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GMO Climate Change Fund
GMO Climate Change Fund
Investment objective
High total return.
Fees and expenses
The table below describes the fees and expenses that you may bear for each class of shares if you buy and hold shares of the Fund.
Annual Fund operating expenses (expenses that you bear each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Annual Fund Operating Expenses - GMO Climate Change Fund
Class III
Class IV
Class V
Class VI
Class R6
Class I
Management fee [1] 0.75% 0.70% 0.685% 0.655% 0.75% 0.75%
Other expenses 0.18% 0.18% 0.18% 0.18% 0.18% 0.28% [2]
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses 0.01% 0.01% 0.01% 0.01% 0.01% 0.01%
Total annual fund operating expenses 0.94% 0.89% 0.88% 0.85% 0.94% 1.04%
Expense reimbursement/waiver [1] (0.16%) (0.16%) (0.16%) (0.16%) (0.16%) (0.16%) [2]
Total annual fund operating expenses after expense reimbursement/waiver 0.78% 0.73% 0.72% 0.69% 0.78% 0.88%
[1] Includes both management fee of 0.60% and class-specific shareholder service fee, if any, for each class of shares. For additional information about the shareholder service fee applicable to each class of shares of the Fund, please see the table included in the section of the Prospectus entitled "Multiple Classes and Eligibility." Grantham, Mayo, Van Otterloo & Co. LLC ("GMO") has contractually agreed to waive its fees with respect to and/or reimburse the Fund to the extent that the Fund's total annual fund operating expenses (after applying all other contractual and voluntary expense limitation arrangements in effect at the time) exceed the following amounts for each class of shares, in each case representing the average daily net assets for the indicated class of shares: 0.77% for Class III shares; 0.72% for Class IV shares; 0.705% for Class V shares; 0.675% for Class VI shares; 0.77% for Class R6 shares; and 0.77% for Class I shares (each, an "Expense Cap"). Fees and expenses of the "non-interested" Trustees and legal counsel and independent compliance consultant to the "non-interested" Trustees, investment-related costs (such as brokerage commissions, interest, and acquired fund fees and expenses), payments out of assets attributable to Class I shares for sub-transfer agency, recordkeeping and other administrative services provided by financial intermediaries, taxes, litigation and indemnification expenses, judgments, and other extraordinary or non-recurring expenses not incurred in the ordinary course of the Fund's business, are excluded from the Expense Cap. GMO also has contractually agreed to waive or reduce the Fund's management fees and shareholder service fees to the extent necessary to offset the management fees and shareholder service fees paid to GMO that are directly or indirectly borne by the Fund or a class of shares of the Fund as a result of the Fund's direct or indirect investments in other series of GMO Trust ("GMO Funds"). Management fees and shareholder service fees will not be waived below zero. The reimbursement and waiver arrangements described above, including the Expense Cap, will remain in effect through at least June 30, 2021 and may not be terminated prior to this date without the action or consent of the Trust's Board of Trustees.
[2] Includes estimate of payments for sub-transfer agency, recordkeeping and other administrative services for Class I's initial fiscal year. GMO has contractually agreed to waive its fees with respect to and/or reimburse Class I shares to the extent that amounts paid by the Fund out of the net assets attributable to Class I shares for sub-transfer agency, recordkeeping and other administrative services provided by financial intermediaries with respect to Class I shareholders exceed 0.10% of the average daily net assets attributable to Class I shares. This reimbursement will continue through at least June 30, 2021 and may not be terminated prior to this date without the action or consent of the Trust's Board of Trustees.
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 $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated, regardless of whether or not you redeem your shares at the end of such periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same as those shown in the table. The one year amounts shown reflect the expense reimbursement and waiver noted in the expense table. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
Expense Example - GMO Climate Change Fund - USD ($)
1 Year
3 Years
5 Years
10 Years
Class III 80 284 504 1,140
Class IV 75 268 477 1,081
Class V 74 265 472 1,070
Class VI 70 255 456 1,034
Class R6 80 284 504 1,140
Class I 90 315 558 1,257
Expense Example No Redemption - GMO Climate Change Fund - USD ($)
1 Year
3 Years
5 Years
10 Years
Class III 80 284 504 1,140
Class IV 75 268 477 1,081
Class V 74 265 472 1,070
Class VI 70 255 456 1,034
Class R6 80 284 504 1,140
Class I 90 315 558 1,257
Portfolio turnover
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities. A higher portfolio turnover rate may result in higher transaction costs and, for holders of Fund shares subject to U.S. taxes, higher income taxes. These transaction costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund operating expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund’s performance. During its fiscal year ended February 29, 2020, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate (excluding short-term investments) was 173% of the average value of its portfolio. That portfolio turnover rate includes investments in U.S. Treasury Fund, which the Fund uses as a short-term investment vehicle for cash management. The Fund’s portfolio turnover rate during its fiscal year ended February 29, 2020, excluding transactions in U.S. Treasury Fund and other short-term investments, was 62% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal investment strategies
GMO seeks to achieve the Fund’s investment objective by investing the Fund’s assets primarily in equities of companies GMO believes are positioned to benefit, directly or indirectly, from efforts to curb or mitigate the long-term effects of global climate change, to address the environmental challenges presented by global climate change, or to improve the efficiency of resource consumption. Due to the far-reaching effects of, and evolving innovation related to, climate change, GMO expects such companies to be involved in a wide array of businesses.

