Big shake-up happening in Putnam's retirement unit

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 retirement as well as global marketing and products, will be in charge solely of products and global marketing. Edmund Murphy, managing director and head of the defined-contribution business, no longer will 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 stand-alone 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 comprises the senior-most executives. “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. Mr. Goldstein declined to comment, however, about why Putnam is getting rid of non-functional titles. Separately, Kelly Marshall, head of investment product management, has left Putnam less than a year after taking the position. She joined the firm in 2009 as director of market planning and analytics, and was promoted to lead all product management and development last May. She reported to Mr. Carney. “Kelly made a personal decision to leave the firm,” Mr. Goldstein said. Putnam isn't replacing Ms. Marshall, he said. Her departure comes just as Putnam has started to enjoy a turnaround in the performance of its mutual funds, observers said. Although just 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, according to Morningstar Inc. “I would give them a B, leaning toward a B+,” said Rob Wherry, an analyst at Morningstar. E-mail Jessica Toonkel at [email protected].