N-Q 1 a_internationalequity.htm PUTNAM INTERNATIONAL EQUITY FUND a_internationalequity.htm


UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM N-Q

QUARTERLY SCHEDULE OF PORTFOLIO HOLDINGS OF REGISTERED
MANAGEMENT INVESTMENT COMPANY



Investment Company Act file number: (811-06190)
Exact name of registrant as specified in charter: Putnam International Equity Fund
Address of principal executive offices: One Post Office Square, Boston, Massachusetts 02109
Name and address of agent for service: Robert T. Burns, Vice President
One Post Office Square
Boston, Massachusetts 02109
Copy to:         Bryan Chegwidden, Esq.
Ropes & Gray LLP
1211 Avenue of the Americas
New York, New York 10036
Registrant's telephone number, including area code: (617) 292-1000
Date of fiscal year end: June 30, 2018
Date of reporting period: March 31, 2018



Item 1. Schedule of Investments:













Putnam International Equity Fund

The fund's portfolio
3/31/18 (Unaudited)
COMMON STOCKS (96.6%)(a)
Shares Value
Argentina (0.9%)
Grupo Financiero Galicia SA ADR(S) 134,700 $8,857,872
8,857,872
Australia (1.9%)
Challenger, Ltd. 1,190,346 10,630,010
Iluka Resources, Ltd. 1,037,684 8,492,891
19,122,901
Brazil (1.8%)
IRB Brasil Resseguros SA 846,000 10,726,669
TIM Participacoes SA ADR(S) 365,900 7,929,053
18,655,722
Canada (3.8%)
Cenovus Energy, Inc. 1,115,400 9,497,371
Constellation Software, Inc. 13,400 9,091,947
Magna International, Inc. 363,600 20,480,810
39,070,128
China (2.7%)
Alibaba Group Holding, Ltd. ADR(NON)(S) 53,100 9,745,974
Tencent Holdings, Ltd. 189,758 10,101,050
Want Want China Holdings, Ltd. 9,806,000 7,939,425
27,786,449
Denmark (1.3%)
Danske Bank A/S 346,659 12,955,338
12,955,338
France (10.5%)
Airbus SE 157,725 18,249,363
Eurazeo SA 116,112 10,691,908
Natixis SA 1,533,875 12,590,380
Societe Generale SA 281,910 15,337,394
STMicroelectronics NV 702,963 15,600,465
Total SA 402,253 22,861,502
Veolia Environnement SA 514,771 12,207,576
107,538,588
Germany (12.5%)
Adidas AG 63,310 15,332,486
BASF SE 135,456 13,766,508
Bayer AG 181,401 20,511,571
Delivery Hero Holding GmbH(NON) 180,847 8,752,435
Evonik Industries AG 325,265 11,476,429
HC Brillant Services GmbH (acquired various dates from 8/2/13 to 8/31/16, cost $20) (Private)(F)(RES)(NON) 30 28
KION Group AG 117,717 10,985,436
New Bigfoot Other Assets GmbH (acquired 8/2/13, cost $20) (Private)(F)(RES)(NON) 15 14
New Middle East Other Assets GmbH (acquired 8/2/13, cost $8) (Private)(F)(RES)(NON) 6 6
Rheinmetall AG 96,790 13,760,645
Siemens AG 155,309 19,809,686
Uniper SE 454,010 13,837,286
128,232,530
India (0.6%)
Edelweiss Financial Services, Ltd. 1,762,233 6,557,047
6,557,047
Ireland (3.0%)
Bank of Ireland Group PLC(NON) 961,358 8,426,392
CRH PLC 342,389 11,640,992
Kerry Group PLC Class A 110,298 11,215,698
31,283,082
Italy (2.4%)
Eni SpA 765,574 13,495,479
Pirelli & C SpA(NON) 1,225,498 10,881,927
24,377,406
Japan (22.9%)
Asahi Group Holdings, Ltd. 321,700 17,133,348
Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. 203,900 10,309,497
Ferrotec Holdings Corp. 518,500 13,049,603
Hoya Corp. 338,700 16,886,457
Komatsu, Ltd. 396,200 13,207,287
Kyudenko Corp. 246,700 12,125,755
Nintendo Co., Ltd. 30,900 13,608,139
NSK, Ltd. 1,125,400 15,082,190
ORIX Corp. 1,138,000 20,069,141
Shiseido Co., Ltd. 209,300 13,401,258
SMC Corp. 30,100 12,183,704
Sony Corp. 428,300 20,713,611
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc. 412,600 17,286,507
Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. 208,600 10,160,930
Toshiba Corp.(NON) 3,583,000 10,371,355
Toyota Motor Corp. 303,800 19,486,255
235,075,037
Luxembourg (0.8%)
Global Fashion Group SA (acquired 8/2/13, cost $1,009,308) (Private)(F)(RES)(NON) 23,826 235,721
Orion Engineered Carbons SA 281,000 7,615,100
7,850,821
Netherlands (7.2%)
Heineken NV 145,314 15,639,019
ING Groep NV 1,232,483 20,816,303
Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize NV 715,363 16,962,191
Unilever NV ADR 362,679 20,501,676
73,919,189
Singapore (1.3%)
DBS Group Holdings, Ltd. 649,500 13,701,158
13,701,158
South Korea (1.1%)
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (Preference) 6,120 11,712,919
11,712,919
Spain (2.0%)
Aena SME SA 54,666 11,016,345
CaixaBank SA 2,063,680 9,842,089
20,858,434
Sweden (1.2%)
Assa Abloy AB Class B 558,558 12,127,317
12,127,317
Switzerland (3.9%)
Novartis AG 242,722 19,636,707
Partners Group Holding AG 17,771 13,225,804
Wizz Air Holdings PLC(NON) 154,149 7,050,504
39,913,015
United Kingdom (12.1%)
Associated British Foods PLC 409,068 14,301,018
AstraZeneca PLC 251,473 17,296,690
Burford Capital, Ltd. 402,444 7,578,765
Compass Group PLC 546,913 11,175,726
Dixons Carphone PLC 3,430,346 8,991,280
Prudential PLC 865,878 21,644,640
Rio Tinto PLC 431,675 21,916,933
Virgin Money Holdings UK PLC 2,275,245 8,398,208
Wolseley PLC 174,265 13,108,112
124,411,372
United States (2.7%)
Alphabet, Inc. Class C,(NON) 8,011 8,265,670
Amazon.com, Inc.(NON) 6,500 9,407,710
KKR & Co. LP 480,100 9,746,027
27,419,407
Total common stocks (cost $859,743,517) $991,425,732

