Company: PIM
Filing Date: 2025-12-01
Form Type: N-CSR
Source: 0001133228-25-012988
Chunk: 5

Company: PUTNAM MASTER INTERMEDIATE INCOME TRUST
Filing Date: 2025-12-01
Form: N-CSR
Chunk 5
---
and

principal

value

will

fluctuate,

and

you

may

have

a

gain

or

loss

when

you

sell

your

shares.

Current

performance

may

differ

from

figures

shown.

#### Q.

#### What

#### were

#### the

#### leading

#### contributors

#### to

#### performance?

#### A.
Corporate

credit

exposures,

both

investment-grade

and

high-yield,

were

the

largest

contributors

to

performance.

Spread

tightening

in

late

2024

and

mid-2025

drove

gains,

despite

early

2025

volatility

from

tariff

concerns.

Improving

fiscal

clarity

and

delayed

tariff

implementation

helped

spreads

recover.

Investment-grade

credit

fundamentals

remained

supportive

and

continued

to

offer

relatively

attractive

yield.

Mortgage

credit

exposures

were

also

significant

contributors

to

performance,

mainly

due

to

CMBS

and

RMBS.

CRE

showed

signs

of

optimism,

including

payoff

and

refinancing

rates

that

continued

to

surprise

to

the

upside

amongst

all

property

types,

and

the

potential

for

higher

economic

growth

and

bank

deregulation

under

the

new

administration.

The

RMBS

market

continued

to

benefit

as

U.S.

homeowner

balance

sheets

remained

well

positioned,

supported

by

locked

in

home

price

appreciation,

lower

household

leverage,

strong

underwriting

standards,

and

a

healthy

labor

market.

Prepayment

strategies,

particularly

agency

interest-only

(IO)

securities,

contributed

positively.

Emerging

market

(EM)

exposures

were

additive

late

in

the

period,

as

easing

tariff

concerns

and

resilient

economic

data

led

to

a

rally

in

EM

hard-currency

sovereign

bond

indexes.

#### Q.

#### What