Putnam 'Skeleton of What it Was': Lasser

Larry Lasser, ousted as the chairman of Putnam Investments at the outset of the mutual fund timing scandal, has laid low these past three years. But recently, after speaking at Olin College in Massachusetts, the much-maligned executive granted an interview to the Boston Globe in which he expressed some regret for the Putnam’s state today—with a caveat.

“The Putnam I loved and built and led is a skeleton of what it was,” Lasser said.

Lasser admitted that there were some things that he and his management team could have done to “mitigate against” the market timing by clients and six of the firm’s own managers. In particular, he said, the company grew too swiftly. However, he faulted the regulators involved in the case for being motivated by political agendas and playing out their actions in the headlines.