2026-05-191014071_PutnamBDCIncomeETF_SingleClass



Putnam BDC Income ETF
PBDC \| NYSE Arca, Inc.	Annual Shareholder Report \| April 30, 2026

This annual shareholder report contains important information about Putnam BDC Income ETF for the period May 1, 2025, to April 30, 2026.
You can find additional information about the Fund at https://www.franklintempleton.com/regulatory-fund-documents. You can also request this information by contacting us at (800) DIAL BEN/342-5236.

This report describes changes to the Fund that occurred during the reporting period.

WHAT WERE THE FUND COSTS FOR THE LAST YEAR? (based on a hypothetical $10,000 investment)


Fund Name	Costs of a $10,000 investment	Costs paid as a percentage of a $10,000 investment^*
Putnam BDC Income ETF	$75	0.75%

*	Reflects fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements, without which expenses would have been higher.

HOW DID THE FUND PERFORM LAST YEAR AND WHAT AFFECTED ITS PERFORMANCE?

For the twelve months ended April 30, 2026, Putnam BDC Income ETF returned 0.13%. The Fund compares its performance to the S&P BDC Index, which returned -1.87% for the same period.

PERFORMANCE HIGHLIGHTS


Top contributors to performance:
↑	Underweight position in FS KKR Capital, which provides customized credit solutions.
↑	Overweight position in Trinity Capital, which specializes in private credit.
↑	Overweight position in Suro Capital, a venture capital firm.


Top detractors from performance:
↓	Overweight position in Blue Owl Technology Finance, which specializes in technology-related debt and equity investments.
↓	Not owning Gladstone Investment, which provides debt and equity financing.
↓	Not owning Goldman Sachs BDC, which provides tailored financing solutions.

HOW DID THE FUND PERFORM OVER THE LAST 10 YEARS?

The Fund’s past performance is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. The graph and table do not reflect the deduction of taxes that a shareholder would pay on Fund distributions or redemption of Fund shares.

VALUE OF A $10,000 INVESTMENT – Putnam BDC Income ETF 9/29/2022 — 4/30/2026

AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS (%) Period Ended April 30, 2026


	1 Year	Since Inception (9/29/2022)
Putnam BDC Income ETF (NAV)	0.13	14.62
Russell 3000 Index	31.01	21.32
S&P BDC Index	-1.87	11.22

Fund performance figures may reflect fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements, without which the performance would have been lower.

For current month-end performance, please call Franklin Templeton at (800) DIAL BEN/342-5236 or visit
https://www.franklintempleton.com/investments/options/exchange-traded-funds.

Important data provider notices and terms available at www.franklintempletondatasources.com.

KEY FUND STATISTICS (as of April 30, 2026)


Total Net Assets	$278,063,558
Total Number of Portfolio Holdings	24
Total Management Fee Paid (based on a unitary fee)	$1,794,881
Portfolio Turnover Rate	38%

WHAT DID THE FUND INVEST IN? (as of April 30, 2026)

Portfolio Composition^* (% of Total Investments)

HOW HAS THE FUND CHANGED?

Effective September 25, 2025, the Fund’s prospectus and summary prospectus disclosure regarding the Fund’s non-diversified status was deleted to reflect that the Fund is currently operating as a diversified fund. Under a new non-fundamental investment policy adopted by the Trustees, the Fund may not and will not: (A) With respect to 75% of its total assets, invest in securities of any issuer if, immediately after such investment, more than 5% of the total assets of the Fund (taken at current value) would be invested in the securities of such issuer; provided that this limitation does not apply to obligations issued or guaranteed as to interest or principal by the U.S. government or its agencies or instrumentalities or to securities issued by other investment companies. (B) With respect to 75% of its total assets, acquire more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of any issuer; provided that this limitation does not apply to obligations issued or guaranteed as to interest or principal by the U.S. government or its agencies or instrumentalities or to securities issued by other investment companies. Under current law, shareholder approval would be required for the Fund to resume operating as a non-diversified fund.

In connection with the Fund’s transition to operating as a diversified fund, ‘Non-diversified risk’ has been removed from the Fund’s principal risks.

This is a summary of certain changes to the Fund since May 1, 2025. For more complete information, you may review the Fund’s current prospectus and any applicable supplements and the Fund’s next prospectus, which we expect to be available by September 1, 2026, at https://www.franklintempleton.com/regulatory-fund-documents or upon request at (800) DIAL BEN/342-5236 or
ETFs-Product@franklintempleton.com.


	WHERE CAN I FIND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE FUND?
	Additional information is available on https://www.franklintempleton.com/regulatory-fund-documents, including its:
	• prospectus • proxy voting information • financial information • holdings • tax information

(a) The Registrant has adopted a code of ethics that applies to its principal executive officers and principal financial and accounting officer.

(f) Pursuant to Item 19(a) (1), the Registrant is attaching as an exhibit a copy of its code of ethics that applies to its principal executive officers and principal financial and accounting officer.

