Putnam Trims Down Workforce
December 10, 2009
Boston-based Putnam Investments will perform some in-house belt-tightening and eliminate nearly 5% of its workforce, Jon Goldstein, firm spokesperson, told IMW.
In a phone conversation this afternoon, Goldstein stated that approximately 104 positions would be terminated immediately. The bulk of the cuts will affect the firm’s technology and operations department in its Boston and Andover, Mass. offices, with a couple of its international offices cutting personnel as well, Goldstein said.
“[Putnam] wants to continue making strong investments over time such as bolstering investment division, building out our retirement division and boosting presence in institutional markets,” Goldstein said. “[But] at the same time we are looking at parts of our business we can potential ease back.”
Goldstein added that a few years earlier the firm had already begun to outsource its workforce in fund accounting, custody and mail operations, but stated that the institution is committed to handling its shareholder and client operations “in-house.”
Despite the bleak week for some of its employees, Goldstein stated that the Putnam brand has made some significant progress in 2009. With its ongoing goal of being a “strong presence in the asset management space,” Goldstein stated that investment performance has improved.
As of Nov. 30, the 70-year old firm has $114 billion in assets under management. Its returns have jumped $10 billion from the start of the year, Goldstein said.
“We are well positioned and increasingly well equipped to attract assets in 2010,” Goldstein said.
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