SUMMARY PROSPECTUS March 1, 2021 | |||
T. ROWE PRICE | |||
Emerging Markets Discovery Stock Fund | |||
PRIJX REVIX PAIJX TRFZX | Investor Class I Class Advisor Class Z Class | ||
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has not approved or disapproved these securities or passed upon the adequacy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense. Before you invest, you may want to review the fund’s prospectus, which contains more information about the fund and its risks. You can find the fund’s prospectus, shareholder reports, and other information about the fund online at troweprice.com/prospectus. You can also get this information at no cost by calling 1-800-638-5660, by sending an e-mail request to info@troweprice.com, or by contacting your financial intermediary. This Summary Prospectus incorporates by reference the fund’s prospectus, dated March 1, 2021, as amended or supplemented, and Statement of Additional Information, dated March 1, 2021, as amended or supplemented. | |||
SUMMARY | 1 |
Investment Objective(s)
The fund seeks long-term growth of capital.
Fees and Expenses
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares of the fund. You may also incur brokerage commissions and other charges when buying or selling shares of the Investor Class or I Class which are not reflected in the table.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund
Investor | I | Advisor | Z | |||||
Shareholder fees (fees paid directly from your investment) | ||||||||
Maximum account fee | $20 | a | — | — | — | |||
Annual fund operating expenses | ||||||||
Management fees | 1.04 | % | 1.04 | % | 1.04 | % | 1.04 | % |
Distribution and service (12b-1) fees | — | — | 0.25 | — | ||||
Other expenses | 0.34 | 0.18 | c | 0.84 | 0.10 | |||
Total annual fund operating expenses | 1.38 | 1.22 | 2.13 | 1.14 | ||||
Fee waiver/expense reimbursement | (0.15 | )b | (0.14 | )c | (0.48 | )d | (1.14 | )e |
Total annual fund operating expenses after fee waiver/expense reimbursement | 1.23 | b | 1.08 | c | 1.65 | d | 0.00 | e |
a Subject to certain exceptions, accounts with a balance of less than $10,000 are charged an annual $20 fee.
b T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., has contractually agreed (through February 28, 2022) to waive its fees and/or bear any expenses (excluding interest; expenses related to borrowings, taxes, and brokerage; nonrecurring, extraordinary expenses; and acquired fund fees and expenses) that would cause the class’ ratio of expenses to average daily net assets to exceed 1.23%. The agreement may only be terminated at any time after February 28, 2022, with approval by the fund’s Board of Directors. Fees waived and expenses paid under this agreement (and a previous limitation of 1.50%) are subject to reimbursement to T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., by the fund whenever the class’ expense ratio is below 1.23%. However, no reimbursement will be made more than three years from the date such amounts were initially waived or reimbursed. The fund may only make repayments to T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., if such repayment does not cause the class’ expense ratio (after the repayment is taken into account) to exceed the lesser of: (1) the expense limitation in place at the time such amounts were waived; or (2) the class’ current expense limitation.
c T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., has contractually agreed (through February 28, 2023) to pay the operating expenses of the fund’s I Class excluding management fees; interest; expenses related to borrowings, taxes, and brokerage; nonrecurring, extraordinary expenses; and acquired fund fees and expenses (“I Class Operating Expenses”), to the extent the I Class Operating Expenses exceed 0.05% of the class’ average daily net assets. The agreement may only be terminated at any time after February 28, 2023, with approval by the fund’s Board of Directors. Any expenses paid under this agreement (and a previous limitation of 0.05%) are subject to reimbursement to T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., by the fund whenever the fund’s I Class Operating Expenses are below 0.05%. However, no reimbursement will be made more than three years from the date such amounts were initially waived or reimbursed. The fund may only make repayments to T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., if such repayment does not cause the I Class Operating Expenses (after the repayment is taken into account) to exceed the lesser of: (1) the limitation on I Class
T. ROWE PRICE | 2 |
Operating Expenses in place at the time such amounts were waived; or (2) the current expense limitation on I Class Operating Expenses.
d T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., has contractually agreed (through February 28, 2022) to waive its fees and/or bear any expenses (excluding interest; expenses related to borrowings, taxes, and brokerage; nonrecurring, extraordinary expenses; and acquired fund fees and expenses) that would cause the class’ ratio of expenses to average daily net assets to exceed 1.65%. The agreement may only be terminated at any time after February 28, 2022, with approval by the fund’s Board of Directors. Fees waived and expenses paid under this agreement (and a previous limitation of 1.65%) are subject to reimbursement to T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., by the fund whenever the class’ expense ratio is below 1.65%. However, no reimbursement will be made more than three years from the date such amounts were initially waived or reimbursed. The fund may only make repayments to T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., if such repayment does not cause the class’ expense ratio (after the repayment is taken into account) to exceed the lesser of: (1) the expense limitation in place at the time such amounts were waived; or (2) the class’ current expense limitation.
e T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., has contractually agreed to waive and/or bear all the Z Class’ expenses (excluding interest; expenses related to borrowings, taxes, and brokerage; nonrecurring, extraordinary expenses; and acquired fund fees and expenses) in their entirety. T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. expects this fee waiver and/or expense reimbursement arrangement to remain in place indefinitely, and the agreement may only be amended or terminated with approval by the fund’s Board of Directors.
