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GMO Emerging Country Debt Fund
GMO EMERGING COUNTRY DEBT FUND
Investment objective
Total return in excess of that of its benchmark, the J.P. Morgan EMBI Global Diversified.
Fees and expenses
The tables below describe the fees and expenses that you may bear for each class of shares if you buy, hold, and sell shares of the Fund. You may pay other fees, such as brokerage commissions and other fees to financial intermediaries, which are not reflected in the tables and examples below.
Shareholder fees(fees paid directly from your investment)
Shareholder Fees - GMO Emerging Country Debt Fund
Class III
Class IV
Class VI
Purchase premium (as a percentage of amount invested) [1] 0.75% 0.75% 0.75%
Redemption fee (as a percentage of amount redeemed) [1] 0.75% 0.75% 0.75%
[1] For additional information, see “Purchase Premiums and Redemption Fees” on page 185 of this Prospectus.
Annual Fund operating expenses (expenses that you bear each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Annual Fund Operating Expenses - GMO Emerging Country Debt Fund
Class III
Class IV
Class VI
Management fee [1] 0.50% 0.45% 0.405%
Other expenses 0.04% 0.04% 0.04% [2]
Total annual fund operating expenses 0.54% 0.49% 0.45%
Expense waiver [1] none none none
Total annual fund operating expenses after expense reimbursement/ waiver (fund and underlying fund expenses) 0.54% 0.49% 0.45%
[1] Includes both management fee of 0.35% and class-specific shareholder service fee, if any, for each class of shares. For additional information about the shareholder service fee applicable to each class of shares of the Fund, please see the table included in the section of the Prospectus entitled “Multiple Classes and Eligibility.” Grantham, Mayo, Van Otterloo & Co. LLC (“GMO”) has contractually agreed to waive or reduce the Fund’s management fees and shareholder service fees to the extent necessary to offset the management fees and shareholder service fees paid to GMO that are directly or indirectly borne by the Fund or a class of shares of the Fund as a result of the Fund’s direct or indirect investments in other series of GMO Trust (“GMO Funds”). Management fees and shareholder service fees will not be waived below zero. This waiver will continue through at least June 30, 2022 and may not be terminated prior to this date without the action or consent of the Trust’s Board of Trustees.
[2] The amount includes interest expense incurred by the Fund as a result of entering into reverse repurchase agreements and/or margin on cleared swap contracts, if any. “Other expenses” ​(before addition of interest expense) and interest expense were approximately 0.04% and less than 0.01%, respectively.
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 $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses remain the same as those shown in the table. The one year amounts shown reflect the expense waiver noted in the expense table. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
Expense Example - GMO Emerging Country Debt Fund - USD ($)
1 Year
3 Years
5 Years
10 Years
Class III 208 332 467 862
Class IV 203 316 440 802
Class VI 199 303 418 754
Expense Example No Redemption - GMO Emerging Country Debt Fund - USD ($)
1 Year
3 Years
5 Years
10 Years
Class III 130 247 375 747
Class IV 125 231 347 686
Class VI 121 218 325 638
Portfolio turnover
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities. A higher portfolio turnover rate may result in higher transaction costs and, for holders of Fund shares subject to U.S. taxes, higher income taxes. These transaction costs, which are not reflected in Annual Fund operating expenses or in the Example, affect the Fund’s performance. During its fiscal year ended February 28, 2021, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate (excluding short-term investments) was 55% of the average value of its portfolio securities. That portfolio turnover rate includes investments in U.S. Treasury Fund, which the Fund uses as a short-term investment vehicle for cash management. The Fund’s portfolio turnover rate during its fiscal year ended February 28, 2021, excluding transactions in U.S. Treasury Fund and other short-term investments, was 56% of the average value of its portfolio securities.
Principal investment strategies
The Fund invests primarily in non-local currency denominated debt (“external debt”) of emerging market sovereign and quasi-sovereign issuers. “Sovereign” refers to a government and “quasi-sovereign” refers to a governmental agency, political subdivision or other instrumentality or issuer that is majority owned, directly or indirectly, or whose obligations are guaranteed, by a government. Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests directly and indirectly (e.g., through other GMO Funds or derivatives) at least 80% of its assets in debt investments tied economically to emerging countries (see “Name Policies”). In general, the Fund considers “emerging countries” to be countries that are included in the Fund’s benchmark or that have similar national domestic products or default histories to those of countries included in the Fund’s benchmark. The Fund’s performance is likely to be more volatile than that of its benchmark.
The Fund typically gains its investment exposure by purchasing debt investments or by using derivatives, typically credit default swaps. The Fund may invest in debt investments of all credit qualities, including securities that are in default, and may invest in corporate bonds. (The debt investments in which the Fund invests includes below investment grade debt investments, which are commonly referred to as “high yield” or “junk bonds,” although these terms are not generally used to refer to emerging country debt securities.) The debt investments in which the Fund invests are usually denominated in U.S. dollars, Euros, Japanese yen, Swiss francs, or British pounds sterling, although the Fund also may invest in debt investments that are denominated in local currencies. After hedging, U.S. dollars typically comprise at least 75% of the Fund’s exposures. The Fund typically invests in less liquid debt investments with the intention of holding them for an extended period of time.
When constructing the portfolio, GMO considers risk at both the portfolio and individual security level and generally takes into account, among other factors, interest rate duration, credit spread duration, liquidity, transaction costs and default duration as well as the idiosyncratic risk of each instrument. When making investment decisions, GMO typically relies more heavily on its assessment of the risk-reward characteristics of individual investments in a given country than on its outlook for that particular country. GMO uses fundamental analytical techniques as the basis for its analysis of both individual investments and country outlook. In performing its analysis with respect to country outlook, GMO typically incorporates aspects of ESG (environmental, social, and governance) criteria. The factors GMO considers and investment methods GMO uses can change over time.
In seeking to achieve the Fund’s investment objective, GMO typically invests a portion of the Fund’s assets in over-the-counter (OTC) and exchange-traded derivatives, including options, swap contracts (including interest rate swaps, total return swaps and credit default swaps), forward currency contracts (including forward contracts on currencies of developed markets), and reverse repurchase agreements. The Fund is not limited in its use of derivatives or in the total notional value of its derivative positions. Leverage is not a principal component of the Fund’s investment strategy. However, because of its derivative positions, the Fund may at times have gross investment exposure in excess of its net assets (i.e. the Fund may be leveraged), and therefore may be subject to heightened risk of loss during those times. The Fund’s performance can depend substantially on the performance of assets or indices underlying its derivatives even though it does not own those assets or indices.
The Fund also may invest in U.S. Treasury Fund, in money market funds unaffiliated with GMO, and directly in the types of investments typically held by money market funds.
GMO normally seeks to maintain an interest rate duration for the Fund that is similar to that of its benchmark (approximately 8 years as of May 31, 2021). For an additional discussion of duration, see “Additional Information About the Funds’ Investment Strategies, Risks, and Expenses — Bond Funds — Duration.”
Principal risks of investing in the Fund
The value of the Fund’s shares changes with the value of the Fund’s investments. Many factors can affect this value, and you may lose money by investing in the Fund. The principal risks of investing in the Fund are summarized below. For a more complete discussion of these risks, see “Additional Information about the Funds’ Investment Strategies, Risks, and Expenses” and “Description of Principal Risks.”

