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<div style="display:none">~ http://www.thornburg.com/role/ScheduleShareholderFeesThornburgInternationalGrowthFund column period compact * ~</div>
<div style="display:none">~ http://www.thornburg.com/role/ScheduleAnnualFundOperatingExpensesThornburgInternationalGrowthFund column period compact * ~</div>
<div style="display:none">~ http://www.thornburg.com/role/ScheduleExpenseExampleTransposedThornburgInternationalGrowthFund column period compact * ~</div>
<div style="display:none">~ http://www.thornburg.com/role/ScheduleAverageAnnualTotalReturnsTransposedThornburgInternationalGrowthFund column period compact * ~</div>
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THORNBURG INVESTMENT TRUST
0000816153
2013-02-04
2013-02-04
2012-09-30
<b>Fund Summary International Growth Fund</b>
<b>Investmen<a name="prob442321_111"></a>t Goal </b>
The Fund seeks long-term growth of capital by investing in equity securities selected for their growth potential.
<b>Fees and<a name="prob442321_112"></a> Expenses of the Fund </b>
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. You may qualify for discounts from the sales charges applicable to Class A shares if you or other qualifying account holders invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in the Thornburg Funds. More information about these and other discounts is available from your financial professional and in “Opening Your Account – Buying Fund Shares” on page 72 of this Prospectus.
<b>Example.</b>
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 Fund 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 95.17% of the average value of its portfolio.
<b>Princip<a name="prob442321_113"></a>al Investment Strategies </b>
<b>Principal I<a name="prob442321_114"></a>nvestment Risks </b>
<b>Past Performanc<a name="prob442321_115"></a>e of the Fund </b>
The following information provides some indication of the risks of investing in International Growth Fund by showing how the Fund’s investment results vary from year to year. The bar chart shows how the annual total return for Class A shares has been different in each full year shown. The average annual total return figures compare Class A, Class C and Class I share performance to the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) All Country (AC) World ex-U.S. Growth Index, a market capitalization weighted index which includes growth companies in developed and emerging markets throughout the world, excluding the United States. Past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future. The performance information shown below is as of the calendar year ended December 31, 2012. Updated performance information may be obtained on the Thornburg website at www. thornburg.com or by calling 1-800-847-0200.
<b>Annual Total Returns – Class A Shares </b>
After-tax returns are calculated using the highest historical individual federal marginal income tax rates, and do not reflect state or local income taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor’s own tax situation and may differ from the returns shown. Actual after-tax returns are not relevant to persons or accounts not subject to federal income tax. The after-tax returns shown relate only to Class A shares, and after-tax returns will vary for Class C and Class I shares because the returns of the classes are different.
<b>Shareholder Fees </b><br/>(fees paid directly from your investment)
<b>Annual Fund Operating Expenses </b><br/>(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. <br/><br/>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. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year, dividends and distributions are reinvested, and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions (and giving effect to fee waivers and expense reimbursements in the first year), your costs would be:
You would pay the following expenses if you did not redeem your Class C shares:
The Fund expects to invest primarily in equity securities from issuers around the world (primarily common stocks) selected for their growth potential and, under normal market conditions, invests at least 75% of its assets in foreign securities or depository receipts of foreign securities. However, the Fund may own a variety of securities, including domestic equity securities and partnership interests. The Fund may invest in developing countries and in smaller companies with market capitalizations of less than $500 million.<br/><br/>The Fund’s investment advisor, Thornburg Investment Management, Inc. (“Thornburg”) intends to invest in companies that it believes will have growing revenues and earnings. The Fund can invest in companies of any size, from larger, well-established companies to smaller, emerging growth companies.<br/><br/> Thornburg primarily uses individual issuer and industry analysis to make investment decisions. Among the specific factors considered by Thornburg in identifying securities for inclusion in the Fund are: <table style="font-size: pt" cellspacing="0" border="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%"> <tr valign="bottom"> <td width="1%"> </td> <td width="2%"> </td> <td width="45%"> </td> <td width="2%"> </td> <td width="1%"> </td> <td width="2%"> </td> <td width="45%"> </td> </tr> <tr valign="bottom"> <td valign="top"><div style="margin-left:0px; text-indent:-0px"><b>■</b> </div></td> <td> </td> <td align="left" valign="top">earnings growth potential </td> <td> </td> <td align="left" valign="top"><b>■</b> </td> <td> </td> <td align="left" valign="top">price/revenue ratio</td> </tr> <tr valign="bottom"> <td valign="top"><div style="margin-left:0px; text-indent:-0px"><b>■</b> </div></td> <td> </td> <td align="left" valign="top">business model </td> <td> </td> <td align="left" valign="top"><b>■</b> </td> <td> </td> <td align="left" valign="top">PE/growth rate ratio</td> </tr> <tr