Company Overview
Highlights
Suffered big losses in the amount of money it had under management due to improper-trading mutual fund scandal.
Assets under management of $181 billion as of August 31, 2006.
Putnam, a subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan, the world's largest insurance broker, serves 172 institutional clients and 10 million shareholders and retirement plan participants. Putnam offers investment products including institutional portfolios; 401(k)s, IRAs and other retirement plans; mutual funds; variable annuities; and alternative investments for institutions and high-net-worth investors. It serves clients in Asia, Europe, Latin America, and Australia in addition to North America. In 2003, the company became the first charged in the industry’s mutual fund trading scandal due to allowing some investors to trade fund shares after market hours. In response, Putnam made a $110 million settlement with the SEC and Massachusetts regulators, adopted reforms based on new mutual fund protection principles, replaced its CEO, and lowered the costs of owning a mutual fund. But it continued to suffer from asset outflows, and today Marsh & McLennan is said to be interested in selling Putnam.