;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:top;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;"><span style="font-family:arial">    </span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:top;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;vertical-align:bottom;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;vertical-align:bottom;text-align:right;"><span style="font-family:arial">17.24%</span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:bottom;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> </tr> <tr style="font-size:1pt"> <td style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #999999;height:1.5pt;"> </td> <td colspan="4" style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #999999;height:1.5pt;"> </td> <td colspan="4" style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #999999;height:1.5pt;"> </td> <td colspan="4" style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #999999;height:1.5pt;"> </td> </tr> <tr style="page-break-inside:avoid;font-family:simhei;font-size:8.5pt"> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:top;"> <div style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:1.00em;text-indent:-1.00em;font-size:8.5pt;font-family:arial;">Worst Quarter:</div> </td> <td style=" BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:top;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;"><span style="font-family:arial">Q1 2020</span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:top;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style=" BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:top;"> </td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:top;"> </td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:top;"> </td> <td style=" BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:bottom;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:bottom;text-align:right;"><span style="font-family:arial">-20.41%</span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:bottom;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> </tr> </table> Best Quarter: 2022-12-31 0.1724 Worst Quarter: 2020-03-31 -0.2041 Average annual total returns (for periods ended 12/31/25) 0.3800 0.0955 0.0840 0.3768 0.0928 0.0812 0.3239 0.0791 0.0841 0.3122 0.0892 0.0818 <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">Important data provider notices and terms are available at <span style="font-family:arial;font-size:9pt;color:#388491"><span style="text-decoration:underline">www.franklintempletondatasources.com</span></span><span style="font-family:arial">. Such information is subject to change. </span></div> Fund summary Goal The fund seeks capital growth. Current income is a secondary objective. Fees and expenses <div style="margin-top: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The following table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the fund. <span style="font-weight: bold;">You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below.</span> The fees and expenses information does not reflect insurance-related charges or expenses borne by contract holders indirectly investing in the fund. If it did, expenses would be higher.</div> Annual Fund Operating Expenses     (expenses you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) 0.0067 0 0.0014 0.0081 0.0067 0.0025 0.0014 0.0106 Example <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The following hypothetical example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The example does not reflect insurance-related charges or expenses. If it did, expenses would be higher. It assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem or hold all your shares at the end of those periods. It assumes a 5% return on your investment each year and that the fund’s operating expenses remain the same (except that any applicable fee waiver or expense reimbursement is reflected only through its expiration date). Your actual costs may be higher or lower.</div> 83 83 259 259 450 450 1003 1003 108 108 337 337 584 584 1293 1293 Portfolio turnover <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The fund pays transaction-related costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or the above example, affect fund performance. The fund’s turnover rate in the most recent fiscal year was 44%.</div> 0.44 Investments, risks, and performance <div style="margin-top: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The fund invests mainly in common stocks of large and midsize companies outside the United States, with a focus on value stocks. Value stocks are those that the Investment Manager, as defined below, believes are currently undervalued by the market. If the Investment Manager is correct and other investors ultimately recognize the value of the company, the price of its stock may rise. The fund invests mainly in developed countries, but may invest in emerging markets. The Investment Manager may consider, among other factors, a company’s valuation, financial strength, growth potential, competitive position in its industry, projected future earnings, cash flows and dividends when deciding whether to buy or sell investments. The fund may also use derivatives, such as certain foreign currency transactions, futures, options, warrants and swap contracts, for both hedging and non‑hedging purposes. For example, the Investment Manager typically uses foreign currency forward contracts in connection with the fund’s investments in foreign securities in order to hedge the fund’s currency exposure relative to the MSCI EAFE Value Index‑NR.</div> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">It is important to understand that you can lose money by investing in the fund.</div> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Market risk: </span>The value of investments in the fund’s portfolio may fall or fail to rise over extended periods of time for a variety of reasons, including general economic, political or financial market conditions, investor sentiment and market perceptions, government actions, geopolitical events or changes, outbreaks of infectious illnesses or other widespread public health issues, and factors related to a specific issuer, asset class, geography, industry or sector. These and other factors may lead to increased volatility and reduced liquidity in the fund’s portfolio holdings, may negatively impact the fund’s performance, and may exacerbate other risks to which the fund is subject.</div> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Common stock risk: </span>Common stock represents an ownership interest in a company. The value of a company’s stock may fall or fail to rise as a result of factors directly relating to that company, such as decisions made by its management or lower demand for the company’s products or services. A stock’s value may also fall because of factors affecting not just the company, but also other companies in the same industry or in a number of different industries, such as increases in production costs. Companies whose stocks the Investment Manager believes are undervalued by the market may have experienced adverse business developments or may be subject to special risks that have caused their stocks to be out of favor. Value stocks may fail to rebound, and the market may not favor value-style investing. These risks are generally greater for small and midsize companies. From time to time, the fund may invest a significant portion of its assets in companies in one or more related industries or sectors, which would make the fund more vulnerable to adverse developments affecting those industries or sectors.</div> <div style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Foreign investments risk: </span>The value of international investments traded in foreign currencies may be adversely impacted by fluctuations in exchange rates. International investments, particularly investments in emerging markets, may carry risks associated with potentially less stable economies or governments (such as the risk of seizure by a foreign government, the imposition of economic sanctions or currency or other restrictions, or high levels of inflation), and may be or become illiquid.</div> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Geographic focus risk: </span>Investments focused in a single region may be affected by common economic forces and other factors. In addition, events in any one country within the region may impact the other countries or the region as a whole. Because the fund currently invests, and may in the future invest, significantly in European and Asian companies, the fund is particularly susceptible to economic, political, regulatory and other events or conditions affecting issuers in Europe and Asia. European financial markets have in recent years experienced increased volatility due to concerns with some countries’ high levels of sovereign debt, budget deficits, and unemployment. Asia includes countries in various stages of economic development, from emerging market economies to the highly developed economy of Japan. Some parts of Asia may be subject to a greater degree of economic, political and social instability than is the case in the United States.</div> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Derivatives risk: </span>The fund’s use of derivatives may increase the risks of investing in the fund by increasing investment exposure (which may be considered leverage) or, in the case of many over‑the‑counter instruments, because of the potential inability to terminate or sell derivative positions and the potential failure of the other party to the instrument to meet its obligations. The risk of a party failing to meet its obligations may increase if the fund has significant exposure to that counterparty. The value of derivatives may move in unexpected ways due to unanticipated market movements, the use of leverage, imperfect correlation between the derivative instrument and the reference asset, or other factors, especially in unusual market conditions, and volatility in the value of derivatives could adversely impact the fund’s returns, obligations and exposures. Derivatives are also subject to other risks, including liquidity risk (e.g., liquidity demands arising from the requirement to make payments to a derivative counterparty), operational risk (e.g., settlement issues or system failures) and legal risk (e.g., insufficient legal documentation or contract enforceability issues).</div> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Large shareholder transaction risk: </span>The<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span>fund is subject to the risk that shareholders will purchase or redeem large quantities of shares of the fund. The fund may be an investment option for mutual funds that are managed by the Investment Manager and its affiliates as “funds of funds.” Additionally, other investors from time to time may make substantial investments in the fund. Such shareholders may at times be considered to control the fund. In addition, a large number of shareholders may collectively purchase or redeem fund shares in large amounts rapidly or unexpectedly. Large shareholder transactions may adversely affect the fund’s liquidity and net assets. These</div> <div style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">redemptions may also adversely affect the fund’s performance if the fund is forced to sell securities, which may also increase the fund’s brokerage costs.</div> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Management and operational risk: </span>There is no guarantee that the investment techniques, analyses, or judgments that the Investment Manager applies in making investment decisions for the fund will produce the intended outcome or that the investments selected for the fund will perform as well as other securities that were not selected for the fund. The Investment Manager, or the fund’s other service providers, may experience disruptions or operating errors that could negatively impact the fund.</div> An investment in the fund is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. Performance <div style="margin-top: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The accompanying bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the fund. The bar chart shows changes in the fund’s performance from year to year for Class IA shares. The table shows the average annual total returns of each class of the fund that has been in operation for at least one full calendar year and also compares the fund’s performance with the average annual total returns of a broad measure of market performance and an additional index with characteristics relevant to the fund. Performance for classes other than those shown may vary from the performance shown to the extent the expenses for those classes differ. The fund makes updated performance information, including its current net asset value per share, available at www.franklintempleton.com.</div> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0%; text-indent: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-style: italic;">The fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the fund will perform in the future. </span></div> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">Insurance-related charges or expenses are not reflected in the performance information below, and if those charges were included, returns would be less than those shown.</div> The bar chart shows changes in the fund’s performance from year to year for Class IA shares. The table shows the average annual total returns of each class of the fund that has been in operation for at least one full calendar year and also compares the fund’s performance with the average annual total returns of a broad measure of market performance and an additional index with characteristics relevant to the fund. www.franklintempleton.com The fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the fund will perform in the future. Annual total returns for class IA shares <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: simhei; font-size: 8.5pt; width: 96%; border-spacing: 0px; margin: 0 auto;"> <tr> <td style="width: 52%;"></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom; width: 1%;"></td> <td style="width: 26%;"></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom; width: 1%;"></td> <td style="width: 20%;"></td> </tr> <tr style="page-break-inside: avoid; font-family: simhei; font-size: 8.5pt;"> <td style="border-top: 0.75pt solid #cccccc; border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #cccccc; vertical-align: top;"> <div style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 1.00em; text-indent: -1.00em; font-size: 8.5pt; font-family: arial;">Best Quarter:</div> </td> <td style="border-top: 0.75pt solid #cccccc; border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #cccccc; vertical-align: bottom;">  </td> <td style="border-top: 0.75pt solid #cccccc; border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #cccccc; vertical-align: top; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Q4 2022</span></td> <td style="border-top: 0.75pt solid #cccccc; border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #cccccc; vertical-align: bottom;">  </td> <td style="border-top: 0.75pt solid #cccccc; border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #cccccc; vertical-align: bottom; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: arial;">21.60%</span></td> </tr> <tr style="page-break-inside: avoid; font-family: simhei; font-size: 8.5pt;"> <td style="border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #cccccc; vertical-align: top;"> <div style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 1.00em; text-indent: -1.00em; font-size: 8.5pt; font-family: arial;">Worst Quarter:</div> </td> <td style="border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #cccccc; vertical-align: bottom;">  </td> <td style="border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #cccccc; vertical-align: top; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Q1 2020</span></td> <td style="border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #cccccc; vertical-align: bottom;">  </td> <td style="border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #cccccc; vertical-align: bottom; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: arial;">-25.58%</span></td> </tr> </table> Best Quarter: 2022-12-31 0.2160 Worst Quarter: 2020-03-31 -0.2558 Average annual total returns (for periods ended 12/31/25) 0.3507 0.1277 0.0913 0.3468 0.1249 0.0886 0.3239 0.0791 0.0841 0.4225 0.1336 0.0869 <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">Important data provider notices and terms are available at <span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 9pt; color: #467886;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">www.franklintempletondatasources.com</span></span><span style="font-family: arial;">. Such information is subject to change. </span></div> Fund summary Goal <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The fund seeks capital appreciation. </div> Fees and expenses <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The following table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the fund. <span style="font-weight:bold">You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below</span>. The fees and expenses information does not reflect insurance-related charges or expenses borne by contract holders indirectly investing in the fund. If it did, expenses would be higher. </div> Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) 0.0053 0 0.0009 0.0062 0.0053 0.0025 0.0009 0.0087 Example <div style="margin-top:6pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The following hypothetical example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The example does not reflect insurance-related charges or expenses. If it did, expenses would be higher. It assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem or hold all your shares at the end of those periods. It assumes a 5% return on your investment each year and that the fund’s operating expenses remain the same (except that any applicable fee waiver or expense reimbursement is reflected only through its expiration date). Your actual costs may be higher or lower. </div> 63 63 198 198 