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: (811–07513)

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

Address of principal executive offices: 100 Federal Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02110

Name and address of agent for service: Robert T. Burns, Vice President
100 Federal Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02110

Copy to:         Bryan Chegwidden, Esq.
Ropes & Gray LLP
1211 Avenue of the Americas
New York, New York 10036

Registrant's telephone number, including area code: (617) 292–1000

Date of fiscal year end: July 31, 2019

Date of reporting period: August 1, 2018 — July 31, 2019

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:

Putnam
Short Term
Investment Fund

Annual report
7 | 31 | 19

Message from the Trustees	1
Interview with your fund’s portfolio managers	3
Your fund’s performance	7
Your fund’s expenses	9
Consider these risks before investing	11
Terms and definitions	12
Other information for shareholders	13
Important notice regarding Putnam’s privacy policy	14
Trustee approval of management contract	15
Audited financial statements	19
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm	20
Federal tax information	38
About the Trustees	39
Officers	41

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Delivery of paper fund reports

In accordance with regulations adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission, beginning on January 1, 2021, reports like this one will no longer be sent by mail unless you specifically request it. Instead, they will be on Putnam’s website, and you will be notified by mail whenever a new one is available, and provided with a website link to access the report.

If you wish to stop receiving paper reports sooner, or if you wish to continue to receive paper reports free of charge after January 1, 2021, please see the back cover or insert for instructions. If you invest through a bank or broker, your choice will apply to all funds held in your account. If you invest directly with Putnam, your choice will apply to all Putnam funds in your account.

If you already receive these reports electronically, no action is required.

Message from the Trustees

September 11, 2019

Dear Fellow Shareholder:

If there is any lesson to be learned from constantly changing financial markets, it is the importance of positioning your investment portfolio for your long-term goals. We believe that one strategy is to diversify across different asset classes and investment approaches.

We also believe your mutual fund investment offers a number of advantages, including constant monitoring by experienced investment professionals who maintain a long-term perspective. Putnam’s portfolio managers and analysts take a research-intensive approach that includes risk management strategies designed to serve you through changing conditions.

Another key strategy, in our view, is seeking the counsel of a financial advisor. For over 80 years, Putnam has recognized the importance of professional investment advice. Your financial advisor can help in many ways, including defining and planning for goals such as retirement, evaluating the level of risk appropriate for you, and reviewing your investments on a regular basis and making adjustments as necessary.

As always, your fund’s Board of Trustees remains committed to protecting the interests of Putnam shareholders like you, and we thank you for investing with Putnam.

Current performance may be lower or higher than the quoted past performance, which cannot guarantee future results. Share price, principal value, and return will fluctuate, and you may have a gain or a loss when you sell your shares. Performance of class P shares assumes reinvestment of distributions and does not account for taxes. Class P shares do not bear an initial sales charge. For a portion of the periods, the fund had expense limitations, without which returns would have been lower. See below and pages 7–8 for additional performance information. To obtain the most recent month-end performance, please call Putnam at 1-800-225-1581.

This comparison shows your fund’s performance in the context of broad market indexes for the 12 months ended 7/31/19. See above and pages 7–8 for additional fund performance information. Index descriptions can be found on page 12.

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How would you describe the market environment for investing during the 12 - month reporting period ended July 31, 2019?

JOANNE The U.S. economic backdrop continued to be relatively stable during the period, supported by a strong job market, a stable housing market, and low inflation. However, investors saw heightened volatility due to global trade tensions, geopolitical developments, and decelerating global growth. With so many crosswinds, the Federal Reserve remained dependent on incoming data as it charted its course for monetary policy.

The Fed raised its benchmark short-term interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point in September and December 2018 as expected. However, with global growth slowing and investor and business confidence waning, the Fed’s comments became more dovish with regard to future rate hikes at the December 2018 meeting. Fed Chair Jerome Powell mentioned that there were a number of “cross-currents emerging” that warranted a reduction in the number of interest rate hikes in 2019 from three to two. The change in the tone of the

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Allocations are shown as a percentage of the fund’s net assets as of 7/31/19. Cash and net other assets, if any, represent the market value weights of cash and other unclassified assets in the portfolio. Summary information may differ from the portfolio schedule included in the financial statements due to the inclusion of any interest accruals, the exclusion of as-of trades, if any, the use of different classifications of securities for presentation purposes, and rounding. Holdings and allocations may vary over time.

This chart shows how the fund’s top weightings have changed over the past six months. Allocations are shown as a percentage of the fund’s net assets. Current period summary information may differ from the portfolio schedule included in the financial statements due to the inclusion of any interest accruals, the exclusion of as-of trades, if any, the use of different classifications of securities for presentation purposes, and rounding. Holdings and allocations may vary over time.

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Fed’s messaging sparked a strong rally in interest-rate-sensitive and higher-risk assets.

At the Fed’s January 2019 meeting, policy makers shifted their stance from raising rates to possibly pausing for an extended period. Some further optimism crept into the markets in February 2019 as U.S.–China trade negotiations appeared to be proceeding. However, at its March 2019 meeting, the Fed acknowledged that U.S. economic growth had slowed from its solid pace in the fourth quarter of 2018 and then surprised investors by reducing the projected interest rate hikes in 2019 to zero. In addition, the central bank said that it would end the steady reduction of its balance sheet in September 2019 rather than December 2019 and begin in May 2019 to taper the amount it allows to roll off each month.

At the Fed’s June 2019 meeting, policymakers removed “patience” from their policy statement and acknowledged that “uncertainties” have increased in the economic outlook. With economic data softening, Powell indicated that the next rate move would likely be a cut. As the period came to a close on July 31, the Fed reduced its benchmark rate by a quarter percentage point and terminated its quantitative easing program two months early. Powell qualified the interest-rate reduction as a “mid-cycle adjustment” to help sustain the expansion and added that it didn’t represent the “beginning of a lengthy cutting cycle.” Powell further noted that “the outlook for the U.S. economy remains favorable, and this action is designed to support that outlook.”

With the shift in Fed policy, market expectations for further rate cuts increased. Consequently, yields on longer-maturity money market securities fell more than their shorter-maturity counterparts, resulting in the London Interbank Offered Rate [LIBOR] curve flattening during the period. The one-month LIBOR fell from a high of 2.52% in December 2018 to 2.22% at period-end on July 31, 2019, while the one-year LIBOR dropped from a high of 3.14% in November 2018 to 2.18% at the close of the period. The Fed’s Secured Overnight Financing Rate [SOFR] remained relatively flat after the Fed hike in December, averaging 2.31% during the period. Since this index is based off rates in the overnight Treasury repurchase agreements [repo] market.

How did the fund perform during the reporting period?

MIKE During the 12-month reporting period ended July 31, 2019, the fund outperformed its benchmark index, the ICE BofAML U.S. Treasury Bill Index.

What was your investment strategy during the period?

JOANNE During the period, we adjusted our strategy as the Fed began to shift its policy stance from raising interest rates to eventually becoming more accommodative. As the Fed moved to pause its rate tightening, we looked for opportunities to lock in longer-term fixed-rate securities with six- to nine-month maturities when they appeared attractive, in our view. We continued investing in floating-rate securities with attractive spreads above LIBOR. We also maintained the fund’s higher level of liquidity in overnight repos. The fund ended the reporting period with a slightly higher weighted average maturity [WAM] of 24.7 days compared with 22.5 days at the end of the prior period on July 31, 2018. [WAM represents the average life of all the money market securities held in the portfolio.]

What holdings exemplified your strategy?

MIKE We continued to enter into repos with high-quality counterparties collateralized by Treasuries, agency mortgage-backed securities,

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or investment-grade corporate bonds and notes. We also invested in commercial paper, certificate of deposits, Treasury notes, and floating-rate notes issued by large, and in our opinion, cred-itworthy financial institutions, such as US Bank and Bank of America. We believe U.S. banks generally have strong credit profiles. We expect the macroeconomic environment to remain supportive of U.S. bank credit fundamentals. We expect healthy earnings supported by good underlying asset quality performance to continue for the foreseeable future. Additionally, we believe capital and leverage measures should also continue to be strong.

The fund also invested in corporate commercial paper as well as asset-backed commercial paper [ABCP] programs like Chariot Funding, LLC and Old Line Funding, LLC. We continue to favor ABCP issuers that are backed by what we believe are diverse, high-quality financial assets, such as trade receivables and consumer loans.

How are you approaching the coming months?

JOANNE Following the Fed’s July 2019 meeting and decision to cut interest rates, Chair Powell stated that the rate cut “is intended to insure against downside risks from weak global growth and trade policy uncertainty; to help offset the effect these factors are currently having on the economy; and to promote a faster return of inflation to our symmetric 2 percent objective.”

As the Fed monitors the myriad factors that will influence its policy decisions in the months ahead, we will look for opportunities to position the fund for additional income where appropriate while maintaining liquidity in the portfolio.

Thank you, Joanne and Mike, for your time and insights today.

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. Current and future portfolio holdings are subject to risk.

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Your fund’s performance

This section shows your fund’s performance and distribution information for periods ended July 31, 2019, the end of its most recent fiscal year. In accordance with regulatory requirements for mutual funds, we also include performance information as of the most recent calendar quarter-end and expense information taken from the fund’s current prospectus. Performance should always be considered in light of a fund’s investment strategy. 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. For the most recent month-end performance, please call Putnam at 1-800-225-1581. Class P shares are only available to other Putnam funds and other accounts managed by Putnam Management or its affiliates. See the Terms and definitions section of this report for a definition of the share class offered by your fund.

Fund performance Total return for periods ended 7/31/19
		Annual		Annual		Annual
	Life of fund	average	5 years	average	3 years	average	1 year
Class P (2/19/13)
Net asset value	5.36%	0.81%	5.26%	1.03%	4.84%	1.59%	2.49%

Current performance may be lower or higher than the quoted past performance, which cannot guarantee future results. Class P shares do not carry an initial sales charge or a contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC).

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

Comparative index returns For periods ended 7/31/19
		Annual		Annual		Annual
	Life of fund	average	5 years	average	3 years	average	1 year
ICE BofAML U.S.
Treasury Bill Index	4.85%	0.74%	4.72%	0.93%	4.37%	1.43%	2.41%
Lipper
Institutional
Money Market	4.43	0.67	4.40	0.86	4.20	1.38	2.26
Funds category
average*

Index and Lipper results should be compared with fund performance at net asset value.

^* Over the 1-year, 3-year, 5-year, and life-of-fund periods ended 7/31/19, there were 120, 115, 107, and 104 funds, respectively, in this Lipper category.