U.S. GOVERNMENT AND AGENCY MORTGAGE OBLIGATIONS (—%)(a)
Principal amount Value
U.S. Government Agency Mortgage Obligations (—%)
Federal National Mortgage Association Pass-Throught Certificates 3.62%, 9/1/21(i) $360,283 $369,400
369,400
Total U.S. government and agency mortgage obligations (cost $369,400) $369,400

CONVERTIBLE PREFERRED STOCKS (—%)(a)
Shares Value
Global Fashion Group SA zero % cv. pfd. (acquired various dates from 7/11/16 to 9/14/17, cost $121,606) (Luxembourg) (Private)(F)(RES)(NON) 18,499 $186,679
Total convertible preferred stocks (cost $121,606) $186,679

SHORT-TERM INVESTMENTS (3.2%)(a)
Principal amount/shares Value
Putnam Cash Collateral Pool, LLC 1.89%(AFF) Shares 12,581,150 $12,581,150
Putnam Short Term Investment Fund 1.82%(AFF) Shares 17,229,122 17,229,122
State Street Institutional U.S. Government Money Market Fund, Premier Class 1.58%(P) Shares 191,000 191,000
U.S. Treasury Bills 1.486%, 5/3/18 $529,000 528,259
U.S. Treasury Bills 1.491%, 5/10/18(SEGSF) 261,000 260,552
U.S. Treasury Bills 1.492%, 5/24/18 59,000 58,859
U.S. Treasury Bills 1.531%, 4/12/18 294,000 293,866
U.S. Treasury Bills 1.552%, 6/7/18 21,000 20,936
U.S. Treasury Bills 1.584%, 6/21/18 235,000 234,117
U.S. Treasury Bills 1.663%, 7/5/18(SEGSF) 1,158,000 1,152,828
Total short-term investments (cost $32,551,048) $32,550,689

TOTAL INVESTMENTS
Total investments (cost $892,785,571) $1,024,532,500













FORWARD CURRENCY CONTRACTS at 3/31/18 (aggregate face value $252,619,409) (Unaudited)