345 345 774 774 89 89 277 277 481 481 1072 1072 Portfolio turnover <div style="margin-top:6pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The fund pays transaction-related costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or the above example, affect fund performance. The fund’s turnover rate in the most recent fiscal year was 38%. </div> 0.38 Investments, risks, and performance Investments <div style="margin-top:6pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The fund invests mainly in common stocks of large U.S. companies, with a focus on growth stocks. Growth stocks are stocks of companies whose earnings are expected to grow faster than those of similar firms, and whose business growth and other characteristics may lead to an increase in stock price. The Investment Manager, as defined below, may consider, among other factors, a company’s valuation, financial strength, growth potential, competitive position in its industry, projected future earnings, cash flows and dividends when deciding whether to buy or sell investments. Under normal circumstances, the fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes) in companies of a size similar to those in the Russell 1000 Growth Index. This policy may be changed only after 60 days’ notice to shareholders. </div><div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The fund is “non-diversified,” which means it may invest a greater percentage of its assets in fewer issuers than a “diversified” fund. </div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">It is important to understand that you can lose money by investing in the fund. </div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Market risk:</span> The value of investments in the fund’s portfolio may fall or fail to rise over extended periods of time for a variety of reasons, including general economic, political or financial market conditions, investor sentiment and market perceptions, government actions, geopolitical events or changes, outbreaks of infectious illnesses or other widespread public health issues, and factors related to a specific issuer, asset class, geography, industry or sector. These and other factors may lead to increased volatility and reduced liquidity in the fund’s portfolio holdings, may negatively impact the fund’s performance, and may exacerbate other risks to which the fund is subject. </div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Common stock risk:</span> Common stock represents an ownership interest in a company. The value of a company’s stock may fall or fail to rise as a result of factors directly relating to that company, such as decisions made by its management or lower demand for the company’s products or services. A stock’s value may also fall because of factors affecting not just the company, but also other companies in the same industry or in a number of different industries, such as increases in production costs. </div><div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">Companies whose stocks the Investment Manager believes are undervalued by the market may have experienced adverse business developments or may be subject to special risks that have caused their stocks to be out of favor. Growth stocks may be more susceptible to earnings disappointments, and the market may not favor growth-style investing. From time to time, the fund may invest a significant portion of its assets in companies in one or more related industries or sectors, which would make the fund more vulnerable to adverse developments affecting those companies, industries or sectors. For example, </div><div style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"> the fund may invest a significant portion of its assets in companies in the information technology sector that may be significantly affected by technological obsolescence or innovation, short product cycles, falling prices and profits, competitive pressures and general market conditions. </div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Non-diversified fund risk: </span>The fund’s “non-diversified” status, which means the fund may invest a greater percentage of its assets in fewer issuers than a “diversified” fund, can increase the fund’s vulnerability to adverse developments affecting a single industry, country or issuer, which may result in greater losses and volatility for the fund. </div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Large shareholder transaction risk:</span> The fund is subject to the risk that shareholders will purchase or redeem large quantities of shares of the fund. The fund may be an investment option for mutual funds that are managed by the Investment Manager and its affiliates as “funds of funds.” Additionally, other investors from time to time may make substantial investments in the fund. Such shareholders may at times be considered to control the fund. In addition, a large number of shareholders may collectively purchase or redeem fund shares in large amounts rapidly or unexpectedly. Large shareholder transactions may adversely affect the fund’s liquidity and net assets. These redemptions may also adversely affect the fund’s performance if the fund is forced to sell securities, which may also increase the fund’s brokerage costs. </div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Management and operational risk:</span> There is no guarantee that the investment techniques, analyses, or judgments that the Investment Manager applies in making investment decisions for the fund will produce the intended outcome or that the investments selected for the fund will perform as well as other securities that were not selected for the fund. The Investment Manager, or the fund’s other service providers, may experience disruptions or operating errors that could negatively impact the fund. </div> An investment in the fund is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. Performance <div style="margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The accompanying bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the fund. The bar chart shows changes in the fund’s performance from year to year for Class IA shares. The table shows the average annual total returns of each class of the fund that has been in operation for at least one full calendar year and also compares the fund’s performance with the average annual total returns of a broad measure of market performance and an additional index with characteristics relevant to the fund. Performance for classes other than those shown may vary from the performance shown to the extent the expenses for those classes differ. The fund makes updated performance information, including its current net asset value per share, available at www.franklintempleton.com. </div><div style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-style:italic">The fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the fund will perform in the future. </span></div><div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">Insurance-related charges or expenses are not reflected in the performance information below, and if those charges were included, returns would be less than those shown. </div> The bar chart shows changes in the fund’s performance from year to year for Class IA shares. The table shows the average annual total returns of each class of the fund that has been in operation for at least one full calendar year and also compares the fund’s performance with the average annual total returns of a broad measure of market performance and an additional index with characteristics relevant to the fund. www.franklintempleton.com The fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the fund will perform in the future. Annual total returns for class IA shares <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse:collapse;font-family:simhei;font-size:8.5pt;width:98%;border-spacing:0px;margin-left:auto"> <tr> <td style="width:79%;"></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;width:1%;"></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;width:1%;"></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;width:1%;"></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> </tr> <tr style="font-size:1pt"> <td style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #999999;height:1.5pt;"> </td> <td colspan="4" style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #999999;height:1.5pt;"> </td> <td colspan="4" style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #999999;height:1.5pt;"> </td> <td colspan="4" style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #999999;height:1.5pt;"> </td> </tr> <tr style="page-break-inside:avoid;font-family:simhei;font-size:8.5pt"> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;vertical-align:top;"> <div style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:1.00em;text-indent:-1.00em;font-size:8.5pt;font-family:arial;">Best Quarter:</div> </td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;vertical-align:top;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;"><span style="font-family:arial">Q2 2020</span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:top;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:top;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;"><span style="font-family:arial">    </span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:top;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;vertical-align:bottom;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;vertical-align:bottom;text-align:right;"><span style="font-family:arial">28.83%</span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:bottom;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> </tr> <tr style="font-size:1pt"> <td style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #999999;height:1.5pt;"> </td> <td colspan="4" style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #999999;height:1.5pt;"> </td> <td colspan="4" style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #999999;height:1.5pt;"> </td> <td colspan="4" style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #999999;height:1.5pt;"> </td> </tr> <tr style="page-break-inside:avoid;font-family:simhei;font-size:8.5pt"> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:top;"> <div style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:1.00em;text-indent:-1.00em;font-size:8.5pt;font-family:arial;">Worst Quarter:</div> </td> <td style=" BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:top;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;"><span style="font-family:arial">Q2 2022</span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:top;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style=" BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:top;"> </td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:top;"> </td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:top;"> </td> <td style=" BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:bottom;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:bottom;text-align:right;"><span style="font-family:arial">-22.06%</span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:bottom;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> </tr> </table> Best Quarter: 2020-06-30 0.2883 Worst Quarter: 2022-06-30 -0.2206 Average annual total returns (for periods ended 12/31/25) 0.1458 0.1371 0.1795 0.1434 0.1344 0.1766 0.1715 0.1315 0.1429 0.1856 0.1532 0.1813 <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">Important data provider notices and terms are available at <span style="font-family:arial;font-size:9pt;color:#388491"><span style="text-decoration:underline">www.franklintempletondatasources.com</span></span><span style="font-family:arial">. Such information is subject to change. </span></div> Fund summary Goal <div style="margin-top:6pt;margin-bottom:0pt;font-size:10pt;font-family:arial;">The fund seeks capital growth and current income. </div> Fees and expenses <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold"></span>The following table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the fund. <span style="font-weight:bold">You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below.</span> The fees and expenses information does not reflect insurance-related charges or expenses borne by contract holders indirectly investing in the fund. If it did, expenses would be higher. </div> Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) 0.0045 0 0.0009 0.0054 0.0045 0.0025 0.0009 0.0079 Example <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The following hypothetical example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The example does not reflect insurance-related charges or expenses. If it did, expenses would be higher. It assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem or hold all your shares at the end of those periods. It assumes a 5% return on your investment each year and that the fund’s operating expenses remain the same (except that any applicable fee waiver or expense reimbursement is reflected only through its expiration date). Your actual costs may be higher or lower. </div> 55 55 173 173 302 302 678 678 81 81 253 253 439 439 978 978 Portfolio turnover <div style="margin-top:6pt;margin-bottom:0pt;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The fund pays transaction-related costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or the above example, affect fund performance. The fund’s turnover rate in the most recent fiscal year was 21%. </div> 0.21 Investments, risks, and performance Investments <div style="margin-top:6pt;margin-bottom:0pt;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The fund invests mainly in common stocks of U.S. companies, with a focus on value stocks that offer the potential for capital growth, current income, or both. Under normal circumstances, the fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in large-cap companies, which, for purposes of this policy, are of a size similar to those in the Russell 1000 Value Index. This policy may be changed only after 60 days’ notice to shareholders. As of March 31, 2026, the index was composed of companies having market capitalizations of between approximately $907.1 million to $3.5 trillion. The fund may also invest in midsize companies. Value stocks are issued by companies that the Investment Manager believes are currently undervalued by the market. If the Investment Manager is correct and other investors ultimately recognize the value of the company, the price of its stock may rise. The Investment Manager may consider, among other factors, a company’s valuation, financial strength, growth potential, competitive position in its industry, projected future earnings, cash flows and dividends when deciding whether to buy or sell investments. </div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">It is important to understand that you can lose money by investing in the fund. </div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Market risk: </span>The value of investments in the fund’s portfolio may fall or fail to rise over extended periods of time for a variety of reasons, including general economic, political or financial market conditions, investor sentiment and market perceptions, government actions, geopolitical events or changes, outbreaks of infectious illnesses or other widespread public health issues, and factors related to a specific issuer, asset class, geography, industry or sector. These and other factors may lead to increased volatility and reduced liquidity in the fund’s portfolio holdings, may negatively impact the fund’s performance, and may exacerbate other risks to which the fund is subject.<span style="font-weight:bold"> </span></div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Common stock risk: </span>Common stock represents an ownership interest in a company. The value of a company’s stock may fall or fail to rise as a result of factors directly relating to that company, such as decisions made by its management or lower demand for the company’s products or services. A stock’s value may also fall because of factors affecting not just the company, but also other companies in the same industry or in a number of different industries, such as increases in production costs.<span style="font-weight:bold"> </span></div><div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">Companies whose stocks the Investment Manager believes are undervalued by the market may have experienced adverse business developments or may be subject to special risks that have caused their stocks to be out of favor. Value stocks may fail to rebound, and the market may not favor value-style investing. Income provided by the fund may be reduced by changes in the dividend policies of, and the capital resources available at, the companies in which the fund invests. </div> <div style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Large shareholder transaction risk: </span>The fund is subject to the risk that shareholders will purchase or redeem large quantities of shares of the fund. The fund may be an investment option for mutual funds that are managed by the Investment Manager and its affiliates as “funds of funds.” Additionally, other investors from time to time may make substantial investments in the fund. Such shareholders may at times be considered to control the fund. In addition, a large number of shareholders may collectively purchase or redeem fund shares in large amounts rapidly or unexpectedly. Large shareholder transactions may adversely affect the fund’s liquidity and net assets. These redemptions may also adversely affect the fund’s performance if the fund is forced to sell securities, which may also increase the fund’s brokerage costs.<span style="font-weight:bold"> </span></div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Management and operational risk: </span>There is no guarantee that the investment techniques, analyses, or judgments that the Investment Manager applies in making investment decisions for the fund will produce the intended outcome or that the investments selected for the fund will perform as well as other securities that were not selected for the fund. The Investment Manager, or the fund’s other service providers, may experience disruptions or operating errors that could negatively impact the fund.