Putnam Investments' fund family's board of trustees announced Wednesday that it has authorized the funds to participate in the Treasury's money market guaranty program.
The program covers shareholders of Putnam's retail money market funds as of Sept. 19. The temporary guaranty will be triggered if a participating portfolio's net asset value falls below $0.995.
"We believe participation in the program is the right thing to do for shareholders who are understandably concerned about preserving their assets," Robert L. Reynolds, Putnam's president and chief executive officer, said in a press release. "Putnam's money market funds have maintained their $1.00 share price and continue to represent safe and high-quality investments. However, the program is well worth the peace of mind we hope it provides to investors."
According to the Treasury Department, the program will exist for an initial three-month term, after which the secretary of the Treasury will review the need for extending the program and the terms for doing so.
Putnam, a Boston unit of Toronto's Great West Lifeco, had $163 billion of assets under management at Aug. 31, including $96 billion for mutual fund investors and $67 billion for institutional accounts.
