# EDGAR Filing Document

**Accession Number:** 0000822671
**File Stem:** 0001193125-26-197948
**Filing Date:** 2026-5
**Character Count:** 19399
**Document Hash:** 56c43fae793b4819e1430d77a1fc4d6c
**Contains OCR:** False
**Source Format:** 

## Filing Content

## Filing Summary
**0001193125-26-197948.hdr.sgml**: 20260501

**ACCESSION NUMBER**: 0001193125-26-197948

**CONFORMED SUBMISSION TYPE**: 497K

**PUBLIC DOCUMENT COUNT**: 5

**FILED AS OF DATE**: 20260501

**DATE AS OF CHANGE**: 20260430

**EFFECTIVENESS DATE**: 20260501

**FILER**: 

**COMPANY DATA:**
- **COMPANY CONFORMED NAME:** PUTNAM VARIABLE TRUST
- **CENTRAL INDEX KEY:** 0000822671

**ORGANIZATION NAME:**
- **EIN:** 046649095
- **STATE OF INCORPORATION:** MA
- **FISCAL YEAR END:** 1231

**FILING VALUES:**
- **FORM TYPE:** 497K
- **SEC ACT:** 1933 Act
- **SEC FILE NUMBER:** 033-17486
- **FILM NUMBER:** 26927510

**BUSINESS ADDRESS:**
- **STREET 1:** 100 FEDERAL STREET
- **CITY:** BOSTON
- **STATE:** MA
- **ZIP:** 02110
- **BUSINESS PHONE:** 6172921000

**MAIL ADDRESS:**
- **STREET 1:** 100 FEDERAL STREET
- **CITY:** BOSTON
- **STATE:** MA
- **ZIP:** 02110

**FORMER COMPANY:**
- **FORMER CONFORMED NAME:** PUTNAM CAPITAL MANAGER TRUST /MA/
- **DATE OF NAME CHANGE:** 19920703

## Series and Classes Contracts Data

### Putnam VT Global Health Care Fund (Series ID: S000003874)

| Class ID   | Class Name      | Ticker Symbol   |
|:---|:---|:---|
| C000010843 | Class IA Shares |  |
| C000010844 | Class IB Shares |  |

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| | |
|:---|:---|
| ![LOGO](g125538g0414024116865.jpg) | ![LOGO](g125538g0414024118226.jpg) |

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## Putnam

## VT Global Health Care

## Fund

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| | |
|:---|:---|
| **Summary Prospectus** | May 1, 2026 |
| Class IA (-), Class IB (-) | Class IA (-), Class IB (-) |

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Before you invest, you may want to review the fund's prospectus, which contains more information about the fund and its risks. You can find the fund's prospectus, statement of additional information, reports to shareholders and other information about the fund online at www.franklintempleton.com/prospectus. You can also get this information at no cost by calling 1-800-225-1581 or by sending an e-mail request to funddocuments@putnam.com.

The fund's [prospectus and statement of additional information](http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/../../../ix?doc=/Archives/edgar/data/0000822671/000119312526163054/d119285d485bpos.htm), both dated May 1, 2026, as may be supplemented, are all incorporated by reference into this Summary Prospectus.

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**Goal** 

The fund seeks capital appreciation.

**Fees and expenses** 

The following table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy, hold and sell shares of the fund. **You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below.** The fees and expenses information does not reflect insurance-related charges or expenses borne by contract holders indirectly investing in the fund. If it did, expenses would be higher.

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| | | | | |
|:---|:---|:---|:---|:---|
|  **Annual Fund Operating Expenses** <br> **(expenses you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)** | **Annual Fund Operating Expenses** <br> **(expenses you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)** | **Annual Fund Operating Expenses** <br> **(expenses you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)** | **Annual Fund Operating Expenses** <br> **(expenses you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)** | **Annual Fund Operating Expenses** <br> **(expenses you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)** |
| **Share**<br> **class** | **Management<br>fees** | **Distribution<br>and service (12b-1)**<br> **fees** | **Other<br>expenses** | **Total annual fund<br>operating expenses** |
|  Class IA | 0.60% |  | 0.15% | 0.75% |
|  Class IB | 0.60% | 0.25% | 0.15% | 1.00% |

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**Example** 

The following hypothetical example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The example does not reflect insurance-related charges or expenses. If it did, expenses would be higher. It assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem or hold all your shares at the end of those periods. It assumes a 5% return on your investment each year and that the fund's operating expenses remain the same (except that any applicable fee waiver or expense reimbursement is reflected only through its expiration date). Your actual costs may be higher or lower.

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| | | | | |
|:---|:---|:---|:---|:---|
| **Share class** | **1 year** | **3 years** | **5 years** | **10 years** |
|  Class IA | $77 | $240 | $417 | $930 |
|  Class IB | $102 | $318 | $552 | $1224 |

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**Portfolio turnover** 

The fund pays transaction-related costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or the above example, affect fund performance. The fund's turnover rate in the most recent fiscal year was 78%.

