Company: PIM
Filing Date: 2025-12-01
Form Type: N-CSR
Source: 0001133228-25-012988
Chunk: 6

Company: PUTNAM MASTER INTERMEDIATE INCOME TRUST
Filing Date: 2025-12-01
Form: N-CSR
Chunk 6
---
#### were

#### the

#### leading

#### detractors

#### from

#### performance?

#### A.
Interest

rate

and

yield

curve

strategies

detracted

from

performance,

particularly

in

the

fourth

quarter

of

2024.

The

Fed

delivered

a

well

forecasted

25-basis

point

(bp)

cut

at

its

December

2024

meeting.

A

positive

tone

accompanied

the

meeting

with

a

very

significant

change

in

the

Fed’s

stance:

Fed

Chair

Jerome

Powell

signaled

that

further

rate

cuts

will

likely

be

few

and

far

between.

He

noted

uncertainty

on

inflation

is

now

higher

due

both

to

policy

uncertainty

and

to

the

recent

higher-than-expected

inflation

readings.

And

while

insisting

that

monetary

policy

is

still

“meaningfully

restrictive,”

he

also

said

it

is

now

closer

to

neutral.

This

negative

performance

was

partially

offset

in

2025,

as

the

Fund’s

positive

structural

duration

positioning

benefited

from

declining

treasury

yields.

Currency

risk

strategies

modestly

detracted

from

Fund

performance

over

the

period.

This

strategy

employs

a

hedge

of

safe-haven

currencies

that

typically

do

well

in

risk-

averse

investing

environments.

We

held

a

long

position

to

the

U.S.

dollar,

Japanese

yen,

and

Swiss

franc

versus

the

remaining

G10

currencies

(the

top

10

most

traded

currencies

in

the

world).

The

U.S.

dollar

has

weakened

significantly

#### Top

#### 10

#### Holdings
9/30/25

#### Company

#### Industry,

#### Country
#### %

#### of

#### Total

#### Net

#### Assets

#### a

#### a
Uniform

Mortgage-Backed

Securities

9.