GMO selects the securities the Fund buys and sells based on its evaluation of companies’ published financial information and corporate behavior (such as profit warnings, share issuance or repurchase, and director dealings in company stock), sustainability and other ESG (environmental, social, and governance) criteria, securities’ prices, commodities’ prices, equity and bond markets, the overall global economy, and governmental policies.

In selecting securities for the Fund, GMO uses a combination of investment methods to identify securities GMO believes have positive return potential. Some of these methods evaluate individual companies or groups of companies based on the ratio of their security price to historical financial information and forecasted financial information, such as profitability, cash flow and earnings, and a comparison of these ratios to current and historical industry, market or company averages. Other methods focus on patterns of information, such as price movement or volatility of a security or groups of securities. The Fund may invest its assets in securities of issuers of any market capitalization and may invest a significant portion of its assets in securities of issuers with smaller market capitalizations. The Fund also may engage in merger arbitrage. The Fund has no limit on the amount it may invest in any single asset class, sector, country, industry, region or issuer. The factors GMO considers and investment methods GMO uses can change over time. GMO does not manage the Fund to, or control the Fund’s risk relative to, any securities index or securities benchmark.

The Fund has a fundamental policy to concentrate its investments in climate change-related industries and, under normal market conditions, the Fund invests at least 80% of its assets in companies in such industries (see “Name Policies”). The Fund considers “climate change-related industries” to include clean energy, batteries and storage, electric grid, energy efficiency, recycling and pollution control, agriculture, water, and businesses that service such industries. The Fund is permitted to invest directly and indirectly in equities of companies tied economically to any country in the world, including emerging countries.

As an alternative to investing directly in equities, the Fund may invest in exchange-traded and over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The Fund also may invest in derivatives and ETFs in an attempt to obtain or adjust elements of its long or short investment exposure and as a substitute for securities lending. Derivatives used may include futures, options, forward currency contracts, and swap contracts. In addition, the Fund may lend its portfolio securities.

The Fund also may invest in U.S. Treasury Fund, in money market funds unaffiliated with GMO, and directly in the types of investments typically held by money market funds.
Principal risks of investing in the Fund
The value of the Fund’s shares changes with the value of the Fund’s investments. Many factors can affect this value, and you may lose money by investing in the Fund. The Fund is a non-diversified investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and therefore a decline in the market price of a particular security held by the Fund may affect the Fund’s performance more than if the Fund were a diversified investment company. The principal risks of investing in the Fund are summarized below. For a more complete discussion of these risks, see “Additional Information about the Funds’ Investment Strategies, Risks, and Expenses” and “Description of Principal Risks.”



Focused Investment Risk – Because the Fund focuses its investments in securities of companies involved in climate change-related industries, the Fund will be more susceptible to events or factors affecting these companies, and the market prices of its portfolio securities may be more volatile than those of mutual funds that are more diversified. The Fund is particularly exposed to such developments as changes in global and regional climates, environmental protection regulatory actions, changes in government standards and subsidy levels, changes in taxation and other domestic and international political, regulatory and economic developments (such as potential cutbacks on funding for the Environmental Protection Agency and other policies and actions by the Trump administration). Companies involved in alternative fuels also may be adversely affected by the increased use of, or decreases in prices for, oil or other fossil fuels. In addition, scientific developments, such as breakthroughs in the remediation of global warming, and changes in governmental policies relating to the effects of pollution may affect investments in pollution control, which could in turn affect these companies. Such companies also may be significantly affected by technological changes in industries focusing on energy, pollution control and mitigation of global warming. Because society’s focus on climate change issues is relatively new, the emphasis and direction of governmental policies is subject to significant change, and rapid technological change could render even new approaches and products obsolete. Some companies involved in climate change-related industries have more limited operating histories and smaller market capitalizations on average than companies in other sectors. As a result of these and other factors, the market prices of securities of companies involved in climate change-related industries tend to be considerably more volatile than those of companies in more established sectors and industries.