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Past performance does not indicate future results.

Fund distribution information For the 12-month period ended 7/31/19
Distributions	Class P
Number	12
Income	$0.024596
Capital gains	—
Total	$0.024596
Current rate (end of period)	Class P
Current dividend rate1	2.45%
Current 30-day SEC yield (with expense limitation)2,3	2.35
Current 30-day SEC yield (without expense limitation)3	2.09

The classification of distributions, if any, is an estimate. Final distribution information will appear on your year-end tax forms.

¹ Most recent distribution, including any return of capital and excluding capital gains, annualized and divided by share price at end of period.

² For a portion of the period, the fund had an expense limitation, without which the yield would have been lower.

³ Based only on investment income.

Fund performance as of most recent calendar quarter Total return for periods ended 6/30/19
		Annual		Annual		Annual
	Life of fund	average	5 years	average	3 years	average	1 year
Class P (2/19/13)
Net asset value	5.14%	0.79%	5.04%	0.99%	4.66%	1.53%	2.45%

See the discussion following the fund performance table on page 7 for information about the calculation of fund performance.

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Your fund’s expenses

As a mutual fund investor, you pay ongoing expenses, such as management fees, distribution fees (12b-1 fees), and other expenses. In the most recent six-month period, your fund’s expenses were limited; had expenses not been limited, they would have been higher. 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, including sales charges (loads) and redemption fees, which are not shown in this section and would have resulted in higher total expenses. For more information, see your fund’s prospectus or talk to your financial representative.

Expense ratios
	Class P
Net expenses for the fiscal year ended 7/31/18*	0.04%
Total annual operating expenses for the fiscal year ended 7/31/18	0.29%
Annualized expense ratio for the six-month period ended 7/31/19†	0.03%

Fiscal-year expense information in this table is taken from the most recent prospectus, is subject to change, and may differ from that shown for the annualized expense ratio and in the financial highlights of this report.

Expenses are shown as a percentage of average net assets.

^* Reflects Putnam Management’s contractual obligation to limit certain fund expenses through 11/30/19.

^† Expense ratio is for the fund’s most recent fiscal half year. As a result of this, the ratio may differ from the expense ratio based on one-year data in the financial highlights.

Expenses per $1,000

The following table shows the expenses you would have paid on a $1,000 investment in the fund from 2/1/19 to 7/31/19. It also shows how much a $1,000 investment would be worth at the close of the period, assuming actual returns and expenses.

	Class P
Expenses paid per $1,000 *†	$0.15
Ending value (after expenses)	$1,012.80

^* Expenses are calculated using the fund’s annualized expense ratio, which represents the ongoing expenses as a percentage of average net assets for the six months ended 7/31/19.

^† 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.

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Estimate the expenses you paid

To estimate the ongoing expenses you paid for the six months ended 7/31/19, use the following calculation method. To find the value of your investment on 2/1/19, call Putnam at 1-800-225-1581.

Compare expenses using the SEC’s method

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has established guidelines to help investors assess fund expenses. Per these guidelines, the following table shows 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 mutual fund shareholder reports 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.

	Class P
Expenses paid per $1,000 *†	$0.15
Ending value (after expenses)	$1,024.65

^* Expenses are calculated using the fund’s annualized expense ratio, which represents the ongoing expenses as a percentage of average net assets for the six months ended 7/31/19.

^† Expenses are calculated by multiplying the expense ratio by the average account value for the six-month period; then multiplying the result by the number of days in the six-month period; and then dividing that result by the number of days in the year.

10 Short Term Investment Fund 

Consider these risks before investing

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, and factors related to a specific issuer, geography, industry or sector. These and other factors may lead to increased volatility and reduced liquidity in the fund’s portfolio holdings. Funds that invest in government securities are not guaranteed. Mortgage-backed investments, unlike traditional debt investments, are also subject to prepayment risk, which means that they may increase in value less than other bonds when interest rates decline and decline in value more than other bonds when interest rates rise. We may have to invest the proceeds from prepaid investments, including mortgage backed investments, in other investments with less attractive terms and yields. Bond investments are subject to interest-rate risk (the risk of bond prices falling if interest rates rise) and credit risk (the risk of an issuer defaulting on interest or principal payments). Interest-rate risk is generally greater for longer-term bonds, and credit risk is generally greater for below-investment-grade bonds. Credit risk is generally greater for debt not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, and interest-rate risk is generally greater for longer-term debt. Inflation’s effects may erode your investment’s value over time. Risks associated with derivatives include increased investment exposure (which may be considered leverage) and, in the case of over-the-counter instruments, the potential inability to terminate or sell derivatives positions and the potential failure of the other party to the instrument to meet its obligations. Unlike bonds, funds that invest in bonds have fees and expenses. You can lose money by investing in the fund.

Short Term Investment Fund 11 

Terms and definitions

Important terms

Total return shows how the value of the fund’s shares changed over time, assuming you held the shares through the entire period and reinvested all distributions in the fund.

Net asset value (NAV) is the price, or value, of one share of a mutual fund, without a sales charge. Net asset values fluctuate with market conditions, and are calculated by dividing the net assets of the class of shares by the number of outstanding shares in the class.

Current rate is the annual rate of return earned from dividends or interest of an investment. Current rate is expressed as a percentage of the price of a security, fund share, or principal investment.

Share class

Class P shares require no minimum initial investment amount and no minimum subsequent investment amount. There is no initial or deferred sales charge. They are only available to other Putnam funds and other accounts managed by Putnam Management or its affiliates, and no management fee is paid by such investors.

Comparative indexes

Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index is an unmanaged index of U.S. investment-grade fixed-income securities.

ICE BofAML (Intercontinental Exchange Bank of America Merrill Lynch) U.S. 3-Month Treasury Bill Index is an unmanaged index that seeks to measure the performance of U.S. Treasury bills available in the marketplace.

ICE BofAML U.S. Treasury Bill Index is an unmanaged index that tracks the performance of U.S.-dollar-denominated U.S. Treasury bills, which represent obligations of the U.S. government having a maturity of one year or less and is intended as an approximate measure of the rate of inflation.

S&P 500 Index is an unmanaged index of common stock performance.

Indexes assume reinvestment of all distributions and do not account for fees. Securities and performance of a fund and an index will differ. You cannot invest directly in an index.

ICE Data Indices, LLC (“ICE BofAML”), used with permission. ICE BofAML permits use of the ICE BofAML indices and related data on an “as is” basis; makes no warranties regarding same; does not guarantee the suitability, quality, accuracy, timeliness, and/or completeness of the ICE BofAML indices or any data included in, related to, or derived therefrom; assumes no liability in connection with the use of the foregoing; and does not sponsor, endorse, or recommend Putnam Investments, or any of its products or services.

Lipper is a third-party industry-ranking entity that ranks mutual funds. Its rankings do not reflect sales charges. Lipper rankings are based on total return at net asset value relative to other funds that have similar current investment styles or objectives as determined by Lipper. Lipper may change a fund’s category assignment at its discretion. Lipper category averages reflect performance trends for funds within a category.

12 Short Term Investment Fund 

Other information for shareholders

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, 2019, are available in the Individual Investors section of putnam.com and on the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) 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

The 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-PORT within 60 days of the end of such fiscal quarter. Shareholders may obtain the fund’s Form N-PORT on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.

Prior to its use of Form N-PORT, the fund filed its complete schedule of its portfolio holdings with the SEC on Form N-Q, which is available online at www.sec.gov.

Trustee and employee fund ownership

Putnam employees and members of the Board of Trustees place their faith, confidence, and, most importantly, investment dollars in Putnam mutual funds. As of July 31, 2019, Putnam employees had approximately $478,000,000 and the Trustees had approximately $72,000,000 invested in Putnam mutual funds. These amounts include investments by the Trustees’ and employees’ immediate family members as well as investments through retirement and deferred compensation plans.

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Important notice regarding Putnam’s privacy policy

In order to conduct business with our shareholders, we must obtain certain personal information such as account holders’ names, addresses, Social Security numbers, and dates of birth. Using this information, we are able to maintain accurate records of accounts and transactions.

It is our policy to protect the confidentiality of our shareholder information, whether or not a shareholder currently owns shares of our funds. In particular, it is our policy not to sell information about you or your accounts to outside marketing firms. We have safeguards in place designed to prevent unauthorized access to our computer systems and procedures to protect personal information from unauthorized use.

Under certain circumstances, we must share account information with outside vendors who provide services to us, such as mailings and proxy solicitations. In these cases, the service providers enter into confidentiality agreements with us, and we provide only the information necessary to process transactions and perform other services related to your account. Finally, it is our policy to share account information with your financial representative, if you’ve listed one on your Putnam account.

14 Short Term Investment Fund 

Trustee approval of management contract

General conclusions

The Board of Trustees of The Putnam Funds oversees the management of each fund and, as required by law, determines annually whether to approve the continuance of your fund’s management contract with Putnam Investment Management, LLC (“Putnam Management”) and the sub-management contract with respect to your fund between Putnam Management and its affiliate, Putnam Investments Limited (“PIL”). The Board, with the assistance of its Contract Committee, requests and evaluates all information it deems reasonably necessary under the circumstances in connection with its annual contract review. The Contract Committee consists solely of Trustees who are not “interested persons” (as this term is defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”)) of The Putnam Funds (“Independent Trustees”).

At the outset of the review process, members of the Board’s independent staff and independent legal counsel discussed with representatives of Putnam Management the annual contract review materials furnished to the Contract Committee during the course of the previous year’s review, identifying possible changes in these materials that might be necessary or desirable for the coming year. Following these discussions and in consultation with the Contract Committee, the Independent Trustees’ independent legal counsel requested that Putnam Management and its affiliates furnish specified information, together with any additional information that Putnam Management considered relevant, to the Contract Committee. Over the course of several months ending in June 2019, the Contract Committee met on a number of occasions with representatives of Putnam Management, and separately in executive session, to consider the information that Putnam Management provided. Throughout this process, the Contract Committee was assisted by the members of the Board’s independent staff and by independent legal counsel for The Putnam Funds and the Independent Trustees.

