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Laudus International MarketMasters Fund
Laudus International MarketMasters Fund™
Investment Objective
The fund seeks long-term capital appreciation.
Fund Fees and Expenses
This table describes the fees and expenses you may pay 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 table and Example below.
Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)
Shareholder Fees
Laudus International MarketMasters Fund
Laudus International MarketMasters Fund
USD ($)
Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment) none
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a % of the value of your investment)
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
Laudus International MarketMasters Fund
Laudus International MarketMasters Fund
Management fees 1.28%
Distribution (12b-1) fees none
Other expenses 0.23%
Total annual fund operating expenses 1.51%
Less expense reduction (0.26%)
Total annual fund operating expenses after expense reduction 1.25% [1]
[1] The investment adviser and its affiliates have agreed to limit the total annual fund operating expenses (excluding interest, taxes and certain non-routine expenses) of the fund to 1.25% for so long as the investment adviser serves as the adviser to the fund. This agreement may only be amended or terminated with the approval of the fund’s Board of Trustees.​
Example
This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other 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 time periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the fund’s operating expenses remain the same. The figures are based on total annual fund operating expenses after any expense reduction. Your actual costs may be higher or lower.
Expenses on a $10,000 Investment
Expense Example
1 Year
3 Years
5 Years
10 Years
Laudus International MarketMasters Fund | Laudus International MarketMasters Fund | USD ($) 127 397 686 1,511
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 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 the 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 65% of the average value of its portfolio.
Principal Investment Strategies
To pursue its goal, the fund normally invests a substantial amount of its assets in equity securities of companies outside the United States. The fund expects to invest in companies across all market capitalization ranges. The fund typically focuses on developed markets, but may invest in companies from emerging markets as well. In determining whether a company is international, the portfolio managers will consider various factors, including where the company is headquartered, where the company’s principal operations are located, where the company’s revenues are derived, where the principal trading market is located and the country in which the company was legally organized. The weight given to each of these factors will vary depending on the circumstances in a given case.
Charles Schwab Investment Management, Inc. (CSIM) allocates portions of the fund’s assets to several investment managers, who then manage their respective portions under the general supervision of CSIM. In choosing the investment managers and their allocations, CSIM considers a number of factors, including global economic trends, its own outlook for a given market capitalization or investment style category and regions and countries that offer the greatest potential for growth, and the investment managers’ performance in various market conditions. In addition to monitoring and coordinating the investment managers, CSIM also manages the cash portion of the fund. CSIM may also directly manage portions of the fund during transitions between investment managers.
Each investment manager uses its own securities selection process and has discretion to select portfolio securities for its allocation of the fund’s assets. At the same time, each investment manager invests within a specific market capitalization range and investment style under the general supervision of CSIM. CSIM has developed parameters for each investment manager based on CSIM’s assessment of the investment manager’s investment style and expertise. By assigning more specific parameters to each investment manager, CSIM attempts to capitalize on the strengths of each investment manager and to combine their investment activities in a complementary fashion.
CSIM may use derivatives, primarily futures contracts, to seek returns on the fund’s otherwise uninvested cash assets. In addition, the investment managers may use futures contracts as a substitute for investing directly in an underlying asset or to increase returns. The fund may invest in forward foreign currency contracts to hedge currency risks associated with the purchase of individual securities denominated in a particular currency.
The fund may buy and sell portfolio securities actively. In addition, one investment manager may purchase portfolio securities at the same time that another investment manager sells the same
securities. As a result, the fund’s portfolio turnover rate and transaction costs may rise, which may lower fund performance and increase the likelihood of capital gains distributions.
For temporary defensive purposes during unusual economic or market conditions or for liquidity purposes, the fund may invest up to 100% of its assets in cash, money market instruments, repurchase agreements and other short-term obligations. When the fund engages in such activities, it may not achieve its investment objective.
Principal Risks
The fund is subject to risks, any of which could cause an investor to lose money. The fund’s principal risks include:
Market Risk. Financial markets rise and fall in response to a variety of factors, sometimes rapidly and unpredictably. Markets may be impacted by economic, political, regulatory and other conditions, including economic sanctions and other government actions. In addition, the occurrence of global events, such as war, terrorism, environmental disasters, natural disasters and epidemics, may also negatively affect the financial markets. As with any investment whose performance is tied to these markets, the value of an investment in the fund will fluctuate, which means that an investor could lose money over short or long periods.
Investment Style Risk. CSIM may attempt to reduce the impact of the performance of any given investment style by allocating to investment managers who invest in both value and growth style stocks. But whenever value stocks fall out of favor with investors, they may underperform growth stocks, and vice versa.
