BOSTON, May 24, 2017 – Putnam Investments announced today that the firm will be launching several mutual funds later this summer that bring to bear three different alternative strategies designed to provide financial advisors and their clients with an array of modern portfolio construction tools to help navigate changing market conditions. The funds will be sub-advised by PanAgora Asset Management and are expected to be available in the marketplace in the third quarter of this year.
The new funds will offer three important and distinct investment approaches:
- Putnam PanAgora Risk Parity Fund — seeks total return under varying economic conditions through strategic allocation across asset classes
- Putnam PanAgora Market Neutral Fund — pursues uncorrelated alpha by investing in long/short equity strategies
- Putnam PanAgora Managed Futures Fund — seeks absolute return through a managed futures strategy that is designed to provide meaningful diversification to traditional asset classes
PanAgora Asset Management, a Boston-based affiliate of Putnam, has built a strong reputation in the institutional marketplace for managing a host of well-regarded strategies using a disciplined, systematic approach to investing.
“We have entered an era when the marketplace increasingly understands the need for innovative investment approaches. These three new products will give mutual fund investors and their advisors access to strategies that have been used successfully by the institutional market for many years,” said Robert L. Reynolds, President and Chief Executive Officer, Putnam Investments. “In broadening its slate of alternative offerings, Putnam will be bringing the specialized investment capabilities of our affiliate, PanAgora Asset Management, to our clients.”
In discussing the underlying needs — and demand — driving the launch, Scott C. Sipple, Head of Global Investment Strategies at Putnam Investments, said, “Continuing volatility in the financial markets and a changing risk-benefit equation have driven financial advisors to think about portfolio construction in new and different ways, including utilizing components that help solve some of the more vexing challenges that investors face. These additions to the Putnam fund lineup will bring a new dimension and provide an opportunity for clients to advance a range of objectives.”
Sipple indicated that the new funds will each bring a differentiated strategy to the market:
- Putnam PanAgora Risk Parity Fund is a systematic multi-asset solution that seeks to balance the fund’s portfolio risks and generate more stable returns and greater downside protection than other, more traditional multi-asset approaches. The fund seeks to participate in economic growth by allocating to equities, to preserve capital during economic contraction by allocating to nominal fixed income, and to protect from inflation with commodities and inflation-linked bonds. PanAgora Asset Management is a pioneer thought leader in risk parity. The PanAgora Risk Parity Multi-Asset strategy was incepted in 2006 for the institutional marketplace.
- Putnam PanAgora Market Neutral Fund is a systematic long/short global equity market neutral strategy that seeks to generate attractive absolute returns (that are uncorrelated to general equity markets) by identifying and exploiting multiple inefficiencies that exist in global markets. The fund will pursue a similar approach as the PanAgora Diversified Arbitrage strategy, which was incepted in 2010 for the institutional marketplace.
- Putnam PanAgora Managed Futures Fund seeks absolute return through a managed futures strategy that is designed to provide meaningful diversification to traditional asset classes. The fund utilizes systematic long/short exposure to liquid futures and forwards across commodities, equities, fixed income and currencies. PanAgora has a long history in implementing multi-asset portfolios using managed futures designed to capture risk and factor premia.
About PanAgora Asset Management
Founded in 1989, PanAgora Asset Management is a premier provider of institutional investment solutions, including alternatives, risk premia and active strategies, spanning all major asset classes and risk ranges. The firm’s client base comprises institutional clients across the globe, such as sovereign wealth & pension funds, sub-advisory, public & private retirement funds, and endowments & foundations. For more information, visit www.panagora.com.
About Putnam Investments
Founded in 1937, Putnam Investments is a global money management firm with 80 years of investment experience. At the end of April 2017, Putnam had $162 billion in assets under management. Putnam has offices in Boston, London, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Singapore and Sydney. For more information, visit putnam.com.
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