<span style="font-weight:bold"> </span></div> An investment in the fund is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. Performance <div style="margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:0pt;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The accompanying bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the fund. The bar chart shows changes in the fund’s performance from year to year for Class IA shares. The table shows the average annual total returns of each class of the fund that has been in operation for at least one full calendar year and also compares the fund’s performance with the average annual total returns of a broad measure of market performance and an additional index with characteristics relevant to the fund. Performance for classes other than those shown may vary from the performance shown to the extent the expenses for those classes differ. The fund makes updated performance information, including its current net asset value per share, available at www.franklintempleton.com. </div><div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-style:italic">The fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the fund will perform in the future. </span></div><div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">Insurance-related charges or expenses are not reflected in the performance information below, and if those charges were included, returns would be less than those shown. </div> The bar chart shows changes in the fund’s performance from year to year for Class IA shares. The table shows the average annual total returns of each class of the fund that has been in operation for at least one full calendar year and also compares the fund’s performance with the average annual total returns of a broad measure of market performance and an additional index with characteristics relevant to the fund. www.franklintempleton.com The fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the fund will perform in the future. Annual total returns for class IA shares <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse:collapse;font-family:arial;font-size:8.5pt;width:100%;border-spacing:0px;margin:0 auto"> <tr> <td style="width:56%;"></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;width:1%;"></td> <td style="width:21%;"></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;width:1%;"></td> <td style="width:21%;"></td> </tr> <tr style="page-break-inside:avoid;font-family:arial;font-size:8.5pt"> <td style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #969696; BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #969696;vertical-align:top;">Best Quarter:</td> <td style=" BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #969696; BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #969696;vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #969696; BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #969696;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;">Q2 2020</td> <td style=" BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #969696; BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #969696;vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #969696; BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #969696;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;">17.78%</td> </tr> <tr style="page-break-inside:avoid;font-family:arial;font-size:8.5pt"> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #969696;vertical-align:top;">Worst Quarter:</td> <td style=" BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #969696;vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #969696;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;">Q1 2020</td> <td style=" BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #969696;vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #969696;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;">-25.53%</td> </tr> </table> Best Quarter: 2020-06-30 0.1778 Worst Quarter: 2020-03-31 -0.2553 Average annual total returns (for periods ended 12/31/25) 0.2066 0.1568 0.1358 0.2035 0.1538 0.1330 0.1715 0.1315 0.1429 0.1591 0.1133 0.1053 <div style="margin-top:6pt;margin-bottom:0pt;font-size:8pt;font-family:arial;">Important data provider notices and terms are available at <span style="font-family:arial;font-size:8pt;color:#467886"><span style="text-decoration:underline">www.franklintempletondatasources.com</span></span><span style="font-family:arial">. Such information is subject to change. </span></div> Fund summary Goal <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The fund seeks as high a level of current income as the Investment Manager (as defined below) believes is consistent with preservation of capital.</div> Fees and expenses <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The following table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the fund. <span style="font-weight: bold;">You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below.</span> The fees and expenses information does not reflect insurance-related charges or expenses borne by contract holders indirectly investing in the fund. If it did, expenses would be higher.</div> Annual Fund Operating Expenses(expenses you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) 0.0037 0 0.0063 0.0100 -0.0050 0.0050 0.0037 0.0025 0.0062 0.0124 -0.0049 0.0075 April 30, 2027 Example <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The following hypothetical example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The example does not reflect insurance-related charges or expenses. If it did, expenses would be higher. It assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem or hold all your shares at the end of those periods. It assumes a 5% return on your investment each year and that the fund’s operating expenses remain the same (except that any applicable fee</div><div style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">waiver or expense reimbursement is reflected only through its expiration date). Your actual costs may be higher or lower.</div> 51 51 269 269 504 504 1180 1180 77 77 346 346 635 635 1458 1458 Portfolio turnover <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The fund pays transaction-related costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or the above example, affect fund performance. The fund’s turnover rate in the most recent fiscal year was 871%.</div> 8.71 Investments, risks, and performance Investments <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The fund invests mainly in mortgages, mortgage-related fixed income securities and related derivatives that are either investment-grade or below-investment-grade in quality (sometimes referred to as “junk bonds”). Under normal circumstances, the fund invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in mortgages, mortgage-related fixed income securities and related derivatives (i.e., derivatives used to acquire exposure to, or whose underlying securities are, mortgages or mortgage-related securities). The fund generally uses the net unrealized gain or loss, or market value, of mortgage-related derivatives for purposes of this policy, but may use the notional value of a derivative if that is determined to be a more appropriate measure of the fund’s investment exposure. This policy may be changed only after 60 days’ notice to shareholders.</div><div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The fund expects to invest in mortgage-backed investments that are obligations of U.S. government agencies and instrumentalities and accordingly are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States (e.g., Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed bonds) as well as in mortgage-backed investments that are backed by only the credit of a federal agency or government-sponsored entity (e.g., Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage-backed bonds), and that have short- to long-term maturities.</div><div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The fund also expects to invest in lower-rated, higher-yielding mortgage-backed securities, including non‑agency residential mortgage-backed securities (which may be backed by non‑qualified or “sub‑prime” mortgages), commercial mortgage-backed securities, and collateralized mortgage obligations (including interest only, principal only, and other prepayment derivatives). Non‑agency (i.e., privately issued) securities typically are lower-rated and higher yielding than securities issued or backed by agencies such as Ginnie Mae, Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. The fund currently has significant investment exposure to commercial mortgage-backed securities. While the</div><div style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">fund’s emphasis will be on mortgage-backed securities, the fund may also invest to a lesser extent in other types of asset-backed securities.</div><div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The Investment Manager may consider, among other factors, credit, interest rate, prepayment and liquidity risks, as well as general market conditions, when deciding whether to buy or sell investments. The Investment Manager typically uses to a significant extent derivatives, including credit default swaps, interest rate swaps, total return swaps, to‑be‑announced (TBA) commitments, futures, options and swaptions, including on mortgage-backed securities and indices, for both hedging and non‑hedging purposes, including to obtain or adjust exposure to mortgage-backed investments.</div> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">It is important to understand that you can lose money by investing in the fund.</div> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Market risk: </span>The value of investments in the fund’s portfolio may fall or fail to rise over extended periods of time for a variety of reasons, including general economic, political or financial market conditions, investor sentiment and market perceptions, government actions, geopolitical events or changes, outbreaks of infectious illnesses or other widespread public health issues, and factors related to a specific issuer, asset class, geography, industry or sector, such as the housing or real estate markets. These and other factors may lead to increased volatility and reduced liquidity in the fund’s portfolio holdings, may negatively impact the fund’s performance, and may exacerbate other risks to which the fund is subject.</div> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Fixed income investments risk:</span> The risks associated with fixed income investments include interest rate risk, which is the risk that the value of the fund’s investments is likely to fall if interest rates rise. Fixed income investments are also subject to credit risk, which is the risk that issuers of the fund’s investments may default on payment of interest or principal. Fixed income investments may be more susceptible to downgrades or defaults during economic downturns or other periods of economic stress. Default risk is generally higher for non‑qualified mortgages. Interest rate risk is generally greater for longer-term fixed income securities, and credit risk is generally greater for below-investment-grade fixed income securities, which can be more sensitive to changes in markets, credit conditions, and interest rates, and may be considered speculative. Mortgage- and asset- backed investments, unlike traditional debt investments, are also subject to prepayment risk, which means that they may increase in value less than other bonds when interest rates decline and decline in value more than other bonds when interest rates rise. The fund may have to invest the proceeds from prepaid investments, including mortgage- and asset- backed investments, in other investments with less attractive terms and yields. The fund’s investments in mortgage- and asset- backed securities, and in certain other securities and derivatives, may be or become illiquid.</div> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Industry concentration risk:</span> The fund’s concentration in an industry group composed of privately issued residential and commercial mortgage-backed</div><div style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">securities and mortgage-backed securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. government or its agencies or instrumentalities may make the fund’s net asset value more susceptible to economic, market, political and other developments affecting the residential and commercial real estate markets and the servicing of mortgage loans secured by real estate properties. During periods of difficult economic conditions, delinquencies and losses on commercial mortgage-backed investments in particular generally increase, including as a result of the effects of those conditions on commercial real estate markets, the ability of commercial tenants to make loan payments, and the ability of a property to attract and retain commercial tenants.</div> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Derivatives risk: </span>The fund’s use of derivatives may increase the risks of investing in the fund by increasing investment exposure (which may be considered leverage) or, in the case of many over‑the‑counter instruments, because of the potential inability to terminate or sell derivative positions and the potential failure of the other party to the instrument to meet its obligations. The risk of a party failing to meet its obligations may increase if the fund has significant exposure to that counterparty. The value of derivatives may move in unexpected ways due to unanticipated market movements, the use of leverage, imperfect correlation between the derivative instrument and the reference asset, or other factors, especially in unusual market conditions, and volatility in the value of derivatives could adversely impact the fund’s returns, obligations and exposures. Derivatives are also subject to other risks, including liquidity risk (e.g., liquidity demands arising from the requirement to make payments to a derivative counterparty), operational risk (e.g., settlement issues or system failures) and legal risk (e.g., insufficient legal documentation or contract enforceability issues).</div> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Large shareholder transaction risk: </span>The<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span>fund is subject to the risk that shareholders will purchase or redeem large quantities of shares of the fund. The fund may be an investment option for mutual funds that are managed by the Investment Manager and its affiliates as “funds of funds.” Additionally, other investors from time to time may make substantial investments in the fund. Such shareholders may at times be considered to control the fund. In addition, a large number of shareholders may collectively purchase or redeem fund shares in large amounts rapidly or unexpectedly. Large shareholder transactions may adversely affect the fund’s liquidity and net assets. These redemptions may also adversely affect the fund’s performance if the fund is forced to sell securities, which may also increase the fund’s brokerage costs.</div> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Management and operational risk: </span>There is no guarantee that the investment techniques, analyses, or judgments that the Investment Manager applies in making investment decisions for the fund will produce the intended outcome or that the investments selected for the fund will perform as well as other securities that were not selected for the fund. The Investment Manager, or the fund’s other service providers, may experience disruptions or operating errors that could negatively impact the fund.</div> An investment in the fund is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. Performance <div style="margin-top: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The accompanying bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the fund. The bar chart shows changes in the fund’s performance from year to year for Class IA shares. The table shows the average annual total returns of each class of the fund that has been in operation for at least one full calendar year and also compares the fund’s performance with the average annual total returns of a broad measure of market performance, an additional index with characteristics relevant to the fund and the Putnam Mortgage Securities Linked Benchmark, which represents the performance of the Bloomberg GNMA Index through April 18, 2018, and the performance of the Bloomberg U.S. MBS Index thereafter. Performance for classes other than those shown may vary from the performance shown to the extent the expenses for those classes differ. The fund makes updated performance information, including its current net asset value per share, available at www.franklintempleton.com.</div><div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 0%; text-indent: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-style: italic;">The fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the fund will perform in the future. </span></div><div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">Insurance-related charges or expenses are not reflected in the performance information below, and if those charges were included, returns would be less than those shown.