Active Equities

International Equity Fund (Class Y)  (POVYX)

Pursuing the growth potential of overseas markets since 1991

International Equity Fund received an  Overall Morningstar Rating™  of  
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International Equity Fund (POVYX)

Highlights

Objective

The fund seeks capital appreciation.

Strategy and process

  • International companies The fund invests in established large and midsize companies, mainly in developed markets to benefit from opportunities outside the United States.
  • A flexible strategy Pursuing Putnam's blend strategy, the fund can own growth- or value-style stocks to participate when either style leads international markets.
  • A disciplined process The portfolio manager invests using fundamental research and quantitative tools supported by strong risk controls in portfolio construction.

Fund price

 Yesterday’s close 52-week high 52-week low
Net asset value $25.13
-0.24% | $-0.06 		$30.76
09/03/21 		$25.13
01/19/22
(Optional)

Consistency of positive performance over five years

Performance represents 5-year returns in rolling quarter-end periods since inception.

Performance shown does not reflect the effects of any sales charges. Note that returns of 0.00% are counted as positive periods. For complete fund performance, please click on the performance tab.

26.70%

Best 5-year annualized return

(for period ending 03/31/00)

-7.81%

Worst 5-year annualized return

(for period ending 06/30/12)

7.40%

Average 5-year annualized return

Fund facts as of 12/31/21

Total net assets
$865.54M
Turnover (fiscal year end)
91%
Dividend frequency
Annually
Number of holdings
63
Fiscal year-end
June
CUSIP / Fund code
74680E507 / 1835
Inception date
07/12/96
Category
Blend
Open to new investors
Ticker
POVYX

Management team

Vivek Gandhi, CFA

Portfolio Manager

Literature

Finding growth potential in unexpected places
For franchised U.S. auto dealers, consolidation and the e-commerce imperative could mark the biggest changes to the industry’s structure, possibly ever.
The equity bull market is intact
In our view, despite the elongated pandemic and fears about inflation, the bull market remains intact, supported by strong earnings growth and higher-than-expected P/E multiples applied to those earnings.
Risk managers: Essential partners for delivering performance
A successful risk team is one that can analyze multiple measures of risk and work with investment teams before trades are executed to capture alpha.

Performance

  • Total return (%) as of 12/31/21

  • Annual performance as of 12/31/21

Annualized Total return (%) as of 12/31/21

Annualized performance 1 yr. 3 yrs. 5 yrs. 10 yrs.
Before sales charge 8.98% 15.37% 9.50% 8.46%
After sales charge N/A N/A N/A N/A
MSCI EAFE Index (ND) 11.26%13.54%9.55%8.03%

