James Clark
About James F. Clark
James F. Clark (born 1974) serves as Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer (CCO) of Putnam Premier Income Trust (PPT). He has held this officer role with the Putnam funds since 2016 and concurrently serves as CCO of Putnam Investments and Putnam Management; earlier he was Associate General Counsel across Putnam entities from 2003–2015 . Fund proxies do not disclose individual executive education, cash compensation, or fund-linked performance metrics (TSR, revenue/EBITDA) for officers; officers are employees of Putnam Management and benefit indirectly from fund management fees .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Putnam Investments / Putnam Management / Putnam Retail Management | Associate General Counsel | 2003–2015 | Not disclosed in filings |
| Putnam Investments | Chief Compliance Officer and Chief Risk Officer | 2016–present | Not disclosed in filings |
| Putnam Management | Chief Compliance Officer | 2016–present | Not disclosed in filings |
External Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Not disclosed in fund filings reviewed | — | — | — |
Fixed Compensation
- Officers of PPT (including the CCO) are employees of Putnam Management or affiliates; the fund does not disclose officer base salary, target/actual bonus, or perquisites. Officers benefit indirectly from management and servicing fees paid by the fund to Putnam Management .
- Trustee compensation structures and committees are disclosed, but officer cash/equity compensation is not included in PPT proxies .
Performance Compensation
| Metric | Weighting | Target | Actual | Payout | Vesting |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Not disclosed for PPT officers in fund filings | — | — | — | — | — |
Fund proxies do not report RSUs/PSUs/options or performance-based payout frameworks for PPT officers; compensation appears to be determined at the Putnam Management level, outside the fund’s proxy disclosures .
Equity Ownership & Alignment
| Data Point | Value | As of | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total beneficial ownership of PPT shares | 0 shares reported on initial Section 16 Form 3 | Feb 1, 2016 |
- No further Section 16 updates for James F. Clark were identified in the PPT filings retrieved; proxies list him as an officer but do not include officer holdings tables .
- Stock ownership guidelines, pledging, hedging, and option holdings for officers are not disclosed in PPT proxies .
Employment Terms
- Role and tenure: Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer of the Putnam funds since 2016; CCO roles at Putnam Investments/Putnam Management in parallel .
- Employment agreements, severance, change-of-control terms, non-compete/non-solicit, garden leave, and consulting arrangements for PPT officers are not disclosed in fund filings reviewed; officers are employed by Putnam Management rather than directly by the fund .
- No Item 5.02 8-K executive appointment/compensation events for James F. Clark were found among PPT’s 8-Ks reviewed (bylaws amendment and investment policy updates were disclosed) .
Investment Implications
- Pay-for-performance transparency is limited: PPT proxies do not disclose officer-level salary/bonus/equity awards or performance metrics; compensation occurs at Putnam Management, reducing direct visibility into incentives tied to PPT’s NAV, market price, leverage, or distribution policy .
- Insider selling pressure appears minimal at the fund level based on James F. Clark’s Form 3 showing zero beneficial ownership and absence of subsequent ownership change disclosures in the retrieved filings, though lack of filings is not proof of absence; monitor future Section 16 activity for changes .
- Alignment is primarily through firm-level compliance and risk roles rather than fund-level equity: this can support governance quality but provides fewer direct trading signals; watch governance filings and bylaw changes that can affect shareholder rights and activism dynamics (e.g., PPT’s rescission of control share acquisition provisions) -.
- Retention/transition risk evaluation is constrained without employment contract or severance/change-of-control disclosures; no officer-specific 8-K (Item 5.02) events were found in PPT filings reviewed - .