valign="bottom"> <td valign="top"><div style="margin-left:0px; text-indent:-0px"><b>■</b> </div></td> <td> </td> <td align="left" valign="top">industry growth potential </td> <td> </td> <td align="left" valign="top"><b>■</b> </td> <td> </td> <td align="left" valign="top">price/cash flow ratio</td> </tr> <tr valign="bottom"> <td valign="top"><div style="margin-left:0px; text-indent:-0px"><b>■</b> </div></td> <td> </td> <td align="left" valign="top">industry leadership </td> <td> </td> <td align="left" valign="top"><b>■</b> </td> <td> </td> <td align="left" valign="top"> enterprise value/EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) ratio</td> </tr> <tr valign="bottom"> <td valign="top"><div style="margin-left:0px; text-indent:-0px"><b>■</b> </div></td> <td> </td> <td align="left" valign="top">asset appreciation potential </td> <td> </td> <td align="left" valign="top"><b>■</b> </td> <td> </td> <td align="left" valign="top">management strength</td> </tr> <tr valign="bottom"> <td valign="top"><div style="margin-left:0px; text-indent:-0px"><b>■</b> </div></td> <td> </td> <td align="left" valign="top">potential size of business </td> <td> </td> <td align="left" valign="top"><b>■</b> </td> <td> </td> <td align="left" valign="top">debt/capital ratio</td> </tr> <tr valign="bottom"> <td valign="top"><div style="margin-left:0px; text-indent:-0px"><b>■</b> </div></td> <td> </td> <td align="left" valign="top">value based on earnings growth discount model </td> <td> </td> <td align="left" valign="top"><b></b> </td> <td> </td> <td align="left" valign="top"></td> </tr> <tr valign="bottom"> <td valign="top"><div style="margin-left:0px; text-indent:-0px"><b>■</b> </div></td> <td> </td> <td align="left" valign="top">price/earnings ratio</td> <td> </td> <td align="left" valign="top"> </td> <td> </td> <td align="left" valign="top"> </td> </tr> </table> <br/>The Fund typically makes equity investments in the following three types of companies:<br/><br/><b>Growth Industry Leaders</b> are growing companies that appear to have proprietary advantages in industry segments that Thornburg expects to grow faster than the overall market. Stocks of these companies generally sell at premium valuations (relative to the MSCI All Country World ex-U.S. Growth Index).<br /><br /> <b>Consistent Growth</b> companies. Stocks in this category generally sell at premium valuations (relative to the MSCI All Country World ex-U.S. Growth Index) and tend to show earnings or cash flow growth, or both. There are no assurances that these trends will continue in the future.<br /><br /> <b>Emerging Growth</b> companies are typically growing companies that in Thornburg’s opinion are in the process of establishing a leading position in a significant product, service or market and which Thornburg expects will grow, or continue to grow, at a rate exceeding the growth of the world’s gross domestic product (“GDP”). These companies may not be profitable at the time of purchase. <br /><br /> In conjunction with individual issuer analysis, Thornburg may identify economic sectors it expects to experience growth. At times this approach may produce a focus on certain industries, such as technology, financial services, healthcare or biotechnology. The exposure to particular economic sectors or industries likely will vary over time. Investment decisions are also based on domestic and international economic developments, outlooks for securities markets, interest rates and inflation, and the supply and demand for debt and equity securities. <br /><br /> Debt obligations, usually with associated equity features, occasionally will be considered for investment when Thornburg believes them to be more attractive than equity alternatives. The Fund may purchase debt obligations of any maturity and of any credit quality. There is no minimum credit quality or rating of debt obligation the Fund may purchase.
An investment in the Fund is not a deposit in any bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency. Accordingly, the loss of money is a risk of investing in the Fund. The value of the Fund’s shares varies from day to day and over time, and when you sell your shares they may be worth less than what you paid for them. The following is a summary of the principal risks of investing in the Fund.<br /><br /> <b>Management Risk –</b> The Fund is an actively managed portfolio, and the value of the Fund may be reduced if Thornburg pursues unsuccessful investments or fails to correctly identify risks affecting the broad economy or specific issuers in which the Fund invests.<br /><br /> <b>Market and Economic Risk –</b> The value of the Fund’s investments may decline and its share value may be reduced due to changes in general economic and market conditions. The value of a security may change in response to developments affecting entire economies, markets or industries, including changes in interest rates, political and legal developments, and general market volatility.<br /><br /> <b>Risks Affecting Specific Issuers –</b> The value of an equity security or debt obligation may decline in response to developments affecting the specific issuer of the security or obligation, even if the overall industry or economy is unaffected. These developments may include a variety of factors, including but not limited to management issues or other corporate disruption, a decline in revenues or profitability, an increase in costs, or an adverse effect on the issuer’s competitive position.