Products February 6, 2014

Putnam Targets Volatility-Weary Investors

Putnam Investments is putting more emphasis on investment strategies that can help financial advisers and their clients pursue strong, risk-adjusted performance in volatile markets.
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To that end, the firm says it is re-launching its “New Ways of Thinking” campaign in 2014 to spotlight how evolving market environments should drive consideration of new types of portfolio construction. This will be accomplished, the firm says, through a series of new print and online advertisements, and through more direct marketing to investors and institutions.

Putnam says it will also use various multimedia vehicles—including social media, mobile applications and blogs—to communicate the increasing relevance of more modern portfolio construction strategies.

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Key themes of the campaign include the growth of new investment products that combine traditional, benchmark-measured investing with newer, benchmark-independent strategies that Putnam says can help clients attain global diversification and downside protection amid uncertain markets.

Additional topics addressed by the campaign will include:

  • The four primary types of risk in bond markets that most often need to be actively managed;
  • Analysis on how to apply strong fundamental research to find new and different sources of equity returns; and
  • Advice for incorporating dynamic flexibility, risk allocation, and low-volatility strategies in investment portfolios.

“Success in today’s markets calls for new thinking not just in alternative investments, but in traditional fixed-income and equity investments as well,” says Robert Reynolds, president and chief executive officer at Putnam Investments. “Conventional wisdom about portfolio-construction strategies needs to be questioned and, in many cases, revised. Investors today are looking for investment processes and structures to help them not only seek great returns, but also help curb volatility and mitigate downside risk.”

While actively seeking superior returns has always been important for their clients, Reynolds says, advisers and consultants today see the best chance of delivering such results requires thinking that goes beyond traditional style boxes. Implementing such a strategy often means investing outside benchmarks and actively allocating risks as well as assets, Reynolds says.

“These new ways of thinking, as we call them, are no longer optional or controversial,” says Reynolds, “they are essential.”

More information is available at www.putnam.com.

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