The Board of Trustees of the Registrant has determined that Warren Lowell and Manoj P. Singh possess the technical attributes identified in Item 3 to Form N-CSR to qualify as “audit committee financial experts,” and has designated Warren Lowell and Manoj P. Singh as the Audit Committee’s financial experts. Warren Lowell and Manoj P. Singh are “independent” Trustees pursuant to paragraph (a)(2) of Item 3 to Form N-CSR.

Under applicable securities laws, a person determined to be an audit committee financial expert will not be deemed an “expert” for any purpose, including without limitation for the purposes of Section 11 of the Securities Act of 1933, as a result of being designated or identified as an audit committee financial expert. The designation or identification of a person as an audit committee financial expert does not impose on such person any duties, obligations, or liabilities greater than the duties, obligations, and liabilities imposed on such person as a member of the audit committee and board of directors in the absence of such designation or identification. The designation or identification of a person as an audit committee financial expert does not affect the duties, obligations, or liability of any other member of the audit committee or board of directors.

(a) Audit Fees. The aggregate fees billed in the last two fiscal years ending April 30, 2025 and April 30, 2026 (the “Reporting Periods”) for professional services rendered by the Registrant’s principal accountant (the “Auditor”) for the audit of the Registrant’s annual financial statements, or services that are normally provided by the Auditor in connection with the statutory and regulatory filings or engagements for the Reporting Periods, were $153,203 in April 30, 2025 and $164,798 in April 30, 2026.

(b) Audit-Related Fees. The aggregate fees billed in the Reporting Periods for assurance and related services by the Auditor that are reasonably related to the performance of the Registrant’s financial statements were $0 in April 30, 2025 and $0 in April 30, 2026.

(c) Tax Fees. The aggregate fees billed in the Reporting Periods for professional services rendered by the Auditor for tax compliance, tax advice and tax planning (“Tax Services”) were $26,747 in April 30, 2025 and $26,747 in April 30, 2026. These services consisted of (i) review or preparation of U.S. federal, state, local and excise tax returns; (ii) U.S. federal, state and local tax planning, advice and assistance regarding statutory, regulatory or administrative developments, and (iii) tax advice regarding tax qualification matters and/or treatment of various financial instruments held or proposed to be acquired or held.

There were no fees billed for tax services by the Registrant’s investment adviser and any entity controlling, controlled by, or under common control with the investment adviser that provides ongoing services to the Registrant (“Service Affiliates”) during the Reporting Periods that required pre-approval by the Audit Committee.

(d) All Other Fees. The aggregate fees billed in the Reporting Periods for products and services provided by the Auditor to the Registrant, other than the services reported in paragraphs (a) through (c) of this item, were $0 in April 30, 2025 and $0 in April 30, 2026.

There were no other non-audit services rendered by the Auditor to the Service Affiliates requiring pre-approval by the Audit Committee in the Reporting Periods.

(e) Audit Committee’s pre–approval policies and procedures described in paragraph (c) (7) of Rule 2-01 of Regulation S-X.

Pre-Approval Policies of the Audit, Compliance and Risk Committee. The Audit, Compliance and Risk 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 Risk Committee also has adopted a policy to pre-approve the engagement by the fund’s investment manager and certain of its affiliates of the fund’s independent auditors, even in circumstances where pre-approval is not required by applicable law. Any such requests by the fund’s investment manager 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.

(2) None of the services described in paragraphs (b) through (d) of this Item were performed in reliance on paragraph (c)(7)(i)(C) of Rule 2-01 of Regulation S-X.

(g) Non-audit fees billed by the Auditor for services rendered to the Registrant and the Service Affiliates during the reporting period were $664,363 in April 30, 2025 and $1,474,011 in April 30, 2026.

(h) Yes. The Registrant’s Audit Committee has considered whether the provision of non-audit services that were rendered to Service Affiliates, which were not pre-approved (not requiring pre-approval), is compatible with maintaining the Auditor’s independence. All services provided by the Auditor to the Registrant or to the Service Affiliates, which were required to be pre-approved, were pre-approved as required.

Schedule of Investments

April 30, 2026

Putnam BDC Income ETF

(Percentages shown based on Fund net assets)

