PUTNAM VISTA FUND
Prospectus Supplement dated August 1, 1996
to Class A, B and M shares Prospectus dated December 1, 1995
At a meeting held on July 31, 1996, shareholders of the fund
recently approved a number of changes to the fundamental
investment restrictions of the fund, including the elimination of
certain restrictions. The fund may now:
o acquire more than 10% of the voting securities of any
issuer with respect to 25% of its total assets without
restriction based on class;
o invest more than 5% of its total assets in securities
of any one issuer with respect to 25% 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
o invest more than 5% of its assets in equity securities
for which market quotations are not readily available.
The first two 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 were also changed by vote of shareholders.
In addition, the fund's restriction with respect to investments
in securities to restrictions on resale was eliminated, although
the fund will remain subject to the non-fundamental restriction
which prohibits the fund fro minvestming more than 15% of its net
assets in any combination of (a) securities which n ot readily
marketable, (b) securities as to resale, and (c) repurchase
agreements maturing in more than seven days.
Also, the fund's restriction with respect to investing up to 5%
of its net assets in companies that, together with any
predecessots, have been in operation for less than three years is
now nonfundamental, meaning that it could be changed in thr
future without shareholder approval.
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.
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The second and third paragraph and the first sentence of the
fourth paragraph under the heading "How to buy shares--Class A
shares" is replaced with the following:
There is no initial sales charge on purchases of class A
shares of $1 million or more. However, a CDSC of 1.00% or
0.50%, respectively, will be imposed on redemptions (other
than redemptions by certain participant-directed qualified
retirement plans, which are subject to a two-year CDSC of
1.00%, as described below) within the first or second year
after purchase.
There are also no initial sales charges on class A shares
purchased by participant-directed qualified retirement plans
with at least 200 eligible employees. A CDSC of 1.00% will,
however, be imposed upon the redemption of shares purchased
after July 31, 1996 at net asset value by a participant-
directed qualified retirement plan (including a plan with at
least 200 eligible employees) that initially invested less
than $20 million in Putnam funds and other investments
managed by Putnam Management or its affiliates and that
sells 90% or more of the amount initially invested within
two years after its initial purchase.
Any CDSC will be based on the lower of the shares' cost and
current net asset value. Any shares acquired by
reinvestment of distributions will be redeemed without a
CDSC.
Shares purchased by certain investors (including
participant- directed qualified retirement plans with at
least 200 eligible employees) investing $1 million or more
who have made arrangements with Putnam Mutual Funds and
whose dealer of record waived the commission as described
below are not subject to the CDSC.
8/96 27067
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