</div> The bar chart shows changes in the fund’s performance from year to year for Class IA shares. The table shows the average annual total returns of each class of the fund that has been in operation for at least one full calendar year and also compares the fund’s performance with the average annual total returns of a broad measure of market performance, an additional index with characteristics relevant to the fund and the Putnam Mortgage Securities Linked Benchmark, which represents the performance of the Bloomberg GNMA Index through April 18, 2018, and the performance of the Bloomberg U.S. MBS Index thereafter. The table shows the average annual total returns of each class of the fund that has been in operation for at least one full calendar year and also compares the fund’s performance with the average annual total returns of a broad measure of market performance, an additional index with characteristics relevant to the fund and the Putnam Mortgage Securities Linked Benchmark, which represents the performance of the Bloomberg GNMA Index through April 18, 2018, and the performance of the Bloomberg U.S. MBS Index thereafter. www.franklintempleton.com The fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the fund will perform in the future. Annual total returns for class IA shares <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: simhei; font-size: 8pt; width: 96%; border-spacing: 0px; margin: 0 auto;"> <tr> <td style="width: 26%;"></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom; width: 1%;"></td> <td style="width: 65%;"></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom; width: 2%;"></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom; width: 2%;"></td> </tr> <tr style="font-size: 1pt;"> <td style="border-top: 0.75pt solid #bfbfbf; height: 1.5pt;"> </td> <td colspan="2" style="border-top: 0.75pt solid #bfbfbf; height: 1.5pt;"> </td> <td colspan="4" style="border-top: 0.75pt solid #bfbfbf; height: 1.5pt;"> </td> </tr> <tr style="page-break-inside: avoid; font-family: simhei; font-size: 8pt;"> <td style="padding-bottom: 2pt; border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #bfbfbf; vertical-align: top;"> <div style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 1.00em; text-indent: -1.00em; font-size: 8pt; font-family: arial;">Best Quarter:</div> </td> <td style="border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #bfbfbf; vertical-align: bottom;">  </td> <td style="padding-bottom: 2pt; border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #bfbfbf; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Q4 2023</span></td> <td style="border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #bfbfbf; vertical-align: bottom;">  </td> <td style="padding-bottom: 2pt; border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #bfbfbf; white-space: nowrap; vertical-align: bottom;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></td> <td style="padding-bottom: 2pt; border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #bfbfbf; white-space: nowrap; vertical-align: bottom; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: arial;">7.97</span></td> <td style="padding-bottom: 2pt; border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #bfbfbf; white-space: nowrap; vertical-align: bottom;"><span style="font-family: arial;">% </span></td> </tr> <tr style="font-size: 1pt;"> <td style="height: 1.5pt;"></td> <td colspan="2" style="height: 1.5pt;"></td> <td colspan="4" style="height: 1.5pt;"></td> </tr> <tr style="page-break-inside: avoid; font-family: simhei; font-size: 8pt;"> <td style="padding-bottom: 2pt; border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #bfbfbf; vertical-align: top;"> <div style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 1.00em; text-indent: -1.00em; font-size: 8pt; font-family: arial;">Worst Quarter:</div> </td> <td style="border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #bfbfbf; vertical-align: bottom;">  </td> <td style="padding-bottom: 2pt; border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #bfbfbf; vertical-align: bottom; white-space: nowrap; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Q1 2020</span></td> <td style="border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #bfbfbf; vertical-align: bottom;">  </td> <td style="padding-bottom: 2pt; border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #bfbfbf; white-space: nowrap; vertical-align: bottom;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></td> <td style="padding-bottom: 2pt; border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #bfbfbf; white-space: nowrap; vertical-align: bottom; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: arial;">-9.91</span></td> <td style="padding-bottom: 2pt; border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #bfbfbf; white-space: nowrap; vertical-align: bottom;"><span style="font-family: arial;">% </span></td> </tr> </table> Best Quarter: 2023-12-31 0.0797 Worst Quarter: 2020-03-31 -0.0991 Average annual total returns (for periods ended 12/31/25) 0.0939 0.0107 0.0187 0.0909 0.0083 0.0162 0.0730 -0.0036 0.0201 0.0858 0.0015 0.0159 0.0858 0.0015 0.0148 <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 2%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">Important data provider notices and terms are available at <span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 9pt; color: #467886;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">www.franklintempletondatasources.com</span></span><span style="font-family: arial;">. Such information is subject to change. </span></div> Fund summary Goal <div style="margin-top: 4pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 1%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The fund seeks capital appreciation.</div> Fees and expenses <div style="margin-top: 4pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 1%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The following table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the fund. <span style="font-weight: bold;">You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below.</span> The fees and expenses information does not reflect insurance-related charges or expenses borne by contract holders indirectly investing in the fund. If it did, expenses would be higher.</div> Annual Fund Operating Expenses(expenses you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) 0.0060 0 0.0032 0.0092 -0.0005 0.0087 0.0060 0.0025 0.0032 0.0117 -0.0005 0.0112 April 30, 2027 Example <div style="margin-top: 4pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 1%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The following hypothetical example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The example does not reflect insurance-related charges or expenses. If it did, expenses would be higher. It assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem or hold all your shares at the end of those periods. It assumes a 5% return on your investment each year and that the fund’s operating expenses remain the same (except that any applicable fee waiver or expense reimbursement is reflected only through its expiration date). Your actual costs may be higher or lower.</div> 89 89 289 289 505 505 1127 1127 114 114 367 367 640 640 1416 1416 Portfolio turnover <div style="margin-top: 4pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 1%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The fund pays transaction-related costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or the above example, affect fund performance. The fund’s turnover rate in the most recent fiscal year was 62%.</div> 0.62 Investments, risks, and performance Investments <div style="margin-top: 4pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 1%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The fund invests mainly in common stocks of small U.S. companies, with a focus on growth stocks. Growth stocks are stocks of companies whose earnings are expected to grow faster than those of similar firms, and whose business growth and other characteristics may lead to an increase in stock price. Under normal circumstances, the fund invests at least 80% of the fund’s net assets in companies of a size similar to those in the Russell 2000<sup style="font-size: 75%; vertical-align: top;">®</sup> Growth Index. This policy may be changed only after 60 days’ notice to shareholders. As of March 31, 2026, the index was composed of companies having market capitalizations of between approximately $4.4 million and $38.3 billion.</div> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 1%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The Investment Manager, as defined below, may consider, among other factors, a company’s valuation, financial strength, growth potential, competitive position in its industry, projected future earnings, cash flows and dividends when deciding whether to buy or sell investments.</div> <div style="margin-top: 4pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 1%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">It is important to understand that you can lose money by investing in the fund.</div> <div style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 1%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Market risk:</span> The value of investments in the fund’s portfolio may fall or fail to rise over extended periods of time for a variety of reasons, including general economic, political or financial market conditions, investor sentiment and market perceptions, government actions, geopolitical events or changes, outbreaks of infectious illnesses or other widespread public health issues, and factors related to a specific issuer, asset class, geography, industry or sector. These and other factors may lead to increased volatility and reduced liquidity in the fund’s portfolio holdings, may negatively impact the fund’s performance, and may exacerbate other risks to which the fund is subject.</div> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 1%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Common stock risk:</span> Common stock represents an ownership interest in a company. The value of a company’s stock may fall or fail to rise as a result of factors directly relating to that company, such as decisions made by its management or lower demand for the company’s products or services. A stock’s value may also fall because of factors affecting not just the company, but also other companies in the same industry or in a number of different industries, such as increases in production costs. Companies whose stocks the Investment Manager believes are undervalued by the market may have experienced adverse business developments or may be subject to special risks that have caused their stocks to be out of favor. Growth stocks may be more susceptible to earnings disappointments, and the market may not favor growth-style investing. These risks are generally greater for small and midsize companies. From time to time, the fund may invest a significant portion of its assets in companies in one or more related industries or sectors, which would make the fund more vulnerable to adverse developments affecting those industries or sectors.</div> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 1%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Small and midsize companies risk:</span> Stocks of small and midsize companies often trade in smaller volumes, and their prices may fluctuate more than stocks of larger companies. Stocks of these companies may therefore be more vulnerable to adverse developments than those of larger companies.</div> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 1%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Large shareholder transaction risk:</span> The fund is subject to the risk that shareholders will purchase or redeem large quantities of shares of the fund. The fund may be an investment option for mutual funds that are managed by the Investment Manager and its affiliates as “funds of funds.” Additionally, other investors from time to time may make substantial investments in the fund. Such shareholders may at times be considered to control the fund. In addition, a large number of shareholders may collectively purchase or redeem fund shares in large amounts rapidly or unexpectedly. Large shareholder transactions may adversely affect the fund’s liquidity and net assets. These redemptions may also adversely affect the fund’s performance if the fund is forced to sell securities, which may also increase the fund’s brokerage costs.</div> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 1%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Management and operational risk:</span> There is no guarantee that the investment techniques, analyses, or judgments that the Investment Manager applies in making investment decisions for the fund will produce the intended outcome or that the investments selected for the fund will perform as well as other securities that were not selected for the fund. The Investment Manager, or the</div> <div style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 1%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">fund’s other service providers, may experience disruptions or operating errors that could negatively impact the fund.</div> An investment in the fund is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. Performance <div style="margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 1%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The accompanying bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the fund. The bar chart shows changes in the fund’s performance from year to year for Class IA shares. The table shows the average annual total returns of each class of the fund that has been in operation for at least one full calendar year and also compares the fund’s performance with the average annual total returns of a broad measure of market performance and an additional index with characteristics relevant to the fund. Before September 17, 2018, the fund was managed with a materially different investment strategy and may have achieved materially different performance results under its current investment strategy from that shown for periods before this date. Performance for classes other than those shown may vary from the performance shown to the extent the expenses for those classes differ. The fund makes updated performance information, including its current net asset value per share, available at www.franklintempleton.com.</div> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 1%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-style: italic;">The fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the fund will perform in the future. </span></div> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 1%; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">Insurance-related charges or expenses are not reflected in the performance information below, and if those charges were included, returns would be less than those shown.</div> The bar chart shows changes in the fund’s performance from year to year for Class IA shares. The table shows the average annual total returns of each class of the fund that has been in operation for at least one full calendar year and also compares the fund’s performance with the average annual total returns of a broad measure of market performance and an additional index with characteristics relevant to the fund. Before September 17, 2018, the fund was managed with a materially different investment strategy and may have achieved materially different performance results under its current investment strategy from that shown for periods before this date. www.franklintempleton.com The fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the fund will perform in the future. Annual total returns for class IA shares <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial; font-size: 8pt; width: 99%; border-spacing: 0px; margin-left: auto;"> <tr> <td style="width: 88%;"></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom; width: 1%;"></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom;"></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom; width: 1%;"></td> </tr> <tr style="font-size: 1pt;"> <td style="border-top: 0.75pt solid #7f7f7f; height: 3pt;"> </td> <td colspan="4" style="border-top: 0.75pt solid #7f7f7f; height: 3pt;"> </td> <td colspan="4" style="border-top: 0.75pt solid #7f7f7f; height: 3pt;"> </td> </tr> <tr style="page-break-inside: avoid; font-family: arial; font-size: 8pt; background-color: #cceeff;"> <td style="border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #7f7f7f; vertical-align: top;"> <div style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 1.00em; text-indent: -1.00em; font-size: 8pt; font-family: arial;">Best Quarter:</div> </td> <td style="border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #7f7f7f; vertical-align: bottom;">  </td> <td style="border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #7f7f7f; white-space: nowrap; vertical-align: bottom;"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #7f7f7f; white-space: nowrap; vertical-align: bottom; text-align: right;">Q2 2020</td> <td style="border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #7f7f7f; white-space: nowrap; vertical-align: bottom;"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #7f7f7f; vertical-align: bottom;">  </td> <td style="border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #7f7f7f; white-space: nowrap; vertical-align: bottom;"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #7f7f7f; white-space: nowrap; vertical-align: bottom; text-align: right;">32.68</td> <td style="border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #7f7f7f; white-space: nowrap; vertical-align: bottom;">% </td> </tr> <tr style="font-size: 1pt;"> <td style="height: 3pt;"></td> <td colspan="4" style="height: 3pt;"></td> <td colspan="4" style="height: 3pt;"></td> </tr> <tr style="page-break-inside: avoid; font-family: arial; font-size: 8pt;"> <td style="border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #7f7f7f; vertical-align: top;"> <div style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 1.00em; text-indent: -1.00em; font-size: 8pt; font-family: arial;">Worst Quarter:</div> </td> <td style="border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #7f7f7f; vertical-align: bottom;">  </td> <td style="border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #7f7f7f; white-space: nowrap; vertical-align: bottom;"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #7f7f7f; white-space: nowrap; vertical-align: bottom; text-align: right;">Q4 2018</td> <td style="border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #7f7f7f; white-space: nowrap; vertical-align: bottom;"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #7f7f7f; vertical-align: bottom;">  </td> <td style="border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #7f7f7f; white-space: nowrap; vertical-align: bottom;"> </td> <td style="border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #7f7f7f; white-space: nowrap; vertical-align: bottom; text-align: right;">-20.45</td> <td style="border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #7f7f7f; white-space: nowrap; vertical-align: bottom;">% </td> </tr> </table> Best Quarter: 2020-06-30 0.3268 Worst Quarter: 2018-12-31 -0.2045 Average annual total returns (for periods ended 12/31/25) 0.0907 0.0645 0.1172 0.0880 0.0618 0.1145 0.1715 0.1315 0.1429 0.1301 0.0318 0.0957 <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 1%; font-size: 8pt; font-family: arial;">Important data provider notices and terms are available at <span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 8pt; color: #467886;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">www.franklintempletondatasources.com</span></span><span style="font-family: arial;">. Such information is subject to change. </span></div> Fund summary Goal <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The fund seeks capital appreciation. </div> Fees and expenses <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The following table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the fund. <span style="font-weight:bold">You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below.