Security		Shares	Value
Investments in Underlying Funds(a) — 99.3%
Ares Capital Corp.		1,714,314	$32,846,256
Bain Capital Specialty Finance Inc.		667,395	9,170,007
Barings BDC Inc.		1,120,182	10,238,464
BlackRock TCP Capital Corp.		372,722	1,610,159
Blackstone Secured Lending Fund		512,084	12,699,683
Blue Owl Capital Corp.		1,863,874	21,844,603
Blue Owl Technology Finance Corp.		2,614,280	29,750,506
Capital Southwest Corp.		358,827	8,611,848
Crescent Capital BDC Inc.		80,676	1,098,807
Fidus Investment Corp.		207,890	3,943,673
FS KKR Capital Corp.		1,259,810	14,172,863
Golub Capital BDC Inc.		1,500,616	20,558,439
Hercules Capital Inc.		1,213,737	19,480,479
Kayne Anderson BDC Inc.		793,041	11,816,311
Main Street Capital Corp.		338,293	18,890,281
MidCap Financial Investment Corp.		417,288	4,928,171
Morgan Stanley Direct Lending Fund		194,461	3,016,090
MSC Income Fund Inc.		694,848	8,970,488
Runway Growth Finance Corp.		569,034	3,829,599
Sixth Street Specialty Lending Inc.		659,778	12,931,649
SLR Investment Corp.		577,099	9,118,164
SuRo Capital Corp.		272,471	3,645,662
Trinity Capital Inc.		781,060	12,973,407
Total Investments before Short-Term Investments (Cost — $296,852,441)			276,145,609
	Rate
Short-Term Investments — 0.8%
Putnam Government Money Market Fund, Class P Shares (Cost — $2,259,670)	3.420%	2,259,670	2,259,670 (b)(c)
Total Investments — 100.1% (Cost — $299,112,111)			278,405,279
Liabilities in Excess of Other Assets — (0.1)%			(341,721 )
Total Net Assets — 100.0%			$278,063,558

(a)	Security is a business development company (Note 1).
(b)	Rate shown is one-day yield as of the end of the reporting period.
(c)	In this instance, as defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940, an “Affiliated Company” represents Fund ownership of at least 5% of the outstanding voting securities of an issuer, or a company which is under common ownership or control with the Fund. At April 30, 2026, the total market value of investments in Affiliated Companies was $2,259,670 and the cost was $2,259,670 (Note 6).

See Notes to Financial Statements.

Putnam BDC Income ETF 2026 Annual Report

Statement of Assets and Liabilities

April 30, 2026

Assets:
Investments in unaffiliated securities, at value (Cost — $296,852,441)	$276,145,609
Investments in affiliated securities, at value (Cost — $2,259,670)	2,259,670
Dividends receivable from unaffiliated investments	225,337
Receivable for securities sold	139,180
Dividends receivable from affiliated investments	3,976
Total Assets	278,773,772
Liabilities:
Payable for securities purchased	547,501
Investment management fee payable	162,713
Total Liabilities	710,214
Total Net Assets	$278,063,558
Net Assets:
Paid-in capital	$316,316,957
Total distributable earnings (loss)	(38,253,399 )
Total Net Assets	$278,063,558
Shares Outstanding	9,775,000
Net Asset Value	$28.45

See Notes to Financial Statements.

Putnam BDC Income ETF 2026 Annual Report

Statement of Operations

For the Year Ended April 30, 2026

Investment Income:
Dividends from unaffiliated investments	$26,436,966
Dividends from affiliated investments	33,933
Total Investment Income	26,470,899
Expenses:
Investment management fee (Note 2)	1,797,028
Total Expenses	1,797,028
Less: Fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements (Note 2)	(2,147 )
Net Expenses	1,794,881
Net Investment Income	24,676,018
Realized and Unrealized Loss on Investments (Notes 1 and 3):
Net Realized Loss From Unaffiliated Investment Transactions	(11,474,613 )
Change in Net Unrealized Appreciation (Depreciation) From Unaffiliated Investments	(13,200,200 )
Net Loss on Investments	(24,674,813 )
Increase in Net Assets From Operations	$1,205

See Notes to Financial Statements.

Putnam BDC Income ETF 2026 Annual Report

Statements of Changes in Net Assets

For the Years Ended April 30,	2026	2025
Operations:
Net investment income	$24,676,018	$12,431,324
Net realized gain (loss)	(11,474,613 )	813,825
Change in net unrealized appreciation (depreciation)	(13,200,200 )	(16,325,671 )
Increase (Decrease) in Net Assets From Operations	1,205	(3,080,522 )
Distributions to Shareholders From (Note 1):
Total distributable earnings	(24,571,648 )	(12,571,500 )
Decrease in Net Assets From Distributions to Shareholders	(24,571,648 )	(12,571,500 )
Fund Share Transactions (Note 5):
Net proceeds from sale of shares (5,150,000 and 4,275,000 shares issued, respectively)	154,456,843	146,001,325
Cost of shares repurchased (1,525,000 and 400,000 shares repurchased, respectively)	(45,552,463 )	(13,735,003 )
Increase in Net Assets From Fund Share Transactions	108,904,380	132,266,322
Increase in Net Assets	84,333,937	116,614,300
Net Assets:
Beginning of year	193,729,621	77,115,321
End of year	$278,063,558	$193,729,621

See Notes to Financial Statements.

