PUTNAM HEALTH SCIENCES TRUST
Prospectus Supplement dated November 8, 1996
to Prospectus dated January 1, 1996
At a shareholder meeting to be held on February 6, 1997,
shareholders of the fund will be asked to approve a number of
changes to the fund's fundamental investment restrictions,
including a proposal to change the fund from a "diversified" to a
"non-diversified" investment company under the Investment Company
Act of 1940. If the proposed changes are approved, the fund will
be able to:
-- acquire more than 10% of the outstanding voting
securities of any issuer with respect to 50% of its
total assets;
-- invest more than 5% of its total assets in securities
of any issuer with respect to 50% of its total assets.
(Investments in obligations issued or guaranteed as to
interest or principal by the U.S. government or its
agencies or instrumentalities are not subject to any
limitation.); and
-- invest more than 10% of its net assets in securities
restricted as to resale.
See the statement of additional information of the fund for the
full text of these policies as well as the fund's other
fundamental policies, some of which are also proposed to be
amended at the upcoming meeting.
To the extent the fund invests a significant portion of its
assets in the securities of a particular issuer, the fund will be
subject to an increased risk of loss if the market value of such
issuer's securities declines.
If shareholders do not approve some or all of the proposed
changes, the prospectus will be revised accordingly.
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The first paragraph under the heading "How the fund pursues its
objective -- Foreign investments" in the prospectus is replaced
with the following:
The fund may invest up to 30% of its assets in securities
principally traded in foreign markets. The fund may also
purchase Eurodollar certificates of deposit without regard to the
30% limit. Since foreign securities are normally denominated and
traded in foreign currencies, the values of fund assets may be
affected favorably or unfavorably by currency exchange rates
relative to the U.S. dollar. There may be less information
publicly available about a foreign issuer than about a U.S.
issuer, and foreign issuers may not be subject to accounting
standards comparable to those in the United States.
29081 11/96