</span> The fees and expenses information does not reflect insurance-related charges or expenses borne by contract holders indirectly investing in the fund. If it did, expenses would be higher. </div> Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) 0.0060 0 0.0017 0.0077 0.0060 0.0025 0.0017 0.0102 Example <div style="margin-top:6pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The following hypothetical example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The example does not reflect insurance-related charges or expenses. If it did, expenses would be higher. It assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem or hold all your shares at the end of those periods. It assumes a 5% return on your investment each year and that the fund’s operating expenses remain the same (except that any applicable fee waiver or expense reimbursement is reflected only through its expiration date). Your actual costs may be higher or lower. </div> 79 79 246 246 428 428 955 955 104 104 324 324 563 563 1247 1247 Portfolio turnover <div style="margin-top:6pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The fund pays transaction-related costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or the above example, affect fund performance. The fund’s turnover rate in the most recent fiscal year was 88%. </div> 0.88 Investments, risks, and performance Investments <div style="margin-top:6pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The fund invests mainly in common stocks of small U.S. companies, with a focus on value stocks. Value stocks are issued by companies that the fund’s portfolio managers believe are currently undervalued by the market. If correct, and other investors ultimately recognize the value of the company, the price of its stock may rise. Under normal circumstances, the fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in companies of a size similar to those in the Russell 2000 Value Index. This policy may be changed only after 60 days’ notice to shareholders. As of March 31, 2026, the index was composed of companies having market capitalizations of between approximately $18.8 million and $33.8 billion. The fund’s portfolio managers may consider, among other factors, a company’s valuation, financial strength, growth potential, competitive position in its industry, projected future earnings, cash flows and dividends when deciding whether to buy or sell investments. </div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">It is important to understand that you can lose money by investing in the fund. </div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Market risk: </span>The value of investments in the fund’s portfolio may fall or fail to rise over extended periods of time for a variety of reasons, including general economic, political or financial market conditions, investor sentiment and market perceptions, government actions, geopolitical events or changes, outbreaks of infectious illnesses or other widespread public health issues, and factors related to a specific issuer, asset class, geography, industry or sector. These and other factors may lead to increased volatility and reduced liquidity in the fund’s portfolio holdings, may negatively impact the fund’s performance, and may exacerbate other risks to which the fund is subject.<span style="font-weight:bold"> </span></div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Common stock risk: </span>Common stock represents an ownership interest in a company. The value of a company’s stock may fall or fail to rise as a result of factors directly relating to that company, such as decisions made by its management or lower demand for the company’s products or services. A stock’s value may also fall because of factors affecting not just the company, but also other companies in the same industry or in a number of different industries, such as increases in production costs. Companies whose stocks the Investment Manager believes are undervalued by the market may have experienced adverse business developments or may be subject to special risks that have caused their stocks to be out of favor. Value stocks may fail to rebound, and the market may not favor value-style investing. These risks are generally greater for small and midsize companies. From time to time, the fund may invest a significant portion of its assets in companies in one or more related industries or sectors, which would make the fund more vulnerable to adverse developments affecting those industries or sectors.<span style="font-weight:bold"> </span></div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Large shareholder transaction risk: </span>The fund is subject to the risk that shareholders will purchase or redeem large quantities of shares of the fund.<span style="font-weight:bold"> </span></div><div style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold"> </span>The fund may be an investment option for mutual funds that are managed by the Investment Manager and its affiliates as “funds of funds.” Additionally, other investors from time to time may make substantial investments in the fund. Such shareholders may at times be considered to control the fund. In addition, a large number of shareholders may collectively purchase or redeem fund shares in large amounts rapidly or unexpectedly. Large shareholder transactions may adversely affect the fund’s liquidity and net assets. These redemptions may also adversely affect the fund’s performance if the fund is forced to sell securities, which may also increase the fund’s brokerage costs.<span style="font-weight:bold"> </span></div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Management and operational risk: </span>There is no guarantee that the investment techniques, analyses, or judgments that the Investment Manager applies in making investment decisions for the fund will produce the intended outcome or that the investments selected for the fund will perform as well as other securities that were not selected for the fund. The Investment Manager, or the fund’s other service providers, may experience disruptions or operating errors that could negatively impact the fund.<span style="font-weight:bold"> </span></div> An investment in the fund is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. Performance <div style="margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The accompanying bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the fund. The bar chart shows changes in the fund’s performance from year to year for Class IA shares. The table shows the average annual total returns of each class of the fund that has been in operation for at least one full calendar year and also compares the fund’s performance with the average annual total returns of a broad measure of market performance and an additional index with characteristics relevant to the fund. Performance for classes other than those shown may vary from the performance shown to the extent the expenses for those classes differ. The fund makes updated performance information, including its current net asset value per share, available at www.franklintempleton.com. </div><div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-style:italic">The fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the fund will perform in the future. </span></div><div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">Insurance-related charges or expenses are not reflected in the performance information below, and if those charges were included, returns would be less than those shown. </div> The bar chart shows changes in the fund’s performance from year to year for Class IA shares. The table shows the average annual total returns of each class of the fund that has been in operation for at least one full calendar year and also compares the fund’s performance with the average annual total returns of a broad measure of market performance and an additional index with characteristics relevant to the fund. www.franklintempleton.com The fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the fund will perform in the future. Annual total returns for class IA shares <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse:collapse;font-family:simhei;font-size:8.5pt;width:98%;border-spacing:0px;margin-left:auto"> <tr> <td style="width:79%;"></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;width:1%;"></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;width:1%;"></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;width:1%;"></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> </tr> <tr style="font-size:1pt"> <td style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #999999;height:1.5pt;"> </td> <td colspan="4" style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #999999;height:1.5pt;"> </td> <td colspan="4" style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #999999;height:1.5pt;"> </td> <td colspan="4" style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #999999;height:1.5pt;"> </td> </tr> <tr style="page-break-inside:avoid;font-family:simhei;font-size:8.5pt"> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;vertical-align:top;"> <div style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:1.00em;text-indent:-1.00em;font-size:8.5pt;font-family:arial;">Best Quarter:</div> </td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;vertical-align:top;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;"><span style="font-family:arial">Q4 2020</span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:top;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:top;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;"><span style="font-family:arial">    </span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:top;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;vertical-align:bottom;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;vertical-align:bottom;text-align:right;"><span style="font-family:arial">34.30%</span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:bottom;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> </tr> <tr style="font-size:1pt"> <td style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #999999;height:1.5pt;"> </td> <td colspan="4" style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #999999;height:1.5pt;"> </td> <td colspan="4" style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #999999;height:1.5pt;"> </td> <td colspan="4" style="BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #999999;height:1.5pt;"> </td> </tr> <tr style="page-break-inside:avoid;font-family:simhei;font-size:8.5pt"> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:top;"> <div style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:1.00em;text-indent:-1.00em;font-size:8.5pt;font-family:arial;">Worst Quarter:</div> </td> <td style=" BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:top;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;"><span style="font-family:arial">Q1 2020</span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:top;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style=" BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:top;"> </td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:top;"> </td> <td style="BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:top;"> </td> <td style=" BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:bottom;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;vertical-align:bottom;text-align:right;"><span style="font-family:arial">-40.27%</span></td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #999999;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:bottom;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> </tr> </table> Best Quarter: 2020-12-31 0.3430 Worst Quarter: 2020-03-31 -0.4027 Average annual total returns (for periods ended 12/31/25) 0.0546 0.1128 0.0939 0.0527 0.1099 0.0913 0.1715 0.1315 0.1429 0.1259 0.0888 0.0927 <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">Important data provider notices and terms are available at <span style="font-family:arial;font-size:9pt;color:#388491"><span style="text-decoration:underline">www.franklintempletondatasources.com</span></span><span style="font-family:arial">. Such information is subject to change. </span></div> Fund summary Goal <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The fund seeks long-term capital appreciation.</div> Fees and expenses <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span>The following table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the fund. <span style="font-weight: bold;">You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below.</span> The fees and expenses information does not reflect insurance-related charges or expenses borne by contract holders indirectly investing in the fund. If it did, expenses would be higher.<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span></div> Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) 0.0053 0 0.0035 0.0088 -0.0008 0.0080 0.0053 0.0025 0.0035 0.0113 -0.0008 0.0105 April 30, 2027 Example <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The following hypothetical example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The example does not reflect insurance-related charges or expenses. If it did, expenses would be higher. It assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem or hold all your shares at the end of those periods. It assumes a 5% return on your investment each year and that the fund’s operating expenses remain the same (except that any applicable fee waiver or expense reimbursement is reflected only through its expiration date). Your actual costs may be higher or lower.</div> 82 82 273 273 480 480 1077 1077 107 107 351 351 614 614 1366 1366 Portfolio turnover <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The fund pays transaction-related costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or the above example, affect fund performance. The fund’s turnover rate in the most recent fiscal year was 74%.</div> 0.74 Investments, risks, and performance Investments <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The fund invests mainly in common stocks of U.S. companies of any size, with a focus on companies whose products and services we believe provide solutions that directly contribute to sustainable social, environmental and economic development (Solutions Companies). Stocks of this type of company are typically, but not always, considered to be growth stocks. Growth stocks are stocks of companies whose revenues, earnings, or cash flows are expected to grow faster than those of similar firms, and whose business growth and other characteristics may lead to an increase in stock price. The Investment Manager, as defined below, may consider, among other factors, a company’s impact on sustainable environmental, social and economic development (as described below), valuation, financial strength, growth potential, competitive position in its industry, projected future earnings, cash flows and dividends when deciding whether to buy or sell investments. The fund may also invest in non-U.S. companies.</div> <div style="margin-top: 8pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The Investment Manager’s approach to sustainable investing incorporates fundamental research together with consideration of sustainable environmental, social and economic development impact. The Investment Manager believes that companies whose products and services produce positive environmental, social and economic development impact also often demonstrate potential for strong financial growth. Under normal circumstances, the fund invests at least 80% of the value of its net assets in securities that meet the Investment Manager’s sustainability criteria. These criteria are based on a proprietary sustainability solutions map that links to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In applying these criteria, the Investment Manager will assign each company a proprietary environmental, social and/or corporate governance (ESG) rating ranging from 1 to 4 (1 indicating the highest (best) ESG rating and 4 indicating the lowest (worst) ESG rating). In order to meet the Investment Manager’s sustainability criteria for purposes of this investment policy, a company must be rated 2 or 1 by the Investment Manager. This policy is non-fundamental and may be changed only after 60 days’ notice to shareholders. In selecting each investment, the</div> <div style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">Investment Manager considers the extent to which a company’s products or services may provide solutions to forward-looking sustainability needs, creating positive impact in environmental, social and economic development areas. Environmental impacts may include, for example, reduction of carbon emissions and improved water quality. Social impacts may include, for example, improvements in employee well-being, supplier standards, or access to products, information, or security. Economic development impacts may include, for example, stakeholder analysis and shared value approaches to business practices, access to economic opportunity, or improvements in operational effectiveness or efficiency.</div> <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">It is important to understand that you can lose money by investing in the fund.