497K 1 scwf497k.htm

 

   

SMALLCAP World Fund®

Summary prospectus

December 1, 2017

                     
Class A C T F-1 F-2 F-3 529-A 529-C 529-E 529-T
  SMCWX SCWCX TSFFX SCWFX SMCFX SFCWX CSPAX CSPCX CSPEX TWSFX
Class 529-F-1 R-1 R-2 R-2E R-3 R-4 R-5E R-5 R-6  
  CSPFX RSLAX RSLBX RSEBX RSLCX RSLEX RSLDX RSLFX RLLGX  

Investment objective The fund’s investment objective is to provide you with long-term growth of capital.

Fees and expenses of the fund This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the fund. In addition to the fees and expenses described below, you may also be required to pay brokerage commissions on purchases and sales of Class F-2 or F-3 shares of the fund. You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $25,000 in American Funds. More information about these and other discounts is available from your financial professional, in the “Sales charge reductions and waivers” sections on page 34 of the prospectus and on page 72 of the fund’s statement of additional information, and in the sales charge waiver appendix to this prospectus.

             
Shareholder fees (fees paid directly from your investment)
Share class: A and
529-A
C and
529-C
529-E T and
529-T
All F and 529-F share classes All R
share
classes
Maximum sales charge (load) imposed on purchases (as a percentage of offering price) 5.75% none none 2.50% none none
Maximum deferred sales charge (load) (as a percentage of the amount redeemed) 1.001 1.00% none none none none
Maximum sales charge (load) imposed on reinvested dividends none none none none none none
Redemption or exchange fees none none none none none none
 
Before you invest, you may want to review the fund’s prospectus and statement of additional information, which contain more information about the fund and its risks. You can find the fund’s prospectus, statement of additional information and other information about the fund online at americanfunds.com/prospectus. You can also get this information at no cost by calling (800) 421-4225 or by sending an email request to prospectus@americanfunds.com. The current prospectus and statement of additional information, dated December 1, 2017, are incorporated by reference into this summary prospectus.


 
 

 

               
Annual fund operating expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Share class: A C T F-1 F-2 F-3 529-A
Management fees 0.62% 0.62% 0.62% 0.62% 0.62% 0.62% 0.62%
Distribution and/or service (12b-1) fees 0.252 0.99 0.25 0.25  none none 0.232
Other expenses 0.20 0.25 0.273 0.23 0.19 0.093 0.29
Total annual fund operating expenses 1.07 1.86 1.14 1.10 0.81 0.71 1.14
               
Share class: 529-C 529-E 529-T 529-F-1 R-1 R-2 R-2E
Management fees 0.62% 0.62% 0.62% 0.62% 0.62% 0.62% 0.62%
Distribution and/or service (12b-1) fees 0.99 0.50 0.25 0.00 1.00 0.74 0.60
Other expenses 0.30 0.22 0.323 0.29 0.21 0.44 0.28
Total annual fund operating expenses 1.91 1.34 1.19 0.91 1.83 1.80 1.50
               
Share class: R-3 R-4 R-5E R-5 R-6    
Management fees 0.62% 0.62% 0.62% 0.62% 0.62%    
Distribution and/or service (12b-1) fees 0.50 0.25  none  none none    
Other expenses 0.23 0.17 0.22 0.12 0.08    
Total annual fund operating expenses 1.35 1.04 0.84 0.74 0.70    

1 A contingent deferred sales charge of 1.00% applies on certain redemptions made within 18 months following purchases of $1 million or more made without an initial sales charge. Contingent deferred sales charge is calculated based on the lesser of the offering price and market value of shares being sold.