Putnam BDC Income ETF 2026 Annual Report

Financial Highlights

For a share of beneficial interest outstanding throughout each year ended April 30, unless otherwise noted:
	20261	20251	20241	20231,2
Net asset value, beginning of year	$31.50	$33.90	$27.96	$25.00
Income (loss) from operations:
Net investment income	3.17	3.28	3.34	1.73
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)	(3.07 )	(2.46 )	5.76	2.88
Total income from operations	0.10	0.82	9.10	4.61
Less distributions from:
Net investment income	(3.15 )	(3.22 )	(3.14 )	(1.60 )
Net realized gains	—	—	(0.02 )	(0.05 )
Total distributions	(3.15 )	(3.22 )	(3.16 )	(1.65 )
Net asset value, end of year	$28.45	$31.50	$33.90	$27.96
Total return, based on NAV3	0.13 %	2.30 %	34.14 %	18.71 %4
Net assets, end of year (000s)	$278,064	$193,730	$77,115	$29,359
Ratios to average net assets:
Gross expenses	0.75 %	0.75 %	0.75 %	0.47 %4,5
Net expenses6,7	0.75	0.75	0.75	0.47 4,5
Net investment income	10.30	9.68	10.63	6.12 4
Portfolio turnover rate8	38 %	31 %	38 %	29 %4

1	Per share amounts have been calculated using the average shares method.
2	For the period September 29, 2022 (inception date) to April 30, 2023.
3	Performance figures may reflect fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements. In the absence of fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements, the total return would have been lower. The total return calculation assumes that distributions are reinvested at NAV. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Total returns for periods of less than one year are not annualized.
4	Not annualized.
5	Includes one-time proxy cost of 0.03%.
6	The manager has agreed to waive the Fund’s management fee to an extent sufficient to offset the net management fee payable in connection with any investment in an affiliated money market fund.
7	Reflects fee waivers and/or expense reimbursements.
8	Portfolio turnover excludes the value of portfolio securities received or delivered as a result of in-kind fund share transactions.

See Notes to Financial Statements.

Putnam BDC Income ETF 2026 Annual Report

Notes to Financial Statements

1. Organization and significant accounting policies

Putnam BDC Income ETF (the “Fund”) is a separate diversified investment series of Putnam ETF Trust (the “Trust”). The Trust, a Delaware statutory trust, is registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”), as an open-end management investment company.

The Fund is an actively managed exchange-traded fund (“ETF”). ETFs are funds that trade like other publicly-traded securities. Unlike shares of a mutual fund, which can be bought from and redeemed by the issuing fund by all shareholders at a price based on net asset value (“NAV”), shares of the Fund may be directly purchased from and redeemed by the Fund at NAV solely by certain large institutional investors who have entered into agreements with the Fund’s distributor (“Authorized Participants”). Also unlike shares of a mutual fund, shares of the Fund are listed on a national securities exchange and trade in the secondary market at market prices that change throughout the day.

Shares of the Fund are listed and traded at market prices on NYSE Arca, Inc. The market price for the Fund’s shares may be different from the Fund’s NAV. The Fund issues and redeems shares at NAV only in blocks of a specified number of shares or multiples thereof (“Creation Units”). Only Authorized Participants may purchase or redeem Creation Units directly with the Fund at NAV. Creation Units are created and redeemed principally in-kind (although under some circumstances its shares are created and redeemed partially for cash). Except when aggregated in Creation Units, shares of the Fund are not redeemable securities. Shareholders who are not Authorized Participants may not redeem shares directly from the Fund at NAV.

The Fund follows the accounting and reporting guidance in Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification Topic 946, Financial Services – Investment Companies (“ASC 946”). The following are significant accounting policies consistently followed by the Fund and are in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”), including, but not limited to, ASC 946. Estimates and assumptions are required to be made regarding assets, liabilities and changes in net assets resulting from operations when financial statements are prepared. Changes in the economic environment, financial markets and any other parameters used in determining these estimates could cause actual results to differ. Subsequent events have been evaluated through the date the financial statements were issued.

(a) Investment valuation. Equity securities for which market quotations are available are valued at the last reported sales price or official closing price on the primary market or exchange on which they trade. The valuations for fixed income securities (which may include, but are not limited to, corporate, government, municipal, mortgage-backed, collateralized mortgage obligations and asset-backed securities) and certain derivative instruments are typically the prices supplied by independent third party pricing services, which may use market prices or broker/dealer quotations or a variety of valuation techniques and methodologies. The independent third party pricing services typically use

Putnam BDC Income ETF 2026 Annual Report

Notes to Financial Statements (cont’d)

inputs that are observable such as issuer details, interest rates, yield curves, prepayment speeds, credit risks/spreads, default rates and quoted prices for similar securities. Investments in open-end funds are valued at the closing net asset value per share of each fund on the day of valuation. When the Fund holds securities or other assets that are denominated in a foreign currency, the Fund will use the currency exchange rates, generally determined as of 4:00 p.m. (Eastern Time). If independent third party pricing services are unable to supply prices for a portfolio investment, or if the prices supplied are deemed by the manager to be unreliable, the market price may be determined by the manager using quotations from one or more broker/dealers or at the transaction price if the security has recently been purchased and no value has yet been obtained from a pricing service or pricing broker. When reliable prices are not readily available, such as when the value of a security has been significantly affected by events after the close of the exchange or market on which the security is principally traded, but before the Fund calculates its net asset value, the Fund values these securities as determined in accordance with procedures approved by the Fund’s Board of Trustees (the “Board”).