Example This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods, that your investment has a 5% return each year, and that the fund’s operating expenses remain the same. The example also assumes that any current expense limitation arrangement remains in place for the period noted in the table above; therefore, the figures have been adjusted to reflect fee waivers or expense reimbursements only in the periods for which the expense limitation arrangement is expected to continue. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
1 year | 3 years | 5 years | 10 years | |
Investor Class | $125 | $422 | $741 | $1,644 |
I Class | 110 | 359 | 643 | 1,452 |
Advisor Class | 168 | 621 | 1,100 | 2,424 |
Z Class | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Portfolio Turnover The fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when the fund’s shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 81.0% of the average value of its portfolio.
Investments, Risks, and Performance
Principal Investment Strategies
The fund normally invests at least 80% of its net assets (including any borrowings for investment purposes) in stocks issued by companies in emerging markets. The fund may invest in companies of any size, but generally seeks stocks of larger companies that are undervalued in the view of the portfolio manager using various measures. The fund considers frontier markets to be a subset of emerging markets and any investments in frontier markets will be counted toward the fund’s 80% investment policy. The fund relies on MSCI Inc. to determine which
SUMMARY | 3 |
countries are considered emerging markets, and relies on the country assigned to a security by MSCI Inc. or another unaffiliated data provider. The fund expects to make most of its investments in stocks of companies located in, or that have economic ties to, the emerging market countries (which include frontier markets) listed below in Asia, Latin America, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. The fund considers the following countries to be emerging markets (other countries may be added or removed):
· Asia: China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam.
· Latin America: Argentina, Belize, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela.
· Europe: Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Turkey, and Ukraine.
· Africa and the Middle East: Bahrain, Botswana, Egypt, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mauritius, Morocco, Nigeria, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Zimbabwe.
While the adviser invests with an awareness of the global economic backdrop and the adviser’s outlook for certain industries, sectors, and individual countries, the adviser’s decision-making process focuses on bottom-up stock selection. Country allocation is driven largely by stock selection, though the adviser may limit investments in markets or industries that appear to have poor overall prospects. At times, the growth of certain emerging markets relies heavily on the success of the banking industry. As a result, the fund may have significant investments in banks.
Stock selection is driven mainly by fundamental research that seeks to identify companies that are undervalued but have the potential for improving earnings over time. The fund’s value approach to investing relies on a global research team that searches for companies that appear to be undervalued by various measures and may be temporarily out of favor but have good prospects for capital appreciation or dividend growth.
In selecting investments, the adviser generally favors companies with one or more of the following characteristics:
· low valuation on various earnings, book value, sales, and cash flow metrics, in absolute terms and/or relative to the company’s peers or its own historical norm;
· low valuation relative to a company’s fundamentals;
· companies that may benefit from restructuring activity or other turnaround opportunities;
· a sound balance sheet and other positive financial characteristics;
· strong or improving position in an overlooked industry or country; and
· above-average dividend yield and/or the potential to grow dividends.
The fund may sell securities for a variety of reasons, including to realize gains, limit losses, or redeploy assets into more promising opportunities.
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Principal Risks
As with any fund, there is no guarantee that the fund will achieve its objective(s). The fund’s share price fluctuates, which means you could lose money by investing in the fund. The principal risks of investing in this fund, which may be even greater during periods of market disruption or volatility, are summarized as follows:
Emerging markets Investments in emerging market countries are subject to greater risk and overall volatility than investments in the U.S. and other developed markets. Emerging market countries tend to have economic structures that are less diverse and mature, less developed legal and regulatory regimes, and political systems that are less stable, than those of developed countries. In addition to the risks associated with investing outside the U.S., emerging markets are more susceptible to governmental interference, political and economic uncertainty, local taxes and restrictions on the fund’s investments, less efficient trading markets with lower overall liquidity, and more volatile currency exchange rates.
Market conditions The value of the fund’s investments may decrease, sometimes rapidly or unexpectedly, due to factors affecting an issuer held by the fund, particular industries, or the overall securities markets. A variety of factors can increase the volatility of the fund’s holdings and markets generally, including political or regulatory developments, recessions, inflation, rapid interest rate changes, war or acts of terrorism, natural disasters, and outbreaks of infectious illnesses or other widespread public health issues such as the coronavirus pandemic and related governmental and public responses. Certain events may cause instability across global markets, including reduced liquidity and disruptions in trading markets, while some events may affect certain geographic regions, countries, sectors, and industries more significantly than others. Government intervention in markets may impact interest rates, market volatility, and security pricing. These adverse developments may cause broad declines in market value due to short-term market movements or for significantly longer periods during more prolonged market downturns.