In May 2019, the Contract Committee met in executive session to discuss and consider its recommendations with respect to the continuance of the contracts. At the Trustees’ June 2019 meeting, the Contract Committee met in executive session with the other Independent Trustees to review a summary of the key financial, performance and other data that the Contract Committee considered in the course of its review. The Contract Committee then presented its written report, which summarized the key factors that the Committee had considered and set forth its recommendations. The Contract Committee recommended, and the Independent Trustees approved, the continuance of your fund’s management and sub-management contracts, effective July 1, 2019. (Because PIL is an affiliate of Putnam Management and Putnam Management remains fully responsible for all services provided by PIL, the Trustees have not attempted to evaluate PIL as a separate entity, and all subsequent references to Putnam Management below should be deemed to include reference to PIL as necessary or appropriate in the context.)

The Independent Trustees’ approval was based on the following conclusions:

• That the fee schedule in effect for your fund represented reasonable compensation in light of the nature and quality of the services being provided to the fund, the fees paid by competitive funds, the costs incurred by Putnam Management in providing services to the fund, and the application of certain reductions and waivers noted below; and

• That the fee schedule in effect for your fund represented an appropriate sharing between fund shareholders and Putnam Management of such economies of scale as may exist in the management of the fund at current asset levels.

These conclusions were based on a comprehensive consideration of all information provided to the Trustees and were not the result of any single factor. Some of the factors that figured particularly in the Trustees’ deliberations and how the Trustees considered these factors are described below, although individual Trustees may have evaluated the information presented differently, giving different weights to various factors. It is also important to recognize that the management arrangements for your fund and the other Putnam funds are the result of many years of review and discussion between the Independent Trustees and Putnam Management, that some aspects of the arrangements may receive greater scrutiny in some years than others, and that the Trustees’ conclusions may be based, in part, on their consideration of fee arrangements in previous

Short Term Investment Fund 15 

years. For example, with some minor exceptions, the funds’ current fee arrangements under the management contracts were first implemented at the beginning of 2010 following extensive review by the Contract Committee and discussions with representatives of Putnam Management, as well as approval by shareholders.

Management fee schedules and total expenses

The Trustees reviewed the management fee schedules in effect for all Putnam funds, including fee levels and breakpoints. The Trustees also reviewed the total expenses of each Putnam fund, recognizing that in most cases management fees represented the major, but not the sole, determinant of total costs to fund shareholders. (Two funds have implemented so-called “all-in” management fees covering substantially all routine fund operating costs.)

In reviewing fees and expenses, the Trustees generally focus their attention on material changes in circumstances — for example, changes in assets under management, changes in a fund’s investment strategy, changes in Putnam Management’s operating costs or profitability, or changes in competitive practices in the mutual fund industry — that suggest that consideration of fee changes might be warranted. The Trustees concluded that the circumstances did not indicate that changes to the management fee structure for your fund would be appropriate at this time.

As in the past, the Trustees also focused on the competitiveness of each fund’s total expense ratio. In order to support the effort to have fund expenses meet competitive standards, the Trustees and Putnam Management and the funds’ investor servicing agent, Putnam Investor Services, Inc. (“PSERV”), have implemented two expense limitations that were in effect during your fund’s fiscal year ending in 2018. One expense limitation was a contractual expense limitation applicable to all open-end funds of 25 basis points on investor servicing fees and expenses. This expense limitation attempts to maintain competitive expense levels for the funds. Most funds, including your fund, had sufficiently low expenses that this expense limitation was not operative during their fiscal years ending in 2018. PSERV has agreed to maintain this expense limitation until at least November 30, 2020. In addition, Putnam Management has agreed to waive your fund’s 0.25% management fee until at least November 30, 2020. The support of Putnam Management and PSERV for these arrangements was an important factor in the Trustees’ decision to approve the continuance of your fund’s management and sub-management contracts.

The Trustees reviewed comparative fee and expense information for a custom group of competitive funds selected by Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (“Broadridge”). This comparative information included your fund’s percentile ranking for effective management fees and total expenses (excluding any applicable 12b-1 fees), which provides a general indication of your fund’s relative standing. In the custom peer group, your fund ranked in the fourth quintile in effective management fees (determined for your fund and the other funds in the custom peer group based on fund asset size and the applicable contractual management fee schedule) and in the first quintile in total expenses (excluding any applicable 12b-1 fees) as of December 31, 2018. The first quintile represents the least expensive funds and the fifth quintile the most expensive funds. The fee and expense data reported by Broadridge as of December 31, 2018 reflected the most recent fiscal year-end data available in Broadridge’s database at that time.

In connection with their review of fund management fees and total expenses, the Trustees also reviewed the costs of the services provided and the profits realized by Putnam Management and its affiliates from their contractual relationships with the funds. This information included trends in revenues, expenses and profitability of Putnam Management and its affiliates relating to the investment management, investor servicing and distribution services provided to the funds. In this regard, the Trustees also reviewed an analysis of Putnam Management’s revenues, expenses and profitability, allocated on a fund-by-fund basis, with respect to the funds’ management, distribution, and investor servicing contracts. For each fund, the analysis presented information about revenues, expenses and profitability for each of the agreements separately and for the agreements taken together on a combined basis. The Trustees concluded that, at current asset levels, the fee schedules in place represented reasonable compensation for the services being provided and represented an appropriate sharing between fund shareholders and Putnam Management of such economies of scale as may exist in the management of the Putnam funds at that time.

16 Short Term Investment Fund 

The information examined by the Trustees in connection with their annual contract review for the Putnam funds included information regarding fees charged by Putnam Management and its affiliates to institutional clients, including defined benefit pension and profit-sharing plans and sub-advised mutual funds. This information included, in cases where an institutional product’s investment strategy corresponds with a fund’s strategy, comparisons of those fees with fees charged to the Putnam funds, as well as an assessment of the differences in the services provided to these different types of clients as compared to the services provided to the Putnam funds. The Trustees observed that the differences in fee rates between these clients and the Putnam funds are by no means uniform when examined by individual asset sectors, suggesting that differences in the pricing of investment management services to these types of clients may reflect, among other things, historical competitive forces operating in separate markets. The Trustees considered the fact that in many cases fee rates across different asset classes are higher on average for mutual funds than for institutional clients, and the Trustees also considered the differences between the services that Putnam Management provides to the Putnam funds and those that it provides to its other clients. The Trustees did not rely on these comparisons to any significant extent in concluding that the management fees paid by your fund are reasonable.

Investment performance

The quality of the investment process provided by Putnam Management represented a major factor in the Trustees’ evaluation of the quality of services provided by Putnam Management under your fund’s management contract. The Trustees were assisted in their review of the Putnam funds’ investment process and performance by the work of the investment oversight committees of the Trustees and the full Board of Trustees, which meet on a regular basis with the funds’ portfolio teams and with the Chief Investment Officers and other senior members of Putnam Management’s Investment Division throughout the year. The Trustees concluded that Putnam Management generally provides a high-quality investment process — based on the experience and skills of the individuals assigned to the management of fund portfolios, the resources made available to them, and in general Putnam Management’s ability to attract and retain high-quality personnel — but also recognized that this does not guarantee favorable investment results for every fund in every time period.

The Trustees considered that, after a strong start to the year, 2018 was a mixed year for The Putnam Funds, with the Putnam open-end Funds’ performance, on an asset-weighted basis, ranking in the 54th percentile of their Lipper Inc. (“Lipper”) peers (excluding those Putnam funds that are evaluated based on their total returns versus selected investment benchmarks). The Trustees also noted that The Putnam Funds were ranked by the Barron’s/Lipper Fund Families survey as the 41st-best performing mutual fund complex out of 57 complexes for the one-year period ended December 31, 2018 and the 29th-best performing mutual fund complex out of 55 complexes for the five-year period ended December 31, 2018. The Trustees observed that The Putnam Funds’ performance over the longer-term continued to be strong, ranking 6th out of 49 mutual fund complexes in the survey over the ten-year period ended 2018. In addition, the Trustees noted that 22 of the funds were four- or five-star rated by Morningstar Inc. at the end of 2018. They also noted, however, the disappointing investment performance of some funds for periods ended December 31, 2018 and considered information provided by Putnam Management regarding the factors contributing to the underperformance and actions being taken to improve the performance of these particular funds. The Trustees indicated their intention to continue to monitor closely the performance of those funds, including the effectiveness of any efforts Putnam Management has undertaken to address underperformance and whether additional actions to address areas of underperformance are warranted.

For purposes of the Trustees’ evaluation of the Putnam Funds’ investment performance, the Trustees generally focus on a competitive industry ranking of each fund’s total net return over a one-year, three-year and five-year period. For a number of Putnam funds with relatively unique investment mandates for which Putnam Management informed the Trustees that meaningful competitive performance rankings are not considered to be available, the Trustees evaluated performance based on their total gross and net returns and comparisons of those returns with the returns of selected investment benchmarks. In the case of your fund, the Trustees considered information about the fund’s total return, and your fund’s performance relative to its benchmark, for

Short Term Investment Fund 17 

the one-year, three-year and five-year periods ended December 31, 2018. Over the one-year, three-year and five-year periods, your fund’s class P share net return was positive and exceeded the return of its benchmark. (When considering performance information, shareholders should be mindful that past performance is not a guarantee of future results.)

The Trustees considered Putnam Management’s continued efforts to support fund performance through initiatives including structuring compensation for portfolio managers and research analysts to enhance accountability for fund performance, emphasizing accountability in the portfolio management process, and affirming its commitment to a fundamental-driven approach to investing. The Trustees noted further that Putnam Management had made selective hires in 2018 to strengthen its investment team.

Brokerage and soft-dollar allocations; investor servicing

The Trustees considered various potential benefits that Putnam Management may receive in connection with the services it provides under the management contract with your fund. These include benefits related to brokerage allocation and the use of soft dollars, whereby a portion of the commissions paid by a fund for brokerage may be used to acquire research services that are expected to be useful to Putnam Management in managing the assets of the fund and of other clients. Subject to policies established by the Trustees, soft dollars generated by these means are used predominantly to acquire brokerage and research services (including third-party research and market data) that enhance Putnam Management’s investment capabilities and supplement Putnam Management’s internal research efforts. However, the Trustees noted that a portion of available soft dollars continues to be used to pay fund expenses. The Trustees indicated their continued intent to monitor regulatory and industry developments in this area with the assistance of their Brokerage Committee. The Trustees also indicated their continued intent to monitor the allocation of the Putnam funds’ brokerage in order to ensure that the principle of seeking best price and execution remains paramount in the portfolio trading process.