Pursuant to policies adopted by the Board, the Fund’s manager has been designated as the valuation designee and is responsible for the oversight of the daily valuation process. The Fund’s manager is assisted by the Global Fund Valuation Committee (the “Valuation Committee”). The Valuation Committee is responsible for making fair value determinations, evaluating the effectiveness of the Fund’s pricing policies, and reporting to the Fund’s manager and the Board. When determining the reliability of third party pricing information for investments owned by the Fund, the Valuation Committee, among other things, conducts due diligence reviews of pricing vendors, monitors the daily change in prices and reviews transactions among market participants.

The Valuation Committee will consider pricing methodologies it deems relevant and appropriate when making fair value determinations. Examples of possible methodologies include, but are not limited to, multiple of earnings; discount from market of a similar freely traded security; discounted cash-flow analysis; book value or a multiple thereof; risk premium/yield analysis; yield to maturity; and/or fundamental investment analysis. The Valuation Committee will also consider factors it deems relevant and appropriate in light of the facts and circumstances. Examples of possible factors include, but are not limited to, the type of security; the issuer’s financial statements; the purchase price of the security; the discount from market value of unrestricted securities of the same class at the time of purchase; analysts’ research and observations from financial institutions; information regarding any transactions or offers with respect to the security; the existence of merger proposals or tender offers affecting the security; the price and extent of public trading in similar securities of the issuer or comparable companies; and the existence of a shelf registration for restricted securities. Additionally, if the closing net asset value per share for an underlying fund is not available on the day of valuation, the Valuation Committee may adjust the underlying fund’s last available net asset value per share to account for

Putnam BDC Income ETF 2026 Annual Report

significant events that have occurred subsequent to the underlying fund’s last net asset value per share calculation but prior to the day of valuation.

For each portfolio security that has been fair valued pursuant to the policies adopted by the Board, the fair value price is compared against the last available and next available market quotations. The Valuation Committee reviews the results of such back testing monthly and fair valuation occurrences are reported to the Board quarterly.

The Fund uses valuation techniques to measure fair value that are consistent with the market approach and/or income approach, depending on the type of security and the particular circumstance. The market approach uses prices and other relevant information generated by market transactions involving identical or comparable securities. The income approach uses valuation techniques to discount estimated future cash flows to present value.

GAAP establishes a disclosure hierarchy that categorizes the inputs to valuation techniques used to value assets and liabilities at measurement date. These inputs are summarized in the three broad levels listed below:

•

Level 1 — unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical investments

•

Level 2 — other significant observable inputs (including quoted prices for similar investments, interest rates, prepayment speeds, credit risk, etc.)

•

Level 3 — significant unobservable inputs (including the Fund’s own assumptions in determining the fair value of investments)

The inputs or methodologies used to value securities are not necessarily an indication of the risk associated with investing in those securities.

The following is a summary of the inputs used in valuing the Fund’s assets carried at fair value:

ASSETS
Description	Quoted Prices (Level 1)	Other Significant Observable Inputs (Level 2)	Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3)	Total
Investments in Underlying Funds†	$276,145,609	—	—	$276,145,609
Short-Term Investments†	2,259,670	—	—	2,259,670
Total Investments	$278,405,279	—	—	$278,405,279

†	See Schedule of Investments for additional detailed categorizations.

(b) Business development companies. The Fund may invest in securities of closed-end investment companies that have elected to be treated as a business development company under the 1940 Act. The Fund may purchase a business development company to gain exposure to the securities in the underlying portfolio. The risks of owning a business

Putnam BDC Income ETF 2026 Annual Report

Notes to Financial Statements (cont’d)

development company generally reflect the risks of owning the underlying securities. Business development companies have expenses that reduce their value.

(c) Security transactions and investment income. Security transactions are accounted for on a trade date basis. Interest income (including interest income from payment-in-kind securities) is recorded on the accrual basis. Amortization of premiums and accretion of discounts on debt securities are recorded to interest income over the lives of the respective securities, except for premiums on certain callable debt securities, which are amortized to the earliest call date. Dividend income is recorded on the ex-dividend date for dividends received in cash and/or securities. Foreign dividend income is recorded on the ex-dividend date or as soon as practicable after the Fund determines the existence of a dividend declaration after exercising reasonable due diligence. The cost of investments sold is determined by use of the specific identification method. To the extent any issuer defaults or a credit event occurs that impacts the issuer, the Fund may halt any additional interest income accruals and consider the realizability of interest accrued up to the date of default or credit event.

(d) Distributions to shareholders. Distributions from net investment income of the Fund, if any, are declared and paid on a quarterly basis. Distributions of net realized gains, if any, are declared at least annually. Distributions to shareholders of the Fund are recorded on the ex-dividend date and are determined in accordance with income tax regulations, which may differ from GAAP.

