Putnam Investments is an investment management firm founded in 1937 by George Putnam, who established one of the first balanced mutual funds, The George Putnam Fund of Boston.
Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, it has offices in London, Tokyo, Frankfurt, Sydney, and Singapore. Putnam is currently a subsidiary of Franklin Templeton Investments.
History
The firm was founded in 1937 by George Putnam, who established one of the first balanced mutual funds: The George Putnam Fund of Boston. Lawrence Lasser joined the company in 1969, and it became "one of the largest managers of mutual funds."
In 1997, Putnam Investments established a connection with Nippon Life Insurance in Osaka, Japan, and its subsidiary Nissay Asset Management Company.
2000 to 2006
The year 2000 marked the beginning of a gradual asset value decline that took Putnam's asset value from $400 billion to $192 billion. In early 2004, the company admitted allowing its portfolio managers and some investors to market time its funds. Under agreements with the SEC and the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Putnam paid $110 million in fines and restitution to settle charges with the state and federal regulators. After allegations of improper trading became public, Putnam's investors withdrew at least $28 billion from its stock and bond funds over six months.
2007 to Present
In February 2007, Great-West Lifeco, which is controlled by Power Corporation of Canada, announced it would acquire Putnam Investments, a "troubled mutual fund manager," from the Marsh & McLennan Companies for the approximate price of $3.9 billion. The acquisition of Putnam was motivated by Great-West Lifeco's 2005 decision to expand into the United States. That same month, Lasser, Putnam's former chief executive, agreed to pay $75,000 as a settlement against accusations by the Security and Exchanges Commission that he "failed to disclose that the investment company used fund assets to pay brokerage firms for preferred marketing agreements."
In 2008, Haldeman was replaced by Robert L. Reynolds who was named president and chief executive officer of Putnam Investments. In November, Reynolds told the Financial Times that he would restructure the company by merging several equity funds, basing compensation on performance, and laying off 47 workers including managers.
On September 18, 2008, Putnam directors voted to liquidate its $12.3 billion Putnam Prime Money Market Fund and return capital to its approximately 155 professional investors. According to a statement issued by the company, the decision came as a result of "significant redemption pressure." The fund's board of trustees decided that "selling assets to meet redemption [obligations] would risk losses for the remaining investors." That year, Putnam launched the industry's first suite of absolute return funds available to U.S. retail investors and re-entered the institutional defined contribution business with a 401(k) product offering.
In 2011, Putnam received the DALBAR Service Award for the 21st consecutive year for "industry leading service to shareholders and financial professionals."
On May 31, 2023, Great-West Lifeco announced that Franklin Templeton Investments would acquire Putnam for $925 million. PanAgora Asset Management which was a Putnam subsidiary at the time, would not be included in the acquisition. The deal was completed in January 2024.