Putnam Investments expects to deploy its absolute-return funds within target-date retirement funds — a strategy slated for launch this fall, according to Jeffrey Carney, senior managing director and head of global marketing, products and retirement at Putnam.
The funds will be used in Putnam's Retirement Ready series of lifecycle funds.
Putnam launched a series of absolute-return funds in January that were created to bring an annualized total return of 1%, 3%, 5% or 7% above the returns of Treasury bonds over a period of three or more years. In addition, they are designed to deliver a positive return even in plunging markets.
To be sure, the dicey markets of the last several months have prompted investors to re-evaluate how they should invest.
“When markets go up consistently over time, people forget that (they) can go down, and they buy relative-return funds,” Mr. Carney said in an interview.
The absolute-return funds have garnered nearly $250 million in assets since the Jan. 13 launch.
Sue Asci is a reporter at InvestmentNews, a sister publication of Pensions & Investments