(e) Federal and other taxes. It is the Fund’s policy to comply with the federal income and excise tax requirements of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), applicable to regulated investment companies. Accordingly, the Fund intends to distribute its taxable income and net realized gains, if any, to shareholders in accordance with timing requirements imposed by the Code. Therefore, no federal or state income tax provision is required in the Fund’s financial statements.

Management has analyzed the Fund’s tax positions taken on income tax returns for all open tax years and has concluded that as of April 30, 2026, no provision for income tax is required in the Fund’s financial statements. The Fund’s federal and state income and federal excise tax returns for the prior three fiscal years are subject to examination by the Internal Revenue Service and state departments of revenue.

(f) Reclassification. GAAP requires that certain components of net assets be reclassified to reflect permanent differences between financial and tax reporting. These reclassifications have no effect on net assets or net asset value per share. During the current year, the following reclassifications have been made:

	Total Distributable Earnings (Loss)	Paid-in Capital
(a)	$(4,158,605)	$4,158,605

(a)

Reclassifications are due to book/tax differences in the treatment of an in-kind distribution of securities.

Putnam BDC Income ETF 2026 Annual Report

2. Investment management agreement and other transactions with affiliates

Putnam Investment Management, LLC (“Putnam Management”) is the Fund’s investment manager. Franklin Advisers, Inc. (“Advisers”) and Franklin Templeton Investment Management Limited (“FTIML”) are the Fund’s subadvisers. Advisers and Putnam Management are direct and indirect wholly-owned subsidiaries, respectively, of Franklin Resources, Inc. (“Franklin Resources”). FTIML is an indirect subsidiary of Franklin Resources.

The Fund pays its investment manager an annual all-inclusive management fee of 0.75% based on the Fund’s average daily net assets computed daily and paid monthly. The management fee covers investment management services and all of the Fund’s organizational and other operating expenses with certain exceptions, including but not limited to: payments under distribution plans, interest, taxes, brokerage commissions and other transaction costs, fund proxy expenses, litigation expenses, extraordinary expenses and acquired fund fees and expenses.

Putnam Management has retained Advisers as a subadviser for the Fund pursuant to a subadvisory agreement. Pursuant to the agreement, Advisers provides certain advisory and related services to the Fund. Putnam Management pays a monthly fee to Advisers based on the costs of Advisers in providing these services to the Fund, which may include a mark-up not to exceed 15% over such costs.

FTIML 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. FTIML did not manage any portion of the assets of the Fund during the reporting period. If Putnam Management were to engage the services of FTIML, Putnam Management (and not the Fund) would pay a monthly sub-management fee to FTIML for its services at an annual rate of 0.25% of the average net assets of the portion of the Fund assets managed by FTIML.

Under an agreement with Advisers, Franklin Templeton Services, LLC (“Franklin Templeton Services”), provides administrative services to the Fund. The fee is paid by Advisers based on the costs incurred by Franklin Templeton Services and is not an additional expense of the Fund.

The Fund invests in Putnam Government Money Market Fund, an open-end management investment company managed by Advisers. The manager has agreed to waive the Fund’s management fee to an extent sufficient to offset the net management fee payable in connection with any investment in an affiliated money market fund (the “affiliated money market fund waiver”).

During the year ended April 30, 2026, fees waived and/or expenses reimbursed amounted to $2,147, all of which was an affiliated money market fund waiver.

Franklin Distributors, LLC (“Franklin Distributors”) serves as the distributor of Creation Units for the Fund on an agency basis. Franklin Distributors is an indirect, wholly-owned broker-dealer subsidiary of Franklin Resources.

Putnam BDC Income ETF 2026 Annual Report

Notes to Financial Statements (cont’d)

The Board has adopted a Rule 12b-1 shareholder services and distribution plan and under that plan, the Fund is authorized to pay service and/or distribution fees calculated at an annual rate of up to 0.25% of its average daily net assets. No service and/or distribution fees are currently paid by the Fund, and there are no current plans to impose these fees.

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 from July 1, 1995 through December 31, 2023. The deferred fees remain invested in certain Putnam funds until distribution in accordance with the Deferral Plan.

All officers and one Trustee of the Trust are employees of Franklin Resources or its affiliates and do not receive compensation from the Trust.

3. Investments

During the year ended April 30, 2026, the aggregate cost of purchases and proceeds from sales of investments (excluding in-kind transactions and short-term investments) were as follows:

Purchases	$101,674,797
Sales	89,841,708

During the year ended April 30, 2026, in-kind transactions (Note 5) were as follows:

Contributions	$140,527,475
Redemptions	44,072,869
Realized gain (loss)*	4,378,446

*	Net realized gains on redemptions in-kind are not taxable to the remaining shareholders of the Fund.

The in-kind contributions and in-kind redemptions shown in this table may not agree with the Fund Share Transactions on the Statements of Changes in Net Assets. This table represents the accumulation of the Fund’s daily net shareholder transactions while the Statements of Changes in Net Assets reflects gross shareholder transactions including any cash component of the transactions.

