Putnam Hires Lewis as Director of DC Sales

Putnam Investments has hired Benjamin H. Lewis as managing director of defined contribution sales and relationship management. A 23-year veteran of the 401(k) industry who began his career at Fidelity in 1986, Lewis most recently was senior vice president for Fidelity Employer Services Co.

The hiring of Lewis comes on the heels of the company’s announcement it has developed a new, open-architecture defined contribution platform.

In his new position, Lewis is in charge of the DC services Putnam provides to advisers and other intermediaries, as well as retirement plan sponsors.

Lewis reports to Managing Director and Head of Defined Contribution Edmund F. Murphy III, who also joined Putnam from Fidelity Investments, where he was executive vice president of distribution for personal and workplace investing. Lewis will work closely with Managing Director of Defined Contribution and Marketing David Tyrie and Managing Director of Defined Contribution Operations Paul Dewey.

“We want to be the retirement plan provider of choice, and we will continue to hire the best talent to get there,” Murphy said.