Sector exposure At times, the fund may have a significant portion of its assets invested in securities of issuers conducting business in a broadly related group of industries within the same economic sector. Issuers in the same economic sector may be similarly affected by economic or market events, making the fund more vulnerable to unfavorable developments in that economic sector than funds that invest more broadly. Investments in the financials sector are susceptible to adverse developments relating to regulatory changes, interest rate movements, the availability of capital and cost to borrow, and the rate of debt defaults.
Investing in China The Chinese government has historically exercised significant control over China’s economy and its financial markets through, among other things, its monetary policies and allocation of resources, management of currency exchange rates, preferential treatment or restrictions relating to industries deemed sensitive to national interests, and limitations on foreign ownership of Chinese securities. Although economic reforms have liberalized trade policy and reduced government control, changes in these policies or increased government intervention could adversely impact affected industries or companies. China’s currency, which historically has been managed in a tight range relative to the U.S. dollar, may in the future be subject to greater uncertainty as Chinese authorities change the policies that determine the
SUMMARY | 5 |
official currency exchange rate. Additionally, the Chinese economy is highly dependent on the exportation of products and services, and could experience a significant slowdown due to a reduction in global demand for Chinese exports, contraction in spending on domestic goods by Chinese consumers, trade or political disputes with China’s major trading partners, natural disasters, or public health threats. The U.S. and China have been imposing tariffs on certain goods traded between the countries. Heightened trade tensions between the U.S. and China, and the institution of additional tariffs or trade barriers between China and any of its key trading partners, including the U.S., could have a significant adverse impact on the Chinese economy.
Investing in Asia Many Asian economies have at various times been negatively affected by inflation, currency devaluations, an over-reliance on international trade and exports, political and social instability, and less developed financial systems and securities trading markets. Trade restrictions, unexpected decreases in exports, changes in government policies, or natural disasters could have a significant impact on companies doing business in Asia. The Asian region may be significantly affected by political unrest, military conflict, economic sanctions, and less demand for Asian products and services.
International investing Investing in the securities of non-U.S. issuers involves special risks not typically associated with investing in U.S. issuers. Non-U.S. securities tend to be more volatile and have lower overall liquidity than investments in U.S. securities and may lose value because of adverse local, political, social, or economic developments overseas, or due to changes in the exchange rates between foreign currencies and the U.S. dollar. In addition, investments outside the U.S. are subject to settlement practices and regulatory and financial reporting standards that differ from those of the U.S. The risks of investing outside the U.S. are heightened for any investments in emerging markets, which are susceptible to greater volatility than investments in developed markets.
Frontier markets Frontier markets generally have smaller economies and less mature capital markets than emerging markets. As a result, the risks associated with investing in emerging market countries are magnified in frontier market countries. Frontier markets are more susceptible to abrupt changes in currency values, have less mature markets and settlement practices, and can have lower trading volumes that could lead to greater price volatility and illiquidity. Investor protections in frontier market countries may be limited and settlement procedures and custody services may prove inadequate in certain markets.
Value investing The fund’s value approach to investing could cause it to underperform other stock funds that employ a different investment style. The intrinsic value of a stock with value characteristics may not be fully recognized by the market for a long time or a stock judged to be undervalued may be appropriately priced at a low level. Value stocks may fail to appreciate for long periods and may never reach what the adviser believes are their full market values.
Stock investing Stocks generally fluctuate in value more than bonds and may decline significantly over short time periods. There is a chance that stock prices overall will decline because stock markets tend to move in cycles, with periods of rising and falling prices. The value of stocks held by the fund may decline due to general weakness or volatility in the stock
T. ROWE PRICE | 6 |
markets in which the fund invests or because of factors that affect a particular company or industry.
Large-cap stocks Securities issued by large-cap companies tend to be less volatile than securities issued by smaller companies. However, larger companies may not be able to attain the high growth rates of successful smaller companies, especially during strong economic periods, and may be unable to respond as quickly to competitive challenges.
Active management The fund’s overall investment program and holdings selected by the fund’s investment adviser may underperform the broad markets, relevant indices, or other funds with similar objectives and investment strategies.
Cybersecurity breaches The fund could be harmed by intentional cyberattacks and other cybersecurity breaches, including unauthorized access to the fund’s assets, customer data and confidential shareholder information, or other proprietary information. In addition, a cybersecurity breach could cause one of the fund’s service providers or financial intermediaries to suffer unauthorized data access, data corruption, or loss of operational functionality.