2 Restated to reflect current fees.

3 Based on estimated amounts for the current fiscal year.

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 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 and that the fund’s operating expenses remain the same. You may be required to pay brokerage commissions on your purchases and sales of Class F-2 or F-3 shares of the fund, which are not reflected in the example. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

                           
Share class: A C T F-1 F-2 F-3 529-A 529-C 529-E 529-T 529-F-1 R-1 R-2
1 year $ 678 $ 289 $ 363 $ 112 $ 83 $ 73 $ 685 $ 294 $ 136 $ 368 $ 93 $ 186 $ 183
3 years 896 585 603 350 259 227 916 600 425 618 290 576 566
5 years 1,131 1,006 862 606 450 395 1,167 1,032 734 888 504 990 975
10 years 1,806 2,180 1,601 1,340 1,002 883 1,881 2,233 1,613 1,657 1,120 2,148 2,116
                     
Share class: R-2E R-3 R-4 R-5E R-5 R-6 For the share classes listed to the right, you would pay the following if you did not redeem your shares: Share class: C 529-C
1 year $ 153 $ 137 $ 106 $ 86 $ 76 $ 72 1 year $ 189 $ 194
3 years 474 428 331 268 237 224 3 years 585 600
5 years 818 739 574 466 411 390 5 years 1,006 1,032
10 years 1,791 1,624 1,271 1,037 918 871 10 years 2,180 2,233

Portfolio turnover 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 investment results. During the most recent fiscal year, the fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 32% of the average value of its portfolio.

1     SMALLCAP World Fund / Summary prospectus


 
 

 

Principal investment strategies Normally the fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in growth-oriented common stocks and other equity-type securities (such as preferred stocks, convertible preferred stocks and convertible bonds) of companies with small market capitalizations. The investment adviser currently defines “small market capitalization” companies to be companies with market capitalizations of $6.0 billion or less. The investment adviser has periodically re-evaluated and adjusted this definition and may continue to do so in the future. The fund may continue to hold securities of a portfolio company that subsequently appreciates above the small market capitalization threshold. Because of this, the fund may have less than 80% of its net assets in small market capitalization stocks at any given time. Under normal circumstances, the fund will invest a significant portion of its assets outside the United States, including in emerging markets.

The investment adviser uses a system of multiple portfolio managers in managing the fund’s assets. Under this approach, the portfolio of the fund is divided into segments managed by individual managers who decide how their respective segments will be invested.

The fund relies on the professional judgment of its investment adviser to make decisions about the fund’s portfolio investments. The basic investment philosophy of the investment adviser is to seek to invest in attractively valued companies that, in its opinion, represent good, long-term investment opportunities. The investment adviser believes that an important way to accomplish this is through fundamental analysis, which may include meeting with company executives and employees, suppliers, customers and competitors. Securities may be sold when the investment adviser believes that they no longer represent relatively attractive investment opportunities.

Principal risks This section describes the principal risks associated with the fund’s principal investment strategies. You may lose money by investing in the fund. The likelihood of loss may be greater if you invest for a shorter period of time. Investors in the fund should have a long-term perspective and be able to tolerate potentially sharp declines in value.

Market conditions — The prices of, and the income generated by, the securities held by the fund may decline – sometimes rapidly or unpredictably – due to various factors, including events or conditions affecting the general economy or particular industries; overall market changes; local, regional or global political, social or economic instability; governmental or governmental agency responses to economic conditions; and currency exchange rate, interest rate and commodity price fluctuations.

Issuer risks — The prices of, and the income generated by, securities held by the fund may decline in response to various factors directly related to the issuers of such securities, including reduced demand for an issuer’s goods or services, poor management performance and strategic initiatives such as mergers, acquisitions or dispositions and the market response to any such initiatives.

Investing in growth-oriented stocks — Growth-oriented common stocks and other equity-type securities (such as preferred stocks, convertible preferred stocks and convertible bonds) may involve larger price swings and greater potential for loss than other types of investments. These risks may be even greater in the case of smaller capitalization stocks.

Investing in small companies — Investing in smaller companies may pose additional risks. For example, it is often more difficult to value or dispose of small company stocks and

SMALLCAP World Fund / Summary prospectus     2


 
 

 

more difficult to obtain information about smaller companies than about larger companies. Furthermore, smaller companies often have limited product lines, operating histories, markets and/or financial resources, may be dependent on one or a few key persons for management, and can be more susceptible to losses. Moreover, the prices of their stocks may be more volatile than stocks of larger, more established companies.

