Putnam VT Multi-Asset Absolute Return Fund

C000099977 Fund Overview

Putnam VT Multi-Asset Absolute Return Fund is a US mutual fund managed by Putnam Variable Trust, categorised as Total Return Allocation. ABC INVEST provides holdings, performance, costs, cashflows, risk data, prospectus documents and SEC filings, sourced from SEC filings.

• Type: US mutual fund
• Manager: Putnam Variable Trust
• Category: Total Return Allocation
• Assets under management: $28.42M
• 1-year return: 2.2%
• SEC CIK: 0000822671
• SEC series ID: S000032103
• Share class ID: C000099977

C000099977 Investment Objective and Strategy

Putnam VT Multi-Asset Absolute Return Fund describes its objective and strategy as follows, from its latest prospectus filed with the SEC by Putnam Variable Trust.

Investment objective

Putnam VT Multi-Asset Absolute Return Fund seeks positive total return.

Principal investment strategy

The fund is designed to pursue a consistent absolute return by combining two independent investment strategies a beta strategy, which provides broad exposure to investment markets, and an alpha strategy, which seeks returns from active trading. The beta strategy seeks to balance risk and to provide positive total return by investing, without limit, in many different asset classes, including U.S., international, and emerging markets equity securities (growth or value stocks or both) and fixed-income securities; mortgage- and asset-backed securities; below-investment-grade securities (sometimes referred to as junk bonds); inflation-protected securities; commodities; and real estate investment trusts (REITs). The alpha strategy involves the potential use of active trading strategies designed to provide additional total return through active security selection, tactical asset allocation, currency transactions and options transactions.

In pursuing a consistent absolute return, the funds strategies are also generally intended to produce lower volatility over a reasonable period of time than has been historically associated with traditional asset classes that have earned similar levels of return over long historical periods. These traditional asset classes might include, for example, equities or equity-like investments. We may consider, among other factors, a companys valuation, financial strength, growth potential, competitive position in its industry, projected future earnings, cash flows and dividends when deciding whether to buy or sell equity investments, and, among other factors, credit, interest rate and prepayment risks when deciding whether to buy or sell fixed-income investments. We may also take into account general market conditions when making investment decisions.

We typically use derivatives, such as futures, options, certain foreign currency transactions, warrants and swap contracts, to a significant extent for hedging purposes and to increase the funds exposure to the asset classes and strategies mentioned above, which may create investment leverage.

C000099977 Holdings

Top 10 holdings of Putnam VT Multi-Asset Absolute Return Fund by percentage of net assets, from the fund's latest SEC N-PORT filing.

View all C000099977 holdings

C000099977 Portfolio Allocation

Asset-class allocation of Putnam VT Multi-Asset Absolute Return Fund by percentage of net assets, from the latest SEC N-PORT filing.

C000099977 Performance

Total returns for C000099977 (as of 2026-10-01), from SEC filings.

C000099977 Risk Information

Risk metrics for C000099977, derived from monthly returns in SEC filings.

• 1-year volatility (annualised): 3.4%

C000099977 Costs and Fees

C000099977 costs about $95 per $10,000 invested per year in fund expenses.

• Net expense ratio: 0.95%
• Gross expense ratio: 1.54%
• Portfolio turnover: 1146%

C000099977 Cashflows

Over the 12 months to 2023-03, Putnam VT Multi-Asset Absolute Return Fund had net inflows of $33.62M, from monthly SEC N-PORT filings.

C000099977 Debt Constituents

Largest debt holdings of Putnam VT Multi-Asset Absolute Return Fund by percentage of net assets, from the latest SEC N-PORT filing.

C000099977 Prospectus and SEC Filings

Official Putnam VT Multi-Asset Absolute Return Fund filings on SEC EDGAR — prospectus, portfolio holdings and annual reports.

• Prospectus (485BPOS) — filed 2022-04-29
• Prospectus (485BPOS) — filed 2021-04-30
• Prospectus (485BPOS) — filed 2020-05-18
• Portfolio holdings (N-PORT) — filed 2023-05-26
• Portfolio holdings (N-PORT) — filed 2023-02-24
• Portfolio holdings (N-PORT) — filed 2022-11-28
• Annual census (N-CEN) — filed 2024-03-05
• Annual census (N-CEN) — filed 2023-03-08

Related Funds

Other Total Return Allocation funds tracked on ABC INVEST:

• Federated Total Return Bond Fund (FTRFX)
• Columbia Balanced Fund (CBLAX)
• MFS Total Return Fund (MSFRX)
• AllianzGI Income & Growth Fund (AZNAX)
• AQR Risk Parity Fund (AQRNX)

Data Sources

ABC INVEST compiles this page from public filings made to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) through EDGAR: portfolio holdings and monthly cashflows from Form N-PORT, expenses and returns from fund prospectuses (Form 485BPOS) and the SEC DERA Risk/Return Summary data sets, annual data from Form N-CEN, and shareholder reports from Form N-CSR.