Credit Risk – The Fund runs the risk that the issuer or guarantor of a fixed income investment or the obligors of obligations underlying an asset-backed security will be unable or unwilling to satisfy their obligations to pay principal and interest or otherwise to honor their obligations in a timely manner. The market price of a fixed income investment will normally decline as a result of the failure of an issuer, guarantor, or obligor to meet its payment obligations or in anticipation of such failure. In addition, investments in emerging country sovereign or quasi-sovereign debt involve a heightened risk that the issuer responsible for repayment of the debt may be unable or unwilling to pay interest and repay principal when due, and the Fund may lack recourse against the issuer in the event of default. Investments in quasi-sovereign debt also are subject to the risk that the issuer will default independently of its sovereign. Below investment grade investments have speculative characteristics, and negative changes in economic conditions or other circumstances are more likely to impair the ability of issuers of those investments to make principal and interest payments than issuers of investment grade investments.

Market Risk – Fixed Income – The market price of a fixed income investment can decline due to market-related factors, including rising interest rates and widening credit spreads, or decreased liquidity due, for example, to market uncertainty about the value of a fixed income investment (or class of fixed income investments). In addition, the market prices of emerging country sovereign and quasi-sovereign debt investments can decline due to uncertainty about their credit quality and the reliability of their payment streams.