Counterparty Currency Contract type* Delivery date Value Aggregate face value Unrealized appreciation/
(depreciation)
Bank of America N.A.
Australian Dollar Buy 4/18/18 $4,746,942 $4,849,689 $(102,747)
British Pound Buy 6/20/18 12,510,785 12,256,806 253,979
Canadian Dollar Sell 4/18/18 4,479,624 4,591,044 111,420
Euro Sell 6/20/18 4,444,526 4,460,226 15,700
Hong Kong Dollar Buy 5/16/18 920,944 925,053 (4,109)
Barclays Bank PLC
Hong Kong Dollar Buy 5/16/18 18,019,799 18,069,172 (49,373)
Swiss Franc Buy 6/20/18 10,153,927 10,354,846 (200,919)
Citibank, N.A.
Australian Dollar Buy 4/18/18 8,027,388 8,174,729 (147,341)
British Pound Buy 6/20/18 9,101,414 8,915,129 186,285
Canadian Dollar Sell 4/18/18 6,172,400 6,260,055 87,655
Danish Krone Buy 6/20/18 5,067,804 5,097,226 (29,422)
Euro Sell 6/20/18 1,441,746 1,432,011 (9,735)
Japanese Yen Sell 5/16/18 906,593 879,472 (27,121)
New Zealand Dollar Buy 4/18/18 41,410 40,647 763
Credit Suisse International
Euro Sell 6/20/18 9,688,937 9,629,918 (59,019)
Swedish Krona Buy 6/20/18 5,049,191 5,113,495 (64,304)
Goldman Sachs International
British Pound Buy 6/20/18 4,744,660 4,446,510 298,150
Chinese Yuan (Offshore) Sell 5/16/18 19,676,450 19,532,989 (143,461)
Euro Sell 6/20/18 8,219,101 8,170,114 (48,987)
HSBC Bank USA, National Association
New Zealand Dollar Buy 4/18/18 1,771,816 1,739,604 32,212
JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A.
Australian Dollar Buy 4/18/18 6,575,642 6,711,709 (136,067)
British Pound Buy 6/20/18 12,477,568 12,228,501 249,067
Canadian Dollar Sell 4/18/18 2,699,498 2,783,912 84,414
Euro Sell 6/20/18 4,816,131 4,836,049 19,918
Japanese Yen Buy 5/16/18 10,609,248 10,538,206 71,042
Norwegian Krone Buy 6/20/18 807,291 879,823 (72,532)
Singapore Dollar Sell 5/16/18 536,299 436,539 (99,760)
South Korean Won Sell 5/16/18 12,088,007 12,025,608 (62,399)
Swedish Krona Buy 6/20/18 10,467,630 10,602,761 (135,131)
Swiss Franc Buy 6/20/18 29,274,399 29,888,643 (614,244)
Royal Bank of Scotland PLC (The)
British Pound Buy 6/20/18 514,720 504,125 10,595
State Street Bank and Trust Co.
Australian Dollar Buy 4/18/18 461,515 470,016 (8,501)
Euro Sell 6/20/18 12,824,249 12,699,852 (124,397)
Israeli Shekel Buy 4/18/18 4,836,068 4,928,046 (91,978)
Japanese Yen Buy 5/16/18 5,763,704 5,623,244 140,460
WestPac Banking Corp.
Canadian Dollar Sell 4/18/18 2,447,240 2,523,640 76,400
Unrealized appreciation 1,638,060
Unrealized (depreciation) (2,231,547)
Total $(593,487)

* The exchange currency for all contracts listed is the United States Dollar.












Key to holding's abbreviations
ADR American Depository Receipts: represents ownership of foreign securities on deposit with a custodian bank.
Notes to the fund's portfolio
Unless noted otherwise, the notes to the fund's portfolio are for the close of the fund's reporting period, which ran from July 1, 2017 through March 31, 2018 (the reporting period). Within the following notes to the portfolio, references to "Putnam Management" represent Putnam Investment Management, LLC, the fund's manager, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Putnam Investments, LLC, references to "ASC 820" represent Accounting Standards Codification 820 Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures and references to "OTC", if any, represent over-the-counter.
(a) Percentages indicated are based on net assets of $1,026,315,836.
(NON) This security is non-income-producing.
(RES) This security is restricted with regard to public resale. The total fair value of this security and any other restricted securities (excluding 144A securities), if any, held at the close of the reporting period was $422,448, or less than 0.1% of net assets.
(AFF) Affiliated company. For investments in Putnam Cash Collateral Pool, LLC and Putnam Short Term Investment Fund, the rate quoted in the security description is the annualized 7-day yield of the fund at the close of the reporting period. Transactions during the period with any company which is under common ownership or control were as follows:

Name of affiliate Fair value as of 6/30/17 Purchase cost Sale proceeds Investment income Shares outstanding and fair value as of 3/31/18
Short-term investments
Putnam Cash Collateral Pool, LLC*# $18,354,575 $141,698,965 $147,472,390 $139,841 $12,581,150
Putnam Short Term Investment Fund** 8,703,302 219,700,068 211,174,248 184,313 17,229,122
Total Short-term investments $27,057,877 $361,399,033 $358,646,638 $324,154 $29,810,272
* No management fees are charged to Putnam Cash Collateral Pool, LLC. There were no realized or unrealized gains or losses during the period.
# The fund may lend securities, through its agent, to qualified borrowers in order to earn additional income. The loans are collateralized by cash in an amount at least equal to the fair value of the securities loaned. The fair value of securities loaned is determined daily and any additional required collateral is allocated to the fund on the next business day. The remaining maturities of the securities lending transactions are considered overnight and continuous. The risk of borrower default will be borne by the fund's agent; the fund will bear the risk of loss with respect to the investment of the cash collateral. The fund received cash collateral of $12,581,150, which is invested in Putnam Cash Collateral Pool, LLC, a limited liability company managed by an affiliate of Putnam Management. Investments in Putnam Cash Collateral Pool, LLC are valued at its closing net asset value each business day. There are no management fees charged to Putnam Cash Collateral Pool, LLC. The rate quoted in the security description is the annualized 7-day yield at the close of the reporting period. At the close of the reporting period, the value of securities loaned amounted to $12,638,620.
** Management fees charged to Putnam Short Term Investment Fund have been waived by Putnam Management. There were no realized or unrealized gains or losses during the period.

(SEGSF) This security, in part or in entirety, was pledged and segregated with the custodian for collateral on certain derivative contracts at the close of the reporting period. Collateral at period end totaled $712,121.
(F) This security is valued by Putnam Management at fair value following procedures approved by the Trustees. Securities are classified as Level 3 for ASC 820 based on the securities' valuation inputs. At the close of the reporting period, fair value pricing was also used for certain foreign securities in the portfolio.
(i) This security was pledged, or purchased with cash that was pledged, to the fund for collateral on certain derivative contracts.
(P) This security was pledged, or purchased with cash that was pledged, to the fund for collateral on certain derivative contracts. The rate quoted in the security description is the annualized 7-day yield of the fund at the close of the reporting period.
(S) This security is on loan, in part or in entirety, at the close of the reporting period.
At the close of the reporting period, the fund maintained liquid assets totaling $1,252,916 to cover certain derivative contracts.
Unless otherwise noted, the rates quoted in Short-term investments security descriptions represent the weighted average yield to maturity.
The dates shown on debt obligations are the original maturity dates.
The fund had the following sector concentrations greater than 10% at the close of the reporting period (as a percentage of net assets):
Financials 23.3%
Industrials 16.5
Consumer staples 11.4
Consumer discretionary 11.4