Current performance may be lower or higher than the quoted past performance, which cannot guarantee future results. Share price, principal value, and return will vary, and you may have a gain or loss when you sell your shares. Performance assumes reinvestment of distributions and does not account for taxes. The "before sales charge" performance does not reflect the current maximum sales charges, which we explain below. If performance did reflect the charges, it would be lower. The "after sales charge" performance (or returns at public offering price) varies by share class and fund. For class A and class M shares, the current maximum initial sales charges are 5.75% and 3.50% for equity funds and 4.00% and 3.25% for income funds, respectively (with these exceptions: 2.25% for class A of Putnam Floating Rate Income Fund, Short-Term Municipal Income, Short Duration Bond Fund, and Fixed Income Absolute Return Fund). Class B share performance reflects the applicable contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC), which is 5% in the first year, declines to 1% in the sixth year, and is eliminated thereafter (except for Putnam Floating Rate Income Fund, Putnam Short Duration Bond Fund, and Putnam Fixed Income Absolute Return Fund; for these funds, the CDSC is 1% in the first year, declines to 0.5% in the second year, and is eliminated thereafter). Class C share performance reflects a 1% CDSC the first year that is eliminated thereafter. Performance for class B, C, M, N, R, and Y shares prior to their inception is derived from the historical performance of class A shares by adjusting for the applicable sales charge (or CDSC) and, except for class Y shares, the higher operating expenses for such shares (note, for two funds — Putnam Tax-Free High Yield Fund and Putnam Strategic Intermediate Municipal Fund performance prior to inception is based on the historical performance of class B shares). Performance for class A, C, R6, and Y shares of Putnam Mortgage Opportunities Fund before their inception is derived from the historical performance of class I shares, which has been adjusted for the applicable sales charge (or CDSC) and the higher operating expenses for such shares. The "after sales charge" performance (at public offering price) for class N shares reflects the current maximum initial sales charge of 1.50%. Class R, R3, R4, R5, and R6 shares, which are available to qualified employee-benefit plans only, are sold without an initial sales charge and have no CDSC. Class Y shares are generally only available for corporate and institutional clients and have no initial sales charge. Performance for class R3 and R4 shares prior to their inception is derived from the historical performance of class Y shares by adjusting for the higher operating expenses for such shares. Performance for class R5 shares before their inception is derived from the historical performance of class Y shares, which has not been adjusted for the lower expenses; had it been adjusted, performance would be higher (with the exception of the RetirementReady Maturity, 2025, 2030, 2035, and 2040 Funds, for which performance is derived from the historical performance of class R6 shares and has been adjusted for the higher operating expenses for such shares; and the RetirementReady 2045, 2050, 2055, and 2060 Funds, for which performance is derived from the historical performance of class R6 shares and has not been adjusted for the lower expenses; had it been adjusted, performance would be higher). Performance for class R6 shares before their inception is derived from the historical performance of class Y shares, which has not been adjusted for the lower operating expenses; had it been adjusted, performance would be higher. For a portion of the period, some funds had expenses limitations or had been sold on a limited basis with limited assets and expenses. Had these limits not been in place, performance would be lower.

Performance snapshot

  Before sales charge After sales charge
1 mt. as of 12/31/21 4.94% -
YTD as of 01/19/22 -2.10% -

Risk-adjusted performance as of 12/31/21

Alpha (3 yrs.) 2.51
Sharpe ratio (3 yrs.) 0.89
Treynor ratio (3 yrs.) 15.30
Information ratio (3 yrs.) 0.60

Volatility as of 12/31/21

Standard deviation (3 yrs.) 16.32%
Beta 0.95
R-squared 0.97

Capture ratio as of 12/31/21

Up-market (3 yrs.) 103.41
Down-market (3 yrs.) 96.44

Lipper rankings as of 12/31/21

Time period Rank/Funds in category Percentile ranking
1 yr. 233/342 68%
3 yrs. 21/312 7%
5 yrs. 110/269 41%
10 yrs. 30/165 19%
Lipper category: International Multi-Cp Core Fds

Morningstar Ratings™ as of 12/31/21

Time period Funds in category Morningstar Rating™
Overall 698
3 yrs. 698
5 yrs. 601
10 yrs. 409
Morningstar category: Foreign Large Blend

Distributions

Record/Ex dividend date 12/22/21
Payable date 12/27/21
Income $0.488
Extra income --
Short-term cap. gain $1.621
Long-term cap. gain $1.559

Lipper rankings are based on total return without sales charge relative to all share classes of funds with similar objectives as determined by Lipper. Past performance is not indicative of future results.

The Morningstar RatingTM for funds, or "star rating", is calculated for managed products (including mutual funds, variable annuity and variable life subaccounts, exchange-traded funds, closed-end funds, and separate accounts) with at least a three-year history. Exchange-traded funds and open-ended mutual funds are considered a single population for comparative purposes. It is calculated based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a managed product's monthly excess performance, placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. The top 10% of products in each product category receive 5 stars, the next 22.5% receive 4 stars, the next 35% receive 3 stars, the next 22.5% receive 2 stars, and the bottom 10% receive 1 star. The Overall Morningstar Rating for a managed product is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with its three-, five-, and 10-year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics. The weights are: 100% three-year rating for 36-59 months of total returns, 60% five-year rating/40% three-year rating for 60-119 months of total returns, and 50% 10-year rating/30% five-year rating/20% three-year rating for 120 or more months of total returns. While the 10-year overall star rating formula seems to give the most weight to the 10-year period, the most recent three-year period actually has the greatest impact because it is included in all three rating periods.