Putnam Management may also receive benefits from payments that the funds make to Putnam Management’s affiliates for investor or distribution services. In conjunction with the annual review of your fund’s management and sub-management contracts, the Trustees reviewed your fund’s investor servicing agreement with PSERV and its distributor’s contracts and distribution plans with Putnam Retail Management Limited Partnership (“PRM”), both of which are affiliates of Putnam Management. The Trustees concluded that the fees payable by the funds to PSERV and PRM, as applicable, for such services are fair and reasonable in relation to the nature and quality of such services, the fees paid by competitive funds, and the costs incurred by PSERV and PRM, as applicable, in providing such services. Furthermore, the Trustees were of the view that the services provided were required for the operation of the funds, and that they were of a quality at least equal to those provided by other providers.

18 Short Term Investment Fund 

Audited financial statements

These sections of the report, as well as the accompanying Notes, preceded by the Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm, constitute the fund’s audited financial statements.

The fund’s portfolio lists all the fund’s investments and their values as of the last day of the reporting period. Holdings are organized by asset type and industry sector, country, or state to show areas of concentration and diversification.

Statement of assets and liabilities shows how the fund’s net assets and share price are determined. All investment and non-investment assets are added together. Any unpaid expenses and other liabilities are subtracted from this total. The result is divided by the number of shares to determine the net asset value per share, which is calculated separately for each class of shares. (For funds with preferred shares, the amount subtracted from total assets includes the liquidation preference of preferred shares.)

Statement of operations shows the fund’s net investment gain or loss. This is done by first adding up all the fund’s earnings — from dividends and interest income — and subtracting its operating expenses to determine net investment income (or loss). Then, any net gain or loss the fund realized on the sales of its holdings — as well as any unrealized gains or losses over the period — is added to or subtracted from the net investment result to determine the fund’s net gain or loss for the fiscal year.

Statement of changes in net assets shows how the fund’s net assets were affected by the fund’s net investment gain or loss, by distributions to shareholders, and by changes in the number of the fund’s shares. It lists distributions and their sources (net investment income or realized capital gains) over the current reporting period and the most recent fiscal year-end. The distributions listed here may not match the sources listed in the Statement of operations because the distributions are determined on a tax basis and may be paid in a different period from the one in which they were earned.

Financial highlights provide an overview of the fund’s investment results, per-share distributions, expense ratios, net investment income ratios, and portfolio turnover in one summary table, reflecting the five most recent reporting periods. In a semian-nual report, the highlights table also includes the current reporting period.

Short Term Investment Fund 19 

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

To the Trustees of Putnam Funds Trust and Shareholders
of Putnam Short Term Investment Fund

Opinion on the Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying statement of assets and liabilities, including the fund’s portfolio, of Putnam Short Term Investment Fund (one of the funds constituting Putnam Funds Trust, referred to hereafter as the “Fund”) as of July 31, 2019, the related statement of operations for the year ended July 31, 2019, the statement of changes in net assets for each of the two years in the period ended July 31, 2019, including the related notes, and the financial highlights for each of the five years in the period ended July 31, 2019 (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Fund as of July 31, 2019, the results of its operations for the year then ended, the changes in its net assets for each of the two years in the period ended July 31, 2019 and the financial highlights for each of the five years in the period ended July 31, 2019 in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

Basis for Opinion

These financial statements are the responsibility of the Fund’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Fund’s financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”) and are required to be independent with respect to the Fund in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits of these financial statements in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud.

Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. Our procedures included confirmation of securities owned as of July 31, 2019 by correspondence with the custodian and brokers; when replies were not received from brokers, we performed other auditing procedures. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Boston, Massachusetts
September 11, 2019

We have served as the auditor of one or more investment companies in the Putnam Investments family of mutual funds since at least 1957. We have not been able to determine the specific year we began serving as auditor.

20 Short Term Investment Fund 

The fund’s portfolio 7/31/19
	Principal
REPURCHASE AGREEMENTS (49.5%)*	amount	Value
Interest in $390,000,000 tri-party repurchase agreement dated 7/31/19 with
Barclays Capital, Inc. due 8/1/19 — maturity value of $390,027,408 for
an effective yield of 2.530% (collateralized by a U.S. Treasury bond with
a coupon rate of 3.000% and a due date of 11/15/44, valued at $397,828,032)	$390,000,000	$390,000,000
Interest in $31,000,000 tri-party term repurchase agreement dated
7/31/19 with BNP Paribas, 2.590% (collateralized by various corporate bonds
and notes with coupon rates ranging from 3.625% to 6.675% and due dates
ranging from 9/10/24 to 3/15/45, valued at $32,553,083) (France) Ŧ EG	31,000,000	31,000,000
Interest in $100,000,000 tri-party term repurchase agreement dated
7/30/19 with BofA Securities, Inc. due 8/6/19 — maturity value of $100,042,972
for an effective yield of 2.210% (collateralized by a mortgage backed security
with a coupon rate of 4.000% and a due date of 1/1/49, valued at $102,000,001)	100,000,000	100,000,000
Interest in $225,228,000 joint tri-party repurchase agreement dated
7/31/19 with BofA Securities, Inc. due 8/1/19 — maturity value of $87,645,232
for an effective yield of 2.560% (collateralized by various mortgage backed
securities with coupon rates ranging from 3.500% to 4.500% and due dates
ranging from 4/1/49 to 7/1/49, valued at $229,732,561)	87,639,000	87,639,000
Interest in $551,350,000 joint tri-party repurchase agreement dated
7/31/19 with Citigroup Global Markets, Inc. due 8/1/19 — maturity value
of $139,157,779 for an effective yield of 2.530% (collateralized by various
U.S. Treasury notes and bonds with coupon rates ranging from 1.125%
to 7.875% and due dates ranging from 11/30/20 to 2/28/21, valued
at $562,383,253)	139,148,000	139,148,000
Interest in $187,694,000 tri-party repurchase agreement dated 7/31/19 with
Goldman, Sachs & Co. due 8/1/19 — maturity value of $187,707,086 for
an effective yield of 2.510% (collateralized by various mortgage backed
securities with coupon rates ranging from 3.500% to 4.500% and due dates
ranging from 6/15/47 to 2/20/48, valued at $191,447,880)	187,694,000	187,694,000
Interest in $432,600,000 joint tri-party repurchase agreement dated
7/31/19 with HSBC Bank USA, National Association due 8/1/19 — maturity
value of $138,509,772 for an effective yield of 2.540% (collateralized by various
mortgage backed securities with coupon rates ranging from 2.500% to 8.000%
and due dates ranging from 6/1/30 to 5/1/49, valued at $441,283,133)	138,500,000	138,500,000
Interest in $150,000,000 tri-party repurchase agreement dated 7/31/19 with
JPMorgan Securities, LLC due 8/1/19 — maturity value of $150,010,542 for
an effective yield of 2.530% (collateralized by a U.S. Treasury bond with
a coupon rate of 3.375% and a due date of 4/15/32, valued at $153,010,875)	150,000,000	150,000,000
Interest in $50,000,000 tri-party repurchase agreement dated 7/31/19 with
JPMorgan Securities, LLC due 8/1/19 — maturity value of $50,003,542 for
an effective yield of 2.550% (collateralized by various mortgage backed
securities with coupon rates ranging from 2.500% to 4.000% and due dates
ranging from 10/1/28 to 7/1/49, valued at $51,003,613)	50,000,000	50,000,000
Interest in $25,000,000 tri-party term repurchase agreement dated
7/31/19 with RBC Capital Markets, LLC, 2.620% (collateralized by various
corporate bonds and notes with coupon rates ranging from 2.300%
to 9.400% and due dates ranging from 11/8/19 to 2/15/48, valued at
$26,252,359) (Canada)Ŧ EG	25,000,000	25,000,000
Interest in $101,350,000 tri-party repurchase agreement dated 7/31/19 with
Royal Bank of Canada due 8/1/19 — maturity value of $101,357,151 for
an effective yield of 2.540% (collateralized by various mortgage backed
securities with coupon rates ranging from 3.000% to 5.000% and due dates
ranging from 3/1/36 to 8/1/48, valued at $103,384,294)	101,350,000	101,350,000
Total repurchase agreements (cost $1,400,331,000)		$1,400,331,000

Short Term Investment Fund 21 

		Maturity	Principal
COMMERCIAL PAPER (19.7%)*	Yield (%)	date	amount	Value
Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (Canada)	2.730	6/18/20	$15,000,000	$14,988,892
Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (Canada)	2.538	1/24/20	15,000,000	15,000,748
Bank of Nova Scotia (The) (Canada)	2.524	7/17/20	15,000,000	15,000,076
Berkshire Hathaway Energy Co.	2.456	8/20/19	4,500,000	4,493,950
Berkshire Hathaway Energy Co.	2.455	8/21/19	12,450,000	12,432,468
BP Capital Markets PLC (United Kingdom)	2.694	8/27/19	6,000,000	5,989,628
BPCE SA (France)	2.657	12/20/19	15,000,000	14,875,336
Coca-Cola Co. (The)	2.468	11/14/19	15,000,000	14,903,319
Commonwealth Bank of Australia (Australia)	2.360	4/3/20	15,000,000	14,999,939
Credit Suisse AG/New York, NY	3.069	8/6/19	12,500,000	12,494,973
DNB Bank ASA (Norway)	2.472	7/22/20	15,000,000	14,998,547
DNB Bank ASA (Norway)	2.370	1/23/20	25,500,000	25,503,574
ENGIE SA (France)	2.582	10/7/19	5,000,000	4,977,617
ENGIE SA (France)	2.450	10/28/19	10,000,000	9,941,408
Eversource Energy	2.452	8/5/19	15,000,000	14,994,542
Export Development Canada (Canada)	2.548	10/2/19	15,000,000	14,940,544
Export Development Canada (Canada)	2.528	10/1/19	15,000,000	14,941,436
Export Development Canada (Canada)	2.347	11/29/19	15,000,000	14,892,159
GlaxoSmithKline, LLC (United Kingdom)	2.408	9/3/19	13,000,000	12,971,528
HSBC USA, Inc. 144A	2.666	9/5/19	15,000,000	14,967,330
International Business Machines Corp.	2.623	10/28/19	7,500,000	7,458,485
International Business Machines Corp.	2.551	11/18/19	7,500,000	7,448,827
Lloyds Bank PLC (United Kingdom)	2.718	8/2/19	15,000,000	15,000,251
LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA	2.737	10/10/19	15,000,000	14,935,212
LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA	2.513	9/4/19	4,800,000	4,789,724
National Australia Bank, Ltd. (Australia)	2.618	8/2/19	22,000,000	22,000,247
Nationwide Building Society (United Kingdom)	2.532	10/30/19	15,000,000	14,915,901
Nationwide Building Society (United Kingdom)	2.317	1/16/20	5,500,000	5,444,127
NRW.Bank (Germany)	2.477	8/23/19	25,000,000	24,964,861
NRW.Bank (Germany)	2.252	10/9/19	15,000,000	14,936,388
Pfizer, Inc.	2.302	11/14/19	15,000,000	14,902,833
Prudential PLC (United Kingdom)	2.384	9/4/19	15,000,000	14,966,779
Roche Holdings, Inc. (Switzerland)	2.296	12/13/19	13,000,000	12,892,994
Schlumberger Investment SA (Luxembourg)	2.328	9/9/19	13,000,000	12,967,500
Simon Property Group LP	2.389	8/12/19	15,000,000	14,988,325
Societe Generale SA (France)	2.928	12/16/19	15,000,000	15,023,245
Societe Generale SA (France)	2.738	6/3/20	10,000,000	10,000,000
Toronto-Dominion Bank (The) (Canada)	2.518	12/6/19	15,000,000	14,999,511
Total Capital Canada, Ltd. (Canada)	2.233	10/23/19	27,000,000	26,860,892
UnitedHealth Group, Inc.	2.541	8/22/19	6,000,000	5,991,119
UnitedHealth Group, Inc.	2.485	8/14/19	13,000,000	12,987,690
Total commercial paper (cost $556,655,981)				$556,782,925
		Maturity	Principal
CERTIFICATES OF DEPOSIT (16.7%)*	Yield (%)	date	amount	Value
Bank of America, NA FRN	2.560	11/4/19	$17,000,000	$17,016,045
Bank of America, NA FRN	2.488	11/12/19	25,000,000	25,000,000
Bank of Montreal/Chicago, IL FRN (Canada)	2.694	8/6/19	15,000,000	15,000,393
Bank of Montreal/Chicago, IL FRN (Canada)	2.568	4/3/20	15,000,000	15,001,142
Bank of Nova Scotia/Houston FRN	2.825	11/4/19	12,120,000	12,128,171