</div> <div style="margin-top: 8pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Market risk:</span> The value of investments in the fund’s portfolio may fall or fail to rise over extended periods of time for a variety of reasons, including general economic, political or financial market conditions, investor sentiment and market perceptions, government actions, geopolitical events or changes, outbreaks of infectious illnesses or other widespread public health issues, and factors related to a specific issuer, asset class, geography, industry or sector. These and other factors may lead to increased volatility and reduced liquidity in the fund’s portfolio holdings, may negatively impact the fund’s performance, and may exacerbate other risks to which the fund is subject.</div> <div style="margin-top: 8pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Foreign investments risk:</span> The value of international investments traded in foreign currencies may be adversely impacted by fluctuations in exchange rates. International investments, particularly investments in emerging markets, may carry risks associated with potentially less stable economies or governments (such as the risk of seizure by a foreign government, the imposition of economic sanctions or currency or other restrictions, or high levels of inflation), and may be or become illiquid.</div> <div style="margin-top: 8pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Common stock risk:</span> Common stock represents an ownership interest in a company. The value of a company’s stock may fall or fail to rise as a result of factors directly relating to that company, such as decisions made by its management or lower demand for the company’s products or services. A stock’s value may also fall because of factors affecting not just the company, but also other companies in the same industry or in a number of different industries, such as increases in production costs.</div> <div style="margin-top: 8pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The value of a company’s stock may also be affected by changes in financial markets that are relatively unrelated to the company or its industry, such as changes in interest rates, currency exchange rates, or inflation rates.</div> <div style="margin-top: 8pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">Growth stocks may be more susceptible to earnings disappointments and the market may not favor growth-style investing. These risks are generally greater for small and midsized companies. From time to time, the fund may invest a significant portion of its assets in companies in one or more related industries or sectors, which would make the fund more vulnerable to adverse developments affecting those industries or sectors.</div> <div style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sustainable investing risk: </span>Investing with a focus on Solutions Companies, whose products and services may provide solutions that directly impact sustainable environmental, social and economic development, may result in the fund investing in certain types of companies, industries or sectors that the market may not favor. In evaluating an investment opportunity, the Investment Manager may make investment decisions without the availability of optimal ESG-related data or based on information and data that is incomplete or inaccurate. Sustainability and ESG factors are not uniformly defined and applying such factors involves subjective assessments. Sustainability and ESG scorings and assessments of issuers can vary across third-party data providers and may change over time. The Investment Manager does not rely exclusively on third party data providers in evaluating ESG criteria. ESG information from third party providers may be incomplete, inaccurate or unavailable. In addition, a solutions company’s business practices, products or services may change over time. As a result of these possibilities, among others, the fund may temporarily hold securities that are inconsistent with the Investment Manager’s sustainable investment criteria. Regulatory changes or interpretations regarding the definitions and/or use of ESG or other sustainability criteria could have a material adverse effect on the fund’s ability to invest in accordance with its investment policies and/or achieve its investment objective, as well as the ability of certain classes of investors to invest in funds, such as the fund, whose strategies include ESG or other sustainability criteria.<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span></div> <div style="margin-top: 8pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Large shareholder transaction risk: </span>The fund is subject to the risk that shareholders will purchase or redeem large quantities of shares of the fund. The fund may be an investment option for mutual funds that are managed by the Investment Manager and its affiliates as “funds of funds.” Additionally, other investors from time to time may make substantial investments in the fund. Such shareholders may at times be considered to control the fund. In addition, a large number of shareholders may collectively purchase or redeem fund shares in large amounts rapidly or unexpectedly. Large shareholder transactions may adversely affect the fund’s liquidity and net assets. These redemptions may also adversely affect the fund’s performance if the fund is forced to sell securities, which may also increase the fund’s brokerage costs.<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span></div> <div style="margin-top: 8pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Liquidity and illiquid investments risk:</span> The fund may invest up to 15% of its net assets in illiquid investments, which may be considered speculative and which may be difficult to sell. The fund may not be able to sell its illiquid investments when the Investment Manager considers it desirable to do so, or the fund may be able to sell them only at less than their value.<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span></div> <div style="margin-top: 8pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Management and operational risk: </span>There is no guarantee that the investment techniques, analyses, or judgments that the Investment Manager applies in making investment decisions for the fund will produce the intended outcome or that the investments selected for the fund will perform as well as other securities that were not selected for the fund. The Investment Manager, or the fund’s other service providers, may experience disruptions or operating errors that could negatively impact the fund.<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span></div> An investment in the fund is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. Performance <div style="margin-top: 10pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">The accompanying bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the fund. The bar chart shows changes in the fund’s performance from year to year for Class IA shares. The table shows the average annual total returns of each class of the fund that has been in operation for at least one full calendar year and also compares the fund’s performance with the average annual total returns of a broad measure of market performance, an additional index with characteristics relevant to the fund and the Putnam VT Sustainable Future Linked Benchmark, which represents the performance of the Russell 3000® Value Index through April 29, 2018, and the performance of the Russell Midcap® Growth Index thereafter. Before April 30, 2018, the fund was managed with a materially different investment strategy and may have achieved materially different performance results under its current investment strategy from that shown for the periods before this date. Performance for classes other than those shown may vary from the performance shown to the extent the expenses for those classes differ. The fund makes updated performance information, including its current net asset value per share, available at www.franklintempleton.com.</div> <div style="margin-top: 8pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;"><span style="font-style: italic;">The fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the fund will perform in the future. </span></div> <div style="margin-top: 8pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">Insurance-related charges or expenses are not reflected in the performance information below, and if those charges were included, returns would be less than those shown.</div> The bar chart shows changes in the fund’s performance from year to year for Class IA shares. The table shows the average annual total returns of each class of the fund that has been in operation for at least one full calendar year and also compares the fund’s performance with the average annual total returns of a broad measure of market performance, an additional index with characteristics relevant to the fund and the Putnam VT Sustainable Future Linked Benchmark, which represents the performance of the Russell 3000® Value Index through April 29, 2018, and the performance of the Russell Midcap® Growth Index thereafter. www.franklintempleton.com The fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the fund will perform in the future. Annual total returns for class IA shares <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: simhei; font-size: 8.5pt; width: 100%; border-spacing: 0px; margin: 0 auto;"> <tr> <td style="width: 33%;"></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom; width: 1%;"></td> <td style="width: 57%;"></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom; width: 2%;"></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td style="vertical-align: bottom; width: 2%;"></td> </tr> <tr style="page-break-inside: avoid; font-family: simhei; font-size: 8.5pt; background-color: #cceeff;"> <td style="border-top: 0.75pt solid #7f7f7f; border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #7f7f7f; vertical-align: top;"> <div style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 1.00em; text-indent: -1.00em; font-size: 8.5pt; font-family: arial;">Best Quarter:</div> </td> <td style="border-top: 0.75pt solid #7f7f7f; border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #7f7f7f; vertical-align: bottom;">  </td> <td style="border-top: 0.75pt solid #7f7f7f; border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #7f7f7f; vertical-align: top; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Q2 2020  </span></td> <td style="border-top: 0.75pt solid #7f7f7f; border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #7f7f7f; vertical-align: bottom;">  </td> <td style="border-top: 0.75pt solid #7f7f7f; border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #7f7f7f; vertical-align: bottom;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></td> <td style="border-top: 0.75pt solid #7f7f7f; border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #7f7f7f; vertical-align: bottom; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: arial;">33.72</span></td> <td style="border-top: 0.75pt solid #7f7f7f; border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #7f7f7f; white-space: nowrap; vertical-align: bottom;"><span style="font-family: arial;">% </span></td> </tr> <tr style="page-break-inside: avoid; font-family: simhei; font-size: 8.5pt;"> <td style="border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #7f7f7f; vertical-align: top;"> <div style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 1.00em; text-indent: -1.00em; font-size: 8.5pt; font-family: arial;">Worst Quarter:</div> </td> <td style="border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #7f7f7f; vertical-align: bottom;">  </td> <td style="border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #7f7f7f; vertical-align: top; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Q2 2022  </span></td> <td style="border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #7f7f7f; vertical-align: bottom;">  </td> <td style="border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #7f7f7f; vertical-align: bottom;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></td> <td style="border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #7f7f7f; vertical-align: bottom; text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: arial;">-21.47</span></td> <td style="border-bottom: 0.75pt solid #7f7f7f; white-space: nowrap; vertical-align: bottom;"><span style="font-family: arial;">% </span></td> </tr> </table> Best Quarter: 2020-06-30 0.3372 Worst Quarter: 2022-06-30 -0.2147 Average annual total returns (for periods ended 12/31/25) 0.0287 0.0144 0.0988 0.0266 0.0119 0.0960 0.1715 0.1315 0.1429 0.0866 0.0665 0.1249 0.0866 0.0665 0.1207 <div style="margin-top: 6pt; margin-bottom: 0pt; font-size: 9pt; font-family: arial;">Important data provider notices and terms are available at <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-family: arial; color: #467886;">www.franklintempletondatasources.com</span></span><span style="font-family: arial;">. Such information is subject to change. </span></div> Fund summary Goal <div style="margin-top:6pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The fund seeks long-term capital appreciation. </div> Fees and expenses <div style="margin-top:6pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The following table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the fund. <span style="font-weight:bold">You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below.</span> The fees and expenses information does not reflect insurance-related charges or expenses borne by contract holders indirectly investing in the fund. If it did, expenses would be higher. </div> Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)   0.0053 0 0.0010 0.0063 0.0053 0.0025 0.0010 0.0088 Example <div style="margin-top:6pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The following hypothetical example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The example does not reflect insurance-related charges or expenses. If it did, expenses would be higher. It assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem or hold all your shares at the end of those periods. It assumes a 5% return on your investment each year and that the fund’s operating expenses remain the same (except that any applicable fee waiver or expense reimbursement is reflected only through its expiration date). Your actual costs may be higher or lower. </div> 64 64 201 201 350 350 786 786 90 90 281 281 488 488 1084 1084 Portfolio turnover <div style="margin-top:6pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The fund pays transaction-related costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or the above example, affect fund performance. The fund’s turnover rate in the most recent fiscal year was 43%. </div> 0.43 Investments, risks, and performance Investments <div style="margin-top:10pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The fund invests mainly in common stocks of U.S. companies of any size, with a focus on companies that the Investment Manager, as defined below, believes exhibit a commitment to financially material sustainable business practices. The fund may also invest in non‑U.S. companies. In evaluating investments for the fund, the Investment Manager views “financially material sustainable business practices” as business practices that it believes are reasonably likely to impact the financial condition or operating performance of a company and that relate to environmental, social, or corporate governance (“ESG”) issues. The Investment Manager identifies relevant ESG issues on a sector-specific basis using an internally developed materiality map, which is informed by the industry-specific financial materiality framework of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (“SASB,” now incorporated in the International Financial Reporting Standards Foundation). As part of this analysis, the Investment Manager may utilize metrics and information such as emissions data, carbon intensity, sources of energy used for operations, water use and re‑use, water generation, waste diversion from landfill, employee safety and diversity data, supplier audits, product safety, board composition, and incentive compensation structures. Stocks of companies that exhibit a commitment to financially material sustainable business practices are typically, but not always, considered to be growth stocks. Growth stocks are stocks of companies whose revenues, earnings, or cash flows are expected to grow faster than those of similar firms, and whose business growth and other characteristics may lead to an increase in stock price. The Investment Manager may consider, among other factors, a company’s sustainable business practices (as described above), valuation, financial strength, growth potential, competitive position in its industry, projected future earnings, cash flows and dividends when deciding whether to buy or sell investments. The fund may also invest in non‑U.S. companies. </div><div style="margin-top:6pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">Under normal circumstances, the fund invests at least 80% of the value of its net assets in securities that meet the Investment Manager’s sustainability criteria. These criteria are based on a proprietary materiality map that is informed by the industry-specific financial materiality framework of SASB. In applying these criteria, the Investment Manager will assign each company a proprietary ESG rating ranging from 1 to 4 (1 indicating the highest (best) ESG rating and 4 indicating the lowest (worst) ESG rating). In order to meet the Investment Manager’s sustainability criteria for purposes of this investment policy, a company must be rated 2 or 1 by the Investment Manager. This policy is non‑fundamental and may be changed only after 60 days’ notice to shareholders. In selecting each investment, the Investment Manager focuses on companies that have a demonstrated commitment to sustainable business practices in areas that are relevant and material to their long-term financial returns and risk profiles. The Investment Manager believes that companies that have exhibited such a commitment