Market Risk – Equities – The market price of an equity may decline due to factors affecting the issuer or its industry or the economy and equity markets generally. If the Fund purchases an equity for less than its fundamental fair (or intrinsic) value as assessed by GMO, the Fund runs the risk that the market price of the equity will not appreciate or will decline due to GMO’s incorrect assessment. The Fund also may purchase equities that typically trade at higher multiples of current earnings than other securities, and the market prices of these equities often are more sensitive to changes in future earnings expectations than the market prices of equities trading at lower multiples. Declines in stock market prices generally are likely to reduce the net asset value of the Fund’s shares.



Management and Operational Risk – The Fund runs the risk that GMO’s investment techniques will fail to produce desired results. GMO uses quantitative models as part of its investment process. GMO’s models may not accurately predict future market movements or characteristics. In addition, they are based on assumptions that can limit their effectiveness, and they rely on data that is subject to limitations (e.g., inaccuracies, staleness) that could adversely affect their predictive value. The Fund also runs the risk that GMO’s assessment of an investment (including a security’s fundamental fair (or intrinsic) value) is wrong or that deficiencies in GMO’s or another service provider’s internal systems or controls will cause losses for the Fund or impair Fund operations.



Smaller Company Risk – Smaller companies may have limited product lines, markets, or financial resources, lack the competitive strength of larger companies, have inexperienced managers or depend on a few key employees. The securities of companies with smaller market capitalizations often are less widely held and trade less frequently and in lesser quantities, and their market prices often fluctuate more, than the securities of companies with larger market capitalizations.



Non-U.S. Investment Risk – The market prices of many non-U.S. securities (particularly of companies tied economically to emerging countries) fluctuate more than those of U.S. securities. Many non-U.S. securities markets (particularly emerging markets) are less stable, smaller, less liquid, and less regulated than U.S. securities markets, and the cost of trading in those markets often is higher than in U.S. securities markets. In addition, issuers of non-U.S. securities (particularly those tied economically to emerging countries) often are not subject to as much regulation as U.S. issuers, and the reporting, accounting, custody, and auditing standards to which those issuers are subject often are not as rigorous as U.S. standards. Transactions in non-U.S. securities generally involve higher commission rates, transfer taxes, and custodial costs than similar transactions in U.S. securities. In addition, the Fund may be subject to non-U.S. taxes, potentially on a retroactive basis, on (i) capital gains it realizes or dividends, interest, or other amounts it realizes or accrues in respect of non-U.S. investments; (ii) transactions in those investments; and (iii) repatriation of proceeds generated from the sale or other disposition of those investments. Also, the Fund needs a license to invest directly in securities traded in many non-U.S. securities markets, and the Fund is subject to the risk that it could not invest if its license were terminated or suspended. In some non-U.S. securities markets, prevailing custody and trade settlement practices (e.g., the requirement to pay for securities prior to receipt) expose the Fund to credit and other risks. Further, adverse changes in investment regulations, capital requirements or exchange controls could adversely affect the value of the Fund’s investments. These and other risks (e.g., nationalization, expropriation or other confiscation of assets of non-U.S. issuers, difficulties in obtaining and enforcing legal judgments) tend to be greater for investments in the securities of companies tied economically to emerging countries. The economies of emerging countries may be predominantly based on only a few industries or dependent on revenues from particular commodities, and often are more volatile than the economies of developed countries.



Illiquidity Risk – Low trading volume, lack of a market maker, large position size or legal restrictions may limit or prevent the Fund from selling particular securities or closing derivative positions at desirable prices.



Market Disruption and Geopolitical Risk – Geopolitical and other events (e.g., wars, pandemics, terrorism) may disrupt securities markets and adversely affect global economies and markets. Those events, as well as other changes in non-U.S. and U.S. economic and political conditions, could reduce the value of the Fund’s investments.



Commodities Risk – Commodity prices can be extremely volatile, and exposure to commodities can cause the value of the Fund’s shares to decline or fluctuate in a rapid and unpredictable manner.



Currency Risk – Fluctuations in exchange rates can adversely affect the market value of the Fund’s foreign currency holdings and investments denominated in foreign currencies.