22 Short Term Investment Fund 

		Maturity	Principal
CERTIFICATES OF DEPOSIT (16.7%)* cont.	Yield (%)	date	amount	Value
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce FRN (Canada)	2.544	4/6/20	$15,000,000	$15,002,031
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce/
New York, NY FRN	2.754	12/6/19	15,000,000	15,013,877
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce/
New York, NY FRN	2.610	6/12/20	15,000,000	14,996,595
Citibank, NA	2.570	10/21/19	15,250,000	15,259,435
Citibank, NA	2.560	11/5/19	15,000,000	15,011,552
Goldman Sachs Bank USA/New York, NY FRN	2.821	12/10/20	15,000,000	15,000,000
HSBC Bank USA, NA FRN	2.544	11/8/19	15,000,000	15,003,410
HSBC Bank USA, NA FRN	2.361	10/28/19	15,000,000	15,001,087
Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp./NY	2.500	8/16/19	15,000,000	15,000,613
Mizuho Bank, Ltd./New York, NY	2.240	12/16/19	12,000,000	12,000,289
Natixis SA/New York, NY FRN (France)	2.830	12/11/20	15,000,000	15,000,000
Nordea Bank ABP/New York, NY FRN	2.618	10/10/19	15,000,000	15,008,197
Rabobank Nederland NV NY (Netherlands)	2.590	9/18/19	17,250,000	17,257,046
Royal Bank of Canada/New York, NY FRN (Canada)	2.542	7/15/20	15,000,000	15,000,000
Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB/New York, NY FRN	2.498	7/20/20	15,000,000	15,000,340
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp./New York FRN (Japan)	2.432	9/16/19	15,000,000	15,000,325
Svenska Handelsbanken/New York, NY FRN (Sweden)	2.572	8/20/19	16,000,000	16,001,754
Svenska Handelsbanken/New York, NY FRN (Sweden)	2.490	7/15/20	15,000,000	14,993,300
Svenska Handelsbanken/New York, NY FRN (Sweden)	2.420	2/18/20	12,750,000	12,746,727
Toronto-Dominion Bank/NY FRN (Canada)	2.506	7/24/20	15,000,000	15,002,709
Toronto-Dominion Bank/NY FRN (Canada)	2.358	7/22/20	17,000,000	16,999,962
US Bank NA/Cincinnati, OH	2.508	4/1/20	17,500,000	17,492,408
US Bank NA/Cincinnati, OH FRN	2.508	3/30/20	15,000,000	14,993,560
Wells Fargo Bank, NA FRN	2.725	12/16/19	15,000,000	15,019,433
Wells Fargo Bank, NA FRN	2.587	10/9/19	11,000,000	11,003,670
Wells Fargo Bank, NA FRN	2.478	12/3/19	15,000,000	14,999,382
Total certificates of deposit (cost $472,888,277)				$472,953,453
		Maturity	Principal
ASSET-BACKED COMMERCIAL PAPER (11.7%)*	Yield (%)	date	amount	Value
Atlantic Asset Securitization, LLC	2.363	9/9/19	$10,000,000	$9,974,889
Barclays Bank PLC CCP (United Kingdom)	2.325	10/21/19	9,000,000	8,950,451
Bedford Row Funding Corp.	2.578	3/27/20	15,000,000	14,997,631
CAFCO, LLC	2.445	9/4/19	13,000,000	12,971,626
CAFCO, LLC	2.272	10/9/19	5,400,000	5,376,585
Chariot Funding, LLC	2.445	9/3/19	15,000,000	14,967,757
Chariot Funding, LLC	2.417	9/18/19	10,000,000	9,969,225
Chariot Funding, LLC	2.546	8/7/19	14,000,000	13,993,603
CHARTA, LLC	2.317	12/12/19	13,000,000	12,895,238
Collateralized Commercial Paper FLEX Co., LLC	2.358	9/16/19	29,250,000	29,163,582
Collateralized Commercial Paper FLEX Co., LLC	2.210	1/13/20	27,550,000	27,275,094
CRC Funding, LLC	2.264	10/22/19	15,000,000	14,922,049
Fairway Finance Co., LLC (Canada)	2.498	9/6/19	15,000,000	15,000,328
Fairway Finance Co., LLC (Canada)	2.468	9/3/19	15,000,000	14,999,736
LMA-Americas, LLC (France)	2.567	8/7/19	3,200,000	3,198,544
Manhattan Asset Funding Co., LLC (Japan)	2.387	8/21/19	10,000,000	9,986,513
MetLife Short Term Funding, LLC	2.464	8/19/19	7,000,000	6,991,410

Short Term Investment Fund 23 

		Maturity	Principal
ASSET-BACKED COMMERCIAL PAPER (11.7%)* cont.	Yield (%)	date	amount	Value
MetLife Short Term Funding, LLC	2.336	10/4/19	$15,000,000	$14,940,877
MetLife Short Term Funding, LLC	2.263	10/18/19	13,000,000	12,937,439
MetLife Short Term Funding, LLC	2.223	10/25/19	6,000,000	5,968,510
Old Line Funding, LLC	2.508	11/12/19	20,000,000	20,000,000
Sheffield Receivables Co., LLC (United Kingdom)	2.755	12/18/19	12,000,000	11,892,993
Thunder Bay Funding, LLC	2.330	10/9/19	11,000,000	10,999,929
Thunder Bay Funding, LLC	2.254	11/5/19	15,000,000	14,909,467
Victory Receivables Corp. (Japan)	2.397	8/1/19	15,000,000	14,998,992
Total asset-backed commercial paper (cost $332,258,256)				$332,282,468
		Maturity	Principal
TIME DEPOSITS (1.1%)*	Yield (%)	date	amount	Value
Australia & New Zealand Banking Group, Ltd./
Cayman Islands (Cayman Islands)	2.390	8/1/19	$20,000,000	$20,000,000
Svenska Handelsbanken/New York, NY (Sweden)	2.310	8/1/19	12,000,000	12,000,000
Total time deposits (cost $32,000,000)				$32,000,000
		Maturity	Principal
U.S. TREASURY OBLIGATIONS (1.0%)*	Yield (%)	date	amount	Value
U.S. Treasury Notes	2.190	4/30/21	$29,250,000	$29,221,645
Total U.S. treasury obligations (cost $29,251,988)				$29,221,645
		Maturity	Principal
CORPORATE BONDS AND NOTES (0.3%)*	Yield (%)	date	amount	Value
Wells Fargo Bank, NA FRN	2.880	3/5/20	$9,000,000	$9,016,365
Total Corporate bonds and notes (cost $9,000,000)				$9,016,365
TOTAL INVESTMENTS
Total investments (cost $2,832,385,502)				$2,832,587,856

Key to holding’s abbreviations
FRN	Floating Rate Notes: the rate shown is the current interest rate or yield at the close of the reporting period.
	Rates may be subject to a cap or floor. For certain securities, the rate may represent a fixed rate currently in
	place at the close of the reporting period.

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 August 1, 2018 through July 31, 2019 (the reporting period). Within the following notes to the portfolio, references to “Putnam Management” represent Putnam Investment Management, LLC, the fund’s manager, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Putnam Investments, LLC and references to “ASC 820” represent Accounting Standards Codification 820 Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures.

^* Percentages indicated are based on net assets of $2,828,269,786.

^Ŧ Repurchase agreements with a maturity of more than seven days are considered to be illiquid investments.

^EG Maturity date of the repurchase agreement is thirty-five days from the purchase date unless both parties agree to roll the transaction. Maturity value of the repurchase agreement will equal the principal amount of the repurchase agreement plus interest.

144A after the name of an issuer represents securities exempt from registration under Rule 144A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. These securities may be resold in transactions exempt from registration, normally to qualified institutional buyers.

The dates shown on debt obligations are the original maturity dates.