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**Investments, risks, and performance** 

**Investments** 

As a non-diversified fund concentrating in the health care industries, the fund invests mainly in common stocks (growth or value stocks or both) of large and midsize companies worldwide that the Investment Manager, as defined below, believes have favorable investment potential. Under normal circumstances, the fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in securities of companies in the health care industries. This policy may be changed only after 60 days' notice to shareholders. Potential investments include companies that manufacture health care supplies or provide health care-related services, and companies in the research, development, production and marketing of pharmaceuticals and biotechnology products. The fund may purchase stocks of companies with stock prices that reflect a value lower than that which that Investment Manager places on the company. The Investment Manager may consider, among other factors, a company's valuation, financial strength, growth potential, competitive position in its industry, projected future earnings, cash flows and dividends when deciding whether to buy or sell investments. The Investment Manager may also consider other factors that it believes will cause the stock price to rise. The fund may also use derivatives, such as certain foreign currency transactions, futures, options, warrants and swap contracts, for both hedging and non-hedging purposes, and may engage in short sales of securities. For example, the fund typically uses foreign currency forward contracts in connection with the fund's investments in foreign securities in order to hedge the fund's currency exposure relative to the fund's benchmark index.

The use of the term "global" in the fund's name is meant to emphasize that the Investment Manager looks for investment opportunities on a worldwide basis and that the fund's investment strategies are not constrained by the countries or regions in which companies are located. Under normal market conditions, the fund intends to invest in at least five different countries and at least 40% of its net assets in securities of foreign companies (or, if less, at least the percentage of net assets that is ten percentage points less than the percentage of the fund's benchmark represented by foreign companies, as determined by the providers of the benchmark).

**Risks** 

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

**Market risk:** The value of investments in the fund's portfolio may fall or fail to rise over extended periods of time for a variety of reasons, including general economic, political or financial market conditions, investor sentiment and market perceptions, government actions, geopolitical events or changes, outbreaks of infectious illnesses or other widespread public health issues, and factors related to a specific issuer, asset class, geography, industry or sector. These and other factors may lead to increased volatility and reduced liquidity in

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the fund's portfolio holdings, may negatively impact the fund's performance, and may exacerbate other risks to which the fund is subject.

**Common stock risk:** Common stock represents an ownership interest in a company. The value of a company's stock may fall or fail to rise as a result of factors directly relating to that company, such as decisions made by its management or lower demand for the company's products or services. A stock's value may also fall because of factors affecting not just the company, but also other companies in the same industry or in a number of different industries, such as increases in production costs. Growth stocks may be more susceptible to earnings disappointments, and value stocks may fail to rebound. These risks are generally greater for small and midsize companies.

**Industry focus risk:** The health care industries may be affected by product obsolescence, dependence on patents and intellectual property rights, expenses and losses from product liability and similar claims, changes in government programs or regulatory requirements (including approval policies for drugs, medical devices or procedures), and pricing pressures (including as a result of increased competition, changes in governmental and private reimbursement rates and payment systems, or other reforms).

**Non-diversified fund risk:** The fund's policy of concentrating on a limited group of industries and the fund's "non-diversified" status, which means the fund may invest a greater percentage of its assets in fewer issuers than a "diversified" fund, can increase the fund's vulnerability to adverse developments affecting a single industry, country or issuer, which may result in greater losses and volatility for the fund.

**Foreign investments risk:** The value of international investments traded in foreign currencies may be adversely impacted by fluctuations in exchange rates. International investments, particularly investments in emerging markets, may carry risks associated with potentially less stable economies or governments (such as the risk of seizure by a foreign government, the imposition of economic sanctions or currency or other restrictions, or high levels of inflation), and may be or become illiquid.

**Derivatives risk:** The fund's use of derivatives may increase the risks of investing in the fund by increasing investment exposure (which may be considered leverage) or, in the case of many over-the-counter instruments, because of the potential inability to terminate or sell derivative positions and the potential failure of the other party to the instrument to meet its obligations. The risk of a party failing to meet its obligations may increase if the fund has significant exposure to that counterparty. The value of derivatives may move in unexpected ways due to unanticipated market movements, the use of leverage, imperfect correlation between the derivative instrument and the reference asset, or other factors, especially in unusual market conditions, and volatility in the value of derivatives could adversely impact the fund's returns, obligations and exposures. Derivatives are also subject to other risks, including liquidity risk (e.g., liquidity demands arising from the requirement to make payments to a derivative counterparty), operational risk (e.g., settlement issues

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or system failures) and legal risk (e.g., insufficient legal documentation or contract enforceability issues).

**Short sales risk:** The fund may engage in short sales, which are transactions in which the fund sells a security it does not own to a third party by borrowing the security in anticipation of purchasing the same security at the market price on a later date to close out the short position. If the price of the security sold short increases between the time of the short sale and the time the fund replaces the borrowed security, the fund will incur a loss that is theoretically unlimited. The fund's investment strategy of reinvesting proceeds received from selling securities short may effectively create leverage, which can amplify the effects of market volatility on the fund's share price and make the fund's returns more volatile. The use of leverage may also cause the fund to liquidate portfolio positions when it would not be advantageous to do so in order to satisfy its obligations.