The up-market capture ratio is used to evaluate how well an investment manager performed relative to an index during periods when that index has risen. The ratio is calculated by dividing the manager’s returns by the returns of the index during the up-market, and multiplying that factor by 100. The down-market capture ratio is used to evaluate how well an investment manager performed relative to an index during periods when that index has dropped. The ratio is calculated by dividing the manager’s returns by the returns of the index during the down-market and multiplying that factor by 100.

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Holdings

Sony Group Corp 3.23%
Diageo 2.88%
Astrazeneca 2.37%
Lonza Group Ag 2.36%
Hoya Corp 2.33%
Linde 2.31%
Deutsche Boerse Ag 2.25%
Lvmh Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton 2.25%
Merck Kgaa 2.22%
Brenntag 2.03%
Top 10 holdings, percent of portfolio 24.23%

Portfolio composition as of 12/31/21

Common stock 97.09%
Preferred stock 1.82%
Cash and net other assets 1.09%

Equity statistics as of 12/31/21

Median market cap $29.91B
Weighted average market cap $85.42B
Price to book 2.45
Price to earnings 15.94

Fund characteristics will vary over time.

Due to rounding, percentages may not equal 100%.

Consider these risks before investing: International investing involves currency, economic, and political risks. Emerging-market securities carry illiquidity and volatility risks. Investments focused in a single region may be affected by common economic forces and other factors. In addition, events in any one country within the region may impact the other countries or the region as a whole. Because the fund currently, and may in the future, invest significantly in European companies, the fund is particularly susceptible to economic, political, regulatory or other events or conditions affecting issuers in Europe. European financial markets have in recent years experienced increased volatility due to concerns with some countries’ high levels of sovereign debt, budget deficits, and unemployment. Investments in small and/or midsize companies increase the risk of greater price fluctuations. Growth stocks may be more susceptible to earnings disappointments, and value stocks may fail to rebound. The value of investments in the fund’s portfolio may fall or fail to rise over extended periods of time for a variety of reasons, including general economic, political or financial market conditions, investor sentiment and market perceptions, government actions, geopolitical events or changes, and factors related to a specific issuer, geography, industry or sector. These and other factors may lead to increased volatility and reduced liquidity in the fund’s portfolio holdings. Risks associated with derivatives include increased investment exposure (which may be considered leverage) and, in the case of over-the-counter instruments, the potential inability to terminate or sell derivatives positions and the potential failure of the other party to the instrument to meet its obligations. Our investment techniques, analyses, and judgments may not produce the outcome we intend. The investments we select for the fund may not perform as well as other securities that we do not select for the fund. We, or the fund’s other service providers, may experience disruptions or operating errors that could have a negative effect on the fund. You can lose money by investing in the fund. 

Top industry sectors as of 12/31/21

Industrials 18.52%
Financials 16.12%
Consumer discretionary 14.99%
Information technology 12.67%
Health care 12.44%
Consumer staples 8.51%
Materials 4.63%
Communication services 4.53%
Energy 3.65%
 
Other		 3.93%
Utilities 2.83%
Cash and net other assets 1.09%

The unclassified sector (where applicable) includes exchange traded funds and other securities not able to be classified by sector.

Sectors will vary over time.