<br /><br /> <b>Foreign Investment Risk –</b> Investments in securities of foreign issuers may involve risks including adverse fluctuations in currency exchange rates, political instability, confiscations, taxes or restrictions on currency exchange, difficulty in selling foreign investments, and reduced legal protection. These risks may be more pronounced for investments in developing countries because the economies of those countries are usually less diversified, communications, transportation and economic infrastructures are less developed, and developing countries ordinarily have less established legal, political, business and social frameworks. At times the prices of equity securities or debt obligations of a developing country issuer may be extremely volatile. An issuer domiciled in a developed country may be similarly affected by these developing country risks to the extent that the issuer conducts a significant percentage of its business in developing countries.<br /><br /> <b>Smaller Company Risk –</b> Investments in smaller companies may involve additional risks because of limited product lines, limited access to markets and financial resources, greater vulnerability to competition and changes in markets, lack of management depth, increased volatility in share price, and possible difficulties in valuing or selling the investments.<br /><br /> <b>Credit Risk –</b> If debt obligations held by the Fund are downgraded by ratings agencies or go into default, or if management action, legislation or other government action reduces the ability of issuers to pay principal and interest when due, the value of those debt obligations may decline and the Fund’s share value and any dividends paid by the Fund may be reduced. Because the ability of an issuer of a lower-rated or unrated debt obligation (including particularly “junk” or “high yield” bonds) to pay principal and interest when due is typically less certain than for an issuer of a higher-rated debt obligation, lower-rated and unrated debt obligations are generally more vulnerable than higher-rated debt obligations to default, to ratings downgrades, and to liquidity risk.<br /><br /> <b>Interest Rate Risk –</b> When interest rates increase, the value of the Fund’s investments in debt obligations may decline and the Fund’s share value may be reduced. This effect is typically more pronounced for intermediate and longer-term debt obligations. Decreases in market interest rates may result in prepayments of debt obligations the Fund acquires, requiring the Fund to reinvest at lower interest rates.<br /><br /> <b>Liquidity Risk –</b> Due to a lack of demand in the marketplace or other factors, the Fund may not be able to sell some or all of the investments promptly, or may only be able to sell investments at less than desired prices. This risk may be more pronounced for the Fund’s investments in developing countries. <br /><br /> Additional information about Fund investments, investment strategies, and risks of investing in the Fund appears below beginning on page 65.
February 1, 2014
0.9517
50000
You may qualify for discounts from the sales charges applicable to Class A shares if you or other qualifying account holders invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $50,000 in the Thornburg Funds. More information about these and other discounts is available from your financial professional and in “Opening Your Account – Buying Fund Shares” on page 72 of this Prospectus.
Accordingly, the loss of money is a risk of investing in the Fund.
An investment in the Fund is not a deposit in any bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency.
The following information provides some indication of the risks of investing in International Growth Fund by showing how the Fund’s investment results vary from year to year.
The average annual total return figures compare Class A, Class C and Class I share performance to the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) All Country (AC) World ex-U.S. Growth Index, a market capitalization weighted index which includes growth companies in developed and emerging markets throughout the world, excluding the United States.
1-800-847-0200
www. thornburg.com
Past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform in the future.
The sales charge for Class A shares is not reflected in the returns shown on the bar chart, and the returns would be less if the charge was taken into account.
After-tax returns are calculated using the highest historical individual federal marginal income tax rates, and do not reflect state or local income taxes.
Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor's own tax situation and may differ from the returns shown. Actual after-tax returns are not relevant to persons or accounts not subject to federal income tax.
The after-tax returns shown relate only to Class A shares, and after-tax returns will vary for Class C and Class I shares because the returns of the classes are different.
Highest quarterly results for time period shown: 28.24% <br/>(quarter ended 6-30-09).<br/><br/>Lowest quarterly results for time period shown:-25.74% <br/>(quarter ended 12-31-08).
0.045
0
0
0
0.01
0
0.0088
0.0088
0.0088
0.0025
0.01
0
0.0038
0.0039
0.0026
0.0151
0.0227
0.0114
0.0151
0.0227
0.0099
-0.0015
597
330
101
906
709
347
1237
613
1215
2170
2605
1373
230
709
1215
2605
-0.5032
0.4481
0.2726
-0.0297
0.2187
<b>Average Annual Total Returns </b> (periods ended<br/>12-31-12)
0.1666
0.2245
0.1666
0.1986
0.164
0.1639
0.1065
0.1666
0.0067
0.0049
0.0045
-0.0288
0.0093
-0.0288
0.0218
-0.0288
0.0549
0.0518
0.0455
0.0045
0.0045
0.0694
0.0045
0.0561
2007-02-01
2007-02-01
2007-02-01
2007-02-01
2007-02-01
2007-02-01
2007-02-01
2007-02-01
Highest quarterly results
2009-06-30
0.2824
Lowest quarterly results
2008-12-31
-0.2574
<div style="display:none">~ http://www.thornburg.com/role/ScheduleExpenseExampleNoRedemptionTransposedThornburgInternationalGrowthFund column period compact * ~</div>
<b>Portfolio Turnover.</b>
<div style="display:none">~ http://www.thornburg.com/role/ScheduleAnnualTotalReturnsThornburgInternationalGrowthFundBarChart column period compact * ~</div>
A 1.00% contingent deferred sales charge (CDSC) is imposed on redemptions of any part or all of a purchase of $1 million or more within 12 months of purchase.