Security valuation: Portfolio securities and other investments are valued using policies and procedures adopted by the Board of Trustees. The Trustees have formed a Pricing Committee to oversee the implementation of these procedures and have delegated responsibility for valuing the fund's assets in accordance with these procedures to Putnam Management. Putnam Management has established an internal Valuation Committee that is responsible for making fair value determinations, evaluating the effectiveness of the pricing policies of the fund and reporting to the Pricing Committee.
Investments for which market quotations are readily available are valued at the last reported sales price on their principal exchange, or official closing price for certain markets, and are classified as Level 1 securities under ASC 820. If no sales are reported, as in the case of some securities that are traded OTC, a security is valued at its last reported bid price and is generally categorized as a Level 2 security.
Investments in open-end investment companies (excluding exchange-traded funds), if any, which can be classified as Level 1 or Level 2 securities, are valued based on their net asset value. The net asset value of such investment companies equals the total value of their assets less their liabilities and divided by the number of their outstanding shares.
Market quotations are not considered to be readily available for certain debt obligations (including short-term investments with remaining maturities of 60 days or less) and other investments; such investments are valued on the basis of valuations furnished by an independent pricing service approved by the Trustees or dealers selected by Putnam Management. Such services or dealers determine valuations for normal institutional-size trading units of such securities using methods based on market transactions for comparable securities and various relationships, generally recognized by institutional traders, between securities (which consider such factors as security prices, yields, maturities and ratings). These securities will generally be categorized as Level 2.
Many securities markets and exchanges outside the U.S. close prior to the scheduled close of the New York Stock Exchange and therefore the closing prices for securities in such markets or on such exchanges may not fully reflect events that occur after such close but before the scheduled close of the New York Stock Exchange. Accordingly, on certain days, the fund will fair value certain foreign equity securities taking into account multiple factors including movements in the U.S. securities markets, currency valuations and comparisons to the valuation of American Depository Receipts, exchange-traded funds and futures contracts. The foreign equity securities, which would generally be classified as Level 1 securities, will be transferred to Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy when they are valued at fair value. The number of days on which fair value prices will be used will depend on market activity and it is possible that fair value prices will be used by the fund to a significant extent. At the close of the reporting period, fair value pricing was used for certain foreign securities in the portfolio. Securities quoted in foreign currencies, if any, are translated into U.S. dollars at the current exchange rate.
To the extent a pricing service or dealer is unable to value a security or provides a valuation that Putnam Management does not believe accurately reflects the security's fair value, the security will be valued at fair value by Putnam Management in accordance with policies and procedures approved by the Trustees. Certain investments, including certain restricted and illiquid securities and derivatives, are also valued at fair value following procedures approved by the Trustees. These valuations consider such factors as significant market or specific security events such as interest rate or credit quality changes, various relationships with other securities, discount rates, U.S. Treasury, U.S. swap and credit yields, index levels, convexity exposures, recovery rates, sales and other multiples and resale restrictions. These securities are classified as Level 2 or as Level 3 depending on the priority of the significant inputs.
To assess the continuing appropriateness of fair valuations, the Valuation Committee reviews and affirms the reasonableness of such valuations on a regular basis after considering all relevant information that is reasonably available. Such valuations and procedures are reviewed periodically by the Trustees. The fair value of securities is generally determined as the amount that the fund could reasonably expect to realize from an orderly disposition of such securities over a reasonable period of time. By its nature, a fair value price is a good faith estimate of the value of a security in a current sale and does not reflect an actual market price, which may be different by a material amount.
Forward currency contracts: The fund buys and sells forward currency contracts, which are agreements between two parties to buy and sell currencies at a set price on a future date. These contracts were used to hedge foreign exchange risk.
The U.S. dollar value of forward currency contracts is determined using current forward currency exchange rates supplied by a quotation service. The fair value of the contract will fluctuate with changes in currency exchange rates. The contract is marked to market daily and the change in fair value is recorded as an unrealized gain or loss. The fund records a realized gain or loss equal to the difference between the value of the contract at the time it was opened and the value at the time it was closed when the contract matures or by delivery of the currency. The fund could be exposed to risk if the value of the currency changes unfavorably, if the counterparties to the contracts are unable to meet the terms of their contracts or if the fund is unable to enter into a closing position.
For the fund's average contract amount on forward currency contracts, see the appropriate table at the end of these footnotes.
Master agreements: The fund is a party to ISDA (International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc.) Master Agreements (Master Agreements) with certain counterparties that govern OTC derivative and foreign exchange contracts entered into from time to time. The Master Agreements may contain provisions regarding, among other things, the parties' general obligations, representations, agreements, collateral requirements, events of default and early termination. With respect to certain counterparties, in accordance with the terms of the Master Agreements, collateral posted to the fund is held in a segregated account by the fund's custodian and, with respect to those amounts which can be sold or repledged, is presented in the fund's portfolio. Collateral posted to the fund which cannot be sold or repledged totaled $95,935 at the close of the reporting period.
Collateral pledged by the fund is segregated by the fund's custodian and identified in the fund's portfolio. Collateral can be in the form of cash or debt securities issued by the U.S. Government or related agencies or other securities as agreed to by the fund and the applicable counterparty. Collateral requirements are determined based on the fund's net position with each counterparty.
Termination events applicable to the fund may occur upon a decline in the fund's net assets below a specified threshold over a certain period of time. Termination events applicable to counterparties may occur upon a decline in the counterparty's long-term and short-term credit ratings below a specified level. In each case, upon occurrence, the other party may elect to terminate early and cause settlement of all derivative and foreign exchange contracts outstanding, including the payment of any losses and costs resulting from such early termination, as reasonably determined by the terminating party. Any decision by one or more of the fund's counterparties to elect early termination could impact the fund's future derivative activity.
At the close of the reporting period, the fund had a net liability position of $1,153,723 on open derivative contracts subject to the Master Agreements. Collateral posted by the fund at period end for these agreements totaled $712,121 and may include amounts related to unsettled agreements.