At April 30, 2026, the aggregate cost of investments and the aggregate gross unrealized appreciation and depreciation of investments for federal income tax purposes were as follows:

	Cost	Gross Unrealized Appreciation	Gross Unrealized Depreciation	Net Unrealized Depreciation
Securities	$301,485,969	$5,504,682	$(28,585,372)	$(23,080,690)

4. Derivative instruments and hedging activities

During the year ended April 30, 2026, the Fund did not invest in derivative instruments.

Putnam BDC Income ETF 2026 Annual Report

5. Fund share transactions

At April 30, 2026, the Trust had an unlimited number of shares of beneficial interest authorized without par value. Fund shares are issued and redeemed by the Fund only in Creation Units or Creation Unit aggregations, where 25,000 shares of the Fund constitute a Creation Unit. Such transactions are generally on an in-kind basis, with a separate cash payment, which is a balancing cash component to equate the transaction to the net asset value per share of the Fund on the transaction date. Transactions in capital shares of the Fund are disclosed in detail in the Statements of Changes in Net Assets. Authorized Participants are subject to standard creation and redemption transaction fees to offset transfer and other transaction costs associated with the issuance and redemption of Creation Units. Such transactions fees are treated as increases in capital and are disclosed in the Fund’s Statements of Changes in Net Assets. Creations and redemptions for cash (when cash creations and redemptions are available or specified) may be subject to an additional variable fee.

6. Transactions with affiliated company

As defined by the 1940 Act, an affiliated company is one in which the Fund owns 5% or more of the outstanding voting securities, or a company which is under common ownership or control with the Fund. The following company was considered an affiliated company for all or some portion of the year ended April 30, 2026. The following transactions were effected in such company for the year ended April 30, 2026.

	Affiliate Value at April 30, 2025	Purchased		Sold
	Affiliate Value at April 30, 2025	Cost	Shares	Proceeds	Shares
Putnam Government Money Market Fund, Class P Shares	$734,072	$46,083,418	46,083,418	$44,557,820	44,557,820

(cont’d)	Realized Gain (Loss)	Dividend Income	Net Increase (Decrease) in Unrealized Appreciation (Depreciation)	Affiliate Value at April 30, 2026
Putnam Government Money Market Fund, Class P Shares	—	$33,933	—	$2,259,670

7. Redemption facility

The Fund, together with other U.S. registered and foreign investment funds (collectively, the “Borrowers”) managed by Franklin Resources or its affiliates, was a borrower in a joint syndicated senior unsecured credit facility totaling $2.995 billion (the “Global Credit Facility”). The Global Credit Facility provides a source of funds to the Borrowers for

Putnam BDC Income ETF 2026 Annual Report

Notes to Financial Statements (cont’d)

temporary and emergency purposes, including the ability to meet future unanticipated or unusually large redemption requests.

Under the terms of the Global Credit Facility, the Fund shall, in addition to interest charged on any borrowings made by the Fund and other costs incurred by the Fund, pay its share of fees and expenses incurred in connection with the implementation and maintenance of the Global Credit Facility, based upon its relative share of the aggregate net assets of all the Borrowers, including an annual commitment fee of 0.15% based upon the unused portion of the Global Credit Facility. The Fund did not utilize the Global Credit Facility during the year ended April 30, 2026.

8. Income tax information and distributions to shareholders

The tax character of distributions paid during the fiscal years ended April 30, was as follows:

	2026	2025
Distributions paid from:
Ordinary income	$24,571,648	$12,571,500

As of April 30, 2026, the components of distributable earnings (loss) on a tax basis were as follows:

Undistributed ordinary income — net	$104,370
Deferred capital losses*	(15,277,079)
Unrealized appreciation (depreciation)(a)	(23,080,690)
Total distributable earnings (loss) — net	$(38,253,399)

*	These capital losses have been deferred in the current year as either short-term or long-term losses. The losses will be deemed to occur on the first day of the next taxable year in the same character as they were originally deferred and will be available to offset future taxable capital gains.
(a)	The difference between book-basis and tax-basis unrealized appreciation (depreciation) is attributable to the tax deferral of losses on wash sales and other book/tax basis adjustments.

9. Operating segments

The Fund operates as a single operating segment, which is an investment portfolio. A management group assigned to the Fund within the Fund’s investment manager serves as the Chief Operating Decision Maker (“CODM”) and is responsible for evaluating the Fund’s operating results and allocating resources in accordance with the Fund’s investment strategy. Internal reporting provided to the CODM aligns with the accounting policies and measurement principles used in the financial statements.

For information regarding segment assets, segment profit or loss, and significant expenses, refer to the Statement of Assets and Liabilities and the Statement of Operations, along with the related Notes to Financial Statements. The Fund’s Schedule of Investments provides details of the Fund’s investments that generate returns such as interest, dividends, and realized and unrealized gains or losses. Performance metrics, including portfolio turnover and expense ratios, are disclosed in the Financial Highlights.