Performance
The following performance information provides some indication of the risks of investing in the fund. The fund’s performance information represents only past performance (before and after taxes) and is not necessarily an indication of future results.
The following bar chart illustrates how much returns can differ from year to year by showing calendar year returns and the best and worst calendar quarter returns during those years for the fund’s Investor Class. Returns for other share classes vary since they have different expenses.
EMERGING MARKETS DISCOVERY STOCK FUND |
Calendar Year Returns
Quarter Ended | Total Return | Quarter Ended | Total Return | |||||
Best Quarter | 12/31/20 | 27.61% | Worst Quarter | 3/31/20 | -30.61% |
The following table shows the average annual total returns for each class of the fund that has been in operation for at least one full calendar year, and also compares the returns with the
SUMMARY | 7 |
returns of a relevant broad-based market index, as well as with the returns of one or more comparative indexes that have investment characteristics similar to those of the fund, if applicable.
In addition, the table shows hypothetical after-tax returns to demonstrate how taxes paid by a shareholder may influence returns. After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown. After-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold their fund shares through tax-deferred arrangements, such as a 401(k) account or an IRA. After-tax returns are shown only for the Investor Class and will differ for other share classes.
Average Annual Total Returns |
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| 09/14/2015 |
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| Returns before taxes | 6.87 | % |
| 10.88 | % |
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| 10.14 | % |
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| Returns after taxes on distributions | 6.72 |
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| 10.30 |
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| 9.46 |
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| Returns after taxes on distributions |
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| and sale of fund shares | 4.24 |
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| 8.63 |
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| 7.96 |
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| I Class |
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| 03/06/2017 |
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| Returns before taxes | 7.15 |
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| 8.72 |
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| Advisor Class |
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| 09/14/2015 |
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| Returns before taxes | 6.46 |
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| 10.50 |
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| 9.76 |
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| 03/16/2020 |
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| Returns before taxes | — |
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| MSCI Emerging Markets Index Net (reflects no deduction for fees or expenses) |
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| 11.80 | a |
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| 18.31 |
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| 12.81 |
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| 11.47 | b |
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| Lipper Emerging Markets Funds Average |
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| 11.76 | c |
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| 19.50 |
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| 12.07 |
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| 11.38 | d |
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a Return since 9/14/15.
b Return since 3/6/17.
c Return since 9/30/15.
d Return since 2/28/17.
Updated performance information is available through troweprice.com.
Management
Investment Adviser T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. (T. Rowe Price or Price Associates)
Investment Subadviser T. Rowe Price Hong Kong Limited (Price Hong Kong)
T. ROWE PRICE | 8 |
Portfolio Manager | Title | Managed | Joined |
Ernest C. Yeung | Chair of Investment Advisory Committee | 2015 | 2003 |
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
The Investor Class and Advisor Class generally require a $2,500 minimum initial investment ($1,000 minimum initial investment if opening an IRA, a custodial account for a minor, or a small business retirement plan account). Additional purchases generally require a $100 minimum. These investment minimums generally are waived for financial intermediaries and certain employer-sponsored retirement plans submitting orders on behalf of their customers. Advisor Class shares may generally only be purchased through a financial intermediary or retirement plan.
The I Class requires a $1 million minimum initial investment and there is no minimum for additional purchases, although the initial investment minimum generally is waived for financial intermediaries, retirement plans, and certain client accounts for which T. Rowe Price or its affiliate has discretionary investment authority.
The Z Class is only available to funds managed by T. Rowe Price and other advisory clients of T. Rowe Price or its affiliates that are subject to a contractual fee for investment management services. There is no minimum initial investment and no minimum for additional purchases.
For investors holding shares of the fund directly with T. Rowe Price, you may purchase, redeem, or exchange fund shares by mail; by telephone (1-800-225-5132 for IRAs and nonretirement accounts; 1-800-492-7670 for small business retirement plans; and 1-800-638-8790 for institutional investors and financial intermediaries); or, for certain accounts, by accessing your account online through troweprice.com.
If you hold shares through a financial intermediary or retirement plan, you must purchase, redeem, and exchange shares of the fund through your intermediary or retirement plan. You should check with your intermediary or retirement plan to determine the investment minimums that apply to your account.
Tax Information
Any dividends or capital gains are declared and paid annually, usually in December. Redemptions or exchanges of fund shares and distributions by the fund, whether or not you reinvest these amounts in additional fund shares, generally may be taxed as ordinary income or capital gains unless you invest through a tax-deferred account (in which case you will be taxed upon withdrawal from such account).
Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries
If you purchase shares of the fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the fund and its related companies may pay the intermediary for the sale of fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by
SUMMARY | 9 |
influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. | F34-045 3/1/21 |