Putnam Shareholders Vote to Keep Closed End Funds 'Closed' (PGM, PIM, PMH, PPT)

Putnam has announced that the shareholders of the Putnam Investment Grade Municipal Trust (PGM), Putnam Master Intermediate Income Trust (PIM), and the Putnam Premier Income Trust (PPT) have voted against converting the funds into open end funds. According to the press release, fewer than 16% of each fund's outstanding shares were voted in favor of the proposal, which is not a surprise.

Of all fund advisors, having closed-end funds converted to open end funds would probably be worst for Putnam. After being implicated in the mutual fund scandal a few years ago for shenanigans with their open end funds, Putnam has consistently been near the top of the list of fund families who are losing the most assets. If any of Putnam’s closed-end funds were converted to open end funds, there is no reason to believe that Putnam wouldn’t lose a substantial amount of those assets too.

Shareholders in one more Putnam fund, Putnam Tax-Free Health Care (PMH), will vote on open-ending in July. For PMH, the open-ending proposal was not triggered by a lifeboat provision, but was submitted by a shareholder. Also, if the discounts for PGM, PIM, and PPT don’t decrease, the lifeboat provisions may be triggered again next year.

Putnam funds 3-yr comparison chart: