N-CSR

UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM N-CSR

CERTIFIED SHAREHOLDER REPORT OF REGISTERED
MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT COMPANIES

Investment Company Act file number: (811-05346)

Exact name of registrant as specified in charter: Putnam Variable Trust

Address of principal executive offices: One Post Office Square, Boston, Massachusetts 02109

Name and address of agent for service: Robert T. Burns, Vice President
One Post Office Square
Boston, Massachusetts 02109

Copy to:         John W. Gerstmayr, Esq.
Ropes & Gray LLP
800 Boylston Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02199-3600

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (617) 292-1000

Date of fiscal year end: December 31, 2012

Date of reporting period: January 1, 2012 — December 31, 2012

Item 1. Report to Stockholders:

The following is a copy of the report transmitted to stockholders pursuant to Rule 30e-1 under the Investment Company Act of 1940:

Message from the Trustees

Dear Shareholder:

With the uncertainty around the U.S. “fiscal cliff” diminished, investors now have some measure of clarity heading into 2013. Of course, challenges remain, including the upcoming debate over the debt ceiling at the end of March. Still, the significant risks — the fiscal cliff, a “hard landing” in China, and the dissolution of the European Union — have abated in the past few months.

Clarity and greater certainty are positive developments for investors. Markets worldwide are starting to recognize that macroeconomic data are beginning to stabilize and even exhibit nascent signs of growth. As the investment climate slowly improves, it is important for you to rely on the expertise of your financial advisor, who can help you work toward your financial goals.

We would like to take this opportunity to announce the arrival of two new Trustees, Liaquat Ahamed and Katinka Domotorffy, CFA, to your fund’s Board of Trustees. Mr. Ahamed, who in 2010 won the Pulitzer Prize for History with his book, Lords of Finance: The Bankers Who Broke the World, also serves on the Board of Aspen Insurance and the Board of the Rohatyn Group, an emerging-market fund complex that manages money for institutional investors.

Ms. Domotorffy, who until year-end 2011 was a Partner, Chief Investment Officer, and Global Head of Quantitative Investment Strategies at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, currently serves as a member of the Anne Ray Charitable Trust’s Investment Committee, Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies, and director for Reach Out and Read of Greater New York, an organization dedicated to promoting early childhood literacy.

We would also like to extend a welcome to new shareholders of the fund and to thank all of our investors for your continued confidence in Putnam.

Performance summary (as of 12/31/12)

Investment objective

Capital growth and current income

Net asset value December 31, 2012

Class IA: $18.01  Class IB: $17.93 

Total return at net asset value

			Russell 1000
(as of 12/31/12)‡	Class IA shares*	Class IB shares†	Value Index
1 year	19.43%	19.14%	17.51%
5 years	4.69	3.41	2.99
Annualized	0.92	0.67	0.59
10 years	71.92	67.74	103.82
Annualized	5.57	5.31	7.38
Life	664.12	628.20	957.73
Annualized	8.50	8.30	9.93

For a portion of the periods, the fund had expense limitations, without which returns would have been lower.

* Class inception date: February 1, 1988.

 † Class inception date: April 6, 1998.

‡ Recent performance may have benefited from one or more legal settlements.

Russell 1000 Value Index is an unmanaged index of those companies in the large-cap Russell 1000 Index chosen for their value orientation.

Data represent past performance. Past performance does not guarantee future results. More recent returns may be less or more than those shown. Investment return and principal value will fluctuate, and you may have a gain or a loss when you sell your shares. Performance information does not reflect any deduction for taxes a shareholder may owe on fund distributions or on the redemption of fund shares. All total return figures are at net asset value and exclude contract charges and expenses, which are added to the variable annuity contracts to determine total return at unit value. Had these charges and expenses been reflected, performance would have been lower. Performance of class IB shares before their inception is derived from the historical performance of class IA shares, adjusted to reflect the higher operating expenses applicable to such shares. For more recent performance, contact your variable annuity provider who can provide you with performance that reflects the charges and expenses at your contract level.

Allocations are represented as a percentage of net assets as of 12/31/12. Summary information may differ from the portfolio schedule included in the financial statements due to the inclusion of derivative securities, any interest accruals, the exclusion of as-of trades, if any, and the use of different classifications of securities for presentation purposes. Holdings and allocations may vary over time.

Putnam VT Growth and Income Fund    1 

Report from your fund’s manager

U.S. value stocks enjoyed strong performance in 2012. What factors contributed to those gains, and how did the fund perform?

The major stock market indexes delivered strong, double-digit returns overall for the period, but it was anything but a smooth ride for investors. Early in the fund’s fiscal year, investor sentiment began to improve after several turbulent months. Stocks staged an impressive recovery, with indexes posting their strongest first-quarter gains in over a decade. That rally, however, was followed by a bout of turbulence as investor worries escalated over issues such as Europe’s ongoing sovereign debt crisis and China’s economic slowdown. The summer months brought another market turnaround, when investors looked past these macroeconomic issues and drove stocks to multi-year highs. The rally continued into the final months of the period, although U.S. stocks were overshadowed by election uncertainty and resolution of the fiscal cliff.

Against this backdrop, Putnam VT Growth and Income Fund’s focus on U.S. value stocks was rewarding, as domestic equities outperformed foreign equities, and value stocks led growth stocks in 2012. Our stock selection strategies were effective, particularly in the financials and industrial sectors and contributed to the fund’s outperformance versus the Russell 1000 Value Index for the period. The portfolio’s pro-cyclical bias and reduced emphasis on defensive stocks also helped relative performance during periods of market strength and the fiscal year as a whole.

What were some examples of stocks that helped performance?

A relative overweight position in Citigroup was the top contributor to the fund for the year. The stock performed well in 2012, as the company’s restructuring efforts and its focus on growing its exposure to emerging markets have created a positive outlook for the company. Allstate, a property and casualty insurance company, was another top performer. Pricing in this industry has been increasing at an accelerated pace, and the fund’s overweight position in Allstate proved beneficial. Comcast, a provider of cable, video, high-speed Internet, and voice services, delivered solid revenue and earnings growth, and benefited from investor demand for dividend-paying stocks during the period. Holding an out-of-benchmark position in Apple, the creator of such iconic products as the iPhone and iPad, was also rewarding for performance.

What holdings detracted from returns?

The electronics retailer Best Buy has been hampered by competitive pressure from online retailers and detracted from the fund’s performance. The company has felt the impact of a trend known as “showrooming,” where consumers visit stores to see products, and then purchase them online at lower prices. Investors were also distracted by a number of management changes at Best Buy and speculation that its founder may make a bid to take the company private.

Two mature companies that I believe are fundamentally strong, Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft, detracted from results. Despite what I believe are inexpensive share prices, these stocks struggled as investors grew concerned about competitive pressure within the information technology industry.

What is your outlook for stock market investing in the coming months?

As we enter a new fiscal year for the fund, many issues remain unresolved across global financial markets. Investors must be vigilant about developments — and setbacks — in the ongoing eurozone debt crisis, the cooling economy in China, and the budget discussions in the United States. While these are complex challenges, it could be argued that they are adequately discounted in the market, and we believe it is worth considering the compelling valuation opportunities offered by stocks in this environment.

Corporate earnings continue to be a powerful dynamic as well, although this may be changing. While most companies exceeded expectations for bottom-line growth in the most recent quarter, early signs of revenue pressure emerged as fewer companies beat estimates for top-line growth. This trend merits watching, as it coincides with an expected gradual deceleration in earnings growth. For 2012, we believe we are likely to see a decline from 2011’s growth rate of 15%, and we expect further slowing in 2013. This would create a more challenging backdrop for investing. In a less robust environment such as this, it is important to be cautious and selective in our investment choices, and to incorporate rigorous fundamental research — which is exactly how we approach our stock selection for the fund’s portfolio.

The views expressed in this report are exclusively those of Putnam Management and are subject to change. They are not meant as investment advice. Please note that the holdings discussed in this report may not have been held by the fund for the entire period. Portfolio composition is subject to review in accordance with the fund’s investment strategy and may vary in the future.

Consider these risks before investing: Value stocks may fail to rebound, and the market may not favor value-style investing. The prices of stocks in the fund’s portfolio may fall or fail to rise over extended periods of time for a variety of reasons, including both general financial market conditions and factors related to a specific company or industry. Income provided by the fund may be reduced by changes in the dividend policies of, and the capital resources available at, the companies in which the fund invests. Current and future portfolio holdings are subject to risk.

Your fund’s manager

Portfolio Manager Robert D. Ewing is Co-Head of U.S. Equities at Putnam. A CFA charterholder, he joined Putnam in 2008 and has been in the investment industry since 1990.

Your fund’s manager may also manage other accounts advised by Putnam Management or an affiliate, including retail mutual fund counterparts to the funds in Putnam Variable Trust.

2  Putnam VT Growth and Income Fund 

Understanding your fund’s expenses

As an investor in a variable annuity product that invests in a registered investment company, you pay ongoing expenses, such as management fees, distribution fees (12b-1 fees), and other expenses. Using the following information, you can estimate how these expenses affect your investment and compare them with the expenses of other funds. You may also pay one-time transaction expenses, which are not shown in this section and would result in higher total expenses. Charges and expenses at the insurance company separate account level are not reflected. For more information, see your fund’s prospectus or talk to your financial representative.

Review your fund’s expenses

The first two columns in the following table show the expenses you would have paid on a $1,000 investment in your fund from July 1, 2012, to December 31, 2012. They also show how much a $1,000 investment would be worth at the close of the period, assuming actual returns and expenses. To estimate the ongoing expenses you paid over the period, divide your account value by $1,000, then multiply the result by the number in the first line for the class of shares you own.

Compare your fund’s expenses with those of other funds

The two right-hand columns of the table show your fund’s expenses based on a $1,000 investment, assuming a hypothetical 5% annualized return. You can use this information to compare the ongoing expenses (but not transaction expenses or total costs) of investing in the fund with those of other funds. All shareholder reports of mutual funds and funds serving as variable annuity vehicles will provide this information to help you make this comparison. Please note that you cannot use this information to estimate your actual ending account balance and expenses paid during the period.

	Expenses and value for a		Expenses and value for a
	$1,000 investment, assuming		$1,000 investment, assuming a
	actual returns for the 6 months		hypothetical 5% annualized return
	ended 12/31/12		for the 6 months ended 12/31/12
	Class IA	Class IB	Class IA	Class IB
Expenses paid
per $1,000*	$3.34	$4.66	$3.20	$4.47
Ending value
(after expenses)	$1,107.00	$1,106.10	$1,021.97	$1,020.71
Annualized
expense ratio†	0.63%	0.88%	0.63%	0.88%

*Expenses for each share class are calculated using the fund’s annualized expense ratio for each class, which represents the ongoing expenses as a percentage of average net assets for the six months ended 12/31/12. The expense ratio may differ for each share class. Expenses are calculated by multiplying the expense ratio by the average account value for the period; then multiplying the result by the number of days in the period; and then dividing that result by the number of days in the year.

†For the fund’s most recent fiscal half year; may differ from expense ratios based on one-year data in the financial highlights.

Putnam VT Growth and Income Fund   3 

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

To the Trustees of Putnam Variable Trust and Shareholders of
Putnam VT Growth and Income Fund:

In our opinion, the accompanying statement of assets and liabilities, including the portfolio, and the related statements of operations and of changes in net assets and the financial highlights present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of Putnam VT Growth and Income Fund (the “fund”) at December 31, 2012, and the results of its operations, the changes in its net assets and the financial highlights for each of the periods indicated, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. These financial statements and financial highlights (hereafter referred to as “financial statements”) are the responsibility of the fund’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audits. We conducted our audits of these financial statements in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, and evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits, which included confirmation of investments owned at December 31, 2012 by correspondence with the custodian, brokers, and transfer agent, provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Boston, Massachusetts
February 7, 2013

4  Putnam VT Growth and Income Fund 

The fund’s portfolio 12/31/12

COMMON STOCKS (98.2%)*	Shares	Value
Aerospace and defense (5.1%)
Boeing Co. (The)	53,700	$4,046,832
Embraer SA ADR (Brazil)	175,400	5,000,654
General Dynamics Corp.	33,300	2,306,691
Honeywell International, Inc.	272,700	17,308,269
L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc.	113,500	8,696,370
Northrop Grumman Corp.	142,700	9,643,666
United Technologies Corp.	142,800	11,711,028
		58,713,510
Air freight and logistics (0.2%)
FedEx Corp.	24,700	2,265,484
		2,265,484
Airlines (0.3%)
Delta Air Lines, Inc. †	281,200	3,337,844
		3,337,844
Auto components (1.3%)
American Axle & Manufacturing Holdings, Inc. †	234,800	2,629,760
Johnson Controls, Inc.	334,200	10,259,940
Valeo SA (France)	52,565	2,665,381
		15,555,081
Automobiles (0.8%)
Ford Motor Co. S	383,500	4,966,325
Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. (Japan)	278,700	2,645,266
Tesla Motors, Inc. † S	33,800	1,144,806
		8,756,397
Beverages (0.5%)
Coca-Cola Enterprises, Inc.	168,200	5,336,986
		5,336,986
Biotechnology (0.1%)
Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Inc. † S	17,100	719,226
Dendreon Corp. † S	98,600	520,608
		1,239,834
Building products (0.2%)
Owens Corning, Inc. †	68,300	2,526,417
		2,526,417
Capital markets (4.7%)
Apollo Global Management, LLC. Class A	162,900	2,827,944
Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (The) S	172,600	4,435,820
Blackstone Group LP (The)	251,900	3,927,121
Charles Schwab Corp. (The) S	377,400	5,419,464
Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (The)	70,569	9,001,782
KKR & Co. LP	283,798	4,322,244
Morgan Stanley	626,964	11,987,552
State Street Corp.	259,900	12,217,899
		54,139,826
Chemicals (2.2%)
Celanese Corp. Ser. A	52,800	2,351,184
Dow Chemical Co. (The)	253,400	8,189,888
E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. S	57,900	2,603,763
HB Fuller Co.	35,400	1,232,628
LyondellBasell Industries NV Class A	137,300	7,838,457
Tronox, Ltd. Class A	182,120	3,323,690
		25,539,610
Commercial banks (4.1%)
Barclays PLC (United Kingdom)	603,819	2,607,521
Fifth Third Bancorp	292,700	4,446,113
First Horizon National Corp.	328,700	3,257,417
Investors Bancorp, Inc.	36,205	643,725
KeyCorp S	156,400	1,316,888
U.S. Bancorp	198,800	6,349,672
Wells Fargo & Co.	855,620	29,245,092
		47,866,428

COMMON STOCKS (98.2%)* cont.	Shares	Value
Commercial services and supplies (1.0%)
ADT Corp. (The)	95,587	$4,443,840
Tyco International, Ltd.	242,275	7,086,544
		11,530,384
Communications equipment (1.9%)
Cisco Systems, Inc.	728,400	14,313,060
Polycom, Inc. †	418,600	4,378,556
Qualcomm, Inc.	56,700	3,516,534
		22,208,150
Computers and peripherals (2.0%)
Apple, Inc.	15,400	8,208,662
Fusion-io, Inc. † S	23,700	543,441
Hewlett-Packard Co. S	654,110	9,321,068
NetApp, Inc. †	82,500	2,767,875
SanDisk Corp. †	57,500	2,504,700
		23,345,746
Construction and engineering (0.3%)
KBR, Inc.	102,800	3,075,776
		3,075,776
Consumer finance (0.6%)
Capital One Financial Corp.	117,672	6,816,739
		6,816,739
Diversified consumer services (—%)
Strayer Education, Inc.	7,492	420,826
		420,826
Diversified financial services (7.8%)
Bank of America Corp.	1,854,845	21,516,202
Citigroup, Inc.	728,750	28,829,350
JPMorgan Chase & Co.	913,158	40,151,557
		90,497,109
Diversified telecommunication services (1.8%)
AT&T, Inc. S	164,700	5,552,037
Verizon Communications, Inc.	341,700	14,785,359
		20,337,396
Electric utilities (1.7%)
Edison International	112,300	5,074,837
Entergy Corp.	55,122	3,514,028
FirstEnergy Corp.	80,200	3,349,152
Great Plains Energy, Inc.	148,800	3,022,128
NextEra Energy, Inc.	32,800	2,269,432
PPL Corp. S	80,000	2,290,400
		19,519,977
Electrical equipment (0.4%)
Eaton Corp PLC	84,400	4,574,480
		4,574,480
Electronic equipment, instruments, and components (0.5%)
Corning, Inc.	274,900	3,469,238
TE Connectivity, Ltd.	51,100	1,896,832
		5,366,070
Energy equipment and services (3.4%)
Cameron International Corp. †	106,000	5,984,760
Halliburton Co.	377,800	13,105,882
McDermott International, Inc. †	223,600	2,464,072
Nabors Industries, Ltd. †	289,200	4,178,940
Oil States International, Inc. †	37,100	2,654,134
Schlumberger, Ltd.	112,189	7,773,576
Transocean, Ltd. (Switzerland)	76,800	3,429,120
		39,590,484
Food and staples retail (1.7%)
CVS Caremark Corp.	151,100	7,305,685
Kroger Co. (The)	127,700	3,322,754
Walgreen Co.	239,000	8,845,390
		19,473,829

Putnam VT Growth and Income Fund  5 

COMMON STOCKS (98.2%)* cont.	Shares	Value
Food products (0.4%)
Archer Daniels-Midland Co.	88,400	$2,421,276
Hillshire Brands Co.	89,720	2,524,721
		4,945,997
Health-care equipment and supplies (2.3%)
Baxter International, Inc.	207,600	13,838,616
Boston Scientific Corp. †	209,630	1,201,180
Covidien PLC	165,154	9,535,992
St. Jude Medical, Inc.	66,400	2,399,696
		26,975,484
Health-care providers and services (3.0%)
Aetna, Inc.	250,900	11,616,670
CIGNA Corp.	128,900	6,890,994
Express Scripts Holding Co. †	42,500	2,295,000
Humana, Inc.	53,700	3,685,431
UnitedHealth Group, Inc.	190,900	10,354,416
		34,842,511
Hotels, restaurants, and leisure (0.3%)
McDonald’s Corp.	45,600	4,022,376
		4,022,376
Household durables (0.3%)
D.R. Horton, Inc. S	151,100	2,988,758
		2,988,758
Household products (0.7%)
Procter & Gamble Co. (The)	114,000	7,739,460
		7,739,460
Independent power producers and energy traders (0.6%)
AES Corp. (The)	166,600	1,782,620
Calpine Corp. †	282,100	5,114,473
		6,897,093
Industrial conglomerates (1.5%)
General Electric Co.	811,070	17,024,359
		17,024,359
Insurance (7.2%)
ACE, Ltd.	86,800	6,926,640
Aflac, Inc.	233,000	12,376,960
Allstate Corp. (The)	329,800	13,248,066
American International Group, Inc. †	130,300	4,599,590
Assured Guaranty, Ltd.	250,167	3,559,876
Chubb Corp. (The)	37,317	2,810,716
Everest Re Group, Ltd.	42,800	4,705,860
Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (The) S	320,500	7,192,020
Marsh & McLennan Cos., Inc.	66,000	2,275,020
MetLife, Inc.	398,013	13,110,548
Prudential Financial, Inc.	74,200	3,957,086
Prudential PLC (United Kingdom)	252,321	3,520,706
XL Group PLC	213,600	5,352,816
		83,635,904
IT Services (0.8%)
Computer Sciences Corp.	57,300	2,294,865
Fidelity National Information Services, Inc.	47,900	1,667,399
IBM Corp.	14,500	2,777,475
Total Systems Services, Inc.	68,700	1,471,554
Unisys Corp. †	36,474	631,000
		8,842,293
Leisure equipment and products (0.4%)
Hasbro, Inc. S	100,900	3,622,310
LeapFrog Enterprises, Inc. † S	181,900	1,569,797
		5,192,107
Machinery (1.7%)
Cummins, Inc.	29,200	3,163,820
Ingersoll-Rand PLC	59,200	2,839,232
Joy Global, Inc.	79,800	5,089,644

COMMON STOCKS (98.2%)* cont.	Shares	Value
Machinery cont.
Navistar International Corp. † S	105,800	$2,303,266
Parker Hannifin Corp.	35,500	3,019,630
Stanley Black & Decker, Inc.	48,900	3,617,133
		20,032,725
Marine (0.2%)
Kirby Corp. †	31,600	1,955,724
		1,955,724
Media (5.0%)
Comcast Corp. Class A	509,400	19,041,372
DISH Network Corp. Class A	246,500	8,972,600
News Corp. Class A	96,500	2,464,610
Time Warner Cable, Inc.	47,348	4,601,752
Time Warner, Inc.	357,100	17,080,093
Viacom, Inc. Class B	54,600	2,879,604
Walt Disney Co. (The)	58,400	2,907,736
		57,947,767
Metals and mining (1.9%)
Alcoa, Inc. S	175,600	1,524,208
Barrick Gold Corp. (Canada)	101,400	3,550,014
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, Inc. Class B
(Indonesia)	223,352	7,638,638
Nucor Corp.	82,500	3,562,350
Rio Tinto PLC (United Kingdom)	71,032	4,139,209
Steel Dynamics, Inc.	98,800	1,356,524
		21,770,943
Multi-utilities (1.2%)
Ameren Corp.	174,000	5,345,280
CMS Energy Corp.	71,300	1,738,294
National Grid PLC (United Kingdom)	235,117	2,693,130
PG&E Corp.	108,600	4,363,548
		14,140,252
Multiline retail (1.0%)
J.C. Penney Co., Inc. S	103,900	2,047,869
Macy’s, Inc.	95,000	3,706,900
Target Corp.	99,200	5,869,664
		11,624,433
Oil, gas, and consumable fuels (11.0%)
Anadarko Petroleum Corp.	51,900	3,856,689
Apache Corp.	53,403	4,192,136
Cabot Oil & Gas Corp.	146,300	7,276,962
Chevron Corp.	125,600	13,582,384
ConocoPhillips	60,300	3,496,797
CONSOL Energy, Inc.	55,300	1,775,130
Energen Corp.	34,600	1,560,114
Exxon Mobil Corp.	230,118	19,916,713
Gulfport Energy Corp. †	89,600	3,424,512
Hess Corp.	144,600	7,658,016
Marathon Oil Corp.	462,700	14,186,382
Noble Energy, Inc.	104,400	10,621,656
Nordic American Tankers, Ltd. (Norway) S	160,200	1,401,750
Occidental Petroleum Corp.	44,986	3,446,377
Royal Dutch Shell PLC ADR (United Kingdom)	234,573	16,173,808
Southwestern Energy Co. † S	251,500	8,402,615
Suncor Energy, Inc. (Canada)	69,800	2,295,323
Total SA ADR (France)	81,100	4,218,011
		127,485,375
Paper and forest products (0.6%)
International Paper Co.	127,000	5,059,680
MeadWestvaco Corp.	58,500	1,864,395
		6,924,075

6  Putnam VT Growth and Income Fund 

COMMON STOCKS (98.2%)* cont.	Shares	Value
Personal products (—%)
Avon Products, Inc.	10,170	$146,041
		146,041
Pharmaceuticals (8.0%)
Eli Lilly & Co.	161,300	7,955,316
Johnson & Johnson S	354,600	24,857,460
Merck & Co., Inc.	563,025	23,050,244
Pfizer, Inc.	1,110,216	27,844,217
Sanofi ADR (France) S	54,500	2,582,210
Shire PLC ADR (United Kingdom)	31,100	2,866,798
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Ltd. ADR (Israel)	62,600	2,337,484
Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. †	21,700	1,866,200
		93,359,929
Real estate investment trusts (REITs) (0.2%)
MFA Financial, Inc.	321,700	2,608,987
		2,608,987
Real estate management and development (0.1%)
Realogy Holdings Corp. †	41,000	1,720,360
		1,720,360
Semiconductors and semiconductor equipment (1.9%)
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. † S	548,177	1,315,625
First Solar, Inc. † S	82,000	2,532,160
Intel Corp.	293,300	6,050,779
Lam Research Corp. †	96,063	3,470,756
Texas Instruments, Inc.	211,900	6,556,186
Xilinx, Inc.	50,500	1,812,950
		21,738,456
Software (1.5%)
Microsoft Corp.	531,300	14,201,649
Oracle Corp.	109,300	3,641,876
		17,843,525
Specialty retail (1.9%)
American Eagle Outfitters, Inc.	150,300	3,082,653
AutoZone, Inc. †	4,400	1,559,492
Bed Bath & Beyond, Inc. †	77,900	4,355,389
Best Buy Co., Inc. S	122,500	1,451,625
Lowe’s Cos., Inc.	200,300	7,114,656
Office Depot, Inc. †	936,500	3,071,720
Staples, Inc. S	151,000	1,721,400
		22,356,935

COMMON STOCKS (98.2%)* cont.	Shares	Value
Tobacco (1.1%)
Altria Group, Inc.	61,000	$1,916,620
Lorillard, Inc.	41,700	4,865,139
Philip Morris International, Inc.	73,500	6,147,540
		12,929,299
Wireless telecommunication services (0.8%)
Sprint Nextel Corp. †	785,000	4,450,950
Vodafone Group PLC ADR (United Kingdom)	182,300	4,592,137
		9,043,087
Total common stocks (cost $892,534,850)		$1,138,768,638
CONVERTIBLE PREFERRED STOCKS (0.3%)*	Shares	Value
General Motors Co. Ser. B, $2.375 cv. pfd.	84,434	$3,746,337
Total convertible preferred stocks (cost $2,836,156)		$3,746,337
SHORT-TERM INVESTMENTS (7.9%)*	Principal amount/shares	Value
Putnam Money Market Liquidity Fund 0.14% L	16,609,693	$16,609,693
Putnam Cash Collateral Pool, LLC 0.21% d	74,288,646	74,288,646
U.S. Treasury Bills with effective yields ranging
from 0.169% to 0.177%, October 17, 2013	$383,000	382,594
Total short-term investments (cost $91,280,803)		$91,280,933
Total investments (cost $986,651,809)		$1,233,795,908

Key to holding’s abbreviations

ADR  American Depository Receipts: represents ownership of foreign securities on deposit with a custodian bank 

Notes to the fund’s portfolio

Unless noted otherwise, the notes to the fund’s portfolio are for the close of the fund’s reporting period, which ran from January 1, 2012 through December 31, 2012 (the reporting period). Within the following notes to the portfolio, references to “ASC 820” represent Accounting Standards Codification ASC 820 Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures.

* Percentages indicated are based on net assets of $1,160,083,119.

† Non-income-producing security.

d Affiliated company. See Note 1 to the financial statements regarding securities lending. The rate quoted in the security description is the annualized 7-day yield of the fund at the close of the reporting period.

L Affiliated company (Note 6). The rate quoted in the security description is the annualized 7-day yield of the fund at the close of the reporting period.

S Security on loan, in part or in entirety, at the close of the reporting period (Note 1).

OTC TOTAL RETURN SWAP CONTRACTS OUTSTANDING at 12/31/12

			Fixed payments	Total return
Swap counterparty/		Termination	received (paid) by	received by or	Unrealized
Notional amount		date	fund per annum	paid by fund	appreciation
Goldman Sachs International
shares	223,806	8/16/13	(1 month USD-LIBOR-BBA	EMC Corp.	$5,279
			plus 40 bp)
shares	36,167	8/16/13	1 month USD-LIBOR-BBA	VMware, Inc.	3,459
			minus 35 bp
Total					$8,738

Putnam VT Growth and Income Fund  7 

ASC 820 establishes a three-level hierarchy for disclosure of fair value measurements. The valuation hierarchy is based upon the transparency of inputs to the valuation of the fund’s investments. The three levels are defined as follows:

Level 1: Valuations based on quoted prices for identical securities in active markets.

Level 2: Valuations based on quoted prices in markets that are not active or for which all significant inputs are observable, either directly or indirectly.

Level 3: Valuations based on inputs that are unobservable and significant to the fair value measurement.

The following is a summary of the inputs used to value the fund’s net assets as of the close of the reporting period:

		Valuation inputs
Investments in securities:	Level 1	Level 2	Level 3
Common stocks:
Consumer discretionary	$123,554,033	$5,310,647	$—
Consumer staples	50,571,612	—	—
Energy	167,075,859	—	—
Financials	281,157,126	6,128,227	—
Health care	156,417,758	—	—
Industrials	125,036,703	—	—
Information technology	99,344,240	—	—
Materials	50,095,419	4,139,209	—
Telecommunication services	29,380,483	—	—
Utilities	37,864,192	2,693,130	—
Total common stocks	1,120,497,425	18,271,213	—
Convertible preferred stocks	—	3,746,337	—
Short-term investments	16,609,693	74,671,240	—
Totals by level	$1,137,107,118	$96,688,790	$—
		Valuation inputs
Other financial instruments:	Level 1	Level 2	Level 3
Total return swap contracts	$—	$8,738	$—
Totals by level	$—	$8,738	$—

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

8  Putnam VT Growth and Income Fund 

Statement of assets and liabilities
12/31/12

Assets
Investment in securities, at value, including $73,846,456 of securities on loan (Note 1):
Unaffiliated issuers (identified cost $895,753,470)	$1,142,897,569
Affiliated issuers (identified cost $90,898,339) (Notes 1 and 6)	90,898,339
Dividends, interest and other receivables	2,363,437
Receivable for shares of the fund sold	74,411
Receivable for investments sold	407,963
Unrealized appreciation on OTC swap contracts (Note 1)	8,738
Total assets	1,236,650,457
Liabilities
Payable to custodian	12,896
Payable for investments purchased	407,259
Payable for shares of the fund repurchased	578,182
Payable for compensation of Manager (Note 2)	474,233
Payable for custodian fees (Note 2)	10,436
Payable for investor servicing fees (Note 2)	57,259
Payable for Trustee compensation and expenses (Note 2)	518,257
Payable for administrative services (Note 2)	11,789
Payable for distribution fees (Note 2)	44,621
Collateral on securities loaned, at value (Note 1)	74,288,646
Other accrued expenses	163,760
Total liabilities	76,567,338
Net assets	$1,160,083,119
Represented by
Paid-in capital (Unlimited shares authorized) (Notes 1 and 4)	$1,364,438,983
Undistributed net investment income (Note 1)	22,440,003
Accumulated net realized loss on investments and foreign currency transactions (Note 1)	(473,949,501)
Net unrealized appreciation of investments and assets and liabilities in foreign currencies	247,153,634
Total — Representing net assets applicable to capital shares outstanding	$1,160,083,119
Computation of net asset value Class IA
Net assets	$948,756,009
Number of shares outstanding	52,682,067
Net asset value, offering price and redemption price per share (net assets divided by number of shares outstanding)	$18.01
Computation of net asset value Class IB
Net assets	$211,327,110
Number of shares outstanding	11,785,758
Net asset value, offering price and redemption price per share (net assets divided by number of shares outstanding)	$17.93

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

Putnam VT Growth and Income Fund   9 

Statement of operations
Year ended 12/31/12

Investment income
Dividends (net of foreign tax of $182,825)	$30,753,560
Interest (including interest income of $9,391 from investments in affiliated issuers) (Note 6)	8,458
Securities lending (Note 1)	379,636
Total investment income	31,141,654
Expenses
Compensation of Manager (Note 2)	5,691,727
Investor servicing fees (Note 2)	1,172,592
Custodian fees (Note 2)	21,450
Trustee compensation and expenses (Note 2)	112,052
Distribution fees (Note 2)	540,070
Administrative services (Note 2)	40,878
Other	364,372
Total expenses	7,943,141
Expense reduction (Note 2)	(113,349)
Net expenses	7,829,792
Net investment income	23,311,862
Net realized gain on investments (Notes 1 and 3)	76,824,085
Net realized loss on swap contracts (Note 1)	(98,364)
Net realized gain on foreign currency transactions (Note 1)	873
Net unrealized appreciation of assets and liabilities in foreign currencies during the year	872
Net unrealized appreciation of investments and swap contracts during the year	107,627,290
Net gain on investments	184,354,756
Net increase in net assets resulting from operations	$207,666,618

Statement of changes in net assets

	Year ended	Year ended
	12/31/12	12/31/11
Increase (decrease) in net assets
Operations:
Net investment income	$23,311,862	$22,855,236
Net realized gain on investments and foreign currency transactions	76,726,594	91,407,733
Net unrealized appreciation (depreciation) of investments and assets and liabilities in foreign currencies	107,628,162	(169,446,972)
Net increase (decrease) in net assets resulting from operations	207,666,618	(55,184,003)
Distributions to shareholders (Note 1):
From ordinary income
Net investment income
Class IA	(19,244,681)	(16,243,829)
Class IB	(3,788,452)	(3,158,420)
Decrease from capital share transactions (Note 4)	(170,966,104)	(199,298,269)
Total increase (decrease) in net assets	13,667,381	(273,884,521)
Net assets:
Beginning of year	1,146,415,738	1,420,300,259
End of year (including undistributed net investment income of $22,440,003 and $22,272,317, respectively)	$1,160,083,119	$1,146,415,738

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

10  Putnam VT Growth and Income Fund 

Financial highlights (For a common share outstanding throughout the period)

INVESTMENT OPERATIONS:					LESS DISTRIBUTIONS:					RATIOS AND SUPPLEMENTAL DATA:
Period ended	Net asset value, beginning of period	Net investment income (loss)a	Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments	Total from investment operations	From net investment income	From net realized gain on investments	Total distributions	Net asset value, end of period	Total return at net asset value (%)b,c	Net assets, end of period (in thousands)	Ratio of expenses to average net assets (%)b,d	Ratio of net investment income (loss) to average net assets (%)	Portfolio turnover (%)
Class IA
12/31/12	$15.37	.34	2.63	2.97	(.33)	—	(.33)	$18.01	19.43	$948,756	.63	2.03	34
12/31/11	16.31	.29	(.99)	(.70)	(.24)	—	(.24)	15.37	(4.44)	933,477	.63	1.81	44
12/31/10	14.46	.21	1.90	2.11	(.26)	—	(.26)	16.31	14.71	1,147,182	.63	1.45	45
12/31/09	11.54	.23	3.07e	3.30	(.38)	—	(.38)	14.46	30.16e	1,183,503	.67	1.90	55
12/31/08	23.28	.36	(8.17)f	(7.81)	(.52)	(3.41)	(3.93)	11.54	(38.57)f	1,117,897	.60g	2.19g	40
Class IB
12/31/12	$15.30	.30	2.61	2.91	(.28)	—	(.28)	$17.93	19.14	$211,327	.88	1.78	34
12/31/11	16.23	.25	(.98)	(.73)	(.20)	—	(.20)	15.30	(4.64)	212,939	.88	1.56	44
12/31/10	14.40	.18	1.87	2.05	(.22)	—	(.22)	16.23	14.38	273,119	.88	1.20	45
12/31/09	11.47	.20	3.06e	3.26	(.33)	—	(.33)	14.40	29.81e	296,197	.92	1.65	55
12/31/08	23.12	.31	(8.11)f	(7.80)	(.44)	(3.41)	(3.85)	11.47	(38.70)f	272,193	.85g	1.94g	40

^a Per share net investment income (loss) has been determined on the basis of the weighted average number of shares outstanding during the period.

^b The charges and expenses at the insurance company separate account level are not reflected.

^c Total return assumes dividend reinvestment.

^d Includes amounts paid through expense offset and/or brokerage/service arrangements (Note 2).

^e Reflects a non-recurring litigation payment received by the fund from Tyco International, Ltd. which amounted to $0.08 per share outstanding as of March 31, 2009. This payment resulted in an increase to total returns of 0.72% for the year ended December 31, 2009.

^f Reflects a non-recurring litigation payment received by the fund from Enron Corporation which amounted to $0.06 per share outstanding on December 29, 2008. This payment resulted in an increase to total returns of 0.32% for the year ended December 31, 2008.

^g Reflects an involuntary contractual expense limitation and/or waivers of certain fund expenses in connection with investments in Putnam Prime Money Market Fund during the period. As a result of such limitation and/or waivers, the expenses of each class reflect a reduction of the following amounts:

	Percentage of
	average net assets
12/31/08	<0.01%

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these financial statements.

Putnam VT Growth and Income Fund  11 

Notes to financial statements 12/31/12

Within the following Notes to financial statements, references to “State Street” represent State Street Bank and Trust Company, references to “the SEC” represent the Securities and Exchange Commission and references to “Putnam Management” represent Putnam Investment Management, LLC, the fund’s manager, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Putnam Investments, LLC. Unless otherwise noted, the “reporting period” represents the period from January 1, 2012 through December 31, 2012.

Putnam VT Growth and Income Fund (the fund) is a diversified series of Putnam Variable Trust (the Trust), a Massachusetts business trust registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, as an open-end management investment company. The investment objective of the fund is to seek capital growth and current income. The fund invests mainly in common stocks of large U.S. companies, with a focus on value stocks that offer the potential for capital growth, current income, or both. Value stocks are issued by companies that Putnam Management believes are currently undervalued by the market.

The fund offers class IA and class IB shares of beneficial interest. Class IA shares are offered at net asset value and are not subject to a distribution fee. Class IB shares are offered at net asset value and pay an ongoing distribution fee, which is identified in Note 2.

In the normal course of business, the fund enters into contracts that may include agreements to indemnify another party under given circumstances. The fund’s maximum exposure under these arrangements is unknown as this would involve future claims that may be, but have not yet been, made against the fund. However, the fund’s management team expects the risk of material loss to be remote.

Note 1 — Significant accounting policies

The following is a summary of significant accounting policies consistently followed by the fund in the preparation of its financial statements. The preparation of financial statements is in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America and requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities in the financial statements and the reported amounts of increases and decreases in net assets from operations. Actual results could differ from those estimates. Subsequent events after the Statement of assets and liabilities date through the date that the financial statements were issued have been evaluated in the preparation of the financial statements.

Investment income, realized and unrealized gains and losses and expenses of the fund are borne pro-rata based on the relative net assets of each class to the total net assets of the fund, except that each class bears expenses unique to that class (including the distribution fees applicable to such classes). Each class votes as a class only with respect to its own distribution plan or other matters on which a class vote is required by law or determined by the Trustees. If the fund were liquidated, shares of each class would receive their pro-rata share of the net assets of the fund. In addition, the Trustees declare separate dividends on each class of shares.

Security valuation Investments for which market quotations are readily available are valued at the last reported sales price on their principal exchange, or official closing price for certain markets, and are classified as Level 1 securities. If no sales are reported, as in the case of some securities traded over-the-counter, a security is valued at its last reported bid price and is generally categorized as a Level 2 security.

Investments in open-end investment companies (excluding exchange traded funds), if any, which can be classified as Level 1 or Level 2 securities, are based on their net asset value. The net asset value of such investment companies equals the total value of their assets less their liabilities and divided by the number of their outstanding shares.

Many securities markets and exchanges outside the U.S. close prior to the close of the New York Stock Exchange and therefore the closing prices for securities in such markets or on such exchanges may not fully reflect events that occur after such close but before the close of the New York Stock Exchange. Accordingly, on certain days, the fund will fair value foreign equity securities taking into account multiple factors including movements in the U.S. securities markets, currency valuations and comparisons to the valuation of American Depository Receipts, exchange-traded funds and futures contracts. These securities, which would generally be classified as Level 1 securities, will be transferred to Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy when they are valued at fair value. The number of days on which fair value prices will be used will depend on market activity and it is possible that fair value prices will be used by the fund to a significant extent. At the close of the reporting period, fair value pricing was used for certain foreign securities in the portfolio. Securities quoted in foreign currencies, if any, are translated into U.S. dollars at the current exchange rate.

To the extent a pricing service or dealer is unable to value a security or provides a valuation that Putnam Management does not believe accurately reflects the security’s fair value, the security will be valued at fair value by Putnam Management. Certain investments, including certain restricted and illiquid securities and derivatives, are also valued at fair value following procedures approved by the Trustees. These valuations consider such factors as significant market or specific security events such as interest rate or credit quality changes, various relationships with other securities, discount rates, U.S. Treasury, U.S. swap and credit yields, index levels, convexity exposures and recovery rates. These securities are classified as Level 2 or as Level 3 depending on the priority of the significant inputs.

Such valuations and procedures are reviewed periodically by the Trustees. The fair value of securities is generally determined as the amount that the fund could reasonably expect to realize from an orderly disposition of such securities over a reasonable period of time. By its nature, a fair value price is a good faith estimate of the value of a security in a current sale and does not reflect an actual market price, which may be different by a material amount.

Security transactions and related investment income Security transactions are recorded on the trade date (the date the order to buy or sell is executed). Gains or losses on securities sold are determined on the identified cost basis.

Interest income, net of any applicable withholding taxes, is recorded on the accrual basis. Dividend income, net of any applicable withholding taxes, is recognized on the ex-dividend date except that certain dividends from foreign securities, if any, are recognized as soon as the fund is informed of the ex-dividend date. Non-cash dividends, if any, are recorded at the fair market value of the securities received. Dividends representing a return of capital or capital gains, if any, are reflected as a reduction of cost and/or as a realized gain. All premiums/discounts are amortized/accreted on a yield-to-maturity basis.

Foreign currency translation The accounting records of the fund are maintained in U.S. dollars. The market value of foreign securities, currency holdings, and other assets and liabilities is recorded in the books and records of the fund after translation to U.S. dollars based on the exchange rates on that day. The cost of each security is determined using historical exchange rates. Income and withholding taxes are translated at prevailing exchange rates when earned or incurred. The fund does not isolate that portion of realized or unrealized gains or losses resulting from changes in the foreign exchange rate on investments from fluctuations arising from changes in the market prices of the securities. Such gains and losses are included with the net realized and unrealized gain or loss on investments. Net realized gains and losses on foreign currency transactions represent net realized exchange gains or losses on closed forward currency contracts, disposition of foreign currencies, currency gains and losses realized between the trade and settlement dates on securities transactions and the difference between the amount of investment income and foreign withholding taxes recorded on the fund’s books and the U.S. dollar equivalent amounts actually received or paid. Net unrealized appreciation and depreciation of assets and liabilities in foreign currencies arise from changes in the value of open forward currency contracts and assets and liabilities other than investments at the period end, resulting from changes in the exchange rate.

Options contracts The fund uses options contracts to hedge against changes in values of securities it owns, owned or expects to own.

The potential risk to the fund is that the change in value of options contracts may not correspond to the change in value of the hedged instruments. In addition, losses may arise from changes in the value of the underlying instruments if there is an illiquid secondary market for the contracts, if interest or exchange rates move unexpectedly or if the counterparty to the contract is unable to perform. Realized gains and losses on purchased options are included in realized gains and losses on investment securities. If a written call option is exercised, the premium originally received is recorded as an addition to sales proceeds. If a written put option is exercised, the premium originally received is recorded as a reduction to the cost of investments.

Exchange traded options are valued at the last sale price or, if no sales are reported, the last bid price for purchased options and the last ask price for

12  Putnam VT Growth and Income Fund 

written options. Options traded over-the-counter are valued using prices supplied by dealers. Certain options contracts include premiums that do not settle until the expiration date of the contract.

Written option contracts outstanding at period end, if any, are listed after the fund’s portfolio. For the fund’s average contract amount, see Note 5.

Total return swap contracts The fund entered into over-the-counter (OTC) total return swap contracts, which are arrangements to exchange a market linked return for a periodic payment, both based on a notional principal amount, to gain exposure to specific sectors or industries.

To the extent that the total return of the security, index or other financial measure underlying the transaction exceeds or falls short of the offsetting interest rate obligation, the fund will receive a payment from or make a payment to the counterparty. OTC total return swap contracts are marked to market daily based upon quotations from an independent pricing service or market makers and the change, if any, is recorded as an unrealized gain or loss. Payments received or made are recorded as realized gains or losses. Certain OTC total return swap contracts may include extended effective dates. Payments related to these swap contracts are accrued based on the terms of the contract. The fund could be exposed to credit or market risk due to unfavorable changes in the fluctuation of interest rates or in the price of the underlying security or index, the possibility that there is no liquid market for these agreements or that the counterparty may default on its obligation to perform. The fund’s maximum risk of loss from counterparty risk is the fair value of the contract. This risk may be mitigated by having a master netting arrangement between the fund and the counterparty. Risk of loss may exceed amounts recognized on the Statement of assets and liabilities.

OTC total return swap contracts outstanding at period end, if any, are listed after the fund’s portfolio. For the fund’s average notional amount, see Note 5.

Master agreements The fund is a party to ISDA (International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc.) Master Agreements (Master Agreements) with certain counterparties that govern OTC derivative and foreign exchange contracts entered into from time to time. The Master Agreements may contain provisions regarding, among other things, the parties’ general obligations, representations, agreements, collateral requirements, events of default and early termination. With respect to certain counterparties, in accordance with the terms of the Master Agreements, collateral posted to the fund is held in a segregated account by the fund’s custodian and with respect to those amounts which can be sold or repledged, are presented in the fund’s portfolio.

Collateral pledged by the fund is segregated by the fund’s custodian and identified in the fund’s portfolio. Collateral can be in the form of cash or debt securities issued by the U.S. Government or related agencies or other securities as agreed to by the fund and the applicable counterparty. Collateral requirements are determined based on the fund’s net position with each counterparty.

Termination events applicable to the fund may occur upon a decline in the fund’s net assets below a specified threshold over a certain period of time. Termination events applicable to counterparties may occur upon a decline in the counterparty’s long-term and short-term credit ratings below a specified level. In each case, upon occurrence, the other party may elect to terminate early and cause settlement of all derivative and foreign exchange contracts outstanding, including the payment of any losses and costs resulting from such early termination, as reasonably determined by the terminating party. Any decision by one or more of the fund’s counterparties to elect early termination could impact the fund’s future derivative activity.

At the close of the reporting period, the fund did not have a net liability position on derivative contracts subject to the Master Agreements. There was no collateral posted by the fund.

Securities lending The fund may lend securities, through its agent, to qualified borrowers in order to earn additional income. The loans are collateralized by cash in an amount at least equal to the market value of the securities loaned. The market value of securities loaned is determined daily and any additional required collateral is allocated to the fund on the next business day. The risk of borrower default will be borne by the fund’s agent; the fund will bear the risk of loss with respect to the investment of the cash collateral. Income from securities lending is included in investment income on the Statement of operations. Cash collateral is invested in Putnam Cash Collateral Pool, LLC, a limited liability company managed by an affiliate of Putnam Management. Investments in Putnam Cash Collateral Pool, LLC are valued at its closing net asset value each business day. There are no management fees charged to Putnam Cash Collateral Pool, LLC. At the close of the reporting period, the value of securities loaned amounted to $73,846,456 and the fund received cash collateral of $74,288,646.

Interfund lending The fund, along with other Putnam funds, may participate in an interfund lending program pursuant to an exemptive order issued by the SEC. This program allows the fund to borrow from or lend to other Putnam funds that permit such transactions. Interfund lending transactions are subject to each fund’s investment policies and borrowing and lending limits. Interest earned or paid on the interfund lending transaction will be based on the average of certain current market rates. During the reporting period, the fund did not utilize the program.

Line of credit The fund participates, along with other Putnam funds, in a $315 million unsecured committed line of credit and a $185 million unsecured uncommitted line of credit, both provided by State Street. Borrowings may be made for temporary or emergency purposes, including the funding of shareholder redemption requests and trade settlements. Interest is charged to the fund based on the fund’s borrowing at a rate equal to the Federal Funds rate plus 1.25% for the committed line of credit and the Federal Funds rate plus 1.30% for the uncommitted line of credit. A closing fee equal to 0.02% of the committed line of credit and $50,000 for the uncommitted line of credit has been paid by the participating funds. In addition, a commitment fee of 0.11% per annum on any unutilized portion of the committed line of credit is allocated to the participating funds based on their relative net assets and paid quarterly. During the reporting period, the fund had no borrowings against these arrangements.

Federal taxes It is the policy of the fund to distribute all of its taxable income within the prescribed time period and otherwise comply with the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the Code), applicable to regulated investment companies.

The fund is subject to the provisions of Accounting Standards Codification ASC 740 Income Taxes (ASC 740). ASC 740 sets forth a minimum threshold for financial statement recognition of the benefit of a tax position taken or expected to be taken in a tax return. The fund did not have a liability to record for any unrecognized tax benefits in the accompanying financial statements. No provision has been made for federal taxes on income, capital gains or unrealized appreciation on securities held nor for excise tax on income and capital gains. Each of the fund’s federal tax returns for the prior three fiscal years remains subject to examination by the Internal Revenue Service.

The fund may also be subject to taxes imposed by governments of countries in which it invests. Such taxes are generally based on either income or gains earned or repatriated. The fund accrues and applies such taxes to net investment income, net realized gains and net unrealized gains as income and/or capital gains are earned. In some cases, the fund may be entitled to reclaim all or a portion of such taxes, and such reclaim amounts, if any, are reflected as an asset on the fund’s books. In many cases, however, the fund may not receive such amounts for an extended period of time, depending on the country of investment.

At December 31, 2012, the fund had a capital loss carryover of $446,324,963 available to the extent allowed by the Code to offset future net capital gain, if any. The amounts of the carryovers and the expiration dates are:

Loss carryover
Short-term	Long-term	Total	Expiration
$196,645,411	N/A	$196,645,411	12/31/16
249,679,552	N/A	249,679,552	12/31/17

Under the Regulated Investment Company Modernization Act of 2010, the fund will be permitted to carry forward capital losses incurred in taxable years beginning after December 22, 2010 for an unlimited period. However, any losses incurred will be required to be utilized prior to the losses incurred in pre-enactment tax years. As a result of this ordering rule, pre-enactment capital loss carryforwards may be more likely to expire unused. Additionally, post-enactment capital losses that are carried forward will retain their character as either short-term or long-term capital losses rather than being considered all short-term as under previous law.

Distributions to shareholders Distributions to shareholders from net investment income are recorded by the fund on the ex-dividend date. Distributions from capital gains, if any, are recorded on the ex-dividend date and paid at least

Putnam VT Growth and Income Fund  13 

annually. The amount and character of income and gains to be distributed are determined in accordance with income tax regulations, which may differ from generally accepted accounting principles. These differences include temporary and/or permanent differences of losses on wash sale transactions, partnership income and corporate action basis. Reclassifications are made to the fund’s capital accounts to reflect income and gains available for distribution (or available capital loss carryovers) under income tax regulations. For the reporting period ended, the fund reclassified $111,043 to decrease undistributed net investment income and $111,043 to decrease accumulated net realized losses.

The tax basis components of distributable earnings and the federal tax cost as of the close of the reporting period were as follows:

Unrealized appreciation	$252,260,285
Unrealized depreciation	(32,740,725)
Net unrealized appreciation	219,519,560
Undistributed ordinary income	22,448,741
Capital loss carryforward	(446,324,963)
Cost for federal income tax purposes	$1,014,276,348

Expenses of the Trust Expenses directly charged or attributable to any fund will be paid from the assets of that fund. Generally, expenses of the Trust will be allocated among and charged to the assets of each fund on a basis that the Trustees deem fair and equitable, which may be based on the relative assets of each fund or the nature of the services performed and relative applicability to each fund.

Beneficial interest At the close of the reporting period, insurance companies or their separate accounts were record owners of all but a de minimis number of the shares of the fund. Approximately 42.3% of the fund is owned by accounts of one insurance company.

Note 2 — Management fee, administrative services and other transactions

The fund pays Putnam Management a management fee (based on the fund’s average net assets and computed and paid monthly) at annual rates that may vary based on the average of the aggregate net assets of most open-end funds, as defined in the fund’s management contract, sponsored by Putnam Management. Such annual rates may vary as follows:

0.630%	of the first $5 billion,
0.580%	of the next $5 billion,
0.530%	of the next $10 billion,
0.480%	of the next $10 billion,
0.430%	of the next $50 billion,
0.410%	of the next $50 billion,
0.400%	of the next $100 billion and
0.395%	of any excess thereafter.

Putnam Management has contractually agreed, through June 30, 2013, to waive fees or reimburse the fund’s expenses to the extent necessary to limit the cumulative expenses of the fund, exclusive of brokerage, interest, taxes, investment-related expenses, extraordinary expenses, acquired fund fees and expenses and payments under the fund’s investor servicing contract, investment management contract and distribution plans, on a fiscal year-to-date basis to an annual rate of 0.20% of the fund’s average net assets over such fiscal year-to-date period. During the reporting period, the fund’s expenses were not reduced as a result of this limit.

Putnam Investments Limited (PIL), an affiliate of Putnam Management, is authorized by the Trustees to manage a separate portion of the assets of the fund as determined by Putnam Management from time to time. Putnam Management pays a quarterly sub-management fee to PIL for its services at an annual rate of 0.35% of the average net assets of the portion of the fund managed by PIL.

The fund reimburses Putnam Management an allocated amount for the compensation and related expenses of certain officers of the fund and their staff who provide administrative services to the fund. The aggregate amount of all such reimbursements is determined annually by the Trustees.

Custodial functions for the fund’s assets are provided by State Street. Custody fees are based on the fund’s asset level, the number of its security holdings and transaction volumes.

Putnam Investor Services, Inc., an affiliate of Putnam Management, provides investor servicing agent functions to the fund. Putnam Investor Services, Inc. was paid a monthly fee for investor servicing at an annual rate of 0.10% of the fund’s average net assets. During the reporting period, the class specific expenses related to investor servicing fees were as follows:

Class IA	$956,763
Class IB	215,829
Total	$1,172,592

The fund has entered into expense offset arrangements with Putnam Investor Services, Inc. and State Street whereby Putnam Investor Services, Inc.’s and State Street’s fees are reduced by credits allowed on cash balances. The fund also reduced expenses through brokerage/service arrangements. For the reporting period, the fund’s expenses were reduced by $88 under the expense offset arrangements and by $113,261 under the brokerage/ service arrangements.

Each independent Trustee of the fund receives an annual Trustee fee, of which $883, as a quarterly retainer, has been allocated to the fund, and an additional fee for each Trustees meeting attended. Trustees also are reimbursed for expenses they incur relating to their services as Trustees.

The fund has adopted a Trustee Fee Deferral Plan (the Deferral Plan) which allows the Trustees to defer the receipt of all or a portion of Trustees fees payable on or after July 1, 1995. The deferred fees remain invested in certain Putnam funds until distribution in accordance with the Deferral Plan.

The fund has adopted an unfunded noncontributory defined benefit pension plan (the Pension Plan) covering all Trustees of the fund who have served as a Trustee for at least five years and were first elected prior to 2004. Benefits under the Pension Plan are equal to 50% of the Trustee’s average annual attendance and retainer fees for the three years ended December 31, 2005. The retirement benefit is payable during a Trustee’s lifetime, beginning the year following retirement, for the number of years of service through December 31, 2006. Pension expense for the fund is included in Trustee compensation and expenses in the Statement of operations. Accrued pension liability is included in Payable for Trustee compensation and expenses in the Statement of assets and liabilities. The Trustees have terminated the Pension Plan with respect to any Trustee first elected after 2003.

The fund has adopted a distribution plan (the Plan) with respect to its class IB shares pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the Investment Company Act of 1940. The purpose of the Plan is to compensate Putnam Retail Management Limited Partnership, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Putnam Investments, LLC, for services provided and expenses incurred in distributing shares of the fund. The Plan provides for payment by the fund to Putnam Retail Management Limited Partnership at an annual rate of up to 0.35% of the average net assets attributable to the fund’s class IB shares. The Trustees have approved payment by the fund at an annual rate of 0.25% of the average net assets attributable to the fund’s class IB shares. During the reporting period, the class specific expenses related to distribution fees were as follows:

Class IB  $540,070 

Note 3 — Purchases and sales of securities

During the reporting period, cost of purchases and proceeds from sales of investment securities other than short-term investments aggregated $400,346,099 and $580,579,613, respectively. There were no purchases or proceeds from sales of long-term U.S. government securities.

14   Putnam VT Growth and Income Fund 

Note 4 — Capital shares

At the close of the reporting period, there was an unlimited number of shares of beneficial interest authorized. Subscriptions and redemptions are presented at the omnibus level. Transactions in capital shares were as follows:

		Class IA shares				Class IB shares
	Year ended 12/31/12		Year ended 12/31/11		Year ended 12/31/12		Year ended 12/31/11
	Shares	Amount	Shares	Amount	Shares	Amount	Shares	Amount
Shares sold	93,701	$1,582,082	73,703	$1,210,703	189,974	$3,196,950	251,222	$4,047,331
Shares issued in connection with
reinvestment of distributions	1,122,794	19,244,681	950,489	16,243,829	221,677	3,788,452	185,245	3,158,420
	1,216,495	20,826,763	1,024,192	17,454,532	411,651	6,985,402	436,467	7,205,751
Shares repurchased	(9,265,147)	(156,119,808)	(10,647,464)	(170,194,579)	(2,541,025)	(42,658,461)	(3,344,460)	(53,763,973)
Net decrease	(8,048,652)	$(135,293,045)	(9,623,272)	$(152,740,047)	(2,129,374)	$(35,673,059)	(2,907,993)	$(46,558,222)

Note 5 — Summary of derivative activity

The average volume of activity for the reporting period for any derivative type that was held during the period is listed below and was as follows:

Purchased equity option contracts (number of contracts)	—*
OTC Total return swap contracts (notional)	$4,400,000

* For the reporting period, the transaction volume was minimal.

The following is a summary of the market values of derivative instruments as of the close of the reporting period:

Market values of derivative instruments as of the close of the reporting period

	Asset derivatives		Liability derivatives
Derivatives not accounted
for as hedging instruments	Statement of assets and		Statement of assets and
under ASC 815	liabilities location	Market value	liabilities location	Market value
Equity contracts	Receivables	$8,738	Payables	$—
Total		$8,738		$—

The following is a summary of realized and change in unrealized gains or losses of derivative instruments on the Statement of operations for the reporting period (see Note 1):

Amount of realized gain or (loss) on derivatives recognized in net gain or (loss) on investments

Derivatives not accounted for as hedging
instruments under ASC 815	Options	Swaps	Total
Equity contracts	$(73,340)	$(98,364)	$(171,704)
Total	$(73,340)	$(98,364)	$(171,704)

Change in unrealized appreciation or (depreciation) on derivatives recognized in net gain or (loss) on investments

Derivatives not accounted for as hedging instruments
under ASC 815	Swaps	Total
Equity contracts	$8,738	$8,738
Total	$8,738	$8,738

Note 6 — Transactions with affiliated issuer

Transactions during the reporting period with Putnam Money Market Liquidity Fund, which is under common ownership and control, were as follows:

	Market value at the beginning				Market value at the end of
Name of affiliate	of the reporting period	Purchase cost	Sale proceeds	Investment income	the reporting period
Putnam Money Market Liquidity Fund*	$4,138,667	$181,448,309	$168,977,283	$9,391	$16,609,693

* Management fees charged to Putnam Money Market Liquidity Fund have been waived by Putnam Management.

Note 7 — Market, credit and other risks

In the normal course of business, the fund trades financial instruments and enters into financial transactions where risk of potential loss exists due to changes in the market (market risk) or failure of the contracting party to the transaction to perform (credit risk). The fund may be exposed to additional credit risk that an institution or other entity with which the fund has unsettled or open transactions will default. Investments in foreign securities involve certain risks, including those related to economic instability, unfavorable political developments, and currency fluctuations.

Note 8 — New accounting pronouncement

In December 2011, the FASB issued ASU No. 2011-11 “Disclosures about Offsetting Assets and Liabilities”. The update creates new disclosure requirements requiring entities to disclose both gross and net information for derivatives and other finan-cial instruments that are either offset in the Statement of assets and liabilities or subject to an enforceable master netting arrangement or similar agreement. The disclosure requirements are effective for annual reporting periods beginning on or after January 1, 2013 and interim periods within those annual periods. Putnam Management is currently evaluating the application of ASU 2011-11 and its impact, if any, on the fund’s financial statements.

Putnam VT Growth and Income Fund   15 

Federal tax information (Unaudited)

The fund designated 98.72% of ordinary income distributions as qualifying for the dividends received deduction for corporations.

16   Putnam VT Growth and Income Fund 

About the Trustees

Putnam VT Growth and Income Fund  17 

 

*Mr. Reynolds is an “interested person” (as defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940) of the fund, Putnam Management, and Putnam Retail Management.

He is President and Chief Executive Officer of Putnam Investments, as well as the President of your fund and each of the other Putnam funds.

The address of each Trustee is One Post Office Square, Boston, MA 02109.

As of December 31, 2012, there were 109 Putnam funds. All Trustees serve as Trustees of all Putnam funds.

Each Trustee serves for an indefinite term, until his or her resignation, retirement at age 75, removal, or death.

Officers

In addition to Robert L. Reynolds, the other officers of the fund are shown below:

Jonathan S. Horwitz (Born 1955)	Michael J. Higgins (Born 1976)	James P. Pappas (Born 1953)
Executive Vice President, Principal Executive	Vice President and Treasurer	Vice President
Officer, and Compliance Liaison	Since 2010	Since 2004
Since 2004	Manager of Finance, Dunkin’ Brands	Director of Trustee Relations,
	(2008–2010); Senior Financial Analyst, Old	Putnam Investments and
Steven D. Krichmar (Born 1958)	Mutual Asset Management (2007–2008);	Putnam Management
Vice President and Principal Financial Officer	Senior Financial Analyst, Putnam Investments
Since 2002	(1999–2007)	Mark C. Trenchard (Born 1962)
Chief of Operations, Putnam Investments and		Vice President and BSA Compliance Officer
Putnam Management	Janet C. Smith (Born 1965)	Since 2002
	Vice President, Principal Accounting Officer,	Director of Operational Compliance,
Robert T. Burns (Born 1961)	and Assistant Treasurer	Putnam Investments and Putnam
Vice President and Chief Legal Officer	Since 2007	Retail Management
Since 2011	Director of Fund Administration Services,
General Counsel, Putnam Investments and	Putnam Investments and	Judith Cohen (Born 1945)
Putnam Management	Putnam Management	Vice President, Clerk, and Associate Treasurer
		Since 1993
Robert R. Leveille (Born 1969)	Susan G. Malloy (Born 1957)
Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer	Vice President and Assistant Treasurer	Nancy E. Florek (Born 1957)
Since 2007	Since 2007	Vice President, Proxy Manager, Assistant
Chief Compliance Officer, Putnam	Director of Accounting & Control Services,	Clerk, and Associate Treasurer
Investments, Putnam Management, and	Putnam Management	Since 2000
Putnam Retail Management

The principal occupations of the officers for the past five years have been with the employers as shown above although in some cases, they have held different positions with such employers. The address of each Officer is One Post Office Square, Boston, MA 02109.

18   Putnam VT Growth and Income Fund 

This page intentionally left blank. 

Putnam VT Growth and Income Fund  19 

This page intentionally left blank. 

20  Putnam VT Growth and Income Fund 

Other important information

Proxy voting

Putnam is committed to managing our mutual funds in the best interests of our shareholders. The Putnam funds’ proxy voting guidelines and procedures, as well as information regarding how your fund voted proxies relating to portfolio securities during the 12-month period ended June 30, 2012, are available in the Individual Investors section of putnam.com and on the SEC’s website, www.sec.gov. If you have questions about finding forms on the SEC’s website, you may call the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330. You may also obtain the Putnam funds’ proxy voting guidelines and procedures at no charge by calling Putnam’s Shareholder Services at 1-800-225-1581.

Fund portfolio holdings

Each Putnam VT fund will file a complete schedule of its portfolio holdings with the SEC for the first and third quarters of each fiscal year on Form N-Q. Shareholders may obtain the fund’s Forms N-Q on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. In addition, the fund’s Forms N-Q may be reviewed and copied at the SEC’s public reference room in Washington, D.C. You may call the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330 for information about the SEC’s website or the operation of the public reference room.

Fund information
Investment Manager	Investor Servicing Agent	Trustees
Putnam Investment Management, LLC	Putnam Investor Services, Inc.	Jameson A. Baxter, Chair
One Post Office Square	Mailing address:	Liaquat Ahamed
Boston, MA 02109	P.O. Box 8383	Ravi Akhoury
	Boston, MA 02266-8383	Barbara M. Baumann
Investment Sub-Manager	1-800-225-1581	Charles B. Curtis
Putnam Investments Limited		Robert J. Darretta
57–59 St James’s Street	Custodian	Katinka Domotorffy
London, England SW1A 1LD	State Street Bank and Trust Company	John A. Hill
		Paul L. Joskow
Marketing Services	Legal Counsel	Elizabeth T. Kennan
Putnam Retail Management	Ropes & Gray LLP	Kenneth R. Leibler
One Post Office Square		Robert E. Patterson
Boston, MA 02109	Independent Registered	George Putnam, III
	Public Accounting Firm	Robert L. Reynolds
	PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP	W. Thomas Stephens

The fund’s Statement of Additional Information contains additional information about the fund’s Trustees and is available without charge upon request by calling 1-800-225-1581.

Putnam VT Growth and Income Fund  21 

This report has been prepared for the shareholders	H509
of Putnam VT Growth and Income Fund.	279048 2/13

Item 2. Code of Ethics:

(a) The fund’s principal executive, financial and accounting officers are employees of Putnam Investment Management, LLC, the Fund’s investment manager. As such they are subject to a comprehensive Code of Ethics adopted and administered by Putnam Investments which is designed to protect the interests of the firm and its clients. The Fund has adopted a Code of Ethics which incorporates the Code of Ethics of Putnam Investments with respect to all of its officers and Trustees who are employees of Putnam Investment Management, LLC. For this reason, the Fund has not adopted a separate code of ethics governing its principal executive, financial and accounting officers.

(c) In May 2008, the Code of Ethics of Putnam Investment Management, LLC was updated in its entirety to include the amendments adopted in August 2007 as well as a several additional technical, administrative and non-substantive changes. In May of 2009, the Code of Ethics of Putnam Investment Management, LLC was amended to reflect that all employees will now be subject to a 90-day blackout restriction on holding Putnam open-end funds, except for portfolio managers and their supervisors (and each of their immediate family members), who will be subject to a one-year blackout restriction on the funds that they manage or supervise. In June 2010, the Code of Ethics of Putnam Investments was updated in its entirety to include the amendments adopted in May of 2009 and to change certain rules and limits contained in the Code of Ethics. In addition, the updated Code of Ethics included numerous technical, administrative and non-substantive changes, which were intended primarily to make the document easier to navigate and understand. In July 2011, the Code of Ethics of Putnam Investments was updated to reflect several technical, administrative and non-substantive changes resulting from changes in employee titles.

Item 3. Audit Committee Financial Expert:

The Funds’ Audit and Compliance Committee is comprised solely of Trustees who are “independent” (as such term has been defined by the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) in regulations implementing Section 407 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (the “Regulations”)). The Trustees believe that each of the members of the Audit and Compliance Committee also possess a combination of knowledge and experience with respect to financial accounting matters, as well as other attributes, that qualify them for service on the Committee. In addition, the Trustees have determined that each of Mr. Leibler, Mr. Hill, Mr. Darretta and Ms. Baumann qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” (as such term has been defined by the Regulations) based on their review of his or her pertinent experience and education. The SEC has stated that the designation or identification of a person as an audit committee financial expert pursuant to this Item 3 of Form N-CSR does not impose on such person any duties, obligations or liability that are greater than the duties, obligations and liability imposed on such person as a member of the Audit and Compliance Committee and the Board of Trustees in the absence of such designation or identification.

Item 4. Principal Accountant Fees and Services:

The following table presents fees billed in each of the last two fiscal years for services rendered to the fund by the fund’s independent auditor:

Fiscal year ended	Audit Fees	Audit-Related Fees	Tax Fees	All Other Fees
December 31, 2012	$95,108	$ —	$3,480	$2,337
December 31, 2011	$107,799	$--	$3,042	$ —

For the fiscal years ended December 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011, the fund’s independent auditor billed aggregate non-audit fees in the amounts of $257,929 and $130,424 respectively, to the fund, Putnam Management and any entity controlling, controlled by or under common control with Putnam Management that provides ongoing services to the fund.

Audit Fees represent fees billed for the fund’s last two fiscal years relating to the audit and review of the financial statements included in annual reports and registration statements, and other services that are normally provided in connection with statutory and regulatory filings or engagements.

Audit-Related Fees represent fees billed in the fund’s last two fiscal years for services traditionally performed by the fund’s auditor, including accounting consultation for proposed transactions or concerning financial accounting and reporting standards and other audit or attest services not required by statute or regulation.

Tax Fees represent fees billed in the fund’s last two fiscal years for tax compliance, tax planning and tax advice services. Tax planning and tax advice services include assistance with tax audits, employee benefit plans and requests for rulings or technical advice from taxing authorities.

All Other Fees represent fees billed for services relating to an analysis of fund profitability

Pre-Approval Policies of the Audit and Compliance Committee. The Audit and Compliance Committee of the Putnam funds has determined that, as a matter of policy, all work performed for the funds by the funds’ independent auditors will be pre-approved by the Committee itself and thus will generally not be subject to pre-approval procedures.

The Audit and Compliance Committee also has adopted a policy to pre-approve the engagement by Putnam Management and certain of its affiliates of the funds’ independent auditors, even in circumstances where pre-approval is not required by applicable law. Any such requests by Putnam Management or certain of its affiliates are typically submitted in writing to the Committee and explain, among other things, the nature of the proposed engagement, the estimated fees, and why this work should be performed by that particular audit firm as opposed to another one. In reviewing such requests, the Committee considers, among other things, whether the provision of such services by the audit firm are compatible with the independence of the audit firm.

The following table presents fees billed by the fund’s independent auditor for services required to be approved pursuant to paragraph (c)(7)(ii) of Rule 2-01 of Regulation S-X.

Fiscal year ended	Audit-Related Fees	Tax Fees	All Other Fees	Total Non-Audit Fees
December 31, 2012	$ —	$147,500	$ —	$ —
December 31, 2011	$ —	$107,505	$ —	$ —

Item 5. Audit Committee of Listed Registrants

Not applicable

Item 6. Schedule of Investments:

The registrant’s schedule of investments in unaffiliated issuers is included in the report to shareholders in Item 1 above.

Item 7. Disclosure of Proxy Voting Policies and Procedures For Closed-End Management Investment Companies:

Not applicable

Item 8. Portfolio Managers of Closed-End Investment Companies

Not Applicable

Item 9. Purchases of Equity Securities by Closed-End Management Investment Companies and Affiliated Purchasers:

Not applicable

Item 10. Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders:

Not applicable

Item 11. Controls and Procedures:

(a) The registrant’s principal executive officer and principal financial officer have concluded, based on their evaluation of the effectiveness of the design and operation of the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures as of a date within 90 days of the filing date of this report, that the design and operation of such procedures are generally effective to provide reasonable assurance that information required to be disclosed by the registrant in this report is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the Commission’s rules and forms.

(b) Changes in internal control over financial reporting: Not applicable

Item 12. Exhibits:

(a)(1) The Code of Ethics of The Putnam Funds, which incorporates the Code of Ethics of Putnam Investments, is filed herewith.

(a)(2) Separate certifications for the principal executive officer and principal financial officer of the registrant as required by Rule 30a-2(a) under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, are filed herewith.

(b) The certifications required by Rule 30a-2(b) under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, are filed herewith.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

Putnam Variable Trust

By (Signature and Title):

/s/Janet C. Smith
Janet C. Smith
Principal Accounting Officer

Date: February 28, 2013

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Investment Company Act of 1940, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.

By (Signature and Title):

/s/Jonathan S. Horwitz
Jonathan S. Horwitz
Principal Executive Officer

Date: February 28, 2013

By (Signature and Title):

/s/Steven D. Krichmar
Steven D. Krichmar
Principal Financial Officer

Date: February 28, 2013

EX-99.CERT

Certifications

I, Jonathan S. Horwitz, the Principal Executive Officer of the funds listed on Attachment A, certify that:

1. I have reviewed each report on Form N-CSR of the funds listed on Attachment A:

2. Based on my knowledge, each report does not contain any untrue statements of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by each report;

3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in each report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations, changes in net assets, and cash flows (if the financial statements are required to include a statement of cash flows) of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in each report;

4. The registrant’s other certifying officer and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rule 30a-3(c) under the Investment Company Act of 1940) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rule 30a-3(d) under the Investment Company Act of 1940) for the registrant and have:

a) designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which each report is being prepared;

b) designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;

c) evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of a date within 90 days prior to the filing date of each report based on such evaluation; and

d) disclosed in this report any change in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant’s most recent fiscal quarter that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting; and

5. The registrant’s other certifying officer and I have disclosed to each registrant’s auditors and the audit committee of each registrant’s board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):

a) all significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect each registrant’s ability to record, process, summarize, and report financial information; and

b) any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in each registrant’s internal control over financial reporting.

Date: February 27, 2013

/s/ Jonathan S. Horwitz

_______________________

Jonathan S. Horwitz

Principal Executive Officer

Certifications

I, Steven D. Krichmar, the Principal Financial Officer of the funds listed on Attachment A, certify that:

1. I have reviewed each report on Form N-CSR of the funds listed on Attachment A:

2. Based on my knowledge, each report does not contain any untrue statements of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by each report;

3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in each report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations, changes in net assets, and cash flows (if the financial statements are required to include a statement of cash flows) of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in each report;

4. The registrant’s other certifying officer and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rule 30a-3(c) under the Investment Company Act of 1940) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rule 30a-3(d) under the Investment Company Act of 1940) for the registrant and have:

a) designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which each report is being prepared;

b) designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;

c) evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of a date within 90 days prior to the filing date of each report based on such evaluation; and

d) disclosed in this report any change in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant’s most recent fiscal quarter that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting; and

5. The registrant’s other certifying officer and I have disclosed to each registrant’s auditors and the audit committee of each registrant’s board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):

a) all significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect each registrant’s ability to record, process, summarize, and report financial information; and

b) any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in each registrant’s internal control over financial reporting.

Date: February 27, 2013

/s/ Steven D. Krichmar

_______________________

Steven D. Krichmar

Principal Financial Officer

Attachment A

Period (s) ended December 31, 2012

               Putnam Europe Equity Fund

               Putnam International Equity Fund

               Putnam Multi-Cap Growth Fund

               Putnam Small Cap Growth Fund

               Putnam International Value Fund

               Putnam VT Absolute Return 500 Fund

               Putnam VT American Government Income Fund

               Putnam VT Capital Opportunities Fund

               Putnam VT Diversified Income Fund

               Putnam VT Equity Income Fund

               Putnam VT George Putnam Balanced Fund

               Putnam VT Global Asset Allocation Fund

               Putnam VT Global Equity Fund

               Putnam VT Global Health Care Fund

               Putnam VT Global Utilities Fund

               Putnam VT Growth and Income Fund

               Putnam VT Growth Opportunities Fund

               Putnam VT High Yield Fund

               Putnam VT Income Fund

               Putnam VT International Equity Fund

               Putnam VT International Value Fund

               Putnam VT International Growth Fund

               Putnam VT Investors Fund

               Putnam VT Multi-Cap Value Fund

               Putnam VT Money Market Fund

               Putnam VT Multi-Cap Growth Fund

               Putnam VT Research Fund

               Putnam VT Small Cap Value Fund

               Putnam VT Voyager Fund

EX-99.906 CERT

Section 906 Certifications

I, Jonathan S. Horwitz, the Principal Executive Officer of the Funds listed on Attachment A, certify that, to my knowledge:

1. The form N-CSR of the Funds listed on Attachment A for the period ended December 31, 2012 fully complies with the requirements of Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934; and

2. The information contained in the Form N-CSR of the Funds listed on Attachment A for the period ended December 31, 2012 fairly presents, in all material respects, the financial condition and results of operations of the Funds listed on Attachment A.

Date: February 27, 2013

/s/ Jonathan S. Horwitz

______________________

Jonathan S. Horwitz

Principal Executive Officer

Section 906 Certifications

I, Steven D. Krichmar, the Principal Financial Officer of the Funds listed on Attachment A, certify that, to my knowledge:

1. The form N-CSR of the Funds listed on Attachment A for the period ended December 31, 2012 fully complies with the requirements of Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934; and

2. The information contained in the Form N-CSR of the Funds listed on Attachment A for the period ended December 31, 2012 fairly presents, in all material respects, the financial condition and results of operations of the Funds listed on Attachment A.

Date: February 27, 2013

/s/ Steven D. Krichmar

______________________

Steven D. Krichmar

Principal Financial Officer

Attachment A

N-CSR

Period (s) ended December 31, 2012

               Putnam Europe Equity Fund

               Putnam International Equity Fund

               Putnam Multi-Cap Growth Fund

               Putnam Small Cap Growth Fund

               Putnam International Value Fund

               Putnam VT Absolute Return 500 Fund

               Putnam VT American Government Income Fund

               Putnam VT Capital Opportunities Fund

               Putnam VT Diversified Income Fund

               Putnam VT Equity Income Fund

               Putnam VT George Putnam Balanced Fund

               Putnam VT Global Asset Allocation Fund

               Putnam VT Global Equity Fund

               Putnam VT Global Health Care Fund

               Putnam VT Global Utilities Fund

               Putnam VT Growth and Income Fund

               Putnam VT Growth Opportunities Fund

               Putnam VT High Yield Fund

               Putnam VT Income Fund

               Putnam VT International Equity Fund

               Putnam VT International Value Fund

               Putnam VT International Growth Fund

               Putnam VT Investors Fund

               Putnam VT Multi-Cap Value Fund

               Putnam VT Money Market Fund

               Putnam VT Multi-Cap Growth Fund

               Putnam VT Research Fund

               Putnam VT Small Cap Value Fund

               Putnam VT Voyager Fund

EX-99.CODE ETH

   a_nf68stixmod7.htm

EX-99.CODE ETH

working@PUTNAM  JUNE 2010 

Putnam’s

Code of Ethics

[Graphic omitted: Portrait of Samuel Putnam]

[Graphic omitted: Putnam Investments logo]

Putnam Investments Code of Ethics

Putnam Investments is required by law to adopt a Code of Ethics (the “Code”). The objective of the Code is to ensure that Putnam’s employees comply with all applicable laws and avoid any conflict of interest that might result in any harm to our clients. Putnam owes a fiduciary duty to its clients. This Code of Ethics is designed to strengthen the trust and confidence our clients place in us and to demonstrate that our clients’ interests come first.

Adherence to the Code is a fundamental condition of employment at Putnam. Every employee is expected to adhere to the requirements of the Code. Any employee failing to do so may be subject to disciplinary action, including financial penalties and termination of employment, as determined by the Code of Ethics Officer, the Code of Ethics Oversight Committee, or the Chief Executive Officer of Putnam Investments.

1 

Table of Contents

Putnam Investments Code of Ethics	1
Definitions	3
Section 1 — Personal Securities Rules for All Employees	5
1.1. Pre-clearance Requirements	5
1.2. Restricted List	6
1.3. Prohibited Transactions	6
Section 2 — Putnam Mutual Funds	7
2.1. Holding Putnam Mutual Fund Shares at Putnam	7
2.2. Putnam Mutual Funds — Employee Holding Periods and Linked Accounts	7
2.3. Putnam Mutual Funds — Closed-End Fund Rules	8
Section 3 — Additional Rules for Access Persons and Certain Investment Professionals	8
3.1. 60-Day Short-Term Rule — All Access Persons	8
3.2. 7-Day Pre-Trade Rule (Portfolio Managers and Analysts)	8
3.3. 7-Day Post-Trade Rule (Portfolio Managers and Analysts)	9
3.4. Contra-Trading Rule (Portfolio Managers and Team Leaders)	9
3.5. No Personal Benefit (Portfolio Managers and Analysts)	9
Section 4 — Reporting Requirements	9
4.1. Brokerage/Securities Accounts — Initial and Annual Requirements	9
4.2. Separate Provisions for Brokerage/Securities Accounts That Are
Professionally Managed (Discretionary) Accounts — Initial and Annual Requirements	10
4.3. Account Confirmations and Statements	10
Section 5 — Additional Reporting, Certification, and Training Requirements	10
5.1. Initial/Annual Holdings Report — Access Persons Only	10
5.2. Quarterly Transaction Report — Access Persons Only	10
5.3. Annual Certification — All Employees	11
5.4. Training Requirements — All Employees	11
5.5. Maintenance and Distribution of the Code of Ethics	11
5.6. Procedures and Timeliness	11
Section 6 — General Ethics Rules for All Employees	11
6.1. Outside Business Activities	11
6.2. Charitable or Non-profit Roles/Role as Trustee or Fiduciary Outside Putnam Investments	12
6.3. Family Members’ Conflict Policy	12
6.4. CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct	12
6.5. Business Ethics, Ombudsman, and Hotlines	13
Section 7 — Insider Trading	13
7.1. Material, Non-Public Information and Insider Trading	13
7.2. Reporting and Restrictions	13
7.3. Special Provisions Applicable to Putnam Affiliates	14
7.4. PIL Employees	14
Section 8 — Sanctions	14
8.1. Sanctions for Violations of Sections 1–3	14
8.2. Sanctions for Violations of Sections 4–6	14
8.3. Sanctions for Violations of Section 7	14
Section 9 — Procedures for Determinations and Exemptions	15
Appendix A — Contra-Trading Rule Clearance Form	16

2 

Definitions

Access PersonPutnam has identified certain employees as Access Persons due to their position or access to investment information. Access Persons are held to a higher standard under the Code than other employees. Please ask the Code of Ethics Officer if you have any question whether you are an Access Person. The following employees are Access Persons:

• All employees of Putnam’s Investment Management Division

• Employees of the Operations Division within the following specific groups and departments:

» Fund Administration Group

» Investment Services and Operations Group

» Accounting Services Group

» Custody Services Group

• Senior Managing Directors and Managing Directors in:

» Mutual Fund Shareholder Services Group

» Accounting, Custody, and Control Services Group

» Global Marketing and Products Division

» Global Distribution Division

• All members of Putnam’s Operating Committee

• All employees of Putnam Investments Limited (PIL) and all other Putnam employees based in Europe

• All directors and officers of a registered investment advisor affiliate, e.g., Putnam Investment Management, LLC (PIM), or The Putnam Advisory Company, LLC (PAC)

• All employees who have access to My Putnam (unless access is limited to the Wall Street Journal, Factiva, or other systems that do not allow access to non-public information about Putnam products, as determined by the Code of Ethics Officer)

• Employees who have systems access or other access to non-public information about any client’s purchase or sale of securities or to information regarding portfolio holdings or recommendations with respect to such purchases or sales

• Others as determined by the Code of Ethics Officer

Approved Indicesmeans any securities index (which is typically a broad-based index) determined by the Code of Ethics Officer to present minimal risks of abuse. All Approved Indices are posted on the Putnam Compliance intranet homepage and the Code of Ethics PTA system.

Closed-end fund means a fund that has a fixed number of shares outstanding and does not redeem its shares. Closed-end funds typically trade like stocks on an exchange.

The Code of Ethics Officer and the Deputy Code of Ethics Officer are responsible for enforcing and interpreting the Code. The following are the current members of the Code of Ethics staff, each of whom can answer employee questions and provide other assistance regarding the Code:

Code of Ethics Officer:	Bob Leveille	(617) 760-1858
Deputy Code of Ethics Officer:	Rick DeGregorio	(617) 760-1201
Compliance Analyst:	Dana Scribner-Shea	(617) 760-7182

3 

Code of Ethics Oversight Committee has oversight responsibility for administering the Code of Ethics. Members include the Code of Ethics Officer and other members of Putnam’s senior management appointed by the Chief Executive Officer of Putnam. The Committee reviews and approves Code revisions, violations, and sanctions. In certain instances, requests for exemptions may require the approval of the Committee. The Committee meets on a quarterly basis or as otherwise necessary.

Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) means a fund (other than a closed-end fund) that can be traded on an exchange throughout the day like a stock. ETFs often track an index. Examples include (but are not limited to) SPDRs, WEBs, QQQQs, iShares, and HLDRs.

Immediate Family means the Putnam employee’s spouse, domestic partner, fiancé(e), or other family members who are living in the same household. Immediate Family also includes any other family members, including in-laws, for whom the Putnam employee can exercise investment discretion, regardless of whether or not they live in the same household.

Private Placement means any offering of a security not offered to the public and not requiring registration with the relevant securities authorities.

Putnam means any or all of Putnam Investments, LLC and its subsidiaries (other than PanAgora Asset Management, Inc.), any one of which shall be a Putnam company.

Putnam employee, or employee, means any employee of Putnam and, for purposes of all rules in Sections 1, 2, and 3, also includes the following:

• Members of the Immediate Family of a Putnam employee;

• Any trust in which a Putnam employee or Immediate Family member is a trustee with investment discretion;

• Any account for a partnership in which a Putnam employee or Immediate Family member is a general partner or a partner with investment discretion;

• Any closely held entity (such as a partnership, limited liability company, or corporation) in which a Putnam employee or Immediate Family member holds a controlling interest and with respect to which he or she has investment discretion;

• Any account (including any retirement, pension, deferred compensation, or similar account) in which a Putnam employee or Immediate Family member has a substantial economic interest and over which the Putnam employee or Immediate Family member exercises investment discretion;

• Any account other than a Putnam client account that receives investment advice of any sort from the employee or Immediate Family member, or as to which the employee or Immediate Family member has investment discretion.

Security The instruments required to be pre-cleared under Section 1.1 are considered to be securities for purposes of this Code and are also required to be reported by Access Persons under Section 4. In addition, transactions in exchange-traded funds (ETFs), exchange-traded notes (ETNs), exchange-traded commodities (ETCs), options, futures, and other derivative securities are required to be reported by Access Persons under Section 4, even for those instruments that are not required to be pre-cleared pursuant to Section 1.1(c).

4 

Section 1 — Personal Securities Rules for All Employees

Putnam maintains the Code of Ethics PTA system to assist employees in fulfilling their obligations under the Code of Ethics. This system can be accessed by selecting the Code of Ethics PTA link, which appears on Putnam’s intranet page in the Secure Information Section under My Essentials. This system allows the automated pre-clearance of publicly traded equities and other securities trading on major U.S. and other exchanges. To pre-clear an options contract for a publicly traded security, pre-clear the underlying security in the Code of Ethics PTA system. To request clearance to trade bonds or other securities, you must contact the Code of Ethics staff. Pre-clearance hours are 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. EST.

1.1. Pre-clearance Requirements

1.1(a) Employees must pre-clear all trades in the following securities:

• Stocks of companies

• Bonds (including corporate, municipal, high-yield, and convertible bonds)

• Options, warrants, and all other derivatives of any underlying securities which themselves require pre-clearance. Examples include options and futures based on specific stocks or based on indices that are not Approved Indices (see “Definitions” section)

• Exchange-traded funds (ETFs ) other than those based on Approved Indices or based on other instruments listed below (under Section 1.1(c)) that do not require pre-clearance

• Exchange-traded notes (ETNs) other than those based on Approved Indices

• Closed-end funds, including Putnam closed-end funds

Employees must also pre-clear the following transactions:

• Private placements and purchases of hedge funds or other private investment funds must receive pre-approval from the Code of Ethics Oversight Committee

• Donating or gifting of securities

• Shares purchased by subscription or by mail (if purchasing directly from a company’s transfer agent by check, you must pre-clear the day the check is to be mailed)

• Tendering securities from your personal account

1.1(b) Provisions Applicable to Pre-Clearances

A pre-clearance is only valid for trading on the day it is obtained. However, trades by employees in Putnam’s Asian or European offices, or trades by any employees in securities listed on Asian or European stock exchanges, may be executed within one business day after pre-clearance is obtained. If the Code of Ethics system does not recognize a security, if an employee is unable to use the system, or if he or she has any questions with respect to the system or pre-clearance, the employee must contact the Code of Ethics staff.

1.1(c) Exceptions from Pre-Clearance Requirements

Pre-clearance is not required for certain transactions. (Please note that reporting may still be required for Access Persons even when pre-clearance is not required. See Sections 4 and 5 for reporting requirements.)

Pre-clearance is not required for:

• Open-end mutual funds

• Currencies

• Commodities

• Treasury securities and other U.S. and other sovereign government debt (Please note that agency securities, such as securities issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, require pre-clearance.)

• Certificates of deposit (CDs), commercial paper, repurchase agreements, bankers’ acceptances, and other money market instruments

5 

• Options and futures and all other derivatives of securities not requiring pre-clearance (Please note that examples include options and futures based on Approved Indices (see Definitions) and Treasury futures.)

• ETFs and ETNs based on Approved Indices

• Exchange-traded commodities (ETCs)

• Withdrawals or distributions from a Putnam Retirement Plan that result in the sale of MMC stock

• Trades in approved discretionary accounts (see Section 4.2 for additional information)

• Transactions that are involuntary (i.e., not initiated by the employee or an immediate family member covered under the Code), including dividend reinvestments under an automatic program of a publicly traded issuer and broker actions not initiated by the employee, such as option assignments or sales out of the brokerage account to cover fees or margin calls (provided the employee may not have withdrawn funds from the margin account in the prior 10 days)

1.2. Restricted List

Employees may not trade in securities that are on Putnam’s restricted list, except as set forth below under “Large-/Mid-Cap Exemption.” There are a number of reasons why a security may appear on the Restricted List, and securities are placed on the Restricted List under criteria, and in specific circumstances, as determined by the Code of Ethics Officer or the Code of Ethics Oversight Committee. If a security is not on the Restricted List, other classes of securities of the same issuer (e.g., preferred or convertible preferred stock) may be on the Restricted List. It is the employee’s responsibility to identify with particularity the class of securities being pre-cleared.

Large-/Mid-Cap Exemption. An employee may trade up to 1,000 shares of a security appearing on the Restricted List if it is an equity security of an issuer with a market capitalization greater than $2 billion. However, these transactions must still be pre-cleared. Market capitalization is defined as outstanding shares multiplied by current price per share.

1.3. Prohibited Transactions

The following transactions and activities are prohibited for all employees:

1. Good-Until-Canceled Orders (GTC). Any order not executed on the day of pre-clearance must be resubmitted for pre-clearance before being executed on a subsequent day.

2. Short sales of any security that is subject to pre-clearance requirements. However, short sales against the box are permitted. In addition, opening an option position that would result in a short position in the underlying security upon assignment or expiration is also prohibited. For example, buying a put option without owning a number of shares at least equal to the delivery obligation under the contract, or selling a naked call option, would be prohibited.

3. Purchasing securities in an initial public offering (IPO). Although exceptions from this prohibition will rarely be granted, employees may request an exemption from the Code of Ethics Officer, who may grant exceptions in unusual cases such as when an immediate family member’s association or employment with the issuer warrants consideration or when the employee has had a pre-existing status for at least two years as a policyholder or depositor in connection with a bank or insurance company conversion from mutual or cooperative form to stock form.

4. Trading with Material Non-public Information (see Section 7)

5. Personal Trading with Putnam Client Portfolios. Putnam employees may not buy or sell securities when the employee knows a Putnam client account is on the other side of the trade.

6. Participating in an Investment Club

7. Spread Betting. PIL employees may not enter into any spread betting contracts on financial instruments.

8. Excessive Trading. Employees are prohibited from making more than 10 trades in individual securities in any given quarter across all their accounts (including accounts held by Immediate Family members). For purposes of applying this rule, securities that are required to be pre-cleared shall be the only securities counted, and trading the same security in the same direction (buy or sell) over a period of five business days will be counted as one transaction.

6

Section 2 — Putnam Mutual Funds

2.1. Holding Putnam Mutual Fund Shares at Putnam

Putnam employees must hold shares of Putnam open-end U.S. mutual funds through accounts maintained at Putnam, with Putnam Retail Management (PRM) listed as the dealer of record. All transactions must be executed through Putnam and not through an outside broker or other intermediary.

These requirements also apply to:

• Self-directed IRA accounts holding Putnam fund shares;

• Variable annuities and variable insurance contracts, such as Putnam/Hartford Capital Manager and Allstate Advisor, which invest in Putnam Variable Trusts (must list PRM as dealer but may be held at the insurer).

In limited circumstances, retirement, pension, deferred compensation, and similar accounts (and variable insurance arrangements) that cannot be legally transferred to Putnam may be allowed to hold Putnam funds upon approval of the Code of Ethics Officer. For example, a spouse of a Putnam employee may have a 401(k)/ Profit Sharing Plan with his or her employer that invests in Putnam funds. The employee must notify the Code of Ethics Officer in writing, provide the reason why the account cannot be transferred to Putnam, and arrange for a quarterly statement of transactions in such account to be sent to the Code of Ethics staff, if approved.

2.2. Putnam Mutual Funds — Employee Holding Periods and Linked Accounts

Employees may not, within a 90-calendar day period, make a purchase followed by a sale or a sale followed by a purchase of shares of the same open-end Putnam mutual fund, even if the transactions occur in different accounts.

Employees who have sole or shared supervisory or portfolio management responsibility for a Putnam open-end mutual fund or a U.S. registered mutual fund to which Putnam acts as advisor or sub-advisor may not, within a one-year period, make a purchase followed by a sale or a sale followed by a purchase of shares of such fund, even if the transactions occur in different accounts.

All employees are required to ensure that their Immediate Family members’ accounts holding Putnam mutual funds are linked to comply with the disclosure and holding period requirements. To ensure these accounts are linked, log on to Putnam’s intranet home page at http://intranet/home/index.shtml, and select My Essentials/Linked Mutual Fund Accounts.

The above holding period restrictions do not apply to:

• 401(k)/Profit Sharing (or other employee benefit plan) contributions, withdrawals, loans, or distributions, including employer contributions or forfeitures to an employee’s account. However, exchanges within these accounts are subject to these holding period restrictions.

• Putnam’s Money Market Funds or Putnam Stable Value Fund

• Systematic investments, exchanges, or redemptions and payroll deductions. However, once these programs are established/revised, they may not be changed again for 90 days. Employees subject to a one-year holding period with respect to a fund may establish a semiannual or annual automatic rebalancing program, although it may only be changed on an annual basis.

• Dividend reinvestments, distributions, fund mergers, and share class conversions

• Qualified redemptions (i.e., from the Putnam CollegeAdvantage 529 Plan for matters such as tuition, school fees, books, supplies, and equipment required by the school, room and board, disability, and death)

In special situations, such as financial hardship or disability, an exemption from the holding period requirements may be provided by the Code of Ethics Oversight Committee upon written application by the employee.

7 

2.3. Putnam Mutual Funds — Closed-End Fund Rules

2.3(a) Pre-clearance and Reporting. Putnam closed-end fund shares are subject to the same pre-clearance and reporting requirements as other stocks. A list of the Putnam closed-end funds can be obtained from the Code of Ethics staff.

2.3(b) Special Rules Applicable to Managing Directors in the Investment Division, Operating Committee members, and officers of the Putnam Funds. Managing Directors in Putnam’s Investment Division, Putnam Operating Committee members, and officers of the Putnam Funds will not receive clearance to engage in any combination of purchase and sale, or sale and purchase, of the shares of a given closed-end fund within six months of each other. Therefore, purchases should be made only if you intend to hold the shares more than six months, and sales should not be made if you plan to purchase more shares of that fund within six months.

Section 3 — Additional Rules for Access Persons and Certain Investment Professionals

3.1. 60-Day Short-Term Rule — All Access Persons

Access Persons may not sell a security at a price higher than any price paid for that security within the past 60 calendar days, or buy a security at a price below which he or she sold it within the past 60 days. This rule applies to transactions across all accounts of the employee. All trades for the previous 60 days will be compared to the trade date for the transaction in question to determine whether a violation has occurred. Thus, if an employee buys a security for $10, buys it again for $15, and then sells shares of this security for $12, this will be considered a violation even though some shares of the security in question were bought for a higher price. Access Persons may also not open an option transaction for a contract that expires in 60 days or less. Although portfolio managers and analysts may sell securities at a profit within 60 days of purchase in order to comply with the requirements of the 7-Day Pre-Trade and 7-Day Post-Trade Rules (described below), any profit must be disgorged to charity.

3.2. 7-Day Pre-Trade Rule (Portfolio Managers and Analysts)

3.2(a) Portfolio Managers: (i) Before a portfolio manager places an order to buy a security for any Putnam client portfolio that he manages, he must sell that security or related derivative security if he has purchased it in his personal account within the preceding seven calendar days; or (ii) upon entering an order to sell a security for any Putnam client portfolio that he manages, he must disgorge to charity any losses avoided if he sold the security in his personal account within the preceding seven calendar days. Disgorgements will be measured by the difference between the selling price for the personal account and the selling price for the client account, multiplied by the number of shares sold for the personal account.

3.2(b) Analysts: (i) Before an analyst makes a purchase or an outperform recommendation for a security (including designation of a security for inclusion in the portfolio of Putnam Research Fund), he must sell that security or related derivative security if he has purchased it in his personal account within the preceding seven calendar days; or (ii) upon making a sell or an underperform recommendation for a security (including designation of a security for sale from the portfolio of Putnam Research Fund), he must disgorge to charity any losses avoided if he sold the security in his personal account within the preceding seven calendar days. Disgorgements will be measured by the difference between the selling price for the personal account and the price at the time that the recommendation is made, multiplied by the number of shares sold for the personal account.

8 

3.3. 7-Day Post-Trade Rule (Portfolio Managers and Analysts)

3.3(a) Portfolio Managers: No portfolio manager shall: (i) sell any security or related derivative security for her personal account until seven calendar days have elapsed after the date of the most recent purchase of that security or related derivative security by any Putnam client portfolio she manages or co-manages; or (ii) purchase any security or related derivative security for her personal account until seven calendar days have elapsed after the date of the most recent sale of that security or related derivative security from any Putnam client portfolio that she manages or co-manages.

3.3(b) Analysts: No analyst shall: (i) sell any security or related derivative security for his personal account until seven calendar days have elapsed after the date of his most recent buy or outperform recommendation for that security or related derivative security (including designation of a security for inclusion in the portfolio of Putnam Research Fund); or (ii) purchase any security or related derivative security for his personal account until seven calendar days have elapsed after the date of his most recent sell or underperform recommendation for that security or related derivative security (including the removal of a security from the portfolio of Putnam Research Fund).

3.4. Contra-Trading Rule (Portfolio Managers and Team Leaders)

3.4(a) Portfolio Managers: No portfolio manager shall, without prior clearance and written approval, sell in his personal account any securities or related derivative securities that are held in any Putnam client portfolio that he manages or co-manages (see Appendix A for the Contra-Trading Rule Clearance Form).

3.4(b) Team Leaders: No Team Leader within the Investment Division shall, without prior clearance and written approval, sell in his personal account any securities or related derivative securities that are held in any Putnam client portfolio managed in his team (see Appendix A for the Contra-Trading Rule Clearance Form).

3.5. No Personal Benefit (Portfolio Managers and Analysts)

No portfolio manager shall cause, and no analyst shall recommend, an action that would cause a Putnam client to take action for the portfolio manager’s or analyst’s own personal benefit. A portfolio manager who trades in, or an analyst who recommends, particular securities for a Putnam client account in order to support the price of securities in his personal account, or who “front runs” a Putnam client order, is in violation of this Rule.

Section 4 — Reporting Requirements

4.1. Brokerage/Securities Accounts — Initial and Annual Requirements

All employees (on their own behalf and on behalf of their Immediate Family members) are required to report the existence of any accounts which have the capability of purchasing any securities. This Rule includes all brokerage accounts, accounts held directly at an issuer’s transfer agent, and securities held in physical certificate form by an employee or any Immediate Family member of the employee. The only investment accounts excluded from this rule are accounts that are only permitted to hold open-end mutual funds (other than Putnam open-end funds) and no other investments.

To satisfy this requirement, a new employee must enter the requested information in the Code of Ethics PTA system within the required time frame below:

• Access Persons — within 10 days of hire

• Non-access Persons — within 30 days of hire

Existing employees opening a new account (including accounts being opened for Immediate Family members) must disclose them in the system in advance of the first personal securities transaction in the account.

All employees will be required to certify annually that all accounts requiring disclosure are accurately listed in the Code of Ethics PTA system.

9 

4.2. Separate Provisions for Brokerage/Securities Accounts That Are Professionally Managed (Discretionary) Accounts — Initial and Annual Requirements

If you wish to establish a professionally managed or discretionary account (including professionally managed or discretionary accounts being opened for Immediate Family members), where you completely turn over decision-making authority to a professional money manager who is not subject to this Code, you must disclose the existence of the account and receive approval from the Code of Ethics staff in advance of the first personal securities transaction. You do not need to pre-clear or report securities transactions in these accounts. Please note a discretionary account may not purchase an IPO or hold Putnam open-end mutual funds.

The broker or advisor maintaining discretion over the account may not be a family member of the Putnam employee.

In order for the account to be considered discretionary, the employee must:

1. Complete an initial certification (as well as annual certifications each year) in which both the employee and the broker/advisor certify that the Putnam employee does not participate in investment decisions on the account; and

2. Ensure that copies of broker statements are delivered to Putnam Investments.

4.3. Account Confirmations and Statements

All employees are required to ensure that copies of all confirmations and statements are delivered to Putnam for all accounts described in Section 4.1 above, and to ensure that copies of all statements (but not confirmations) are delivered to Putnam for all discretionary accounts described in Section 4.2. When the employee discloses the account as required, the Code of Ethics staff will issue a 407 letter, or other communication to the entity where the employee’s account is held, requesting that confirmations and statements be sent to Putnam on the employee’s behalf. However, it is ultimately the employee’s responsibility to ensure his or her broker has complied with this request.

If it is discovered these reports are not being delivered to Putnam, the Code of Ethics staff will bring this issue to the employee’s attention and request he or she assist in rectifying the issue. If it is determined that a broker has failed to comply with requests to deliver these reports, Putnam reserves the right to require the employee to close the account within 30 days by transferring the account to another dealer willing to comply with this requirement (any trades as a result of a transfer must be pre-cleared).

Section 5 — Additional Reporting, Certification, and Training Requirements

5.1. Initial/Annual Holdings Report — Access Persons Only

Access Persons must disclose their securities holdings, including all holdings for Immediate Family member accounts, within 10 days of hire (or within 10 days of becoming an Access Person) and then on an annual basis thereafter (within 45 days after the end of the year). The report of securities holdings must include all securities that require pre-clearance under Section 1.1, as well as holdings in non-U.S. sovereign government debt, ETFs, ETNs, ETCs, options, futures and other derivative securities, and holdings of Putnam open-end U.S. mutual funds not held through a Putnam account and U.S. registered mutual funds to which Putnam acts as advisor or sub-advisor (see Section 4).

5.2. Quarterly Transaction Report — Access Persons Only

Access Persons must disclose and certify all of their personal securities transactions, including transactions for Immediate Family member accounts, within 20 calendar days following the end of each quarter. In addition to the securities requiring pre-clearance under Section 1.1, Access Persons are also required to disclose and certify all personal transactions in non-U.S. sovereign government debt, as well as ETFs, ETNs, ETCs, options, futures, and other derivative securities, not just those requiring pre-clearance.

10 

5.3. Annual Certification — All Employees

Each calendar year, all employees will be required to certify that they have reviewed and understand the rules and requirements of the Code and that the list of brokerage accounts (for the employee and all Immediate Family members) disclosed in the Code of Ethics PTA system is accurate. An e-mail notification will be sent informing employees of their requirement and the due date.

5.4. Training Requirements — All Employees

As deemed necessary by the Code of Ethics staff, employees will be required to complete training on Putnam’s Code of Ethics. E-mail notifications will be sent notifying employees of the requirements and the due date.

5.5. Maintenance and Distribution of the Code of Ethics

When revisions are made to the Code of Ethics, all employees will receive a revised version of the Code. The Code will be available to all employees on Putnam’s intranet site. Hard copies may be requested by contacting the Code of Ethics staff.

5.6. Procedures and Timeliness

The certifications and reports required by the Code are completed in the Code of Ethics PTA system. There are strict deadlines for these filings. Planned absences, vacations, and business trips are not valid excuses for failing to meet a deadline. Employees will receive instructions regarding these submissions and the due dates. Please contact the Code of Ethics staff for assistance.

Section 6 — General Ethics Rules for All Employees

Putnam employees are expected to act ethically at all times in connection with their employment. In addition to complying with the specific provisions of this section, employees should contact the Code of Ethics staff or the Ombudsman if they are not sure how to proceed in any circumstances involving ethical issues or questions.

6.1. Outside Business Activities

No Putnam employee shall serve as employee, officer, director, trustee, or general partner of a corporation or entity other than Putnam, without prior written approval of the Code of Ethics Officer, who may also confirm that the employee’s manager has approved such outside position. Requests for a role at a publicly traded company are especially disfavored and are closely reviewed. Permission will be granted only in extenuating circumstances.

All employees must provide a written request seeking approval from the Code of Ethics Officer by entering the details of the proposed position in the Code of Ethics PTA system. Employees may not engage in any outside employment activity until they receive an e-mail approving their request. Employees hired at Putnam with an outside position must disclose the position upon hire in the system and may be required to resign such position if the position presents conflicts of interest or other issues.

FINRA-licensed employees under PRM also have an obligation to disclose outside positions to, and receive approval from the PRM Compliance Department. Employees must also keep this information accurate by updating their profile in the Code of Ethics system and updating the PRM Compliance Department if they change or terminate a position previously approved.

11 

6.2. Charitable or Non-profit Roles/Role as Trustee or Fiduciary Outside Putnam Investments

6.2(a) An employee may serve as a volunteer, officer, director, or trustee of a charitable or not-for-profit institution, provided that the employee abides by the Code of Ethics with respect to any investment activity for which she has any discretion or input as a volunteer, officer, director, or trustee. The pre-clearance and reporting requirements of the Code of Ethics do not apply to the trading activities of such charitable or not-for-profit institutions for which an employee serves as a volunteer, officer, director, or trustee unless the employee has discretion for the account. You must contact the Code of Ethics staff if you are asked to serve in a role in which you may have discretion, investment, or financial authority for a charitable or not-for-profit institution to discuss whether such position is permissible and whether you must perform any additional actions prior to serving in such role.

6.2(b) Except as stated below, no Putnam employee shall serve as a trustee, an executor, a custodian, or any other fiduciary, or as an investment advisor or a counselor for any account outside Putnam.

Putnam employees may serve as a fiduciary with respect to a religious or charitable trust or foundation, provided that the employee abides by the Code of Ethics with respect to any investment activity for which she has any discretion or input. The pre-clearance and reporting requirements of the Code of Ethics apply to the trading activities of such a religious or charitable trust or foundation if the employee has discretion for the account.

6.2(c) Family Trust or Estate Exception. Putnam employees may serve as a fiduciary with respect to a family trust or estate, as long as the employee abides by all of the Rules of the Code of Ethics with respect to any investment activity over which he has any discretion.

6.3. Family Members’ Conflict Policy

No employee or member of an employee’s Immediate Family shall have any direct or indirect personal financial interests in companies that do business with Putnam, unless such interest is disclosed and approved by the Code of Ethics Officer.

6.3(a) Corporate Purchase of Goods and Services — Putnam will not acquire goods and services from any firm in which a member of an employee’s Immediate Family serves as a sales representative or in a senior management capacity, or has an ownership interest (excluding normal investment holdings in public companies), unless permission is obtained from the Assistant Treasurer and the Code of Ethics Officer. Any employee who is aware of a proposal to purchase goods and services from a firm with which a member of the employee’s Immediate Family has one of these associations must notify the Assistant Treasurer and the Code of Ethics Officer.

6.3(b) Portfolio Trading – Putnam will not allocate any client trades to any firm that employs a member of an employee’s Immediate Family as a sales representative to Putnam (in a primary, secondary, or backup role). Any Putnam employee who is aware that an Immediate Family member serves as a broker-dealer’s sales representative to Putnam should inform the Code of Ethics Officer.

6.3(c) Definition of Immediate Family (specific to this rule) – “Immediate Family” of an employee means (1) spouse, fiancé(e), or domestic partner of the employee, (2) any child, sibling, or parent of an employee and any person married to a child, sibling or parent of an employee, and (3) any other person who lives in the same household as the employee.