Illiquidity Risk – Low trading volume, lack of a market maker, large position size, or legal restrictions may limit or prevent the Fund from selling particular securities or closing derivative positions at desirable prices.

Derivatives and Short Sales Risk – The use of derivatives involves the risk that their value may not change as expected relative to changes in the value of the underlying assets, pools of assets, rates, currencies or indices. Derivatives also present other risks, including market risk, illiquidity risk, currency risk, credit risk, and counterparty risk. The market price of an option is affected by many factors, including changes in the market prices or dividend rates of underlying securities (or in the case of indices, the securities in such indices); the time remaining before expiration; changes in interest rates or exchange rates; and changes in the actual or perceived volatility of the relevant stock market and underlying securities. The Fund may create short investment exposure by taking a derivative position in which the value of the derivative moves in the opposite direction from the price of an underlying asset, pool of assets, rate, currency or index. The risks of loss associated with derivatives that provide short investment exposure and short sales of securities are theoretically unlimited.

Counterparty Risk – The Fund runs the risk that the counterparty to a derivatives contract, a clearing member used by the Fund to hold a cleared derivatives contract, or a borrower of the Fund’s securities is unable or unwilling to make timely settlement payments, return the Fund’s margin or otherwise honor its obligations.

Non-U.S. Investment Risk – The market prices of many non-U.S. securities (particularly of companies tied economically to emerging countries) fluctuate more than those of U.S. securities. Many non-U.S. securities markets (particularly emerging markets) are less stable, smaller, less liquid, and less regulated than U.S. securities markets, and the cost of trading in those markets often is higher than in U.S. securities markets. In addition, issuers of non-U.S. securities (particularly those tied economically to emerging countries) often are not subject to as much regulation as U.S. issuers, and the reporting, recordkeeping, accounting, custody, and auditing standards to which those issuers are subject often are not as rigorous as U.S. standards. In addition, the Fund may be subject to non-U.S. taxes, potentially on a retroactive basis, on (i) capital gains it realizes or dividends, interest, or other amounts it realizes or accrues in respect of non-U.S. investments; (ii) transactions in those investments; and (iii) repatriation of proceeds generated from the sale or other disposition of those investments. Also, the Fund needs a license to invest directly in securities traded in many non-U.S. securities markets, and the Fund is subject to the risk that it could not invest if its license were terminated or suspended. In some non-U.S. securities markets, prevailing custody and trade settlement practices (e.g., the requirement to pay for securities prior to receipt) expose the Fund to credit and other risks. Further, adverse changes in investment regulations, capital requirements or exchange controls could adversely affect the value of the Fund’s investments. These and other risks (e.g., nationalization, expropriation or other confiscation of assets of non-U.S. issuers, limitations on, or difficulties enforcing, legal judgments, contractual rights, or other remedies) tend to be greater for investments in the securities of companies tied economically to emerging countries. The economies of emerging countries often depend predominantly on only a few industries or revenues from particular commodities, and often are more volatile than the economies of developed countries.

Large Shareholder Risk – To the extent that a large number of shares of the Fund is held by a single shareholder (e.g., an institutional investor or another GMO Fund) or a group of shareholders with a common investment strategy (e.g., GMO asset allocation accounts), the Fund is subject to the risk that a redemption by those shareholders of all or a large portion of their Fund shares will require the Fund to sell securities at disadvantageous prices, disrupt the Fund’s operations, or force the Fund’s liquidation.

Currency Risk – Fluctuations in exchange rates can adversely affect the market value of the Fund’s foreign currency holdings and investments denominated in foreign currencies.

Market Disruption and Geopolitical Risk – Geopolitical and other events (e.g., wars, pandemics, sanctions, terrorism) may disrupt securities markets and adversely affect global economies and markets. Those events, as well as other changes in non-U.S. and U.S. economic and political conditions, could exacerbate other risks or otherwise reduce the value of the Fund’s investments.

Focused Investment Risk – Investments focused in asset classes, countries, regions, sectors, industries, or issuers that are subject to the same or similar risk factors and investments whose prices are closely correlated are subject to greater overall risk than investments that are more diversified or whose prices are not as closely correlated.

Fund of Funds Risk – The Fund is indirectly exposed to all of the risks of an investment in the underlying funds in which it invests, including the risk that those underlying funds will not perform as expected. Because the Fund bears the fees and expenses of the underlying funds in which it invests, the increase in fees and expenses of an underlying fund or a reallocation of the Fund’s investments to underlying funds with higher fees or expenses will increase the Fund’s total expenses.

