Two New Putnam Funds to Invest in Leveraged Company Securities

Putnam Investments has launched the Putnam Capital Spectrum Fund and the Putnam Equity Spectrum Fund, two funds that will invest in a full spectrum of underpriced securities of leveraged companies, including stocks, bonds, bank loans and convertible securities.

Veteran fund manager David Glancy will run the two funds. He has 20 years of experience specializing in leveraged investments at Andover Capital and Fidelity Investments.

The Capital Spectrum fund seeks total return and the Equity Spectrum fund seeks capital appreciation, both using fundamental research focusing on balance sheets and capital structures to identify the securities with the greatest total return potential.

The types of leveraged companies the funds will invest in include capital-intensive businesses, early-stage growth companies, former investment grade companies and companies in such special situations as restructurings and bankruptcies.

“Today, many leveraged companies offer attractive investment opportunities, and few are better at uncovering and capitalizing on these opportunities than David Glancy,” said Putnam President and CEO Robert L. Reynolds. “For more than two decades, David has been at the forefront of assessing undervalued, leveraged companies. His career spans the history of leveraged investing, from the leveraged buyout wave of the 1980s and the private equity wave of the 2000s, to the credit crisis of today.”

Glancy said: “There are a lot more opportunities among leveraged companies today than in the past. Debt burdens are higher, and earnings recovery is less certain than in the previous two recessions. As a result of the volatility and market dislocation we see today, leveraged companies can provide exceptional upside potential for investments across their capital structures.”