Derivatives and Short Sales Risk – The use of derivatives involves the risk that their value may not change as expected relative to changes in the value of the underlying assets, pools of assets, rates, currencies or indices. Derivatives also present other risks, including market risk, illiquidity risk, currency risk, and counterparty risk. The market price of an option is affected by many factors, including changes in the market prices or dividend rates of underlying securities (or in the case of indices, the securities in such indices); the time remaining before expiration; changes in interest rates or exchange rates; and changes in the actual or perceived volatility of the relevant stock market and underlying securities. The Fund may create short investment exposure by taking a derivative position in which the value of the derivative moves in the opposite direction from the price of an underlying asset, pool of assets, rate, currency or index. The risks of loss associated with derivatives that provide short investment exposure and short sales of securities are theoretically unlimited.



Counterparty Risk – The Fund runs the risk that the counterparty to a derivatives contract, a clearing member used by the Fund to hold a cleared derivatives contract, or a borrower of the Fund’s securities is unable or unwilling to make timely settlement payments, return the Fund’s margin or otherwise honor its obligations.



Leveraging Risk – The use of derivatives and securities lending creates leverage. Leverage increases the Fund’s losses when the value of its investments (including derivatives) declines. In addition, the Fund’s portfolio will be leveraged if it exercises its right to delay payment on a redemption, and losses will result if the value of the Fund’s assets declines between the time a redemption request is deemed to be received by the Fund and the time the Fund liquidates assets to meet that request.



Large Shareholder Risk – To the extent that a large number of shares of the Fund is held by a single shareholder (e.g., an institutional investor or another GMO Fund) or a group of shareholders with a common investment strategy (e.g., GMO asset allocation accounts), the Fund is subject to the risk that a redemption by those shareholders of all or a large portion of their Fund shares will require the Fund to sell securities at disadvantageous prices or otherwise disrupt the Fund’s operations.



Merger Arbitrage Risk – If the Fund purchases securities in anticipation of a proposed merger, exchange offer, tender offer, or other similar transaction and that transaction later appears unlikely to be consummated or, in fact, is not consummated or is delayed, the market price of the securities purchased by the Fund is likely to decline sharply, resulting in losses to the Fund. The risk/reward payout of merger arbitrage strategies typically is asymmetric, with the losses in failed transactions often far exceeding the gains in successful transactions. Merger arbitrage strategies are subject to the risk of overall market movements, and the Fund may experience losses even if a transaction is consummated.
Performance
The bar chart and table below provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the Fund’s annual total returns from year to year for the periods indicated and by comparing the Fund’s average annual total returns for different calendar periods with those of the MSCI ACWI. As of the date of this Prospectus, there are no Class R6 shares or Class I shares outstanding or such shares have not been outstanding for a full calendar year. The returns information below is for the Fund’s Class III shares. Class R6 and Class I shares would have substantially similar annual returns to Class III shares because they invest in the same portfolio of securities. Their annual returns would differ from Class III shares to the extent that they bear different expenses. While Class R6 shares are expected to bear the same expenses as Class III shares, Class I shares bear higher expenses than Class III shares and therefore would have lower 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 your tax situation and may differ from those shown. After-tax returns shown are not relevant if you are tax-exempt or if you hold your Fund shares through tax-advantaged arrangements (such as a 401(k) plan or individual retirement account). After-tax returns are shown for Class III shares only; after-tax returns for other classes will vary. Updated performance information for the Fund is available at www.gmo.com. Past performance (before and after taxes) is not an indication of future performance.
Annual Total Returns/Class III Shares Years Ending December 31
Bar Chart
Highest Quarter: 13.47% (4Q2019)
Lowest Quarter: -11.23% (4Q2018)
Year-to-Date (as of 3/31/20): -28.16%
Average Annual Total Returns Periods Ending December 31, 2019
Average Annual Returns - GMO Climate Change Fund
1 Year
5 Years
10 Years
Since Inception
Inception Date
Class III 26.45% 10.90% Apr. 05, 2017
Class III | Return After Taxes on Distributions 25.22% 9.80% Apr. 05, 2017
Class III | Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares 16.44% 8.25% Apr. 05, 2017
MSCI ACWI (returns reflect no deduction for fees or expenses, but are net of withholding tax on dividend reinvestments) 26.60% [1] 11.07% [1] Apr. 05, 2017
[1] MSCI data may not be reproduced or used for any other purpose. MSCI provides no warranties, has not prepared or approved this report, and has no liability hereunder.