Investing outside the United States — Securities of issuers domiciled outside the United States, or with significant operations or revenues outside the United States, may lose value because of adverse political, social, economic or market developments (including social instability, regional conflicts, terrorism and war) in the countries or regions in which the issuers operate or generate revenue. These securities may also lose value due to changes in foreign currency exchange rates against the U.S. dollar and/or currencies of other countries. Issuers of these securities may be more susceptible to actions of foreign governments, such as the imposition of price controls or punitive taxes, that could adversely impact the value of these securities. Securities markets in certain countries may be more volatile and/or less liquid than those in the United States. Investments outside the United States may also be subject to different accounting practices and different regulatory, legal and reporting standards and practices, and may be more difficult to value, than those in the United States. In addition, the value of investments outside the United States may be reduced by foreign taxes, including foreign withholding taxes on interest and dividends. Further, there may be increased risks of delayed settlement of securities purchased or sold by the fund. The risks of investing outside the United States may be heightened in connection with investments in emerging markets.

Investing in emerging markets — Investing in emerging markets may involve risks in addition to and greater than those generally associated with investing in the securities markets of developed countries. For instance, developing countries may have less developed legal and accounting systems than those in developed countries. The governments of these countries may be less stable and more likely to impose capital controls, nationalize a company or industry, place restrictions on foreign ownership and on withdrawing sale proceeds of securities from the country, and/or impose punitive taxes that could adversely affect the prices of securities. In addition, the economies of these countries may be dependent on relatively few industries that are more susceptible to local and global changes. Securities markets in these countries can also be relatively small and have substantially lower trading volumes. As a result, securities issued in these countries may be more volatile and less liquid, and may be more difficult to value, than securities issued in countries with more developed economies and/or markets. Less certainty with respect to security valuations may lead to additional challenges and risks in calculating the fund’s net asset value. Additionally, there may be increased settlement risks for transactions in local securities.

Management — The investment adviser to the fund actively manages the fund’s investments. Consequently, the fund is subject to the risk that the methods and analyses employed by the investment adviser in this process may not produce the desired results. This could cause the fund to lose value or its investment results to lag relevant benchmarks or other funds with similar objectives.

Your investment in the fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency, entity or person. You should consider how this fund fits into your overall investment program.

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Investment results The following bar chart shows how the fund’s investment results have varied from year to year, and the following table shows how the fund’s average annual total returns for various periods compare with a broad measure of securities market results and other applicable measures of market results. This information provides some indication of the risks of investing in the fund. The Lipper Global Small-/Mid-Cap Funds Average includes the fund and other funds that disclose investment objectives and/or strategies reasonably comparable to those of the fund. The Consumer Price Index provides a comparison of the fund’s results to inflation. Past investment results (before and after taxes) are not predictive of future investment results. Updated information on the fund’s investment results can be obtained by visiting americanfunds.com.

SMALLCAP World Fund / Summary prospectus     4


 
 

 

           
Average annual total returns For the periods ended December 31, 2016 (with maximum sales charge):
Share class Inception date 1 year 5 years 10 years Lifetime
A — Before taxes 4/30/1990 –0.32% 10.42% 4.80% 9.06%
— After taxes on distributions   –0.37 9.31 4.08 N/A
— After taxes on distributions and sale of fund shares –0.08 8.25 3.86 N/A
           
Share classes (before taxes) Inception date 1 year 5 years 10 years Lifetime
C 3/15/2001 3.88% 10.85% 4.60% 7.31%
F-1 3/15/2001 5.75 11.74 5.44 7.85
F-2 8/1/2008 6.02 12.05 N/A 7.24
529-A 2/19/2002 –0.39 10.35 4.75 8.40
529-C 2/20/2002 3.85 10.78 4.53 7.89
529-E 3/15/2002 5.46 11.40 5.09 8.06
529-F-1 9/17/2002 5.89 11.90 5.58 10.69
R-1 6/19/2002 4.97 10.91 4.64 8.28
R-2 5/31/2002 4.99 10.92 4.60 7.89
R-2E 8/29/2014 5.34 N/A N/A 2.64
R-3 6/20/2002 5.46 11.41 5.10 8.81
R-4 7/24/2002 5.77 11.78 5.46 10.35
R-5E 11/20/2015 5.90 N/A N/A 4.09
R-5 5/15/2002 6.11 12.11 5.78 8.82
R-6 5/1/2009 6.17 12.17 N/A 13.98
         
