GMO Special Opportunities Fund

GMO SPECIAL OPPORTUNITIES FUND

Investment objective

Positive total return.

Fees and expenses

The tables below describe the fees and expenses that you may bear for each class of shares if you buy and hold shares of the Fund.

Shareholder fees (fees paid directly from your investment)

Shareholder Fees - GMO Special Opportunities Fund	Class III	Class IV	Class V	Class VI	Class R6	Class I
Purchase premium (as a percentage of amount invested)	0.50%	0.50%	0.50%	0.50%	0.50%	0.50%
Redemption fee (as a percentage of amount redeemed)	0.50%	0.50%	0.50%	0.50%	0.50%	0.50%

Annual Fund operating expenses (expenses that you bear each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

Annual Fund Operating Expenses - GMO Special Opportunities Fund		Class III	Class IV	Class V	Class VI	Class R6	Class I
Management fee	[1]	1.25%	1.20%	1.185%	1.155%	1.25%	1.25%
Other expenses		0.05%	0.05%	0.05%	0.05%	0.05%	0.15%	[2]
Total annual fund operating expenses		1.30%	1.25%	1.24%	1.21%	1.30%	1.40%
Expense reimbursement/waiver	[1]	none	none	none	none	none	none	[2]
Total annual fund operating expenses after expense reimbursement/waiver (Fund and underlying fund expenses)		1.30%	1.25%	1.24%	1.21%	1.30%	1.40%

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 reimbursement and waiver noted in the expense table. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

If you sell your shares

Expense Example - GMO Special Opportunities Fund - USD ($)	1 Year	3 Years	5 Years	10 Years
Class III	233	516	819	1,681
Class IV	228	500	793	1,626
Class V	227	497	787	1,614
Class VI	224	488	772	1,581
Class R6	233	516	819	1,681
Class I	243	546	871	1,792

If you do not sell your shares

Expense Example, No Redemption - GMO Special Opportunities Fund - USD ($)	1 Year	3 Years	5 Years	10 Years
Class III	182	460	759	1,610
Class IV	177	445	733	1,554
Class V	176	441	728	1,542
Class VI	173	432	712	1,509
Class R6	182	460	759	1,610
Class I	192	491	812	1,721

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, when Fund shares are held in a taxable account, higher 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, 2019, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate (including the accounts of the Fund’s wholly-owned subsidiary, GMO Special Opportunities SPC Ltd., and excluding short-term investments) was 30% of the average value of its portfolio.

Principal investment strategies

GMO generally uses fundamental analysis to identify investments for the Fund that are, in GMO’s judgment, trading below their fundamental fair (or intrinsic) value. GMO does not manage the Fund to, or control the Fund’s risk relative to, any securities index or securities benchmark.

The factors GMO considers and investment methods GMO uses can change over time. The Fund may have long or short exposure to:

•   U.S. and non-U.S. equities, which may include emerging country equities and equities of any market capitalization;​

•   U.S. and non-U.S. fixed income investments, such as asset-backed securities and other fixed income investments of any maturity, duration, or credit quality, including those that are below investment grade (commonly referred to as “high yield” or “junk bonds”) and distressed and defaulted debt securities;

•   currencies; and,

•   from time to time, alternative investments (e.g., instruments that seek exposure to, or reduce risks of, market volatility).

The Fund may engage in merger arbitrage.

The Fund is not restricted in its exposure to any particular issuer, asset class or market and at times may have substantial exposure (long or short) to a single issuer, asset class (e.g., equities or fixed income investments) or market, or to securities of companies in a particular country or type of country (e.g., emerging countries). GMO expects that the Fund’s portfolio will consist of a limited number of investments. The Fund could be subject to material losses from a single investment. As of May 31, 2019, excluding cash and cash equivalents, and aggregating certain swap contracts, the Fund held 19 investments.

