Active Equities

Emerging Markets Equity Fund (Class A)  (PEMMX)

Pursuing growth opportunities in developing economies

Emerging Markets Equity Fund received an  Overall Morningstar Rating™  of  

Highlights

Objective

The fund seeks long-term capital appreciation.

Strategy and process

  • Growth potential: Emerging markets offer the potential for continued growth due to attractive demographics, rising wealth, and increased investment in infrastructure in developing countries.
  • A disciplined process: By integrating multiple perspectives into portfolio construction, the fund manager is able to better evaluate individual companies within the context of changing local and global influences.
  • Rigorous research: The manager leverages Putnam's global research platform to identify opportunities across emerging and select frontier markets.

Fund price

 Yesterday’s close 52-week high 52-week low
Net asset value $17.14
-1.10% | $-0.19 		$19.23
02/17/21 		$10.63
04/13/20
(Optional)

Fund facts as of 03/31/21

Total net assets
$601.55M
Turnover (fiscal year end)
127%
Dividend frequency
Annually
Number of holdings
48
Fiscal year-end
August
CUSIP / Fund code
746764109 / 0059
Inception date
09/29/08
Category
Blend
Open to new investors
Ticker
PEMMX

Management team

Brian S. Freiwald, CFA

Portfolio Manager

Manager commentary | April 2021

Portfolio Manager Brian Freiwald, CFA describes his outlook for emerging markets.

Literature

Deglobalization creates new winners in China
The trade war, pandemic, and the Made in China 2025 initiative are resulting in a deglobalization trend and opportunities in China.

Performance

Consistency of positive performance over five years

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

Performance shown above 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 see below.

15.75%

Best 5-year annualized return

(for period ending 12/31/20)

-4.95%

Worst 5-year annualized return

(for period ending 03/31/16)

4.49%

Average 5-year annualized return

  • Total return (%) as of 03/31/21

  • Annual performance as of 03/31/21

Annualized Total return (%) as of 03/31/21

Annualized performance 1 yr. 3 yrs. 5 yrs. 10 yrs.
Before sales charge 67.43% 10.06% 15.47% 4.76%
After sales charge 57.80% 7.90% 14.11% 4.14%
MSCI Emerging Markets Index (ND) 58.39%6.53%12.07%3.65%

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, Putnam Fixed Income Absolute Return Fund, and Putnam Short-Term Municipal Income 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 03/31/21 -3.18% -8.74%
YTD as of 04/09/21 2.08% -3.79%

Risk-adjusted performance as of 02/28/21

Alpha (3 yrs.) 5.44
Sharpe ratio (3 yrs.) 0.55
Treynor ratio (3 yrs.) 10.75
Information ratio (3 yrs.) 1.00

Volatility as of 02/28/21

Standard deviation (3 yrs.) 18.37%
Beta 0.94
R-squared 0.93

Capture ratio as of 02/28/21

Up-market (3 yrs.) 105.91
Down-market (3 yrs.) 86.71

Lipper rankings as of 02/28/21

Time period Rank/Funds in category Percentile ranking
1 yr. 97/771 13%
3 yrs. 99/666 15%
5 yrs. 84/572 15%
10 yrs. 101/288 35%
Lipper category: Emerging Markets Funds

Morningstar Ratings™ as of 02/28/21

Time period Funds in category Morningstar Rating™
Overall 695
3 yrs. 695
5 yrs. 591
10 yrs. 281
Morningstar category: Diversified Emerging Mkts

Distributions

Record/Ex dividend date 12/23/20
Payable date 12/28/20
Income $0.019
Extra income --
Short-term cap. gain $0.259
Long-term cap. gain --

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.

Holdings

Tencent Holdings 8.71%
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing 7.67%
Alibaba Group Holding 7.24%
Samsung Electronics 4.95%
Sk Hynix 3.31%
Reliance Industries 3.27%
Jd.Com 3.20%
Hdfc Bank 2.99%
Meituan 2.86%
Baidu 2.20%
Top 10 holdings, percent of portfolio 46.40%

Portfolio composition as of 02/28/21

Common stock 99.50%
Cash and net other assets 0.50%

Equity statistics as of 02/28/21

Median market cap $52.21B
Weighted average market cap $237.70B
Price to book 5.67
Price to earnings 25.71

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 in small and/or midsize companies increase the risk of greater price fluctuations.  From time to time, the fund may invest a significant portion of its assets in companies in one or more related industries or sectors, which would make the fund more vulnerable to adverse developments affecting those industries or sectors. Growth stocks may be more susceptible to earnings disappointments, and value stocks may fail to rebound. 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. 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. 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 02/28/21

Information technology 25.05%
Consumer discretionary 22.65%
Communication services 17.50%
Industrials 9.21%
Financials 8.83%
Consumer staples 5.23%
Health care 4.89%
Energy 3.27%
Materials 2.87%
 
Other		 0.50%
Cash and net other assets 0.50%

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 02/28/21

China 40.41%
South Korea 13.54%
India 13.19%
Taiwan 12.51%
Brazil 5.43%
Hong Kong 4.62%
Russia 3.12%
Mexico 1.98%
Panama 1.46%
 
Other		 3.74%
Thailand 1.23%
Argentina 1.21%
Poland 0.80%
Cash and net other assets 0.50%

Expenses

Expense ratio

 Class A Class B Class C Class R Class R6 Class Y
Total expense ratio 1.69% 2.44% 2.44% 1.94% 1.27% 1.44%
What you pay† 1.33% 2.08% 2.08% 1.58% 0.91% 1.08%

† The fund's expense ratio is taken from the most recent prospectus and is subject to change. What you pay reflects Putnam Management's decision to contractually limit expenses through 02/28/22

Sales charge

Investment Breakpoint Class A Class B Class C Class R Class R6 Class Y
$0-$49,999 5.75% 0.00% 0.00% -- -- --
$50,000-$99,999 4.50% 0.00% 0.00% -- -- --
$100,000-$249,999 3.50% -- 0.00% -- -- --
$250,000-$499,999 2.50% -- 0.00% -- -- --
$500,000-$999,999 2.00% -- 0.00% -- -- --
$1M-$4M 0.00% -- -- -- -- --
$4M-$50M 0.00% -- -- -- -- --
$50M+ 0.00% -- -- -- -- --

CDSC

  Class A (sales for $1,000,000+) Class B Class C Class R 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% -- -- --

MSCI Emerging Markets Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization index that is designed to measure equity market performance in the global emerging markets. 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 in small and/or midsize companies increase the risk of greater price fluctuations.  From time to time, the fund may invest a significant portion of its assets in companies in one or more related industries or sectors, which would make the fund more vulnerable to adverse developments affecting those industries or sectors. Growth stocks may be more susceptible to earnings disappointments, and value stocks may fail to rebound. 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. 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. 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.