497K 1 c497k.htm
    

SUMMARY PROSPECTUS

March 1, 2021

 

T. ROWE PRICE

IEMFX

Institutional Emerging Markets Equity Fund

  
 
 

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 1-800-638-8790, 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 through investments primarily in the common stocks of companies located (or with primary operations) in emerging markets.

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 fund, which are not reflected in the table.

Fees and Expenses of the Fund

   

Annual fund operating expenses
(expenses that you pay each year as a
percentage of the value of your investment)

Management fees

1.10

%

  

Other expenses

 
  

Total annual fund operating expenses

1.10

 

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. 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

$112

$350

$606

$1,340

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 20.2% 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 emerging market companies. For purposes of determining whether the fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in emerging market companies, the fund relies on MSCI Inc. to determine which countries are considered emerging markets and relies on the country assigned to a security by MSCI Inc. or another unaffiliated data provider. 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 expects to


  

T. ROWE PRICE

2

primarily invest in common stocks of companies located (or with primary operations) in emerging markets in Asia, Latin America, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. The countries in which the fund normally invests include, but are not limited to, the following:

· 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.

The fund may purchase the stocks of companies of any size. 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. The fund may at times invest significantly in China.

Security selection reflects a growth style. The adviser relies on a global team of investment analysts dedicated to in-depth fundamental research in an effort to identify companies capable of achieving and sustaining above-average, long-term earnings growth. The adviser seeks to purchase stocks of companies at reasonable prices in relation to present or anticipated earnings, cash flow, or book value.

In selecting investments, the adviser generally favors companies with one or more of the following characteristics:

· leading or improving market position;

· attractive business niche;

· attractive or improving franchise or industry position;

· seasoned management;

· stable or improving earnings and/or cash flow; and

· sound or improving balance sheet.

The fund may sell securities for a variety of reasons, including to realize gains, limit losses, or redeploy assets into more promising opportunities.

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


  

SUMMARY

3

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.

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.

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 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


  

T. ROWE PRICE

4

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.

Investing in Latin America Many Latin American countries have histories of inflation, government overspending, political instability, high interest, and extreme currency fluctuations. Many of these countries tend to be highly reliant on the exportation of commodities so their economies may be significantly impacted by fluctuations in commodity prices and the global demand for certain commodities.

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. Investments in the technology sector are susceptible to intense competition, government regulation, changing consumer preferences, and dependency on patent protection.

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.

Liquidity A particular investment or an entire market segment may become less liquid or even illiquid, sometimes abruptly, which could limit the fund’s ability to purchase or sell holdings in a timely manner at a desired price. An inability to sell a portfolio holding can adversely affect the fund’s overall value or prevent the fund from being able to take advantage of other investment opportunities. Liquidity risk may be magnified during periods of substantial market volatility and unexpected episodes of illiquidity may limit the fund’s ability to pay redemption proceeds without selling holdings at an unfavorable time or at a suitable price. Large redemptions may also have a negative impact on the fund’s overall liquidity.


  

SUMMARY

5

Growth investing The fund’s growth approach to investing could cause it to underperform other stock funds that employ a different investment style. Growth stocks tend to be more volatile than certain other types of stocks, and their prices may fluctuate more dramatically than the overall stock market. A stock with growth characteristics can have sharp price declines due to decreases in current or expected earnings and may lack dividends that can help cushion its share price in a declining market.

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 markets in which the fund invests or because of factors that affect a particular company or industry.

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.


  

T. ROWE PRICE

6

 

INSTITUTIONAL EMERGING MARKETS EQUITY FUND

Calendar Year Returns

PerformanceBarChartData(2011:-18.63,2012:20.49,2013:-4.84,2014:1.7,2015:-11.47,2016:12.17,2017:42.87,2018:-16.03,2019:26.61,2020:17.81)

         
  

Quarter Ended

Total Return

  

Quarter Ended

Total Return

 
 

Best Quarter

12/31/20

19.38%

 

Worst Quarter

3/31/20

-23.59%

 

The following table shows the average annual total returns for the fund, and also compares the returns with the 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.

              

Average Annual Total Returns

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Periods ended

 

 

 

 

December 31, 2020

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Inception

 

 

 

 

1 Year 

 

 

5 Years 

 

 

10 Years 

 

date

 

 

Institutional Emerging Markets Equity Fund

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10/31/2002

 

 

 

 

Returns before taxes

17.81 

%

 

14.95 

%

 

5.36 

%

 

 

 

 

 

Returns after taxes on distributions

17.82 

 

 

14.87 

 

 

5.32 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Returns after taxes on distributions

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and sale of fund shares

10.82 

 

 

12.19 

 

 

4.40 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MSCI Emerging Markets Index Net (reflects no deduction for fees or expenses)

 

 

 

 

 

18.31 

 

 

12.81 

 

 

3.63 

 

 

 

 

 

Lipper Emerging Markets Funds Average

 

 

 

 

 

19.50 

 

 

12.07 

 

 

3.77 

 

 

 

 

Updated performance information is available through troweprice.com.


  

SUMMARY

7

Management

Investment Adviser T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. (T. Rowe Price or Price Associates)

Investment Subadviser T. Rowe Price International Ltd (T. Rowe Price International)

Investment Subadviser T. Rowe Price Singapore Private Ltd. (Price Singapore)*

* Effective April 1, 2021, Price Singapore will be added as an investment subadviser to the fund.

    

Portfolio Manager

Title

Managed
Fund
Since

Joined
Investment
Adviser

Gonzalo Pangaro*

Chair of Investment

Advisory Committee

2008

1998

* Effective April 1, 2021, Eric C. Moffett and Malik Asif will join Gonzalo Pangaro as portfolio managers and Cochairs of the fund’s Investment Advisory Committee. Mr. Moffett joined T. Rowe Price in 2007 and Mr. Asif joined T. Rowe Price in 2012. Effective December 31, 2021, Mr. Pangaro will step down as a portfolio manager and Cochair of the fund’s Investment Advisory Committee and Mr. Moffett and Mr. Asif will remain portfolio managers and Cochairs of the fund’s Investment Advisory Committee.

Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares

Subject to certain exceptions, the fund is currently closed to new investors and new accounts. Investors who currently hold shares of the fund may continue to purchase additional shares.

The fund generally requires a $1 million minimum initial investment and there is no minimum for additional purchases, although the initial investment minimum may be waived for certain types of accounts held through a retirement plan, financial advisor, or other financial intermediary.

For investors holding shares of the fund directly with T. Rowe Price, you may purchase, redeem, or exchange fund shares by mail or by telephone (1-800-638-8790).

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 influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the


  

T. ROWE PRICE

8

fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.


  

 

T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc.
100 East Pratt Street
Baltimore, MD 21202

E146-045 3/1/21