24 Short Term Investment Fund 

DIVERSIFICATION BY COUNTRY
Distribution of investments by country of risk at the close of the reporting period, excluding collateral received, if any
(as a percentage of Portfolio Value):
United States	73.5%	Germany	1.4%
Canada	9.8	Australia	1.3
France	3.7	Cayman Islands	0.7
United Kingdom	3.2	Netherlands	0.6
Sweden	2.0	Luxembourg	0.5
Norway	1.4	Switzerland	0.5
Japan	1.4	Total	100.0%

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
Asset-backed commercial paper	$—­	$332,282,468	$—­
Certificates of deposit	—­	472,953,453	—­
Commercial paper	—­	556,782,925	—­
Corporate bonds and notes	—­	9,016,365	—­
Repurchase agreements	—­	1,400,331,000	—­
Time deposits	—­	32,000,000	—­
U.S. treasury obligations	—­	29,221,645	—­
Totals by level	$—­	$2,832,587,856	$—­

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

Short Term Investment Fund 25 

Statement of assets and liabilities 7/31/19
ASSETS
Investment in securities, at value (Note 1):
Unaffiliated issuers (identified cost $1,432,054,502)	$1,432,256,856
Repurchase agreements (identified cost $1,400,331,000)	1,400,331,000
Cash	91,325
Interest and other receivables	2,212,363
Total assets	2,834,891,544
LIABILITIES
Payable for custodian fees (Note 2)	32,947
Payable for investor servicing fees (Note 2)	45,697
Payable for Trustee compensation and expenses (Note 2)	226,970
Payable for administrative services (Note 2)	10,768
Distributions payable to shareholders	6,082,340
Other accrued expenses	223,036
Total liabilities	6,621,758
Net assets	$2,828,269,786
REPRESENTED BY
Paid-in capital (Unlimited shares authorized) (Notes 1 and 4)	$2,828,555,439
Total distributable earnings (Note 1)	(285,653)
Total — Representing net assets applicable to capital shares outstanding	$2,828,269,786
COMPUTATION OF NET ASSET VALUE AND OFFERING PRICE
Net asset value, offering price and redemption price per class P share
($2,828,269,786 divided by 2,828,555,439 shares)	$1.00

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

26 Short Term Investment Fund 

Statement of operations Year ended 7/31/19
INVESTMENT INCOME
Interest (net of foreign tax of $240,367)	$68,917,589
Total investment income	68,917,589
EXPENSES
Compensation of Manager (Note 2)	6,978,872
Investor servicing fees (Note 2)	279,272
Custodian fees (Note 2)	44,786
Trustee compensation and expenses (Note 2)	123,790
Administrative services (Note 2)	83,378
Other	421,677
Fees waived and reimbursed by Manager (Note 2)	(6,978,872)
Total expenses	952,903
Expense reduction (Note 2)	(9,419)
Net expenses	943,484
Net investment income	67,974,105
REALIZED AND UNREALIZED GAIN (LOSS)
Net realized gain (loss) on:
Securities from unaffiliated issuers (Notes 1 and 3)	13,985
Total net realized gain	13,985
Change in net unrealized appreciation (depreciation) on:
Securities from unaffiliated issuers	(42,184)
Total change in net unrealized depreciation	(42,184)
Net loss on investments	(28,199)
Net increase in net assets resulting from operations	$67,945,906

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

Short Term Investment Fund 27 

Statement of changes in net assets
INCREASE (DECREASE) IN NET ASSETS	Year ended 7/31/19	Year ended 7/31/18
Operations
Net investment income	$67,974,105	$40,955,836
Net realized gain on investments	13,985	2,598
Change in net unrealized appreciation (depreciation)
of investments	(42,184)	107,057
Net increase in net assets resulting from operations	67,945,906	41,065,491
Distributions to shareholders (Note 1):
From ordinary income
Net investment income
Class P	(68,593,545)	(40,946,627)
Increase (decrease) from capital share transactions (Note 4)	(112,023,949)	432,076,018
Total increase (decrease) in net assets	(112,671,588)	432,194,882
NET ASSETS
Beginning of year	2,940,941,374	2,508,746,492
End of year (Note 1)	$2,828,269,786	$2,940,941,374

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

28 Short Term Investment Fund 

This page left blank intentionally. 

Short Term Investment Fund 29 

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

INVESTMENT OPERATIONS

LESS DISTRIBUTIONS

RATIOS AND SUPPLEMENTAL DATA

Ratio

Net realized

of net investment

Net asset value,

and unrealized

Total from

From

Total return

Net assets,

Ratio of expenses

income (loss)

beginning

Net investment

gain (loss)

investment

net investment

Total

Net asset value,

at net asset value

end of period

to average

to average

Portfolio

Period ended­

of period­

income (loss)

on investments­a

operations­

income­

distributions

end of period­

(%) b

(in thousands)

net assets (%) c,d

net assets (%) d

turnover (%)

Class P­

July 31, 2019­

$1.00­

0.0244­

—­

0.0244­

(0.0246)

(0.0246)

$1.00­

2.49­

$2,828,270­

.03­

2.44­

—­

July 31, 2018­

1.00­

0.0155­

—­

0.0155­

(0.0155)

(0.0155)

1.00­

1.56­

2,940,941­

.04­

1.55­

—­

July 31, 2017­

1.00­

0.0073­

—­

0.0073­

(0.0072)

(0.0072)

1.00­

.73­

2,508,746­

.04­

.71­

—­

July 31, 2016­

1.00­

0.0031­

—­

0.0031­

(0.0031)

(0.0031)

1.00­

.31­

3,317,155­

.03­

.31­

—­

July 31, 2015­

1.00­

0.0009­

—­

0.0009­

(0.0008)

(0.0008)

1.00­

.08­

3,611,854­

.03­

.09­

12­

^a Amount represents less than $0.0001 per share.

^b Total return assumes dividend reinvestment.

^c Includes amounts paid through expense offset arrangements, if any (Note 2). Also excludes acquired fund fees and expenses, if any.

^d Reflects an involuntary contractual expense limitation in effect during the period. As a result of such limitation, the expenses of the fund reflect a reduction of the following amounts (Note 2):

	Percentage of average net assets
July 31, 2019	0.25%
July 31, 2018	0.25
July 31, 2017	0.25
July 31, 2016	0.25
July 31, 2015	0.25

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

30 Short Term Investment Fund  Short Term Investment Fund 31 

Notes to financial statements 7/31/19

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, references to “Putnam Management” represent Putnam Investment Management, LLC, the fund’s manager, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Putnam Investments, LLC and references to “OTC”, if any, represent over-the-counter. Unless otherwise noted, the “reporting period” represents the period from August 1, 2018 through July 31, 2019.

Putnam Short Term Investment Fund (the fund) is a diversified series of Putnam Funds Trust (the Trust), a Massa-chusetts business trust registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, as an open-end management investment company. The goal of the fund is to seek as high a rate of current income as Putnam Management believes is consistent with preservation of capital and maintenance of liquidity. The fund invests in a diversified portfolio of fixed-income securities comprised of short duration, investment-grade money market and other fixed-income securities. The fund’s investments may include obligations of the U.S. government, its agencies and instrumentalities, which are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States (e.g., U.S. Treasury bonds and Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed bonds) or by only the credit of a federal agency or government-sponsored entity (e.g., Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac mortgage-backed bonds), domestic corporate debt obligations, municipal debt securities, securitized debt instruments (such as mortgage- and asset-backed securities), repurchase agreements, certificates of deposit, bankers acceptances, commercial paper (including asset-backed commercial paper), time deposits, Yankee Eurodollar securities and other money market instruments. The fund may also invest in U.S. dollar-denominated foreign securities of these types. Under normal circumstances, the effective duration of the fund’s portfolio will generally not be greater than one year. Effective duration provides a measure of a fund’s interest-rate sensitivity. The longer a fund’s duration, the more sensitive the fund is to shifts in interest rates. The fund will maintain a dollar-weighted average portfolio maturity of three years or less. Putnam Management may consider, among other factors, credit, interest rate and prepayment risks, as well as general market conditions, when deciding whether to buy or sell investments. The fund may also use derivatives, such as futures, options and swap contracts, for both hedging and non-hedging purposes.

The fund offers class P shares, which are sold without a front-end sales charge and generally are not subject to a contingent deferred sales charge. Class P shares are only available to other Putnam funds and other accounts managed by Putnam Management or its affiliates. Shares of the fund are sold at net asset value.

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.

The fund has entered into contractual arrangements with an investment adviser, administrator, distributor, shareholder servicing agent and custodian, who each provide services to the fund. Unless expressly stated otherwise, shareholders are not parties to, or intended beneficiaries of these contractual arrangements, and these contractual arrangements are not intended to create any shareholder right to enforce them against the service providers or to seek any remedy under them against the service providers, either directly or on behalf of the fund.

Under the fund’s Amended and Restated Agreement and Declaration of Trust, any claims asserted against or on behalf of the Putnam Funds, including claims against Trustees and Officers, must be brought in state and federal courts located within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

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.

Security valuation Portfolio securities and other investments are valued using policies and procedures adopted by the Board of Trustees. The Trustees have formed a Pricing Committee to oversee the implementation of these procedures and have delegated responsibility for valuing the fund’s assets in accordance with these procedures to Putnam Management. Putnam Management has established an internal Valuation Committee that

32 Short Term Investment Fund 

is responsible for making fair value determinations, evaluating the effectiveness of the pricing policies of the fund and reporting to the Pricing Committee.

Market quotations are not considered to be readily available for certain debt obligations (including short-term investments with remaining maturities of 60 days or less) and other investments; such investments are valued on the basis of valuations furnished by an independent pricing service approved by the Trustees or dealers selected by Putnam Management. Such services or dealers determine valuations for normal institutional-size trading units of such securities using methods based on market transactions for comparable securities and various relationships, generally recognized by institutional traders, between securities (which consider such factors as security prices, yields, maturities and ratings). These securities will generally be categorized as Level 2. 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 in accordance with policies and procedures approved by the Trustees. 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, recovery rates, sales and other multiples and resale restrictions. These securities are classified as Level 2 or as Level 3 depending on the priority of the significant inputs.

To assess the continuing appropriateness of fair valuations, the Valuation Committee reviews and affirms the reasonableness of such valuations on a regular basis after considering all relevant information that is reasonably available. 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.

Joint trading account Pursuant to an exemptive order from the SEC, the fund may transfer uninvested cash balances into a joint trading account along with the cash of other registered investment companies and certain other accounts managed by Putnam Management. These balances may be invested in issues of short-term investments having maturities of up to 90 days.

Repurchase agreements The fund, or any joint trading account, through its custodian, receives delivery of the underlying securities, the fair value of which at the time of purchase is required to be in an amount at least equal to the resale price, including accrued interest. Collateral for certain tri-party repurchase agreements, which totaled $1,430,084,422 at the end of the reporting period, is held at the counterparty’s custodian in a segregated account for the benefit of the fund and the counterparty. Putnam Management is responsible for determining that the value of these underlying securities is at all times at least equal to the resale price, including accrued interest. In the event of default or bankruptcy by the other party to the agreement, retention of the collateral may be subject to legal proceedings.

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 and including amortization and accretion of premiums and discounts on debt securities, is recorded on the accrual basis.