In pursuing its investment objective, the Fund may invest in a wide variety of exchange-traded and over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives, including, without limitation, reverse repurchase agreements, options, futures, swap contracts (such as total return swaps, interest rate swaps, credit default swaps, and other types of swaps), swaptions, and foreign currency derivative transactions. In addition, the Fund may lend its portfolio securities. 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 investment strategy of the Fund. 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 gains exposure to commodities and some other assets by investing through a wholly-owned subsidiary advised by GMO, which does not receive management or other fees for its services. The subsidiary invests primarily in commodity-related derivatives and fixed income investments but also may invest in any other investment in which the Fund is permitted to invest directly. References in this Prospectus to actions taken by the Fund refer to actions taken by the subsidiary as well as the Fund. The Fund does not invest directly in commodities and commodity-related derivatives.

In seeking to achieve the Fund’s investment objective, GMO may invest a significant portion of the Fund’s net assets in cash and cash equivalents. 

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.

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. References to investments include those held directly by the Fund and indirectly through the Fund’s investments in its wholly-owned subsidiary and in any underlying funds in which it invests. The Fund is a non-diversified investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and therefore a decline in the market price of a particular security held by the Fund may affect the Fund’s performance more than if the Fund were a diversified investment company. The principal risks of investing in the Fund are summarized below. For a more complete discussion of these risks, including those risks to which the Fund is exposed as a result of its investments in its wholly-owned subsidiary and in any underlying funds, see “Additional Information about the Funds’ Investment Strategies, Risks, and Expenses” and “Description of Principal Risks.”

•   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.

•   Market Risk – Equities – The market price of an equity may decline due to factors affecting the issuer or its industry or the economy and equity markets generally. If the Fund purchases an equity for less than its fundamental fair (or intrinsic) value as assessed by GMO, the Fund runs the risk that the market price of the equity will not appreciate or will decline due to GMO’s incorrect assessment. Because the Fund normally does not take temporary defensive positions, declines in stock market prices generally are likely to reduce the net asset value of the Fund’s shares.

•   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 issuer’s, guarantor’s, or obligors’ failure to meet their payment obligations or in anticipation of such failure. 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. Investments in distressed or defaulted or other low quality debt instruments generally are considered speculative and may involve substantial risks not normally associated with investments in higher quality securities, including adverse business, financial or economic conditions that lead to payment defaults and insolvency proceedings on the part of their issuers. In particular, distressed or defaulted obligations might be repaid, if at all, only after lengthy workout or bankruptcy proceedings, during which the issuer might not make any interest or other payments, and the Fund may incur additional expenses to seek recovery. If GMO’s assessment of the eventual recovery value of a distressed or defaulted debt instrument proves incorrect, the Fund may lose a substantial portion or all of its investment or may be required to accept cash or instruments worth less than its original investment.

•   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 to market uncertainty about the value of a fixed income investment (or class of fixed income investments).

•   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.

•   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 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 reduce the value of the Fund’s investments.

•   Focused Investment Risk – Investments focused in issuers, asset classes, market, sectors, industries, countries, or regions (or in sectors within a country or region) 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. Because the Fund typically holds a limited number of investments, it could be subject to material losses from a single investment.

•   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. Transactions in non-U.S. securities generally involve higher commission rates, transfer taxes, and custodial costs than similar transactions in U.S. securities. 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) tend to be greater for investments in the securities of companies tied economically to emerging countries, the economies of which may be predominantly based on only a few industries or dependent on revenues from particular commodities and of which 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 or otherwise disrupt the Fund’s operations.

•   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.

•   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 redemption requests.

•   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.

•   Commodities Risk – Commodity prices can be extremely volatile, and exposure to commodities can cause the value of the Fund’s shares to decline or fluctuate in a rapid and unpredictable manner.

•   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.

•   Small Company Risk – Smaller companies may have limited product lines, markets, or financial resources, lack the competitive strength of larger companies, have inexperienced managers or depend on a few key employees. The securities of companies with smaller market capitalizations often are less widely held and trade less frequently and in lesser quantities, and their market prices often fluctuate more, than the securities of companies with larger market capitalizations.