6.4. CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct

All members of the Investment Division and any other CFA Institute Members or Candidates must follow and abide by the spirit of the Code of Ethics and the Standards of Professional Conduct of the CFA Institute. The text of the CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct can be found on the Putnam Compliance Department intranet home page, which is accessible from the Putnam intranet home page. The terms of Putnam’s Code of Ethics shall govern in any case where there is a conflict between the terms of this Code and the CFA Institute Code of Ethics and Standards of Professional Conduct. Please contact the Code of Ethics Officer with any questions.

12 

6.5. Business Ethics, Ombudsman, and Hotlines

6.5(a) If a Putnam employee suspects that fraudulent, illegal, or other irregular activity (including violations of the Code of Ethics) might be occurring at Putnam, the activity should be reported immediately to Putnam’s Controller, Chief Compliance Officer or Code of Ethics Officer, through the Ombudsman or hotlines described below or through Putnam’s Human Resources department.

6.5(b) Putnam has established the office of the corporate ombudsman as a resource to help employees address legal or ethical issues in the workplace and to allow employees to voice concerns or seek clarity on issues. The Ombudsman provides a confidential, independent, and impartial source to employees to discuss potential violations of law or of company standards without fear of retribution, and serves as a neutral party with no vested interest in a particular outcome.

6.5(c) An employee who does not feel comfortable reporting activity in the manner described in 6.5(a) above may instead contact any of the following on an anonymous basis:

• The Putnam Ethics hotline at 1-888-475-4210,

• The Putnam Funds Trustees’ hotline at 1-866-858-4155, or

• Putnam’s Ombudsman at 1-866-ombuds7 (866-662-8377).

Section 7 — Material, Non-Public Information and Insider Trading

7.1. Material, Public Information and Insider Trading

Antifraud provisions of the U.S. securities laws as well as the laws of other countries generally prohibit persons who possess material, non-public information from trading on or communicating that information to others. Putnam’s policy calls for strict compliance with such laws. Unlawful trading while in possession of material, non-public information is a very serious matter and can be a crime punishable by imprisionment. There is also significant monetary liability for an inside trader, which can include liability to private plaintiffs and/or the Securities and Exchange Commission, which can seek a court order requiring a violator to pay back profits, as well as penalties substantially greater than those profits. In certain cases, controlling persons of inside traders, including supervisors of inside traders or Putnam itself, can be liable for penalties.

Employees found to have conducted this activity will be immediately referred to the Code of Ethics Oversight Committee or Putnam’s Chief Executive Officer to determine the appropriate sanction, up to and including termination.

While employees in the Investment Division are most likely to come into contact with material, non-public information, the rules (and sanctions) in this area apply to all Putnam employees (see Section 7.2 for information on what to do if you believe you may have material, non-public information).

7.2. Reporting and Restrictions

Any employee who believes he or she is (or may be) in possession of material, non-public information must immediately contact Putnam’s Code of Ethics Officer or an attorney in Putnam’s Legal Department, and provide details on the information received and the source. The employee must also take precautions to maintain the confidentiality of the information in question.

After reviewing the facts and circumstances, Putnam’s Code of Ethics Officer or Putnam’s Legal Department will make a determination as to whether possession of the information warrants restricting trading activity in the issuer’s securities for client accounts as well as personal securities transactions for employees.

13 

7.3. Special Provisions Applicable to Putnam Affiliates

Any employee wishing to place a trade in the securities of Great-West Lifeco Inc., Power Financial Corporation, Power Corporation of Canada, or IGM Financial Inc. must contact the Code of Ethics Officer or the Deputy Code of Ethics Officer to request manual approval of the pre-clearance request. An employee requesting such approval must certify that he or she is not in possession of any material, non-public information regarding the company in which he or she is seeking to place a trade. The decision whether or not to grant the pre-clearance request is in the sole discretion of the Code of Ethics Officer and the Deputy Code of Ethics Officer. The Code of Ethics Officer and Deputy Code of Ethics Officer will reject any such request for pre-clearance made by members of Putnam’s Operating Committee and certain members of the Chief Financial Officer’s staff from the end of each calendar quarter to the date of announcement of Great-West Lifeco Inc.’s earnings for such quarter.

7.4. PIL Employees

For PIL employees, these topics are covered by the FSA’s Market Abuse rules. PIL employees receive information on this topic in their annual instructor-led code of ethics and compliance training.

Section 8 — Sanctions

The Code of Ethics Oversight Committee has adopted the following minimum monetary sanctions for violations of the Code. These sanctions apply even if the exception results from inadvertence rather than intentional misbehavior. The Code of Ethics Oversight Committee will review and approve sanctions on employees. However, the sanctions noted below are only minimums, and the Committee reserves the right to impose sanctions it believes fit the circumstances, such as higher monetary sanctions, trading bans, suspension, or termination of employment. The Committee’s belief that an employee has violated the Code of Ethics intentionally may result in more severe sanctions than outlined in the guidelines.

8.1. Sanctions for Violations of Sections 1–3

The minimum sanction per violation of the Rules in Sections 1, 2, or 3 is disgorgement of any profits or payment of avoided losses and the following payments:

Officer level	SMD/MD/SVP	VP/AVP/Non-officer
1st violation	$250	$50
2nd violation	$500	$100
	Minimum monetary sanction as above with ban on all new personal
3rd violation	securities transactions

8.2. Sanctions for Violations of Sections 4–6

The minimum sanction for violations of the rules in Sections 4–6 is as follows:

Officer level	SMD/MD/SVP	VP/AVP/Non-officer
1st violation	Warning	Warning
2nd violation	$50	$25
Subsequent violation	$100	$50

8.3. Sanctions for Violations of Section 7

All violations concerning the use of material, non-public information, failure to report inside information, or insider trading will be presented to the Code of Ethics Oversight Committee to determine the appropriate sanction, up to and including termination. Severe criminal penalties may also be imposed.

The reference period for determining generally whether a violation is initial or subsequent will be three years.

14 

Section 9 — Procedures for Determinations and Exemptions

No perceived ambiguity in the Code of Ethics shall excuse any violation. Any employee who has a question concerning the applicability of the Code or believes the Code to be ambiguous in a particular situation should request a determination from the Code of Ethics Officer in advance of the conduct. Employees may also request an exemption from the Code of Ethics if they do so in advance of the conduct or transaction sought to be exempted.

Any employee seeking a determination or exemption shall provide the Code of Ethics Officer with such information as the Code of Ethics Officer deems necessary to render the determination or make a decision on the exemption.

15 

Appendix A — Contra-Trading Rule Clearance Form

To: Code of Ethics Officer

From:	Date:
Re: Sale of Personal Security

This serves as prior written approval to sell the following personal security:

Name of portfolio manager contemplating personal sale:
Security to be sold:
Number of shares to be sold:
Fund(s) holding security:
Number of shares held by fund:
Reason for the personal sale:
Specify the reason why the sale is inappropriate for fund: (Please attach additional sheets if necessary.)
CIO approval:	Date:
Code of Ethics Officer:
Deputy Code of Ethics Officer approval:	Date:

16 

Putnam Investments | One Post Office Square | Boston, MA 02109 | putnam.com

262362 6/10

EX-99.CODE ETH

THE PUTNAM FUNDS 

Code of Ethics

Each of The Putnam Funds (the "Funds") has determined to adopt this Code of Ethics with respect to certain activities by officers and Trustees of the Funds which might be deemed to create possible conflicts of interest and to establish reporting requirements and enforcement procedures with respect to such activities.

I. Rules Applicable to Officers and Trustees Affiliated with Putnam Investments Trust or Its Subsidiaries

A. Incorporation of Adviser's Code of Ethics. The provisions of the Code of Ethics for employees of Putnam Investments Trust and its subsidiaries (the "Putnam Investments Code of Ethics"), which is attached as Appendix A hereto, are hereby incorporated herein as the Funds' Code of Ethics applicable to officers and Trustees of the Funds who are employees of the Funds or officers, directors or employees of Putnam Investments Trust or its subsidiaries. A violation of the Putnam Investments' Code of Ethics shall constitute a violation of the Funds' Code.

B. Reports. Officers and Trustees of each of the Funds who are made subject to the Putnam Investments' Code of Ethics pursuant to the preceding paragraph shall file the reports required by the Putnam Investments' Code of Ethics with the Code of Ethics Officer designated therein. A report filed with the Code of Ethics Officer shall be deemed to be filed with each of the Funds of which the reporting individual is an officer or Trustee.

C. Review and Reporting.

(1) The Code of Ethics Officer shall cause the reported personal securities transactions to be compared with completed and contemplated portfolio transactions of each of the Funds to determine whether a violation of this Code may have occurred. Before making any determination that a violation has been committed by any person, the Code of Ethics Officer shall give such person an opportunity to supply additional explanatory material.

(2) If the Code of Ethics Officer determines that a violation of any provision of this Code has or may have occurred, he shall submit his written determination, together with any additional explanatory material, to the Audit and Compliance Committee of the Funds at its next meeting when Code of Ethics matters are discussed.

D. Sanctions. In addition to reporting violations of this Code to the Audit and Compliance Committee of the Funds as provided in Section I-C(2), the Code of Ethics Officer shall also report to such Committee any sanctions imposed with

respect to such violations. The Committee reserves the right to impose such additional sanctions as it deems appropriate.

II. Rules Applicable to Unaffiliated Trustees

A. Definitions.

(1) "Beneficial ownership" shall be interpreted in the same manner as it would be in determining whether a person is subject to the provisions of Section 16 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the rules and regulations thereunder.

(2) "Control" means the power to exercise a controlling influence over the management or policies of a company, unless such power is solely the result of an official position with such company.

(3) "Covered Person" means an affiliated person of the Fund, who is not made subject to the Putnam Investments Code of Ethics pursuant to Part I hereof.

(4) "Interested Trustee" means a Trustee of a Fund who is an "interested person" of the Fund within the meaning of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the "Investment Company Act").

(5) "Purchase or sale of a security" includes, among other things, the writing of an option to purchase or sell a security.

(6) "Security" shall have the same meaning as that set forth in Section 2(a)(36) of the Investment Company Act (in effect, all securities) except that it shall not include securities issued by the Government of the United States or an agency thereof, bankers' acceptances, bank certificates of deposit, commercial paper and high-quality short-term debt investments, including repurchase agreements, and shares of registered open-end investment companies, but shall include any security convertible into or exchangeable for a security.

(7) "Security Held or to be Acquired by a Fund" means: (i) any security, as defined herein, which, within the most recent 15 days: (A) is or has been held by the Fund, or (B) is being or has been considered by the Fund or Putnam Investments for purchase by the Fund, and (ii) any option to purchase or sell, and any security convertible into or exchangeable for, a security described in (i) above.

(8) "Unaffiliated Trustee" means a Trustee who is not made subject to the Putnam Investments Code of Ethics pursuant to Part I hereof.

2 

B. Prohibited Actions. No Covered Person, in connection with the purchase or sale, directly or indirectly, by such Covered Person of a security held or to be acquired by the Fund, shall:

(1) Employ any device, scheme or artifice to defraud the Fund;

(2) Make any untrue statement of a material fact to the Fund or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements made to the Fund, in light of the circumstances under which they are made, not misleading;

(3) Engage in any act, practice or course of business that operates or would operate as a fraud or deceit on the Fund; or

(4) Engage in any manipulative practice with respect to the Fund.

C. Reporting.

(1) Every Unaffiliated Trustee of a Fund shall file with the Funds' Compliance Liaison a report containing the information described in Section II-C(2) of this Code with respect to purchases or sales of any security in which such Unaffiliated Trustee has, or by reason of such transaction acquires, any direct or indirect beneficial ownership, if such Trustee, at the time of that transaction, knew or, in the ordinary course of fulfilling his official duties as a Trustee of the Fund, should have known that, during the 15-day period immediately preceding or after the date of the transaction by the Trustee:

(a) such security was or is to be purchased or sold by the Fund or

(b) such security was or is being considered for purchase or sale by the Fund;

provided, however, that an Unaffiliated Trustee shall not be required to make a report with respect to transactions effected for any account over which such person does not have any direct or indirect influence or control.

(2) Every report shall be made not later than 10 days after the end of the calendar quarter in which the transaction to which the report relates was effected, and shall contain the following information:

3 

(a) The date of the transaction, the title, the number of shares, the interest rate and maturity date (if applicable) and the principal amount of each security involved;

(b) The nature of the transaction (i.e., purchase, sale or any other type of acquisition or disposition);

(c) The price at which the transaction was effected;

(d) The name of the broker, dealer or bank with or through whom the transaction was effected; and

(e) the date that the report is submitted by each Unaffiliated Trustee.

(3) Any such report may contain a statement that the report shall not be construed as an admission by the person making such report that he has any direct or indirect beneficial ownership in the security to which the report relates.

(4) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, an Unaffiliated Trustee who is an "interested person" of the Funds shall file the reports required by Rule 17j-1(d)(1) under the Investment Company Act with the Code of Ethics Officer of Putnam Investments. Such reports shall be reviewed by such Officer as provided in Section I-D(1) and any related violations shall be reported by him to the Audit and Compliance Committee as provided in Section I-C(2). The Committee may impose such additional sanctions as it deems appropriate.

D. Review and Reporting.

(1) The Compliance Liaison of the Funds, in consultation with the Code of Ethics Officer of Putnam Investments, shall cause the reported personal securities transactions that he receives pursuant to Section II-C(1) to be compared with completed and contemplated portfolio transactions of the Funds to determine whether any prohibited action listed in Section II-B may have occurred.

(2) Before making any determination that a violation of this Code has occurred, the Compliance Liaison shall give the person involved an opportunity to supply additional information regarding the transaction in question.

E. Sanctions. If the Compliance Liaison determines that a violation of this Code has occurred, he shall so advise the Funds' Audit and Compliance Committee, and provide the Committee with a report of the matter, including any additional information supplied by such person. The Committee may impose such sanctions as it deems appropriate.

4 

III. Miscellaneous

A. Amendments to the Putnam Investments' Code of Ethics. Any amendment to the Putnam Investments' Code of Ethics shall be deemed an amendment to Section 1-A of this Code effective 30 days after written notice of such amendment shall have been received by the Chairman of the Funds, unless the Trustees of the Funds expressly determine that such amendment shall become effective at an earlier or later date or shall not be adopted.

B. Records. The Funds shall maintain records in the manner and to the extent set forth below, which records may be maintained on microfilm under the conditions described in Rule 31a-2(f)(1) under the Investment Company Act and shall be available for examination by representatives of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

(1) A copy of this Code and any other code which is, or at any time within the past five years has been, in effect shall be preserved in an easily accessible place;

(2) A record of any violation of this Code and of any action taken as a result of such violation shall be preserved in an easily accessible place for a period of not less than five years following the end of the fiscal year in which the violation occurs;

(3) A copy of each report made by an officer or Trustee pursuant to this Code shall be preserved for a period of not less than five years from the end of the fiscal year in which it is made, the first two years in an easily accessible place;

(4) A list of all persons who are, or within the past five years have been, required to make reports pursuant to this Code shall be maintained in an easily accessible place; and

(5) To the extent any record required to be kept by this section is also required to be kept by Putnam Investments pursuant to the Putnam Investments' Code of Ethics, Putnam Investments shall maintain such record on behalf of the Funds as well.

C. Confidentiality. All reports of securities transactions and any other information filed with any Fund pursuant to this Code shall be treated as confidential, but are subject to review as provided herein and by personnel of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

D. Interpretation of Provisions. The Trustees may from time to time adopt such interpretations of this Code as they deem appropriate.

5 

E. Delegation by Chairman. The Chairman of the Funds may from time to time delegate any or all of his responsibilities under this Code, either generally or as to specific instances, to such officer or Trustee of the Funds as he may designate.

As revised
September 11, 2009

6