George Putnam Balanced Fund

Fund summary

Goal

George Putnam Balanced Fund seeks to provide a balanced investment composed of a well-diversified portfolio of stocks and bonds which produce both capital growth and current income.

Fees and expenses

The following table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the fund. You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in Putnam funds. More information about these and other discounts is available from your financial advisor and in How do I buy fund shares? beginning on page 15 of the fund’s prospectus, in the Appendix to the fund’s prospectus, and in How to buy shares beginning on page II-1 of the fund’s statement of additional information (SAI).

Shareholder fees (fees paid directly from your investment)

Shareholder Fees - George Putnam Balanced Fund	Class A		Class B		Class C		Class M	Class R	Class R5	Class R6	Class T	Class Y
Maximum sales charge (load) imposed on purchases (as a percentage of offering price)	5.75%		none		none		3.50%	none	none	none	2.50%	none
Maximum deferred sales charge (load) (as a percentage of original purchase price or redemption proceeds, whichever is lower)	1.00%	[1]	5.00%	[2]	1.00%	[3]	none	none	none	none	none	none

Annual fund operating expenses (expenses you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

Annual Fund Operating Expenses - George Putnam Balanced Fund	Class A	Class B	Class C	Class M	Class R	Class R5	Class R6	Class T		Class Y
Management fees	0.53%	0.53%	0.53%	0.53%	0.53%	0.53%	0.53%	0.53%		0.53%
Distribution and service (12b-1) fees	0.25%	1.00%	1.00%	0.75%	0.50%			0.25%
Other expenses	0.23%	0.23%	0.23%	0.23%	0.23%	0.21%	0.11%	0.23%	[1]	0.23%
Total annual fund operating expenses	1.01%	1.76%	1.76%	1.51%	1.26%	0.74%	0.64%	1.01%		0.76%

Example

The following hypothetical example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other funds. It assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then, except as indicated, redeem all your shares at the end of those periods. It assumes a 5% return on your investment each year and that the fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Your actual costs may be higher or lower.

Expense Example - George Putnam Balanced Fund - USD ($)	Expense Example, with Redemption, 1 Year	Expense Example, with Redemption, 3 Years	Expense Example, with Redemption, 5 Years	Expense Example, with Redemption, 10 Years
Class A	673	879	1,103	1,745
Class B	679	856	1,156	1,880
Class C	279	556	956	2,078
Class M	499	812	1,147	2,093
Class R	129	401	694	1,528
Class R5	76	238	414	924
Class R6	66	206	359	804
Class T	351	565	796	1,461
Class Y	78	244	425	948

Expense Example, No Redemption - George Putnam Balanced Fund - USD ($)	Expense Example, No Redemption, 1 Year	Expense Example, No Redemption, 3 Years	Expense Example, No Redemption, 5 Years	Expense Example, No Redemption, 10 Years
Class B	179	556	956	1,880
Class C	179	556	956	2,078

Portfolio turnover

The fund pays transaction-related costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when the fund’s shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or the above example, affect fund performance. The fund’s turnover rate in the most recent fiscal year was 204%.

Investments, risks, and performance

Investments

We invest mainly in a combination of bonds and common stocks (growth or value stocks or both) of large U.S. companies, with a greater focus on common stocks. For example, we may purchase stocks of companies with stock prices that reflect a value lower than that which we place on the company. We may also consider other factors that we believe will cause the stock price to rise. We buy bonds of governments and private companies that are mostly investment-grade in quality with intermediate- to long-term maturities (three years or longer). We may consider, among other factors, a company’s valuation, financial strength, growth potential, competitive position in its industry, projected future earnings, cash flows and dividends when deciding whether to buy or sell equity investments, and, among other factors, credit, interest rate and prepayment risks, as well as general market conditions, when deciding whether to buy or sell fixed-income investments. We may also use derivatives, such as futures, options, warrants and swap contracts, for both hedging and non-hedging purposes.

Risks

It is important to understand that you can lose money by investing in the fund.