Indexes 1 year 5 years 10 years Lifetime
(from Class A inception)
MSCI All Country World Small Cap Index (reflects no deductions for sales charges, account fees, expenses or U.S. federal income taxes) 11.59% 11.29% 5.66% N/A
Lipper Global Small-/Mid-Cap Funds Average (reflects no deductions for sales charges, account fees or U.S. federal income taxes) 11.61 10.83 4.62 8.87%
Consumer Price Index 2.07 1.36 1.81 2.38

5     SMALLCAP World Fund / Summary prospectus


 
 

 

After-tax returns are shown only for Class A shares; after-tax returns for other share classes will vary. After-tax returns are calculated using the highest individual federal income tax rates in effect during each year of the periods shown and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns depend on your individual tax situation and likely will differ from the results shown above. In addition, after-tax returns are not relevant if you hold your fund shares through a tax-favored arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan, individual retirement account (IRA) or 529 college savings plan.

Management

Investment adviser Capital Research and Management CompanySM
Portfolio managers The individuals primarily responsible for the portfolio management of the fund are:

     
Portfolio manager/
Fund title (if applicable)
Portfolio
manager
experience
in this fund
Primary title
with investment adviser
Jonathan Knowles Vice Chairman of the Board 18 years Partner– Capital World Investors
Gregory W. Wendt President and Director 10 years Partner – Capital Research Global Investors
Brady L. Enright Senior Vice President 13 years Partner – Capital World Investors
J. Blair Frank Senior Vice President 19 years Partner – Capital Research Global Investors
Lawrence Kymisis Senior Vice President 10 years Partner – Capital Research Global Investors
Julian N. Abdey Vice President 6 years Partner – Capital World Investors
Bradford F. Freer Vice President 10 years Partner – Capital World Investors
Aidan O’Connell Vice President 5 years Partner – Capital Research Global Investors
Mark E. Denning 26 years Partner – Capital Research Global Investors
Peter Eliot 5 years Partner – Capital World Investors
Leo Hee 5 years Partner – Capital World Investors
Claudia P. Huntington 22 years Partner – Capital Research Global Investors
Harold H. La 5 years Partner – Capital Research Global Investors
Andraz Razen 8 years Partner – Capital World Investors

SMALLCAP World Fund / Summary prospectus     6


 
 

 

 

Purchase and sale of fund shares The minimum amount to establish an account for all share classes is normally $250 and the minimum to add to an account is $50. For a payroll deduction retirement plan account, payroll deduction savings plan account or employer-sponsored 529 account, the minimum is $25 to establish or add to an account. For accounts holding Class F-3 shares with the fund’s transfer agent, the minimum investment amount is $1,000,000.

If you are a retail investor, you may sell (redeem) shares on any business day through your dealer or financial advisor or by writing to American Funds Service Company® at P.O. Box 6007, Indianapolis, Indiana 46206-6007; telephoning American Funds Service Company at (800) 421-4225; faxing American Funds Service Company at (888) 421-4351; or accessing our website at americanfunds.com. Please contact your plan administrator or recordkeeper to sell (redeem) shares from your retirement plan.

Tax information Dividends and capital gain distributions you receive from the fund are subject to federal income taxes and may also be subject to state and local taxes, unless you are tax-exempt or your account is tax-favored.

Payments to broker-dealers and other financial intermediaries If you purchase shares of the fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank), the fund and the fund’s distributor or its affiliates may pay the intermediary for the sale of fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other intermediary and your individual financial advisor to recommend the fund over another investment. Ask your individual financial advisor or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.

   
You can access the fund’s statutory prospectus or SAI at americanfunds.com/prospectus.
MFGEIPX-035-1217P
Litho in USA CGD/CF/8018
Investment Company File No. 811-05888


 

 

 

THE FUND PROVIDES A SPANISH TRANSLATION OF THE ABOVE SUMMARY PROSPECTUS IN CONNECTION WITH THE PUBLIC OFFERING AND SALE OF ITS SHARES. THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE SUMMARY PROSPECTUS ABOVE IS A FAIR AND ACCURATE REPRESENTATION OF THE SPANISH EQUIVALENT.

 

/s/ MICHAEL W. STOCKTON
  MICHAEL W. STOCKTON
  SECRETARY