ASC 820 establishes a three-level hierarchy for disclosure of fair value measurements. The valuation hierarchy is based upon the transparency of inputs to the valuation of the fund's investments. The three levels are defined as follows:
Level 1: Valuations based on quoted prices for identical securities in active markets.
Level 2: Valuations based on quoted prices in markets that are not active or for which all significant inputs are observable, either directly or indirectly.
Level 3: Valuations based on inputs that are unobservable and significant to the fair value measurement.
The following is a summary of the inputs used to value the fund's net assets as of the close of the reporting period:

 Valuation inputs
Investments in securities: Level 1 Level 2 Level 3
Common stocks:
    Argentina $8,857,872 $— $—
    Australia — 19,122,901 —
    Brazil 18,655,722 — —
    Canada 39,070,128 — —
    China 9,745,974 18,040,475 —
    Denmark — 12,955,338 —
    France — 107,538,588 —
    Germany — 128,232,482 48
    India — 6,557,047 —
    Ireland — 31,283,082 —
    Italy — 24,377,406 —
    Japan — 235,075,037 —
    Luxembourg 7,615,100 — 235,721
    Netherlands — 73,919,189 —
    Singapore — 13,701,158 —
    South Korea — 11,712,919 —
    Spain — 20,858,434 —
    Sweden — 12,127,317 —
    Switzerland — 39,913,015 —
    United Kingdom — 124,411,372 —
    United States 27,419,407 — —
Total common stocks 111,364,203 879,825,760 235,769
Convertible preferred stocks — — 186,679
U.S. Government and Agency Mortgage Obligations — 369,400 —
Short-term investments 17,420,122 15,130,567 —
Totals by level $128,784,325 $895,325,727 $422,448



Valuation inputs
Other financial instruments: Level 1 Level 2 Level 3
Forward currency contracts $— $(593,487) $—
Totals by level $— $(593,487) $—

During the reporting period, transfers within the fair value hierarchy, if any (other than certain transfers involving non-U.S. equity securities as described in the Security valuation note above), did not represent, in the aggregate, more than 1% of the fund's net assets measured as of the end of the period. Transfers are accounted for using the end of period pricing valuation method.
At the start and close of the reporting period, Level 3 investments in securities represented less than 1% of the fund's net assets and were not considered a significant portion of the fund's portfolio.

Fair Value of Derivative Instruments as of the close of the reporting period
Asset derivatives Liability derivatives
Derivatives not accounted for as hedging instruments under ASC 815 Fair value Fair value
Foreign exchange contracts $1,638,060 $2,231,547
Total $1,638,060 $2,231,547
The volume of activity for the reporting period for any derivative type that was held at the close of the period is listed below and was based on an average of the holdings of that derivative at the end of each fiscal quarter in the reporting period:
Forward currency contracts (contract amount)$374,100,000

For additional information regarding the fund please see the fund's most recent annual or semiannual shareholder report filed on the Securities and Exchange Commission's Web site, www.sec.gov, or visit Putnam's Individual Investor Web site at www.putnaminvestments.com



Item 2. Controls and Procedures:
(a) The registrant's principal executive officer and principal financial officer have concluded, based on their evaluation of the effectiveness of the design and operation of the registrant's disclosure controls and procedures as of a date within 90 days of the filing date of this report, that the design and operation of such procedures are generally effective to provide reasonable assurance that information required to be disclosed by the registrant in this report is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the Commission's rules and forms.
(b) Changes in internal control over financial reporting: Not applicable

Item 3. Exhibits:
Separate certifications for the principal executive officer and principal financial officer of the registrant as required by Rule 30a-2(a) under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, are filed herewith.

SIGNATURES
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, thereunto duly authorized.

Putnam International Equity Fund
By (Signature and Title):
/s/ Janet C. Smith
Janet C. Smith
Principal Accounting Officer
Date: May 29, 2018

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.

By (Signature and Title):
/s/ Jonathan S. Horwitz
Jonathan S. Horwitz
Principal Executive Officer
Date: May 29, 2018

By (Signature and Title):
/s/ Janet C. Smith
Janet C. Smith
Principal Financial Officer
Date: May 29, 2018