http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/19/business/19money.htmlProfessional Money Fund Is Closed by Putnam
By DIANA B. HENRIQUES
Published: September 18, 2008
For the second time in a week, a multibillion-dollar money market fund has been forced to take extraordinary steps to deal with sudden cash withdrawals by nervous institutional investors.
Putnam Investments, one of the oldest names in the mutual fund industry, announced Thursday that it was closing and liquidating its Putnam Prime Money Market Fund, a $12.3 billion fund that serves only professional investors. The action does not affect Putnam money funds that are sold to retail investors.
But the unusual step shows just how nervous investors — especially the professional ones — have suddenly become about a type of investment that was long considered to be as risk-free as a bank checking account.