Stephen Tate
About Stephen Tate
Stephen J. Tate serves as Vice President and Chief Legal Officer of Putnam Premier Income Trust (PPT). He has held this fund officer role since 2021 and is concurrently General Counsel of Putnam U.S. Holdings I, LLC, Putnam Investment Management, LLC (Putnam Management), and Putnam Retail Management (2021–present); previously he was Deputy General Counsel and held related legal positions at Putnam Investments/Putnam Management/Putnam Retail Management (2004–2021). He was born in 1974. Officers of the fund are employees of Franklin Advisers or its affiliates and benefit indirectly from fund management and servicing fees; the proxy does not disclose individual officer compensation or pay-performance linkages for fund officers . He is listed as the fund’s agent for service and signs regulatory filings in his CLO capacity, evidencing governance responsibility for the fund’s compliance and reporting processes .
Note: Fund documents disclose fund-level governance and trustee compensation but do not provide TSR/revenue/EBITDA metrics linked to Mr. Tate’s compensation; performance reporting for the fund is presented separately and not tied to officer pay in these filings .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Putnam Investments / Putnam Management / Putnam Retail Management | Deputy General Counsel and related positions | 2004–2021 | Not disclosed in fund filings |
| Putnam U.S. Holdings I, LLC; Putnam Management; Putnam Retail Management | General Counsel | 2021–Present | Not disclosed in fund filings |
| Putnam Premier Income Trust (PPT) | Vice President and Chief Legal Officer | 2021–Present | Fund officer overseeing legal function; officers are employees of Franklin Advisers or affiliates |
External Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | — | No external public company directorships or committee roles for Mr. Tate are disclosed in the PPT proxy’s officer section . |
Fixed Compensation
| Component | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base salary | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Fund officers are employees of Franklin Advisers or its affiliates; the fund does not disclose officer cash compensation . |
| Target/actual annual bonus | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Not disclosed for fund officers in proxy . |
| Perquisites/pension/deferral | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Not disclosed | Not disclosed for fund officers in proxy . |
Performance Compensation
| Incentive Type | Metric | Weighting | Target | Actual | Payout | Vesting/Terms |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Equity (RSUs/PSUs) | — | — | — | — | — | The fund does not disclose equity awards, metrics, or vesting for fund officers; officers are compensated by Franklin Advisers or affiliates . |
| Stock options | — | — | — | — | — | Not disclosed for fund officers . |
| Cash STI | — | — | — | — | — | Not disclosed for fund officers . |
The DEF 14A details trustee governance and compensation structures but does not include officer-specific incentive metrics or payout outcomes for PPT officers .
Equity Ownership & Alignment
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Beneficial ownership (group) | As of March 1, 2025, each Trustee, and the officers and Trustees of the fund as a group, owned less than 1% of the fund’s outstanding common shares . |
| Individual ownership breakdown | Not disclosed for Mr. Tate; officer-level share counts are not provided in the proxy . |
| Pledging/hedging | No pledging or hedging disclosures specific to fund officers are presented in the proxy excerpts reviewed . |
| Ownership guidelines | The proxy discusses an Independent Trustee Compensation Committee and board structures; no officer ownership guidelines are disclosed in the officer section . |
Employment Terms
| Term | Detail |
|---|---|
| Current fund role | Vice President and Chief Legal Officer (since 2021) . |
| Agent for service | Listed as the fund’s agent for service with address 100 Federal Street, Boston, MA 02110 (appears in N-CSR/S filings) . |
| Regulatory signatory | Signs N-PX as “Vice President, Chief Legal Officer” (e.g., dated Aug 29, 2024 and Aug 15, 2025) . |
| Employment agreement, severance, change-in-control | Not disclosed in the PPT proxy for fund officers; filings emphasize officers are employees of Franklin Advisers or its affiliates . |
| Clawbacks, non-compete/non-solicit | Not disclosed for fund officers in the proxy excerpts reviewed . |
Additional Observations (Governance Context)
- Officers of the fund (including Mr. Tate) are employees of Franklin Advisers or affiliates and “will benefit indirectly from the management fees and investor servicing fees” paid by the fund; fund-level officer compensation detail is not presented .
- The 2025 proxy centers on board restructuring to a Franklin CEF Board and committee composition (Audit, Nominating, Compensation, Pricing & Valuation) comprised of Independent Trustees; these are board-level governance structures, not officer compensation frameworks .
- Section 16(a) compliance: based on review of filings and representations, PPT states required Section 16(a) reports for fund officers and trustees were complied with in the most recently completed fiscal year .
Investment Implications
- Alignment and selling pressure: With officers compensated by the adviser (Franklin Advisers) and officer-level equity awards/ownership in the fund not disclosed, there is limited evidence of direct fund-equity alignment or forthcoming insider selling pressure tied to vesting events at the fund level .
- Retention risk: Retention and pay incentives for Mr. Tate are determined at the adviser level and are not disclosed in fund filings; fund investors have limited visibility into severance, change-of-control, or clawback terms that might affect retention or behavior .
- Governance and control: Mr. Tate’s role as CLO and agent for service, and his signature on regulatory filings, indicate central responsibility for governance/compliance infrastructure, but investment performance levers (portfolio risk, distribution policy, leverage) are overseen by Trustees and the adviser, not the CLO position .
- Net takeaway: From a trading/comp lens, there are no disclosed, quantifiable pay-for-performance linkages, vesting calendars, or pledging/hedging flags for Mr. Tate at the fund level. Monitoring should focus on adviser-level disclosures and any future fund filings that might introduce officer-specific ownership or policy changes .