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 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.

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. It is also the intention of the fund to distribute an amount sufficient to avoid imposition of any excise tax under Section 4982 of the Code.

Short Term Investment Fund 33 

The fund is subject to the provisions of Accounting Standards Codification 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.

Distributions to shareholders Income dividends are recorded daily by the fund and are paid monthly. Distributions from capital gains, if any, are recorded on the ex-dividend date and paid at least 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. For the reporting period, there were no material temporary or permanent differences. 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. At the close of the reporting period, the fund reclassified $13,985 to decrease distributions in excess of accumulated net investment income and $13,985 to decrease accumulated net realized gain.

Tax cost of investments includes adjustments to net unrealized appreciation (depreciation) which may not necessarily be final tax cost basis adjustments, but closely approximate the tax basis unrealized gains and losses that may be realized and distributed to shareholders. 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	$290,177
Unrealized depreciation	(87,823)
Net unrealized appreciation	202,354
Undistributed ordinary income	5,594,333
Cost for federal income tax purposes	$2,832,385,502

For the fiscal year ended July 31, 2018, the fund had undistributed net investment income of $117,448.

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.

Note 2: Management fee, administrative services and other transactions

The fund pays Putnam Management for management and investment advisory services monthly based on the average net assets of the fund. Such fee is based on the annual rate of 0.25% of the average net assets of the fund. Putnam Management has contractually agreed to waive its management fee from the fund through November 30, 2020. During the reporting period, the fund waived $6,978,872 as a result of this waiver.

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. PIL did not manage any portion of the assets of the fund during the reporting period. If Putnam Management were to engage the services of PIL, Putnam Management would pay a quarterly sub-management fee to PIL for its services at an annual rate of 0.20% 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 0.01% of the fund’s average net assets. The amounts incurred for investor servicing agent functions during the reporting period are included in Investor servicing fees in the Statement of operations.

34 Short Term Investment Fund 

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. For the reporting period, the fund’s expenses were reduced by $9,419 under the expense offset arrangements.

Each Independent Trustee of the fund receives an annual Trustee fee, of which $1,955, 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 not adopted a distribution plan pursuant to Rule 12b–1 under the Investment Company Act of 1940.

Note 3: Purchases and sales of securities

During the reporting period, the cost of purchases and the proceeds from sales (including maturities) of short-term investment securities aggregated $265,893,391,266 and $266,063,051,569, respectively.

During the reporting period, the cost of purchases and the proceeds from sales of long-term investment securities were as follows:

	Cost of purchases	Proceeds from sales
Investments in securities (Long-term)	$9,000,000	$—
U.S. government securities (Long-term)	29,252,261	—
Total	$38,252,261	$—

The fund may purchase or sell investments from or to other Putnam funds in the ordinary course of business, which can reduce the fund’s transaction costs, at prices determined in accordance with SEC requirements and policies approved by the Trustees. During the reporting period, purchases or sales of long-term securities from or to other Putnam funds, if any, did not represent more than 5% of the fund’s total cost of purchases and/or total proceeds from sales.

Note 4: Capital shares

At the close of the reporting period, there were an unlimited number of shares of beneficial interest authorized. Transactions, including, if applicable, direct exchanges pursuant to share conversions, in capital shares were as follows:

	YEAR ENDED 7/31/19		YEAR ENDED 7/31/18
Class P	Shares	Amount	Shares	Amount
Shares sold	12,827,313,069	$12,827,313,069	15,080,830,468	$15,080,830,468
Shares issued in connection with
reinvestment of distributions	—	—	—	—
	12,827,313,069	12,827,313,069	15,080,830,468	15,080,830,468
Shares repurchased	(12,939,337,018)	(12,939,337,018)	(14,648,754,450)	(14,648,754,450)
Net increase (decrease)	(112,023,949)	$(112,023,949)	432,076,018	$432,076,018

Short Term Investment Fund 35 

Note 5: 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 6: Offsetting of financial and derivative assets and liabilities

The following table summarizes any derivatives, repurchase agreements and reverse repurchase agreements, at the end of the reporting period, that are subject to an enforceable master netting agreement or similar agreement. For securities lending transactions or borrowing transactions associated with securities sold short, if any, see Note 1. For financial reporting purposes, the fund does not offset financial assets and financial liabilities that are subject to the master netting agreements in the Statement of assets and liabilities.

	Barclays Capital, Inc.	BofA Securities, Inc.	BNP Paribas	Citigroup Global Markets, Inc.	Goldman, Sachs& Co.	HSBC Bank  USA, National Association	JPMorgan Securities, LLC	RBC Capital Markets, LLC	Royal Bank of Canada	Total
Assets:
Repurchase agreements **	$390,000,000	$187,639,000	$31,000,000	$139,148,000	$187,694,000	$138,500,000	$200,000,000	$25,000,000	$101,350,000	$1,400,331,000
Total Assets	$390,000,000	$187,639,000	$31,000,000	$139,148,000	$187,694,000	$138,500,000	$200,000,000	$25,000,000	$101,350,000	$1,400,331,000
Liabilities:
Total Liabilities	$—	$—	$—	$—	$—	$—	$—	$—	$—	$—
Total Financial and Derivative
Net Assets	$390,000,000	$187,639,000	$31,000,000	$139,148,000	$187,694,000	$138,500,000	$200,000,000	$25,000,000	$101,350,000	$1,400,331,000
Total collateral received (pledged)†##	$390,000,000	$187,639,000	$31,000,000	$139,148,000	$187,694,000	$138,500,000	$200,000,000	$25,000,000	$101,350,000
Net amount	$—	$—	$—	$—	$—	$—	$—	$—	$—
Controlled collateral received (including
TBA commitments)**	$—	$—	$—	$—	$—	$—	$—	$—	$—	$—
Uncontrolled collateral received	$397,828,032	$191,391,781	$32,553,083	$141,932,538	$191,447,880	$141,279,967	$204,014,488	$26,252,359	$103,384,294	$1,430,084,422
Collateral (pledged) (including TBA
commitments)**	$—	$—	$—	$—	$—	$—	$—	$—	$—	$—

^** Included with Investments in securities on the Statement of assets and liabilities.

^† Additional collateral may be required from certain brokers based on individual agreements.

^## Any over-collateralization of total financial and derivative net assets is not shown. Collateral may include amounts related to unsettled agreements.

Note 7: New accounting pronouncements

In March 2017, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) No. 2017-08, Receivables — Nonrefundable Fees and Other Costs (Subtopic 310 -20): Premium Amortization on Purchased Callable Debt Securities. The amendments in the ASU shorten the amortization period for certain callable debt securities held at a premium, to be amortized to the earliest call date. The ASU is effective for fiscal years and interim periods within those fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018. Management is currently evaluating the impact, if any, of applying this provision.

36 Short Term Investment Fund  Short Term Investment Fund 37 

Federal tax information (Unaudited)

The Form 1099 that will be mailed to you in January 2020 will show the tax status of all distributions paid to your account in calendar 2019.

38 Short Term Investment Fund 

Short Term Investment Fund 39 

^* Mr. Reynolds is an “interested person” (as defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940) of the fund and Putnam Investments. 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 100 Federal Street, Boston, MA 02110.

As of July 31, 2019, there were 91 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.

40 Short Term Investment Fund 

Officers

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

Robert T. Burns (Born 1961)	Richard T. Kircher (Born 1962)
Vice President and Chief Legal Officer	Vice President and BSA Compliance Officer
Since 2011	Since 2019
General Counsel, Putnam Investments,	Assistant Director, Operational Compliance, Putnam
Putnam Management, and Putnam Retail Management	Investments and Putnam Retail Management
James F. Clark (Born 1974)	Susan G. Malloy (Born 1957)
Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer	Vice President and Assistant Treasurer
Since 2016	Since 2007
Chief Compliance Officer and Chief Risk Officer,	Head of Accounting and Middle Office Services,
Putnam Investments and Chief Compliance Officer,	Putnam Investments and Putnam Management
Putnam Management
	Denere P. Poulack (Born 1968)
Nancy E. Florek (Born 1957)	Assistant Vice President, Assistant Clerk,
Vice President, Director of Proxy Voting and Corporate	and Assistant Treasurer
Governance, Assistant Clerk, and Assistant Treasurer	Since 2004
Since 2000
	Janet C. Smith (Born 1965)
Michael J. Higgins (Born 1976)	Vice President, Principal Financial Officer, Principal
Vice President, Treasurer, and Clerk	Accounting Officer, and Assistant Treasurer
Since 2010	Since 2007
	Head of Fund Administration Services,
Jonathan S. Horwitz (Born 1955)	Putnam Investments and Putnam Management
Executive Vice President, Principal Executive Officer,
and Compliance Liaison	Mark C. Trenchard (Born 1962)
Since 2004	Vice President
	Since 2002
	Director of Operational Compliance, Putnam
	Investments and 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 100 Federal Street, Boston, MA 02110.

Short Term Investment Fund 41 

Putnam family of funds

The following is a list of Putnam’s open-end mutual funds offered to the public. Investors should carefully consider the investment objective, risks, charges, and expenses of a fund before investing. For a prospectus, or a summary prospectus if available, containing this and other information for any Putnam fund or product, contact your financial advisor or call Putnam Investor Services at 1-800-225-1581. Please read the prospectus carefully before investing.

Blend	Income
Capital Spectrum Fund	Diversified Income Trust
Emerging Markets Equity Fund	Floating Rate Income Fund
Equity Spectrum Fund	Global Income Trust
Focused Equity Fund	Government Money Market Fund*
Global Equity Fund	High Yield Fund
International Capital Opportunities Fund	Income Fund
International Equity Fund	Money Market Fund†
Multi-Cap Core Fund	Mortgage Opportunities Fund
Research Fund	Mortgage Securities Fund
	Short Duration Bond Fund
Global Sector	Ultra Short Duration Income Fund
Global Health Care Fund
Global Technology Fund	Tax-free Income
	AMT-Free Municipal Fund
Growth	Intermediate-Term Municipal Income Fund
Growth Opportunities Fund	Short-Term Municipal Income Fund
International Growth Fund	Tax Exempt Income Fund
Small Cap Growth Fund	Tax-Free High Yield Fund
Sustainable Future Fund
Sustainable Leaders Fund	State tax-free income funds‡:
	California, Massachusetts, Minnesota,
Value	New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.
Convertible Securities Fund
Equity Income Fund
International Value Fund
Small Cap Value Fund

42 Short Term Investment Fund 

Absolute Return	Asset Allocation
Fixed Income Absolute Return Fund	Dynamic Risk Allocation Fund
Multi-Asset Absolute Return Fund	George Putnam Balanced Fund
Putnam PanAgora**	Dynamic Asset Allocation Balanced Fund
Putnam PanAgora Managed Futures Strategy	Dynamic Asset Allocation Conservative Fund
Putnam PanAgora Market Neutral Fund	Dynamic Asset Allocation Growth Fund
Putnam PanAgora Risk Parity Fund
	Retirement Income Fund Lifestyle 1
	RetirementReady® 2060 Fund
	RetirementReady® 2055 Fund
	RetirementReady® 2050 Fund
	RetirementReady® 2045 Fund
	RetirementReady® 2040 Fund
	RetirementReady® 2035 Fund
	RetirementReady® 2030 Fund
	RetirementReady® 2025 Fund
	RetirementReady® 2020 Fund

^* You could lose money by investing in the fund. Although the fund seeks to preserve the value of your investment at $1.00 per share, it cannot guarantee it will do so. An investment in the fund is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. The fund’s sponsor has no legal obligation to provide financial support to the fund, and you should not expect that the sponsor will provide financial support to the fund at any time.

