Putnam VT High Yield Fund
Putnam Variable Trust
Expense ratio
Net assets1
$133.63M
Holdings1
376
Category
Taxable Bond
Return

Investment objective & strategy

As of April 28, 2025 · prospectus

Objective. The fund seeks high current income. Capital growth is a secondary goal when consistent with achieving high current income.

Strategy. Investments We invest mainly in bonds that are obligations of U.S. companies, are below investment-grade in quality (sometimes referred to as junk bonds), and have intermediate- to long-term maturities (three years or longer). Under normal circumstances, we invest at least 80% of the funds net assets in securities rated below investment-grade. This policy may be changed only after 60 days notice to shareholders. We may also invest in other debt instruments, including loans. We may consider, among other factors, credit, interest rate and prepayment risks, as well as general market conditions, when deciding whether to buy or sell investments. We may also use derivatives, such as futures, options, certain foreign currency transactions, and credit default swap contracts, for both hedging … Investments We invest mainly in bonds that are obligations of U.S. companies, are below investment-grade in quality (sometimes referred to as junk bonds), and have intermediate- to long-term maturities (three years or longer). Under normal circumstances, we invest at least 80% of the funds net assets in securities rated below investment-grade. This policy may be changed only after 60 days notice to shareholders. We may also invest in other debt instruments, including loans. We may consider, among other factors, credit, interest rate and prepayment risks, as well as general market conditions, when deciding whether to buy or sell investments. We may also use derivatives, such as futures, options, certain foreign currency transactions, and credit default swap contracts, for both hedging and non-hedging purposes.

Top holdings

As of March 31, 2026 · N-PORT
SecurityTickerValue% of fund
Putnam Short Term Investment Fund, Class P $4.07M 3.05%
RR DONNELLEY + SONS CO SR SECURED 144A 08/29 9.5 RRD $1.11M 0.83%
Grifols SA $1.09M 0.82%
Opal Bidco SAS $1.09M 0.81%
FirstCash, Inc. $1.02M 0.76%
MPT Operating Partnership L.P./ MPT Finance Corp. $979.09K 0.73%
KEDRION SPA REGD 144A P/P 6.50000000 KEDRIM $969.69K 0.73%
APLD COMPUTECO LLC SR SECURED 144A 12/30 9.25 APLD $964.17K 0.72%
CHTR 4.75 03/01/30 144A CHTR $959.00K 0.72%
NLSN 9.5 02/15/33 144A NLSN $932.63K 0.70%
View all holdings →

Allocation by sector

As of March 31, 2026 · N-PORT
View portfolio breakdown →

Portfolio moves

Dec 31, 2025 → Mar 31, 2026
Opened
39
Exited
45
Increased
19
Decreased
44
Unchanged
274

How many positions this fund opened, exited, grew, trimmed, or left unchanged between its two most recent N-PORT snapshots — net changes between point-in-time reports, not a trade log.

View portfolio moves →

Similar funds

Funds whose portfolios most overlap this one, by weight
FundOverlapNet exp.
Putnam High Yield Fund · PHYIX, PHYBX, PHYMX 84% 0.63%
Empower High Yield Bond Fund · MXHYX, MXFRX 63% 0.58%
Putnam ESG High Yield ETF 59% 0.55%
View all similar funds →

Advisers

As of December 31, 2025 · N-CEN
FirmRole
Franklin Advisers, Inc. Adviser
Franklin Templeton Investment Management Limited Sub-adviser
Putnam Investment Management, LLC Sub-adviser

Footnotes

  1. Net assets and holdings count as of March 31, 2026, from the fund's N-PORT filing.

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