What is going on with Putnam? Industry insiders are speculating that there will be a reorganization at the Boston-based fund firm. Those murmurings were reinforced Monday morning when Putnam officials announced a conference call for the media with CEO Bob Reynolds for 11:30 AM.

There was no subject given for the conference call.

Yet, industry insiders have told The MFWire that there has been speculation that Reynolds is preparing to cut costs at the fund firm. While those sources have heard that across-the-board cuts are in the offing there is no first-hand confirmation of the speculation.

One possible area for changes is the firm's portfolio management and research team. Putnam has continued to hemorrhage assets -- it dropped 15.3 percent of its AUM in October, slimming from $137 billion on September 30 to $116 billion by the end of October. Look for Reynolds to possibly change the rolls of some team members and also announce some new hires to staunch the decline.

Meanwhile, Reynolds and new hire Jeff Carney may be ready to place a bet on direct marketing of Putnam's funds which heretofore have primarily relied on brokerage distribution. Carney was a Reynolds protege at Fidelity and signed on as head of global marketing and products last month. 

Stay ahead of the news ... Sign up for our email alerts now
CLICK HERE