Putnam Investments of Boston reopened its New Opportunities Fund to new investors on Jan. 10, but the availability was short-lived. After only nine trading days, the $34 billion portfolio surged another $1 billion, and Putnam decided to close the fund once again on Jan. 18, said a company spokesperson.
The draw to the Putnam New Opportunities Fund is notable, given its year-to-date return of minus three percent, according to data from Lipper of Summit, N.J. However, the fund has risen a cumulative 307 percent since 1994, according to Lipper.
"This is the first time we've reopened and then re-closed a fund so quickly," said a Putnam spokesperson. "We knew there was quite a bit of demand for [the fund] and it became evident we would reach [the fund's portfolio manager Dan Miller's $1 billion quota for new funds] fairly quickly."
When Putnam launched the New Opportunities fund in 1991, it focused on small-cap stocks and produced excellent returns, the spokesperson said. In recent years, the fund's portfolio manager has focused on large-cap stocks and has benefited from the market's predisposition towards that style of investing, the spokesperson said.
