Putnam Bids Due

Marsh & McLennan (MMC Quote) expects final offers this week on its Putnam money-management unit, according to media reports.

The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that Boston-based Putnam is expected to draw bids from Amvescap of the U.K., Unicredito of Italy and Power Corp. of Canada.

The news comes just two months after New York-based Marsh put Putnam on the block, saying it had received inquires over the past several months.

"I decided it was in the interest of our shareholders to do a market check to determine the value others would put on Putnam, Marsh CEO Michael Cherkasky said in September. "We have just commenced this process and have not decided to take any specific action in regard to Putnam at this time."

Cherkasky issued that statement after The Wall Street Journal reported that Marsh had hired Goldman Sachs(GS Quote) to look for a possible buyer for Putnam.

In the now three-year-old mutual fund trading scandal, Putnam took a big hit to its reputation after regulators discovered that some of the firm's portfolio managers had been making inappropriate trades in the funds they managed. Putnam ultimately paid a $110 million penalty in a settlement with securities regulators over its role in the mutual fund trading scandal. The fund company was one of the first to be charged in the far-reaching scandal.

Sun Life(SLF Quote), the partner of MFS Funds, said in September it had hired investment bankers to find a buyer for the Massachusetts-based mutual fund family. But last month, Sun Life said it would hold onto MFS and instead will focus on "improving performance and profit margins."