Murphy named Putnam’s DC manager

Putnam Investments of Boston announced today that it has named 25-year industry veteran Edmund F. Murphy the managing director and head of defined contribution for the firm.
He replaces managing director David Tyrie, who will now focus on defined contribution products and marketing.
In his new role, Mr. Murphy will lead Putnam Investments’ defined contribution retirement plan business and will report directly to Jeffrey R. Carney, senior managing director and head of global marketing and products.
Most recently, Mr. Murphy served as vice president at Boston-based Fidelity Investments, in charge of the firm’s institutional retirement products.
The appointment of Murphy is the latest step in the turnaround strategy launched by Putnam’s president and chief executive, Robert L. Reynolds.
“Putnam has been a player in the 401(k) market in the past and got away from it,” said Robert Reynolds, Putnam president and chief executive.
“We are going to re-energize that.”
The market downturn provides an opportunity for innovation, and the firm plans to introduce more products that can be used in the 401(k) space, he said.

Putnam plans to leverage the insurance charter of parent company Great-West Lifeco Inc. of Winnipeg to develop some of the new offerings.

“We will be using insurance charters where you can provide guarantees and annuities and answer the needs in the marketplace,” Mr. Reynolds said.
“The market is screaming for it. Absolutely you will see more products from us.”

Putnam sees the fact that Great West is also a leading record keeper of defined contribution plans as another advantage.

“Great West gives us a competitive advantage right out of the gate,” said Jeffrey Carney, head of global marketing and products. “They have the systems and the scale and we can move much faster than if we had to build a platform from scratch.”