Putnam BDC Income ETF 2026 Annual Report

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

To the Board of Trustees of Putnam ETF Trust and Shareholders of Putnam BDC Income ETF

Opinion on the Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying statement of assets and liabilities, including the schedule of investments, of Putnam BDC Income ETF (one of the funds constituting Putnam ETF Trust, referred to hereafter as the “Fund”) as of April 30, 2026, the related statement of operations for the year ended April 30, 2026, the statements of changes in net assets for each of the two years in the period ended April 30, 2026, including the related notes, and the financial highlights for each of the three years in the period ended April 30, 2026 and for the period September 29, 2022 (inception date) to April 30, 2023 (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 April 30, 2026, 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 April 30, 2026 and the financial highlights for each of the three years in the period ended April 30, 2026 and for the period September 29, 2022 (inception date) to April 30, 2023 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 April 30, 2026 by correspondence with the custodian, transfer agent and broker; when replies were not received from a broker, we performed other auditing procedures. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

/s/ PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

Boston, Massachusetts
June 17, 2026

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

Putnam BDC Income ETF 2026 Annual Report

Important Tax Information (unaudited)

By mid-February, tax information related to a shareholder’s proportionate share of distributions paid during the preceding calendar year will be received, if applicable. Please also refer to www.franklintempleton.com for per share tax information related to any distributions paid during the preceding calendar year. Shareholders are advised to consult with their tax advisors for further information on the treatment of these amounts on their tax returns.

The following tax information for the Fund is required to be furnished to shareholders with respect to income earned and distributions paid during its fiscal year.

The Fund hereby reports the following amounts, or if subsequently determined to be different, the maximum allowable amounts, for the fiscal year ended April 30, 2026:

	Pursuant to:	Amount Reported
Qualified Dividend Income Earned (QDI)	§854(b)(1)(B)	$1,009,678
Section 163(j) Interest Earned	§163(j)	$9,988

Putnam BDC Income ETF

Putnam

BDC Income ETF

Trustees

Liaquat Ahamed

Barbara M. Baumann

Chair

Jonathan de St. Paer*

Katinka Domotorffy

Catharine Bond Hill

Gregory G. McGreevey

Jennifer Williams Murphy

Marie Pillai

Warren Lowell Putnam*

George Putnam III

Robert L. Reynolds

Manoj P. Singh

Mona K. Sutphen

Kenneth Yutaka Tanji*

Jane Trust

Investment manager

Putnam Investment Management, LLC

Subadvisers

Franklin Advisers, Inc.

Franklin Templeton Investment Management Limited

Distributor

Franklin Distributors, LLC

Custodian

The Bank of New York Mellon

Transfer agent

The Bank of New York Mellon
240 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10286

Independent registered public accounting firm

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP Boston, MA

Effective March 1, 2026, Messrs. de St. Paer, Putnam and Tanji became Trustees of the Fund.

Putnam BDC Income ETF

The Fund is a separate investment series of Putnam ETF Trust, a Delaware statutory trust.

Putnam BDC Income ETF
Putnam Investments
100 Federal Street
Boston, MA 02110

The Fund files its complete schedule of portfolio holdings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) for the first and third quarters of each fiscal year as an exhibit to its reports on Form N-PORT. The Fund’s Forms N-PORT are available on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. To obtain information on Form N-PORT, shareholders can call the Fund at 1-800-225-1581.

Information on how the Fund voted proxies relating to portfolio securities during the prior 12-month period ended June 30th of each year and a description of the policies and procedures that the Fund uses to determine how to vote proxies related to portfolio transactions are available (1) without charge, upon request, by calling the Fund at 1-800-225-1581, (2) at www.franklintempleton.com and (3) on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.

This report is submitted for the general information of the shareholders of Putnam BDC Income ETF. This report is not authorized for distribution to prospective investors in the Fund unless preceded or accompanied by a current prospectus.

Investors should consider the Fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. The prospectus contains this and other important information about the Fund. Please read the prospectus carefully before investing.

www.franklintempleton.com

The information is disclosed as part of the Financial Statements included in Item 7 of this Form N-CSR.

The information is disclosed as part of the Financial Statements included in Item 7 of this Form N-CSR, as applicable.

There have been no changes to the procedures by which shareholders may recommend nominees to the Registrant’s Board of Trustees that would require disclosure herein.

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, there unto duly authorized.

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.

Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants	For the period covered by this report
Not applicable.
Results of Meeting(s) of Shareholders	For the period covered by this report
Not applicable.
Remuneration Paid to Directors, Officers and Others	For the period covered by this report
Not applicable. Remuneration paid to directors, officers, and others is included as part of the all-inclusive management fee and not paid directly by the Fund.

By:	/s/ Jonathan S. Horwitz
	Jonathan S. Horwitz
	Principal Executive Officer

Date:	June 25, 2026

By:	/s/ Jonathan S. Horwitz
	Jonathan S. Horwitz
	Principal Executive Officer

Date:	June 25, 2026

By:	/s/ Jeffrey White
	Jeffrey White
	Principal Financial Officer

Date:	June 25, 2026

Abbreviation(s) used in this schedule:
BDC	—	Business development company.