Fund Evaluator:

Putnam Core Equity Fund C Overview

Putnam Core Equity Fund C (PMYCX) is an actively managed U.S. Equity Large Blend fund. Franklin Templeton Investments launched the fund in 2010.

The investment seeks capital appreciation. The fund invests mainly in common stocks (growth or value stocks or both) of U.S. companies of any size that the adviser believes have favorable investment potential. The adviser may also consider other factors the advisor believes will cause the stock price to rise. The adviser may consider, among other factors, a company's valuation, financial strength, growth potential, competitive position in its industry, projected future earnings, cash flows and dividends when deciding whether to buy or sell investments.

About Putnam Core Equity Fund C (PMYCX)

There are 2 members of the management team with an average tenure of 5.09 years: Walter Scully (2025), Arthur Yeager (2017). Management tenure is more important for actively managed funds than passive index funds.

The fund has 1 primary benchmark: Russell 3000 TR USD index with a weighting of 100%. Putnam Core Equity Fund C has 148 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 39.6% of the fund’s assets. The fund meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a diversified fund. The fund is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

Putnam Core Equity Fund C is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the U.S. Equity fund group. Putnam Core Equity Fund C has 0.7% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 97.4%. There is 0.7% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.0% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 0.0% (0.0% domestic bond, 0.0% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). Putnam Core Equity Fund C has 0.3% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $148 million in total assets, which is below the $6 billion average for the Large Blend category. Normally, lower assets under management translates to higher average expense ratios, and greater total assets are desired. However, for some investment categories, such as small-cap investing, it may be difficult for the manager to fully employ the desired active strategy if assets grow too large or too quickly.

PMYCX Performance and Fees

The expense ratio measures how much of a fund’s assets are used for administrative expenses and operating expenses, including adviser fees and fees for the transfer agent and custodial services. The Putnam Core Equity Fund C expense ratio is high compared to funds in the Large Blend category. Putnam Core Equity Fund C has an expense ratio of 1.70%, which is 109% higher than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a F. While it is difficult to predict returns, it is known that high annual expense ratios reduce your rate of return, and excessive fees are difficult to overcome. Active management normally comes with higher expense ratios than passive index management. Certain investment categories such as small company and foreign also normally have higher expense ratios. It is best to compare fund expense ratios against the category averages for meaningful assessments.

High portfolio turnover can translate to higher expenses and lower aftertax returns. Putnam Core Equity Fund C has a portfolio turnover rate of 13%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.1 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 48% for the Large Blend category.

Recently, in the month of July 2026, Putnam Core Equity Fund C returned 1.1%, which earned it a grade of B, as the Large Blend category had an average return of 0.4%. The letter grades of A, B, C, D and F are based upon relative rankings within the investment category. A grade of A, for example, would indicate that the return is in the highest 20% for that time period compared to all funds in that category.

Putnam Core Equity Fund C has a trailing yield of 0.18%, which is below the 0.56% category average. The fund normally distributes its income annually and its capital gains annually.

It’s natural to seek the best-performing investments, but you must consider the relationship between risk and return and the impact of costs and taxes on your realized returns.

Putnam Core Equity Fund C Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned 7.8%, 1.6 percentage points worse than the category, which translates into a grade of D. The fund has returned 17.7% over the past year (grade of C), 18.0% over the past three years (grade of C) and 11.9% per year over the past five years (grade of C) and 14.8% per year over the past 10 years (grade of B).

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