Great-West Cuts Putnam Ties

May 6, 2004 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Great-West Lifeco will severe its ties with Putnam Investments.

The announcement comes after the insurance company began a formal review of its relationship with the embattled fund in November.   Pending regulatory approval, the relationship will formerly end July 19, according to a Reuters report.

Boston-based Putnam has been an investment sub-adviser for $670 million worth of Great-West funds.   Great-West named three new sub-advisers: UBS Global Asset Management, JP Morgan Fleming Asset Management and Brandywine Asset Management.

“We believe that Putnam has acted capably on behalf of our unitholders over the past decade, but with our review we have identified other international sub-advisers who we believe will enhance our international fund offerings,” said Rick Rausch, a senior vice-president, with Great-West.

The action from Great-West came as a direct result of Putnam’s alleged involvement in mutual fund market timing and late trading.   In April, Putnam agreed to pay $110 million to settle federal and state allegations that it turned a blind eye to short-term trading that violated company policy and penalized long-term investors (See  Putnam Inks $110M State/Federal Market Timing Settlement ).

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