**Large shareholder transaction risk:** The fund is subject to the risk that shareholders will purchase or redeem large quantities of shares of the fund. The fund may be an investment option for mutual funds that are managed by the Investment Manager and its affiliates as "funds of funds." Additionally, other investors from time to time may make substantial investments in the fund. Such shareholders may at times be considered to control the fund. In addition, a large number of shareholders may collectively purchase or redeem fund shares in large amounts rapidly or unexpectedly. Large shareholder transactions may adversely affect the fund's liquidity and net assets. These redemptions may also adversely affect the fund's performance if the fund is forced to sell securities, which may also increase the fund's brokerage costs.

**Management and operational risk:** There is no guarantee that the investment techniques, analyses, or judgments that the Investment Manager applies in making investment decisions for the fund will produce the intended outcome or that the investments selected for the fund will perform as well as other securities that were not selected for the fund. The Investment Manager, or the fund's other service providers, may experience disruptions or operating errors that could negatively impact the fund.

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

**Performance** 

The accompanying bar chart and table provide some indication of the risks of investing in the fund. The bar chart shows changes in the fund's performance from year to year for Class IA shares. The table shows the average annual total returns of each class of the fund that has been in operation for at least one full calendar year and also compares the fund's performance with the average annual total returns of a broad measure of market performance and an additional index with characteristics relevant to the fund. Performance for classes other than those shown may vary from the performance shown to the

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extent the expenses for those classes differ. The fund makes updated performance information, including its current net asset value per share, available at www.franklintempleton.com.

*The fund's past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the fund will perform in the future.* 

Insurance-related charges or expenses are not reflected in the performance information below, and if those charges were included, returns would be less than those shown.

Annual total returns for class IA shares

![LOGO](g125538g0414024119323.jpg)

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| | | |
|:---|:---|:---|
|  Best Quarter: | Q4 2019 | 17.58% |
|  Worst Quarter: | Q4 2024 | -12.23% |

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**Average annual total returns** 

(for periods ended 12/31/25)

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| | | | |
|:---|:---|:---|:---|
| **Share class** | **1 year** | **5 years** | **10 years** |
| Class IA | 15.34% | 7.99% | 8.63% |
| Class IB | 15.05% | 7.71% | 8.36% |
| MSCI All Country World Index-NR (index reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes but are net of dividend tax withholding) | 22.34% | 11.19% | 11.72% |
| MSCI World Health Care Index-NR (index reflects no deduction for fees, expenses or taxes but are net of dividend tax withholding) | 14.83% | 6.43% | 8.14% |

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Important data provider notices and terms are available at <u>www.franklintempletondatasources.com</u>. Such information is subject to change.

**Your fund's management** 

**Investment Manager** 

Putnam Investment Management, LLC ("Putnam Management" or the "Investment Manager")

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**Sub-advisors** 

Franklin Advisers, Inc. ("Franklin Advisers")

Franklin Templeton Investment Management Limited ("FTIML")

The Putnam Advisory Company, LLC ("PAC")

**Portfolio manager** 

**Michael Maguire, CFA** 

Portfolio Manager of Putnam Management and portfolio manager of the fund since 2016.

**Purchase and sale of fund shares** 

Fund shares are offered to separate accounts of various insurance companies and to funds offered exclusively to separate accounts of insurance companies that have an agreement with the fund's distributor, Franklin Distributors, LLC (the "Distributor"). The fund requires no minimum investment, but insurers may require minimum investments from those purchasing variable insurance products for which the fund is an underlying investment option. Insurers may purchase or sell shares on behalf of separate accounts by submitting an order to the Distributor any day the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") is open. Some restrictions may apply.

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**Tax information** 

Generally, owners of variable insurance contracts are not taxed currently on income or gains realized with respect to such contracts. However, some distributions from such contracts may be taxable at ordinary income tax rates and distributions to contract owners younger than 59 <sup>1</sup>⁄<sub>2</sub> may be subject to a 10% penalty tax. For more information, please see the prospectus (or other offering document) for your variable insurance contract.

**Payments to insurance companies** 

The fund is offered as an underlying investment option for variable insurance contracts. The fund and its related companies may make payments to the sponsoring insurance company (or its affiliates) and dealers for distribution and/or other services. These payments may create an incentive for the insurance company to include the fund, rather than another investment, as an option in its products and may create a conflict of interest for dealers in recommending the fund over another investment. The prospectus (or other offering document) for your variable insurance contract may contain additional information about these payments.

**Information about the Summary Prospectus, Prospectus, and SAI** 

The summary prospectus, prospectus, and SAI for a fund provide information concerning the fund. The summary prospectus, prospectus, and SAI are updated at least annually and any information provided in a summary prospectus, prospectus, or SAI can be changed without a shareholder vote unless specifically stated otherwise. The summary prospectus, prospectus, and the SAI are not contracts between the fund and its shareholders and do not give rise to any contractual rights or obligations or any shareholder rights other than any rights conferred explicitly by federal or state securities laws that may not be waived.

**Additional information, including current performance, is available at <u>www.franklintempleton.com</u>, by calling 1-800-225-1581, or by e-mailing Putnam at <u>funddocuments@putnam.com</u>.** 

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![LOGO](g125538g98n39.jpg)