Market Risk – Asset-Backed Securities – The market price of asset-backed securities, like that of other fixed income investments with complex structures, can decline for a variety of reasons, including market uncertainty about their credit quality and the reliability of their payment streams. Payment streams associated with asset-backed securities held by the Fund depend on many factors (e.g., the cash flow generated by the assets backing the securities, deal structure, creditworthiness of any credit-support provider, and reliability of various other service providers with access to the payment stream), and a problem in any of these factors can lead to a reduction in the payment stream GMO expected the Fund to receive when the Fund purchased the asset-backed security.

Leveraging Risk – The use of derivatives and securities lending creates leverage. Leverage increases the Fund’s losses when the value of its investments (including derivatives) declines. In addition, the Fund’s portfolio will be leveraged if it exercises its right to delay payment
on a redemption, and losses will result if the value of the Fund’s assets declines between the time a redemption request is deemed to be received by the Fund and the time the Fund liquidates assets to meet that request.

Management and Operational Risk – The Fund runs the risk that GMO’s investment techniques will fail to produce desired results. The Fund also runs the risk that GMO’s assessment of an investment (including a security’s fundamental fair (or intrinsic) value) is wrong or that deficiencies in GMO’s or another service provider’s internal systems or controls will cause losses for the Fund or impair Fund operations.
Performance
The bar chart and table below provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund by showing changes in the Fund’s annual total returns from year to year for the periods indicated and by comparing the Fund’s average annual total returns for different calendar periods with those of a composite index computed by GMO that tracks historical changes in the Fund’s benchmark over time (which has always been comprised of broad-based indices). Purchase premiums and redemption fees are not reflected in the bar chart, but are reflected in the table; as a result, the returns in the table are lower than the returns in the bar chart. Returns in the table reflect current purchase premiums and redemption fees. Share classes not shown would have substantially similar annual returns to those below because all share classes invest in the same portfolio of securities. Annual returns vary among share classes to the extent that they bear different expenses. Share classes that bear higher expenses than the share classes shown below would have lower 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 your tax situation and may differ from those shown. After-tax returns shown are not relevant if you are tax-exempt or if you hold your Fund shares through tax-advantaged arrangements (such as a 401(k) plan or individual retirement account). After-tax returns are shown for Class III shares only; after-tax returns for other classes will vary. Updated performance information for the Fund is available at www.gmo.com. Past performance (before and after taxes) is not an indication of future performance.
Annual Total Returns/Class III SharesYears Ending December 31
Bar Chart
Highest Quarter: 12.54% (2Q2020)
Lowest Quarter: -14.48% (1Q2020)
Year-to-Date (as of 3/31/21): -4.61%
Average Annual Total ReturnsPeriods Ending December 31, 2020
Average Annual Returns - GMO Emerging Country Debt Fund
1 Year
5 Years
10 Years
Since Inception
Inception Date
Class III 5.63% 7.78% 7.58% 13.42% Apr. 19, 1994
Class IV 5.69% 7.85% 7.63% 10.57% Jan. 09, 1998
After Taxes on Distributions | Class III 1.88% 4.56% 4.30% 8.41%  
After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares | Class III 3.49% 4.58% 4.42% 8.50%  
J.P. Morgan EMBI Global Diversified +1 (Composite index) (Fund benchmark) | Class III 5.65% [1] 6.79% [1] 5.95% [1] 9.69% [1] Apr. 19, 1994
J.P. Morgan EMBI Global Diversified +1 (Composite index) (Fund benchmark) | Class IV 5.65% [1] 6.79% [1] 5.95% [1] 8.13% [1] Jan. 09, 1998
[1] Effective March 1, 2020, the Fund’s benchmark is the J.P. Morgan EMBI Global Diversified. In order to present a performance comparison that tracks changes in the Fund’s benchmark over time, the J.P. Morgan EMBI Global Diversified + (Composite index) is shown in the table above and reflects the performance of  (i) the J.P. Morgan EMBI through 8/31/1995, (ii) the J.P. Morgan EMBI Plus through 12/31/1999, (iii) the J.P. Morgan EMBI Global through 2/29/2020 and (iv) the J.P. Morgan EMBI Global Diversified thereafter.