Putnam's Ed Haldeman will be staying on for at least another two years. In a recent interview with the Boston Globe, Haldeman told Fidelity chaser Ross Kerber that his new contract will run through 2010.

"We have all decided that the best thing for Putnam is for me to stay," Haldeman told Kerber. "We have more work to do."

Ed Haldeman Putnam Investments Pres & CEO

Some see it in a different light, an industry consultant told the MFWire that Great-West had not been actively seeking a replacement for Haldeman as time was ticking away. Great-West could then not afford to let Haldeman go for the fear that people would see the lack of a strong candidate to take over as evidence of more instability at the company.

Putnam has been losing AUM since 2001 when it was caught up in the mutual fund scandals, though the pace of outflows has slowed recently. A handful of portfolio mangers and executives have also decided to leave the company after options they received in the Power deal vested.

It has also been widely reported that Power is losing patience with its new toy and may consider buying another company with its newly valuable Canadian currency and rolling Putnam into it, thus eliminating the troubled Putnam brand.

In a speech in Montreal last month, however, Power Financial CEO Jeffrey Orr said the turnaround of Putnam is on track, it's the markets that are not cooperating.  

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