The value of stocks and bonds in the fund’s portfolio may fall or fail to rise over extended periods of time for a variety of reasons, including general financial market conditions, changing market perceptions (including, in the case of bonds, perceptions about the risk of default and expectations about monetary policy or interest rates), changes in government intervention in the financial markets, and factors related to a specific issuer or industry. These and other factors may lead to increased volatility and reduced liquidity in the fund’s portfolio holdings. Growth stocks may be more susceptible to earnings disappointments, and value stocks may fail to rebound.

Bond investments are subject to interest rate risk, which means the value of the fund’s bond investments is likely to fall if interest rates rise. Bond investments also are subject to credit risk, which is the risk that the issuer of the bond may default on payment of interest or principal. Interest rate risk is generally greater for longer-term bonds, and credit risk is generally greater for below-investment-grade bonds (sometimes referred to as “junk bonds”), which may be considered speculative. Our use of derivatives may increase the risks of investing in the fund by increasing investment exposure (which may be considered leverage) or, in the case of many over-the-counter instruments, because of the potential inability to terminate or sell derivatives positions and the potential failure of the other party to the instrument to meet its obligations.

The fund may not achieve its goal, and it is not intended to be a complete investment program. An investment in the fund is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.

Performance

The performance information below gives some indication of the risks associated with an investment in the fund by showing the fund’s performance year to year and over time. The bar chart does not reflect the impact of sales charges. If it did, performance would be lower. Please remember that past performance is not necessarily an indication of future results. Monthly performance figures for the fund are available at putnam.com.

Annual total returns for class A shares before sales charges

Year-to-date performance
through 9/30/17    11.01%

Best calendar quarter
Q2 2009   12.57%

Worst calendar quarter
Q4 2008    –26.96%

Average annual total returns after sales charges (for periods ending 12/31/16)

Average Annual Total Returns - George Putnam Balanced Fund		1 Year	5 Years	10 Years
Class A		1.72%	8.02%	2.44%
Class A | after taxes on distributions		1.37%	7.68%	1.74%
Class A | after taxes on distributions and sale of fund shares		1.14%	6.28%	1.76%
Class B		2.08%	8.19%	2.42%
Class C		6.06%	8.50%	2.28%
Class M		3.56%	7.99%	2.17%
Class R		7.66%	9.03%	2.80%
Class R5	[1]	8.19%	9.58%	3.31%
Class R6	[1]	8.28%	9.64%	3.34%
Class T	[2]	5.23%	8.75%	2.79%
Class Y		8.16%	9.57%	3.31%
S&P 500 Index (no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)		11.96%	14.66%	6.95%
Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index (no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)		2.65%	2.23%	4.34%
George Putnam Blended Index (no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes)		8.41%	9.78%	6.54%

The fund’s performance is compared to the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index, an unmanaged index of U.S. investment-grade fixed income securities. The fund’s performance is also compared to the S&P 500 Index, an unmanaged index of large U.S. company stocks. In addition, the fund’s performance is compared to the George Putnam Blended Index, an unmanaged index administered by Putnam Management, 60% of which is the S&P 500 Index and 40% of which is the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index.

After-tax returns reflect the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown. After-tax returns are shown for class A shares only and will vary for other classes. These after-tax returns do not apply if you hold your fund shares through a 401(k) plan, an IRA, or another tax-advantaged arrangement.

Class B share performance reflects conversion to class A shares after eight years.

[1] Applies only to certain redemptions of shares bought with no initial sales charge.

[2] This charge is phased out over six years.

[3] This charge is eliminated after one year.

[1] Other expenses are based on expenses of class A shares for the fund's last fiscal year.

[1] Performance for class R5 and class R6 shares prior to their inception (12/2/13) is derived from the historical performance of class Y shares and has not been adjusted for the lower investor servicing fees applicable to class R5 and class R6 shares; had it, returns would have been higher.

[2] Class T shares were not outstanding during the periods shown. Performance shown for class T shares is derived from the historical performance of class A shares, adjusted for the lower initial sales charge currently applicable to class T shares.