•   Merger Arbitrage Risk – If the Fund purchases securities in anticipation of a proposed merger, exchange offer, tender offer, or other similar transaction and that transaction later appears unlikely to be consummated or, in fact, is not consummated or is delayed, the market price of the securities purchased by the Fund is likely to decline sharply, resulting in losses to the Fund. The risk/reward payout of merger arbitrage strategies typically is asymmetric, with the losses in failed transactions often far exceeding the gains in successful transactions. Merger arbitrage strategies are subject to the risk of overall market movements, and the Fund may experience losses even if a transaction is consummated.

•   Fund of Funds Risk – The Fund is indirectly exposed to all of the risks of an investment in its wholly-owned subsidiary and in any underlying funds in which it invests, including the risk that its wholly-owned subsidiary or 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.

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 the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Treasury Inflation Notes: 1-10 Years Index, the Consumer Price Index and the MSCI ACWI. 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. 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). Past performance (before and after taxes) is not an indication of future performance.

Annual Total Returns/Class VI Shares Years Ending December 31

Highest Quarter: 13.04% (2Q2017) 
Lowest Quarter: -18.38% (4Q2018) 
Year-to-Date (as of 3/31/19): 16.71%

Average Annual Total Returns Periods Ending December 31, 2018

Average Annual Total Returns - GMO Special Opportunities Fund	1 Year	5 Years	10 Years	Since Inception	Inception Date
Class VI	(9.91%)			5.13%	Jul. 28, 2014
Class VI | Return After Taxes on Distributions	(16.51%)			2.26%	Jul. 28, 2014
Class VI | Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares	(0.16%)			3.93%	Jul. 28, 2014
Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Treasury Inflation Notes: 1-10 Year Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes)	(0.25%)			0.47%	Jul. 28, 2014
Consumer Price Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes)	1.92%			1.38%	Jul. 28, 2014
MSCI ACWI (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes)	(9.42%)			3.26%	Jul. 28, 2014

[1] Includes both management fee of 1.10% 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 reimburse the Fund for the portion of its "Specified Operating Expenses" (as defined below) that exceeds 0.10% of the Fund's average daily net assets. "Specified Operating Expenses" means only the following expenses: audit expenses, fund accounting expenses, pricing service expenses, expenses of non-investment related tax services, transfer agency expenses (excluding, in the case of Class I shares, any amounts paid to financial intermediaries for sub-transfer agency, recordkeeping and other administrative services provided in respect of Class I shareholders), expenses of non-investment related legal services provided to the Fund by or at the direction of GMO, organizational and start-up expenses, federal securities law filing expenses, printing expenses, state and federal registration fees and custody expenses. GMO is permitted to recover from the Fund, on a class-by-class basis, "Specified Operating Expenses" it has borne or reimbursed (whether through reduction of its fees or otherwise) to the extent that the Fund's "Specified Operating Expenses" later fall below the annualized rate of 0.10% per year or the lower expense limit in effect when GMO seeks to recover the expenses. The Fund, however, is not obligated to pay any such amount more than three years after GMO bore or reimbursed an expense. Any such recovery will not cause the Fund to exceed the annual limitation rate set forth above or the lower expense limit as is in effect at the time GMO seeks to recover expenses. GMO also 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. These reimbursements and waivers will continue through at least June 30, 2020 and may not be terminated prior to this date without the action or consent of the Trust's Board of Trustees.

[2] Includes estimate of payments for sub-transfer agency, recordkeeping and other administrative services for Class I's initial fiscal year. GMO has contractually agreed to waive its fees with respect to and/or reimburse Class I shares to the extent that amounts paid by the Fund out of the net assets attributable to Class I shares to financial intermediaries for sub-transfer agency, recordkeeping and other administrative services provided in respect of Class I shareholders exceed 0.10% of the average daily net assets attributable to Class I shares. This reimbursement will continue through at least June 30, 2020 and may not be terminated prior to this date without the action or consent of the Trust's Board of Trustees.