| 28 July 2009

Putnam Investments said today that it is lowering fees on some of its mutual funds. The announcement comes on the heels of Schwab's May announcement that it lowered fees on some of its index funds. While it's no price war, it's an encouraging sign for individual investors that fees are, more and more, coming under control.

In their announcement, Putnam called the changes "shareholder-friendly," which we suppose is an effort to reduce any backlash from shareholders who prefer to squeeze as much blood out of the turnip as possible.

The firm outlined a reduction in fees on fixed-income and asset allocation funds and complete elimination of management fees on target-date funds. (For more on why this is a good move, see our article on Target Date Funds.)

They're also introducing performance fees on U.S. growth funds, international funds and global equity funds that will fluctuate based on the investment performance in the fund. These fee structures are already in place on their Absolute Return Funds and Spectrum funds.

The firm has been trying to regain market share since losing a significant amount of assets under management of late. Robert Reynolds took over as CEO one year ago and has been scrambling to make the firm more competitive.