Great-West Lifeco's top executive told the Globe and Mail that the firm would likely be in better shape had it waited a year before acquiring Putnam Investments from Marsh & McLennan.

"Would we rather have bought this at another time? Probably," said Great-West CEO Allen Loney, whose predecessor Raymond McFeetors pulled the trigger on the $3.9 billion acquisition of Putnam in 2007.

"But to some degree, big franchises like that don't come available very often and if you're going to get into that business you have to buy when they're available," he said.

In the last quarter of 2009, Great-West recorded a $1.35-billion charge to reflect the declining value of the acquisition. That charge resulted Great-West parent Power Financial to post its first quarterly loss in more than 15 years.

In the interview, Loney also said that the turnaround strategy at Putnam is beginning to yield results.  

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