also often demonstrate potential for strong </div><div style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"> financial growth. This commitment may be reflected through ESG policies, practices, or outcomes. The fund’s approach to sustainable investing incorporates fundamental research together with consideration of ESG factors. Environmental factors include, for example, a company’s carbon intensity and use of resources like water or minerals. Sustainability measures in this area might include plans to reduce waste, increase recycling, raise the proportion of energy supply from renewable sources, or improve product design to be less resource intensive. Social factors include, for example, labor practices and supply chain management. Sustainability measures in this area might include programs to improve employee well-being, commitment to workplace equality and diversity, or improved stewardship of supplier relationships and working conditions. Corporate governance factors include, for example, board composition and executive compensation. Sustainability measures in this area might include improvements in board independence or diversity, or alignment of management incentives with the company’s strategic sustainability objectives. The Investment Manager’s integrated approach combines analysis of the growing body of ESG data and deep fundamental analysis and looks for companies that demonstrate leadership, beyond compliance, on relevant sustainability issues. The characteristics that the Investment Manager may use when considering sustainability leadership include: </div><div style="margin-top:6pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">(1) Material. Focused on strategic, business-relevant issues. </div><div style="margin-top:6pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">(2) Proactive. Actions that go beyond basic requirements to create potential business benefit. </div><div style="margin-top:6pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">(3) Transparent. Reporting that is relevant, timely, and candid. </div><div style="margin-top:6pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">(4) Effective. Creating benefits both within the firm and beyond its corporate borders. </div> <div style="margin-top:6pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">It is important to understand that you can lose money by investing in the fund. </div> <div style="margin-top:6pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Market risk: </span>The value of investments in the fund’s portfolio may fall or fail to rise over extended periods of time for a variety of reasons, including general economic, political or financial market conditions, investor sentiment and market perceptions, government actions, geopolitical events or changes, outbreaks of infectious illnesses or other widespread public health issues, and factors related to a specific issuer, asset class, geography, industry or sector. These and other factors may lead to increased volatility and reduced liquidity in the fund’s portfolio holdings, may negatively impact the fund’s performance, and may exacerbate other risks to which the fund is subject. </div> <div style="margin-top:6pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Common stock risk: </span>Common stock represents an ownership interest in a company. The value of a company’s stock may fall or fail to rise as a result of factors directly relating to that company, such as decisions made by its management or lower demand for the company’s products or services. A stock’s value may also fall because of factors affecting not just the company, </div><div style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"> but also other companies in the same industry or in a number of different industries, such as increases in production costs. </div><div style="margin-top:6pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">Growth stocks may be more susceptible to earnings disappointments and the market may not favor growth-style investing. These risks are generally greater for small and midsized companies. From time to time, the fund may invest a significant portion of its assets in companies in one or more related industries or sectors, which would make the fund more vulnerable to adverse developments affecting those industries or sectors. </div> <div style="margin-top:6pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Foreign investments risk: </span>The value of international investments traded in foreign currencies may be adversely impacted by fluctuations in exchange rates. International investments, particularly investments in emerging markets, may carry risks associated with potentially less stable economies or governments (such as the risk of seizure by a foreign government, the imposition of economic sanctions or currency or other restrictions, or high levels of inflation), and may be or become illiquid. </div> <div style="margin-top:6pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Sustainable investing risk: </span>Investing with a focus on companies that exhibit a commitment to sustainable practices may result in the fund investing in certain types of companies, industries or sectors that the market may not favor. In evaluating an investment opportunity, the Investment Manager may make investment decisions without the availability of optimal ESG‑related data or based on information and data that is incomplete or inaccurate. Sustainability and ESG factors are not uniformly defined and applying such factors involves subjective assessments. Sustainability and ESG scorings and assessments of issuers can vary across third-party data providers and may change over time. The Investment Manager does not rely exclusively on third party data providers in evaluating ESG criteria. ESG information from third party providers may be incomplete, inaccurate or unavailable. In addition, a company’s business practices, products or services may change over time. As a result of these possibilities, among others, the fund may temporarily hold securities that are inconsistent with the Investment Manager’s sustainable investment criteria. Regulatory changes or interpretations regarding the definitions and/or use of ESG or other sustainability criteria could have a material adverse effect on the fund’s ability to invest in accordance with its investment policies and/or achieve its investment objective, as well as the ability of certain classes of investors to invest in funds, such as the fund, whose strategies include ESG or other sustainability criteria. </div> <div style="margin-top:6pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Large shareholder transaction risk: </span>The<span style="font-weight:bold"> </span>fund is subject to the risk that shareholders will purchase or redeem large quantities of shares of the fund. The fund may be an investment option for mutual funds that are managed by the Investment Manager and its affiliates as “funds of funds.” Additionally, other investors from time to time may make substantial investments in the fund. Such shareholders may at times be considered to control the fund. In addition, a large number of shareholders may collectively purchase or redeem fund shares in large amounts rapidly or unexpectedly. Large shareholder transactions may adversely affect the fund’s liquidity and net assets. These </div><div style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"> redemptions may also adversely affect the fund’s performance if the fund is forced to sell securities, which may also increase the fund’s brokerage costs. </div> <div style="margin-top:10pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Management and operational risk: </span>There is no guarantee that the investment techniques, analyses, or judgments that the Investment Manager applies in making investment decisions for the fund will produce the intended outcome or that the investments selected for the fund will perform as well as other securities that were not selected for the fund. The Investment Manager, or the fund’s other service providers, may experience disruptions or operating errors that could negatively impact the fund. </div> An investment in the fund is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. Performance <div style="margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The accompanying bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the fund. The bar chart shows changes in the fund’s performance from year to year for Class IA shares. The table shows the average annual total returns of each class of the fund that has been in operation for at least one full calendar year and also compares the fund’s performance with the average annual total returns of a broad measure of market performance, an additional index with characteristics relevant to the fund and the Putnam VT Sustainable Leaders Linked Benchmark, which represents the performance of the Russell 3000<sup style="font-size:75%;vertical-align:top">®</sup> Growth Index through August 31, 2019, and the performance of the S&amp;P 500<sup style="font-size:75%;vertical-align:top">®</sup> Index thereafter. Before April 30, 2018, the fund was managed with a materially different investment strategy and may have achieved materially different performance results under its current investment strategy from that shown for the periods before this date. Performance for classes other than those shown may vary from the performance shown to the extent the expenses for those classes differ. The fund makes updated performance information, including its current net asset value per share, available at www.franklintempleton.com. </div><div style="margin-top:10pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-style:italic">The fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the fund will perform in the future. </span></div><div style="margin-top:6pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">Insurance-related charges or expenses are not reflected in the performance information below, and if those charges were included, returns would be less than those shown. </div> The bar chart shows changes in the fund’s performance from year to year for Class IA shares. The table shows the average annual total returns of each class of the fund that has been in operation for at least one full calendar year and also compares the fund’s performance with the average annual total returns of a broad measure of market performance, an additional index with characteristics relevant to the fund and the Putnam VT Sustainable Leaders Linked Benchmark, which represents the performance of the Russell 3000® Growth Index through August 31, 2019, and the performance of the S&P 500® Index thereafter. www.franklintempleton.com The fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the fund will perform in the future. Annual total returns for class IA shares <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse:collapse;font-family:simhei;font-size:1pt;width:98%;border-spacing:0px;margin-left:auto"> <tr> <td style="width:88%;"></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;width:1%;"></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;width:1%;"></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> </tr> <tr style="page-break-inside:avoid;font-family:simhei;font-size:1pt;background-color:#e5e5e5"> <td style="vertical-align:top;background-color:#cccccc;"></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#cccccc;">  </td> <td style="vertical-align:top;background-color:#cccccc;"></td> <td style="vertical-align:top;background-color:#cccccc;"></td> <td style="vertical-align:top;background-color:#cccccc;"></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#cccccc;">  </td> <td style="vertical-align:top;background-color:#cccccc;"></td> <td style="vertical-align:top;background-color:#cccccc;"></td> <td style="vertical-align:top;background-color:#cccccc;"></td> </tr> <tr style="page-break-inside:avoid;font-family:simhei;font-size:8.5pt"> <td style="vertical-align:top;"> <div style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:1.00em;text-indent:-1.00em;font-size:8.5pt;font-family:arial;">Best Quarter:</div> </td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:bottom;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style="white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:bottom;text-align:right;"><span style="font-family:arial">Q2 2020</span></td> <td style="white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:bottom;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:bottom;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style="white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:bottom;text-align:right;"><span style="font-family:arial">24.12</span></td> <td style="white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:bottom;"><span style="font-family:arial">% </span></td> </tr> <tr style="page-break-inside:avoid;font-family:simhei;font-size:1pt;background-color:#e5e5e5"> <td style="vertical-align:top;background-color:#cccccc;"></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#cccccc;">  </td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#cccccc;"></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#cccccc;"></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#cccccc;"></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#cccccc;">  </td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#cccccc;"></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#cccccc;"></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#cccccc;"></td> </tr> <tr style="page-break-inside:avoid;font-family:simhei;font-size:8.5pt"> <td style="vertical-align:top;"> <div style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:1.00em;text-indent:-1.00em;font-size:8.5pt;font-family:arial;">Worst Quarter:</div> </td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:bottom;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style="white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:bottom;text-align:right;"><span style="font-family:arial">Q2 2022</span></td> <td style="white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:bottom;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:bottom;"><span style="font-family:arial"> </span></td> <td style="white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:bottom;text-align:right;"><span style="font-family:arial">-17.79</span></td> <td style="white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:bottom;"><span style="font-family:arial">% </span></td> </tr> <tr style="page-break-inside:avoid;font-family:simhei;font-size:1pt;background-color:#e5e5e5"> <td style="vertical-align:top;background-color:#cccccc;"></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#cccccc;">  </td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#cccccc;"></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#cccccc;"></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#cccccc;"></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#cccccc;">  </td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#cccccc;"></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#cccccc;"></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#cccccc;"></td> </tr> </table> Best Quarter: 2020-06-30 0.2412 Worst Quarter: 2022-06-30 -0.1779 Average annual total returns (for periods ended 12/31/25) 0.1099 0.1062 0.1498 0.1069 0.1034 0.1469 0.1715 0.1315 0.1429 0.1788 0.1442 0.1482 0.1788 0.1442 0.1575 <div style="margin-top:6pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">Important data provider notices and terms are available at <span style="font-family:arial;font-size:9pt;color:#467886"><span style="text-decoration:underline">www.franklintempletondatasources.com</span></span><span style="font-family:arial">. Such information is subject to change. </span></div> Fund summary Prior to May 1, 2026, Putnam VT U.S. Research Fund was named Putnam VT Research Fund. Goal <div style="margin-top:6pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The fund seeks capital appreciation. </div> Fees and expenses <div style="margin-top:6pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold"></span>The following table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the fund. <span style="font-weight:bold">You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below.</span> The fees and expenses information does not reflect insurance-related charges or expenses borne by contract holders indirectly investing in the fund. If it did, expenses would be higher.