^† You could lose money by investing in the fund. Although the fund seeks to preserve the value of your investment at $1.00 per share, it cannot guarantee it will do so. The fund may impose a fee upon sale of your shares or may temporarily suspend your ability to sell shares if the fund’s liquidity falls below required minimums because of market conditions or other factors. An investment in the fund is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. The fund’s sponsor has no legal obligation to provide financial support to the fund, and you should not expect that the sponsor will provide financial support to the fund at any time.

^‡ Not available in all states.

^** Sub-advised by PanAgora Asset Management.

Check your account balances and the most recent month-end performance in the Individual Investors section at putnam.com.

Short Term Investment Fund 43 

Services for shareholders

Investor services

Systematic investment plan Tell us how much you wish to invest regularly — weekly, semimonthly, or monthly — and the amount you choose will be transferred automatically from your checking or savings account. There’s no additional fee for this service, and you can suspend it at any time. This plan may be a great way to save for college expenses or to plan for your retirement.

Please note that regular investing does not guarantee a profit or protect against loss in a declining market. Before arranging a systematic investment plan, consider your financial ability to continue making purchases in periods when prices are low.

Systematic exchange You can make regular transfers from one Putnam fund to another Putnam fund. There are no additional fees for this service, and you can cancel or change your options at any time.

Dividends PLUS You can choose to have the dividend distributions from one of your Putnam funds automatically reinvested in another Putnam fund at no additional charge.

Free exchange privilege You can exchange money between Putnam funds free of charge, as long as they are the same class of shares. A signature guarantee is required if you are exchanging more than $500,000. The fund reserves the right to revise or terminate the exchange privilege.

Reinstatement privilege If you’ve sold Putnam shares or received a check for a dividend or capital gain, you may reinvest the proceeds with Putnam within 90 days of the transaction and they will be reinvested at the fund’s current net asset value — with no sales charge. However, reinstatement of class B shares may have special tax consequences. Ask your financial or tax representative for details.

Check-writing service You have ready access to many Putnam accounts. It’s as simple as writing a check, and there are no special fees or service charges. For more information about the check-writing service, call Putnam or visit our website.

Dollar cost averaging When you’re investing for long-term goals, it’s time, not timing, that counts. Investing on a systematic basis is a better strategy than trying to figure out when the markets will go up or down. This means investing the same amount of money regularly over a long period. This method of investing is called dollar cost averaging. When a fund’s share price declines, your investment dollars buy more shares at lower prices. When it increases, they buy fewer shares. Over time, you will pay a lower average price per share.

For more information

Visit the Individual Investors section at putnam.com A secure section of our website contains complete information on your account, including balances and transactions, updated daily. You may also conduct transactions, such as exchanges, additional investments, and address changes. Log on today to get your password.

Call us toll free at 1-800-225-1581 Ask a helpful Putnam representative or your financial advisor for details about any of these or other services, or see your prospectus.

44 Short Term Investment Fund 

Fund information

Founded over 80 years ago, Putnam Investments was built around the concept that a balance between risk and reward is the hallmark of a well-rounded financial program. We manage funds across income, value, blend, growth, sustainable, asset allocation, absolute return, and global sector categories.

Investment Manager	Trustees	Michael J. Higgins
Putnam Investment	Kenneth R. Leibler, Chair	Vice President, Treasurer,
Management, LLC	Liaquat Ahamed	and Clerk
100 Federal Street	Ravi Akhoury
Boston, MA 02110	Barbara M. Baumann	Jonathan S. Horwitz
	Katinka Domotorffy	Executive Vice President,
Investment Sub-Advisor	Catharine Bond Hill	Principal Executive Officer,
Putnam Investments Limited	Paul L. Joskow	and Compliance Liaison
16 St James’s Street	Robert E. Patterson
London, England SW1A 1ER	George Putnam, III	Richard T. Kircher
	Robert L. Reynolds	Vice President and BSA
Marketing Services	Manoj P. Singh	Compliance Officer
Putnam Retail Management
100 Federal Street	Officers	Susan G. Malloy
Boston, MA 02110	Robert L. Reynolds	Vice President and
	President	Assistant Treasurer
Custodian
State Street Bank	Robert T. Burns	Denere P. Poulack
and Trust Company	Vice President and	Assistant Vice President, Assistant
	Chief Legal Officer	Clerk, and Assistant Treasurer
Legal Counsel
Ropes & Gray LLP	James F. Clark	Janet C. Smith
	Vice President, Chief Compliance	Vice President,
Independent Registered Public	Officer,and Chief Risk Officer	Principal Financial Officer,
Accounting Firm		Principal Accounting Officer,
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP	Nancy E. Florek	and Assistant Treasurer
	Vice President, Director of
	Proxy Voting and Corporate	Mark C. Trenchard
	Governance, Assistant Clerk,	Vice President
	and Assistant Treasurer

This report is for the information of shareholders of Putnam Short Term Investment Fund. Investors should carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses of a fund, which are described in its prospectus. For this and other information or to request a prospectus or summary prospectus, call 1-800-225-1581 toll free. Please read the prospectus carefully before investing. 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.

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 February 2018, the Code of Ethics of Putnam Investments was amended. The key changes to the Code of Ethics are as follows: (i) Prohibition of investing in public coin offerings or token offerings, (ii) Removal of monetary fines as available sanctions for violations of the Code of Ethics, and (iii) Expanded definition of “Immediate Family Member”.

Item 3. Audit Committee Financial Expert:

The Funds' Audit, Compliance and Distributions 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, Compliance and Distributions 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. Patterson, Ms. Baumann and Mr. Singh 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, and the funds' amended and restated agreement and Declaration of Trust provides, 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, Compliance and Distribution 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
July 31, 2019	$143,962	$ —	$3,925	$ —
July 31, 2018	$126,120	$ —	$3,925	$3,545

For the fiscal years ended July 31, 2019 and July 31, 2018, the fund's independent auditor billed aggregate non-audit fees in the amounts of $550,909 and $531,870 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, Compliance and Distributions Committee. The Audit, Compliance and Distributions 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, Compliance and Distributions 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
July 31, 2019	$ —	$546,984	$ —	$ —
July 31, 2018	$ —	$524,401	$ —	$ —

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 180 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. Disclosures of Securities Lending Activities for Closed-End Management Investment Companies:

Not Applicable

Item 13. 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 Funds Trust

By (Signature and Title):

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

Date: September 26, 2019

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: September 26, 2019

By (Signature and Title):

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

Date: September 26, 2019

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 180 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 half-year 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: September 26, 2019

/s/ Jonathan S. Horwitz

_______________________

Jonathan S. Horwitz

Principal Executive Officer

Certifications

I, Janet C. Smith, 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 180 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 half-year 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: September 26, 2019

/s/ Janet C. Smith

_______________________

Janet C. Smith

Principal Financial Officer

Attachment A

Period (s) ended July 31, 2019

               Putnam AMT-Free Municipal Fund

               George Putnam Balanced Fund

               Putnam Growth Opportunities Fund

               Putnam Premier Income Trust

               Putnam Research Fund

               Putnam Ultra Short Duration Income Fund

               Putnam Short Term Investment Fund

               Putnam Tax-Free High Yield Fund

               Putnam RetirementReady Funds:

               Putnam RetirementReady — 2060

               Putnam RetirementReady — 2055

               Putnam RetirementReady — 2050

               Putnam RetirementReady — 2045

               Putnam RetirementReady — 2040

               Putnam RetirementReady — 2035

               Putnam RetirementReady — 2030

               Putnam RetirementReady — 2025

               Putnam RetirementReady — 2020

               Putnam Retirement Income Fund Lifestyle 1

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 July 31, 2019 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 July 31, 2019 fairly presents, in all material respects, the financial condition and results of operations of the Funds listed on Attachment A.

Date: September 26, 2019

/s/ Jonathan S. Horwitz

______________________

Jonathan S. Horwitz

Principal Executive Officer

Section 906 Certifications

I, Janet C. Smith, 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 July 31, 2019 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 July 31, 2019 fairly presents, in all material respects, the financial condition and results of operations of the Funds listed on Attachment A.

Date: September 26, 2019

/s/ Janet C. Smith

______________________

Janet C. Smith

Principal Financial Officer

Attachment A

Period (s) ended July 31, 2019

               Putnam AMT-Free Municipal Fund

               George Putnam Balanced Fund

               Putnam Growth Opportunities Fund

               Putnam Premier Income Trust

               Putnam Research Fund

               Putnam Ultra Short Duration Income Fund

               Putnam Short Term Investment Fund

               Putnam Tax-Free High Yield Fund

               Putnam RetirementReady Funds:

               Putnam RetirementReady — 2060

               Putnam RetirementReady — 2055

               Putnam RetirementReady — 2050

               Putnam RetirementReady — 2045

               Putnam RetirementReady — 2040

               Putnam RetirementReady — 2035

               Putnam RetirementReady — 2030

               Putnam RetirementReady — 2025

               Putnam RetirementReady — 2020

               Putnam Retirement Income Fund Lifestyle 1

EX-99.CODE ETH

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, Compliance and Distributions 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, Compliance and Distributions 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.

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.

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:

2

(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 or her 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-C(1) and any related violations shall be reported by him to the Audit, Compliance and Distributions Committee as provided in Section I-C(2).

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, Compliance and Distributions 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.

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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.

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

As revised June 24, 2016.

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