Since its first fund in 1937, Putnam Investments has gradually evolved as one of the most renowned financial investment companies in the world. Putnam had assets of $169 billion under its management as of March 2018, of which mutual fund assets comprised $77 billion. The fund family allocated its assets in more than 70 mutual funds including both equity and fixed income funds.

The company has over 180 investment professionals and provides a wide range of financial services including 60 institutional strategies. It now has a presence in North America, Europe, and Asia with offices in London, Boston, Tokyo, Frankfurt, Singapore and Sydney.

Below we share with you three top-ranked Putnam mutual funds. Each has earned a Zacks Mutual Fund Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and is expected to outperform its peers in the future.

Putnam Tax-Free High Yield Y (PTFYX – Free Report) invests primarily in bonds that offer federal income tax exempted interest. PTFYX seeks growth of income from investment-grade and below-investment-grade securities, which have maturities of three years and more. Putnam Tax-Free High Yield Y has three-year annualized returns of 3.9%.

Garrett Hamilton has been one of the fund managers of PTFYX since 2016.

Putnam Tax-Free High Yield A (PTHAX – Free Report) seeks high current income free from federal income tax. The majority of the fund’s assets are invested in bonds, the interest from which is exempt from federal income tax. It purchases securities rated investment grade as well as those of lower quality. Putnam Tax-Free High Yield A has three-year annualized returns of 3.6%.

PTHAX has an expense ratio of 0.83% compared with the category average of 0.96%.

Putnam Absolute Return 700 A (PDMAX – Free Report) seeks returns that will be higher than the annualized returns of U.S. Treasury bills by 7% or 700 basis points. This fund attains its investment objective by combining a beta strategy with an alpha strategy. Putnam Absolute Return 700 A has three-year annualized returns of 1.6%.