<span style="font-weight:bold"> </span></div> Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) 0.0053 0 0.0015 0.0068 0.0053 0.0025 0.0015 0.0093 Example <div style="margin-top:6pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The following hypothetical example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The example does not reflect insurance-related charges or expenses. If it did, expenses would be higher. It assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem or hold all your shares at the end of those periods. It assumes a 5% return on your investment each year and that the fund’s operating expenses remain the same (except that any applicable fee waiver or expense reimbursement is reflected only through its expiration date). Your actual costs may be higher or lower. </div> 69 69 217 217 378 378 846 846 95 95 297 297 515 515 1144 1144 Portfolio turnover <div style="margin-top:6pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The fund pays transaction-related costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs. These costs, which are not reflected in </div><div style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"> annual fund operating expenses or the above example, affect fund performance. The fund’s turnover rate in the most recent fiscal year was 70%. </div> 0.70 Investments, risks, and performance Investments <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">Under normal circumstances, the fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets (plus the amount of borrowings for investment purposes, if any) in equity securities of companies located in the United States. This policy may be changed only after 60 days’ notice to shareholders. Equity securities include common stocks, preferred stocks, and convertible securities. The fund considers a company to be located in the United States if the company’s securities trade in the United States, the company is headquartered or organized in the United States or the company derives a majority of its revenues or profits in the United States. </div><div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The fund invests mainly in common stocks (growth or value stocks or both) of large U.S. companies that the Investment Manager, as defined below, believes have favorable investment potential. The fund’s portfolio managers work with sector analysts from the Putnam Equity Research team to identify high-conviction stocks within an analyst’s respective sector, using a bottom-up, fundamental research investment process. The Investment Manager may consider, among other factors, a company’s valuation, financial strength, growth potential, competitive position in its industry, projected future earnings, cash flows, and dividends when deciding whether to buy or sell investments. The Investment Manager attempts to mitigate risk in the portfolio by applying an integrated process to identify, assess, monitor, and address unintended risks. </div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">It is important to understand that you can lose money by investing in the fund. </div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Market risk: </span>The value of investments in the fund’s portfolio may fall or fail to rise over extended periods of time for a variety of reasons, including general economic, political or financial market conditions, investor sentiment and market perceptions, government actions, geopolitical events or changes, outbreaks of infectious illnesses or other widespread public health issues, and factors related to a specific issuer, asset class, geography, industry or sector. These and other factors may lead to increased volatility and reduced liquidity in the fund’s portfolio holdings, may negatively impact the fund’s performance, and may exacerbate other risks to which the fund is subject.<span style="font-weight:bold"> </span></div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Common stock risk:</span> Common stock represents an ownership interest in a company. The value of a company’s stock may fall or fail to rise as a result of factors directly relating to that company, such as decisions made by its management or lower demand for the company’s products or services. A stock’s value may also fall because of factors affecting not just the company, but also other companies in the same industry or in a number of different </div><div style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"> industries, such as increases in production costs. Companies whose stocks the Investment Manager believes are undervalued by the market may have experienced adverse business developments or may be subject to special risks that have caused their stocks to be out of favor. Growth stocks may be more susceptible to earnings disappointments, and value stocks may fail to rebound. From time to time, the fund may invest a significant portion of its assets in companies in one or more related industries or sectors, which would make the fund more vulnerable to adverse developments affecting those industries or sectors. </div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Large shareholder transaction risk: </span>The fund is subject to the risk that shareholders will purchase or redeem large quantities of shares of the fund. The fund may be an investment option for mutual funds that are managed by the Investment Manager and its affiliates as “funds of funds.” Additionally, other investors from time to time may make substantial investments in the fund. Such shareholders may at times be considered to control the fund. In addition, a large number of shareholders may collectively purchase or redeem fund shares in large amounts rapidly or unexpectedly. Large shareholder transactions may adversely affect the fund’s liquidity and net assets. These redemptions may also adversely affect the fund’s performance if the fund is forced to sell securities, which may also increase the fund’s brokerage costs.<span style="font-weight:bold"> </span></div> <div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-weight:bold">Management and operational risk: </span>There is no guarantee that the investment techniques, analyses, or judgments that the Investment Manager applies in making investment decisions for the fund will produce the intended outcome or that the investments selected for the fund will perform as well as other securities that were not selected for the fund. The Investment Manager, or the fund’s other service providers, may experience disruptions or operating errors that could negatively impact the fund.<span style="font-weight:bold"> </span></div> An investment in the fund is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. Performance <div style="margin-top:12pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">The accompanying bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the fund. The bar chart shows changes in the fund’s performance from year to year for Class IA shares. The table shows the average annual total returns of each class of the fund that has been in operation for at least one full calendar year and also compares the fund’s performance with the average annual total returns of a broad measure of market performance and an additional index with characteristics relevant to the fund. Performance for classes other than those shown may vary from the performance shown to the extent the expenses for those classes differ. The fund makes updated performance information, including its current net asset value per share, available at www.franklintempleton.com. </div><div style="margin-top:8pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;"><span style="font-style:italic">The fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the fund will perform in the future. </span></div><div style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:9pt;font-family:arial;">Insurance-related charges or expenses are not reflected in the performance information below, and if those charges were included, returns would be less than those shown. </div> The bar chart shows changes in the fund’s performance from year to year for Class IA shares. The table shows the average annual total returns of each class of the fund that has been in operation for at least one full calendar year and also compares the fund’s performance with the average annual total returns of a broad measure of market performance and an additional index with characteristics relevant to the fund. www.franklintempleton.com The fund’s past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the fund will perform in the future. Annual total returns for class IA shares <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse:collapse;font-family:arial;font-size:8.5pt;width:98%;border-spacing:0px;margin-left:auto"> <tr> <td style="width:88%;"></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;width:1%;"></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td style="vertical-align:bottom;width:1%;"></td> <td></td> <td></td> <td></td> </tr> <tr style="page-break-inside:avoid;font-family:arial;font-size:8.5pt"> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #969696; BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #969696;vertical-align:top;"> <div style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:1.00em;text-indent:-1.00em;font-size:8.5pt;font-family:arial;">Best Quarter:</div> </td> <td style=" BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #969696; BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #969696;vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #969696; BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #969696;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:bottom;"> </td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #969696; BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #969696;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:bottom;text-align:right;">Q2 2020</td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #969696; BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #969696;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:bottom;"> </td> <td style=" BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #969696; BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #969696;vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #969696; BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #969696;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:bottom;"> </td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #969696; BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #969696;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:bottom;text-align:right;">21.49</td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-TOP:0.75pt solid #969696; BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #969696;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:bottom;">% </td> </tr> <tr style="font-size:1pt"> <td style="height:1.5pt;"></td> <td colspan="4" style="height:1.5pt;"></td> <td colspan="4" style="height:1.5pt;"></td> </tr> <tr style="page-break-inside:avoid;font-family:arial;font-size:8.5pt"> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #969696;vertical-align:top;"> <div style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:1.00em;text-indent:-1.00em;font-size:8.5pt;font-family:arial;">Worst Quarter:</div> </td> <td style=" BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #969696;vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #969696;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:bottom;"> </td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #969696;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:bottom;text-align:right;">Q1 2020</td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #969696;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:bottom;"> </td> <td style=" BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #969696;vertical-align:bottom;">  </td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #969696;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:bottom;"> </td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #969696;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:bottom;text-align:right;">-19.00</td> <td style="padding-bottom:2pt ;BORDER-BOTTOM:0.75pt solid #969696;white-space:nowrap;vertical-align:bottom;">% </td> </tr> </table> Best Quarter: 2020-06-30 0.2149 Worst Quarter: 2020-03-31 -0.1900 Average annual total returns (for periods ended 12/31/25) 0.1816 0.1480 0.1536 0.1788 0.1452 0.1507 0.1715 0.1315 0.1429 0.1788 0.1442 0.1482 <div style="margin-top:4pt;margin-bottom:0pt;margin-left:2%;font-size:8pt;font-family:arial;">Important data provider notices and terms are available at <span style="font-family:arial;font-size:8pt;color:#467886"><span style="text-decoration:underline">www.franklintempletondatasources.com</span></span><span style="font-family:arial">. Such information is subject to change. </span></div> Effective May 1, 2026, the fund will no longer compare its performance to the MSCI All Country World Ex-U.S. Index-NR. The Investment Manager, as defined below, has contractually agreed to waive 0.05% of its management fee. This obligation may not be modified or discontinued prior to April 30, 2027 without approval of the Board of Trustees. The Investment Manager, as defined below, has contractually agreed to waive fees and/or reimburse operating expenses of the fund (exclusive of brokerage, interest, taxes, investment-related expenses (including borrowing costs, i.e., short selling and lines of credit costs), extraordinary expenses, acquired fund fees and expenses and payments under the fund’s investor servicing contract, the fund’s investment management contract (including any applicable performance-based upward or downward adjustment to the fund’s base management fee), and the fund’s distribution plans) so that the cumulative expenses will not exceed 0.20% of the fund’s average net assets. Additionally, the Investment Manager has agreed to reduce its fees by an amount equal to the management fees paid by Franklin Templeton affiliated funds with respect to assets the fund invests in such affiliated funds. These obligations may not be modified or discontinued prior to April 30, 2027 without approval of the Board of Trustees. Effective February 1, 2026, the Putnam VT Balanced Blended Benchmark replaced the Putnam Balanced Blended Benchmark as the fund’s benchmark. The Investment Manager believes that the Putnam VT Balanced Blended Benchmark better reflects the fund’s current portfolio. Total annual fund operating expenses do not correlate with the ratios of expenses to average net assets reported in the fund’s financial highlights, which reflect the fund’s operating expenses and do not include acquired fund fees and expenses. The Investment Manager has contractually agreed to waive fees and/or reimburse operating expenses of the fund (exclusive of brokerage, interest, taxes, investment-related expenses (including borrowing costs, i.e., short selling and lines of credit costs), extraordinary expenses, acquired fund fees and expenses and payments under the fund’s investor servicing contract, the fund’s investment management contract (including any applicable performance-based upward or downward adjustment to the fund’s base management fee), and the fund’s distribution plans) so that the cumulative expenses will not exceed 0.20% of the fund’s average net assets. Additionally, the Investment Manager has agreed to reduce its fees by an amount equal to the management fees paid by Franklin Templeton affiliated funds with respect to assets the fund invests in such affiliated funds. In addition, the Investment Manager has contractually agreed to waive fees and/or reimburse expenses (exclusive of brokerage, interest, taxes, investment-related expenses (including borrowing costs, i.e., short selling and lines of credit costs), extraordinary expenses, acquired fund fees and expenses, any applicable performance-based upward or downward adjustment to the fund’s base management fee and the fund’s distribution plans) of the fund so that the total annual operating expenses of the fund will not exceed an annual rate of 0.50% of the fund’s average net assets. These obligations may not be modified or discontinued prior to April 30, 2027 without approval of the Board of Trustees. The Investment Manager, as defined below, has contractually agreed to waive fees and/or reimburse operating expenses of the fund (exclusive of brokerage, interest, taxes, investment-related expenses (including borrowing costs, i.e., short selling and lines of credit costs), extraordinary expenses, acquired fund fees and expenses and payments under the fund’s investor servicing contract, the fund’s investment management contract (including any applicable performance-based upward or downward adjustment to the fund’s base management fee), and the fund’s distribution plans) so that the cumulative expenses will not exceed 0.20% of the fund’s average net assets. Additionally, the Investment Manager has agreed to reduce its fees by an amount equal to the management fees paid by Franklin Templeton affiliated funds with respect to assets the fund invests in such affiliated funds. These obligations may not be modified or discontinued prior to April 30, 2027 without approval of the Board of Trustees. The Investment Manager, as defined below, has contractually agreed to waive fees and/or reimburse operating expenses of the fund (exclusive of brokerage, interest, taxes, investment-related expenses (including borrowing costs, i.e., short selling and lines of credit costs), extraordinary expenses, acquired fund fees and expenses and payments under the fund’s investor servicing contract, the fund’s investment management contract (including any applicable performance-based upward or downward adjustment to the fund’s base management fee), and the fund’s distribution plans) so that the cumulative expenses will not exceed 0.20% of the fund’s average net assets. Additionally, the Investment Manager has agreed to reduce its fees by an amount equal to the management fees paid by Franklin Templeton affiliated funds with respect to assets the fund invests in such affiliated funds. These obligations may not be modified or discontinued prior to April 30, 2027 without approval of the Board of Trustees. Total annual fund operating expenses do not correlate with the ratios of expenses to average net assets reported in the fund’s financial highlights, which reflect the fund’s operating expenses and do not include acquired fund fees and expenses. The Investment Manager, as defined below, has contractually agreed to waive fees and/or reimburse operating expenses of the fund (exclusive of brokerage, interest, taxes, investment-related expenses (including borrowing costs, i.e., short selling and lines of credit costs), extraordinary expenses, acquired fund fees and expenses and payments under the fund’s investor servicing contract, the fund’s investment management contract (including any applicable performance-based upward or downward adjustment to the fund’s base management fee), and the fund’s distribution plans) so that the cumulative expenses will not exceed 0.20% of the fund’s average net assets. Additionally, the Investment Manager has agreed to reduce its fees by an amount equal to the management fees paid by Franklin Templeton affiliated funds with respect to assets the fund invests in such affiliated funds. In addition, the Investment Manager has contractually agreed to waive fees and/or reimburse expenses (exclusive of brokerage, interest, taxes, investment-related expenses (including borrowing costs, i.e., short selling and lines of credit costs), extraordinary expenses, acquired fund fees and expenses, any applicable performance-based upward or downward adjustment to the fund’s base management fee and the fund’s distribution plans) of the fund so that the total annual operating expenses of the fund will not exceed an annual rate of 1.09% of the fund’s average net assets. These obligations may not be modified or discontinued prior to April 30, 2027 without approval of the Board of Trustees.