Big shake-up in Putnam’s retirement unit

Rejiggered, standalone line of business now reports directly to the CEO; meanwhile, investment product management boss departs

Putnam Investments has reorganized the senior ranks of its retirement division and is in the process of getting rid of all non-functional titles among senior executives across the company.
Jeffrey R. Carney, who headed up retirement as well as global marketing and products, will now be in charge solely of products and global marketing. Edmund Murphy, managing director and head of the defined-contribution business at Putnam, will no longer report to Mr. Carney, but instead will report directly to chief executive Robert Reynolds.
Putnam made the changes in its retirement division to “underscore the importance of the retirement area by making it a standalone line of business reporting directly to the CEO,” said spokesman Jon Goldstein. As such, Mr. Murphy is now part of Putnam’s operating committee, which is comprised of the senior-most executives at the firm. “Jeff Carney remains a key strategic driver for Putnam and will continue to apply his considerable experience to building and packaging an array of investment solutions for the marketplace, as well as leading all aspects of the firm’s marketing, communications and brand efforts,” Mr. Goldstein said.
He declined to comment, however, on why Putnam is getting rid of non-functional titles.
Separately, Kelly Marshall, head of investment product management at Putnam, has left the firm less than a year after taking the position. Ms. Marshall joined Putnam in 2009 as director of market planning and analytic and was promoted to head up all product management and development at Putnam in May. She reported to Mr. Carney. “Kelly made a personal decision to leave the firm,” Mr. Goldstein said. Putnam isn’t replacing Ms. Marshall.
Ms. Marshall’s departure comes just as Putnam has started to enjoy a turnaround in the performance of its mutual funds, experts said.
While only 15% of the firm’s equity funds have ranked in the top quartile of their categories for the past five years, 28% have done so over the past three years, according to Morningstar Inc.
“I would give them a B leaning toward a B+.” said Rob Wherry, an analyst at Morningstar Inc.