Boston-based Putnam Investments and Janus Capital Group Inc. took hits when Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant Unilever fired Putnam from managing part of its UK pension fund and, in a separate decision, U.S.-based DuPont Co. told employees they can no longer put cash into Janus Capital Group Inc.
Chemical maker DuPont Co. said its employees would not be able to put new money into retirement accounts managed by Denver-based Janus Capital. “About the same time, mid-November, as a result of some reviews into Janus, as well as some direct discussions with them, we have restricted new transfers into that fund: Janus Enterprise Fund and Janus Mercury Fund,” DuPont spokeswoman Tara Condon-Tullier said. “They’re continuing to keep their eye on it, but at this point we don’t have any other actions.”
Janus, the No. 9 U.S. mutual fund company, has not been charged with any wrongdoing by regulators. However, Janus has been hit by large outflows since it was named by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer’s office in a sweeping probe into improper trading in mutual funds