THE PUTNAM FUND FOR GROWTH AND INCOME
Prospectus Supplement dated September 1, 1996
to Prospectus dated March 1, 1996
At a shareholder meeting to be held on October 3, 1996, the
shareholders of the fund are being asked to approve amendments to
the fund's fundamental investment restrictions, including the
elimination of certain restrictions. If these amendments are
approved, the fund will be able to:
- acquire more than 10% of the voting securities of any issuer
with respect to 25% of its total assets; and
- invest more than 5% of its total assets in securities of any
issuer with respect to 25% of its 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.)
To the extent the fund invests a significant portion of its
assets in the securities of a particular issuer, such fund will
be subject to an increased risk of loss if the market value of
such issuer's securities declines.
The policies set forth above are fundamental and may not be
changed without shareholder approval. 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.
In addition, the fund's restriction with respect to investing up
to 5% of its assets in securities of issuers that have been in
operation for less than three years was made non-fundamental,
meaning that it could be changed in the future without
shareholder approval.
If shareholders do not ultimately approve some or all of the
proposed changes, the prospectus will be revised accordingly.
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