Putnam Investments cuts Australian staff numbers from three to one

Putnam Investments has let two of its three staff in Australia go as the belt-tightening continues across the financial services industry.

Putnam Investments Australia senior vice president and director of the group’s Australian retail business, Peter Walsh, will depart his role at the end of this week. Timothy Meggitt, who has been with the group for less than a year, will also be exiting his role. Meggitt was regional marketing director for retail funds and also a vice president of the group.

Putnam’s remaining representative in Australia will be senior vice president and director, institutional business, Charles Wall. Wall sung the praises of his colleagues and said the job cuts do not represent “impatience by the business or poor execution” from the local Putnam representatives.

The changes to the Australian arm of the business follow previous job cuts in Putnam’s home office in the US.

While the changes have the potential to be perceived by some as a move away from a commitment to the Australian market, Wall said this was not the case.

“The office remains open and functioning, there’s no change in the investment team or what they're doing and all the investment funds are still there,” Wall said.

In a difficult environment, all businesses “have got to make sure they're around to manage money either at the end of this year or next year,” he said.

Wall is of the view that despite recent upwards movements in equity markets, “there are still some hurdles to overcome”.

While Putnam’s institutional director is clearly disappointed by the changes, he remains confident the business has a long term future in Australia and will continue to offer “valued products that people want invest in”.

Putnam Investments has offered investment strategies in Australia in various ways over the past decade, Wall said. At one stage this included a relationship with BT, prior to the appointment of Wall and Walsh to engage directly with the market.

Wall said Putnam’s investment performance this year had been “solid”, and while the group was still in the “early days” of funds flows, it was gaining support for the Putnam World Wide Income Fund, while also picking up institutional mandates.