Country allocation as of 12/31/21

United Kingdom 18.86%
Japan 16.18%
France 15.37%
Germany 8.52%
Ireland 6.54%
Switzerland 5.61%
South Korea 3.72%
United States 3.70%
India 3.50%
 
Other		 18.00%
Canada 2.60%
Portugal 2.56%
Italy 2.12%
Taiwan 1.82%
Netherlands 1.75%
Hong Kong 1.48%
Russia 1.36%
Greece 1.10%
Cash and net other assets 1.09%
United Arab Emirates 1.09%
Spain 1.03%

Expenses

Expense ratio

 Class A Class B Class C Class R Class R5 Class R6 Class Y
Total expense ratio 1.23% 1.98% 1.98% 1.48% 0.90% 0.80% 0.98%
What you pay 1.23% 1.98% 1.98% 1.48% 0.90% 0.80% 0.98%

Sales charge

 Breakpoint Class A Class B Class C Class R Class R5 Class R6 Class Y
$0-$49,999 5.75% / 5.00% 0.00% / 4.00% 0.00% / 1.00% -- -- -- --
$50,000-$99,999 4.50% / 3.75% 0.00% / 4.00% 0.00% / 1.00% -- -- -- --
$100,000-$249,999 3.50% / 2.75% -- 0.00% / 1.00% -- -- -- --
$250,000-$499,999 2.50% / 2.00% -- 0.00% / 1.00% -- -- -- --
$500,000-$999,999 2.00% / 1.75% -- 0.00% / 1.00% -- -- -- --
$1M-$4M 0.00% / 1.00% -- -- -- -- -- --
$4M-$50M 0.00% / 0.50% -- -- -- -- -- --
$50M+ 0.00% / 0.25% -- -- -- -- -- --

CDSC

  Class A (sales for $1,000,000+) Class B Class C Class R Class R5 Class R6 Class Y
0 to 9 mts. 1.00% 5.00% 1.00% -- -- -- --
9 to 12 mts. 1.00% 5.00% 1.00% -- -- -- --
2 yrs. 0.00% 4.00% 0.00% -- -- -- --
3 yrs. 0.00% 3.00% 0.00% -- -- -- --
4 yrs. 0.00% 3.00% 0.00% -- -- -- --
5 yrs. 0.00% 2.00% 0.00% -- -- -- --
6 yrs. 0.00% 1.00% 0.00% -- -- -- --
7+ yrs. 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% -- -- -- --

Trail commissions

  Class A Class B Class C Class R Class R5 Class R6 Class Y
  0.25% 0.25% 1.00% 0.50% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00%
  NA NA NA NA NA NA NA
  NA NA NA NA NA NA NA

For sales and trail commission information on purchases over $1 million and participant-directed qualified retirement plans, see a Putnam fund prospectus and the statement of additional information.

The MSCI EAFE Index is an unmanaged index of equity securities from developed countries in Western Europe, the Far East, and Australasia. You cannot invest directly in an index.

Consider these risks before investing: International investing involves currency, economic, and political risks. Emerging-market securities carry illiquidity and volatility risks. Investments focused in a single region may be affected by common economic forces and other factors. In addition, events in any one country within the region may impact the other countries or the region as a whole. Because the fund currently, and may in the future, invest significantly in European companies, the fund is particularly susceptible to economic, political, regulatory or other events or conditions affecting issuers in Europe. European financial markets have in recent years experienced increased volatility due to concerns with some countries’ high levels of sovereign debt, budget deficits, and unemployment. Investments in small and/or midsize companies increase the risk of greater price fluctuations. Growth stocks may be more susceptible to earnings disappointments, and value stocks may fail to rebound. The value of investments in the fund’s portfolio may fall or fail to rise over extended periods of time for a variety of reasons, including general economic, political or financial market conditions, investor sentiment and market perceptions, government actions, geopolitical events or changes, and factors related to a specific issuer, geography, industry or sector. These and other factors may lead to increased volatility and reduced liquidity in the fund’s portfolio holdings. Risks associated with derivatives include increased investment exposure (which may be considered leverage) and, in the case of over-the-counter instruments, the potential inability to terminate or sell derivatives positions and the potential failure of the other party to the instrument to meet its obligations. Our investment techniques, analyses, and judgments may not produce the outcome we intend. The investments we select for the fund may not perform as well as other securities that we do not select for the fund. We, or the fund’s other service providers, may experience disruptions or operating errors that could have a negative effect on the fund. You can lose money by investing in the fund.