Multi-Manager Risk. Although CSIM monitors and coordinates the overall management of the fund, each investment manager makes investment decisions independently, and it is possible that the investment styles of the investment managers may not complement one another. As a result, the fund’s exposure to a given stock, industry or investment style could unintentionally be smaller or larger than if the fund had a single manager.
Management Risk. As an actively managed mutual fund, the fund is subject to the risk that its investment adviser and investment managers will select investments or allocate assets in a manner that could cause the fund to underperform or otherwise not meet its investment objective. Poor stock selection or a focus on securities in a particular sector may cause the fund to underperform its benchmark or other funds with a similar investment objective.
Equity Risk. The prices of equity securities rise and fall daily. These price movements may result from factors affecting individual companies, industries or the securities market as a whole. In addition, equity markets tend to move in cycles, which may cause stock prices to fall over short or extended periods of time.
Market Capitalization Risk. Securities issued by companies of different market capitalizations tend to go in and out of favor based on market and economic conditions. During a period when securities of a particular market capitalization fall behind other types of investments, the fund’s performance could be impacted.
Large-Cap Company Risk. Large-cap companies are generally more mature and the securities issued by these companies may not be able to reach the same levels of growth as the securities issued by small- or mid-cap companies.
Mid-Cap Company Risk. Mid-cap companies may be more vulnerable to adverse business or economic events than larger, more established companies and the value of securities issued by these companies may move sharply.
Small-Cap Company Risk. Securities issued by small-cap companies may be riskier than those issued by larger companies, and their prices may move sharply, especially during market upturns and downturns.
Foreign Investment Risk. The fund’s investments in securities of foreign issuers involve certain risks that may be greater than those associated with investments in securities of U.S. issuers. These include risks of adverse changes in foreign economic, political, regulatory and other conditions; changes in currency exchange rates or exchange control regulations (including limitations on currency movements and exchanges); the imposition of economic sanctions or other government restrictions; differing accounting, auditing, financial reporting and legal standards and practices; differing securities market structures; and higher transaction costs. These risks may negatively impact the value or liquidity of the fund’s investments, and could impair the fund’s ability to meet its investment objective or invest in accordance with its investment strategy. There is a risk that investments in securities denominated in, and/or receiving revenues in, foreign currencies will decline in value relative to the U.S. dollar or, in the case of hedging positions, that the U.S. dollar will decline in value relative to the currency hedged, resulting in the dollar value of the fund’s investment being adversely affected. To the extent the fund’s investments in a single country or a limited number of countries represent a large percentage of the fund’s assets, the fund’s performance may be adversely affected by the economic, political, regulatory and social conditions in those countries, and the fund’s price may be more volatile than the price of a fund that is geographically diversified.
Emerging Markets Risk. Emerging market countries may be more likely to experience political turmoil or rapid changes in market or economic conditions than more developed countries. Emerging market countries often have less uniformity in accounting, auditing, financial reporting and recordkeeping requirements and greater risk associated with the custody of securities. In addition, the financial stability of issuers (including governments) in emerging market countries may be more precarious than in developed countries. As a result, there may be an increased risk of illiquidity and price volatility associated with the fund’s investments in emerging market countries, which may be magnified by currency fluctuations relative to the U.S. dollar, and, at times, it may be difficult to value such investments.
Derivatives Risk. The fund’s use of derivative instruments involves risks different from, or possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in securities and other traditional investments. The fund’s use of derivatives could reduce the fund’s performance,
increase the fund’s volatility, and could cause the fund to lose more than the initial amount invested. In addition, investments in derivatives may involve leverage, which means a small percentage of assets invested in derivatives can have a disproportionately large impact on the fund.
Liquidity Risk. The fund may be unable to sell certain securities, such as illiquid securities, readily at a favorable time or price, or the fund may have to sell them at a loss.
For more information on the risks of investing in the fund, please see the “Fund Details” section in the prospectus.
Performance
The bar chart below 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 compared to that of an index. This information provides some indication of the risks of investing in the fund. All figures assume distributions were reinvested. Keep in mind that future performance (both before and after taxes) may differ from past performance. For current performance information, please see www.schwabfunds.com/​laudusfunds_prospectus.
On February 26, 2019, the Investor Shares and Select Shares share classes were combined into a single class of shares of the fund, and the fund no longer offers multiple classes of shares. The performance history of the fund, prior to February 26, 2019, is that of the fund’s former Select Shares.
Annual Total Returns (%) as of 12/31
Bar Chart
Best Quarter: 26.69% Q2 2020​
Worst Quarter: (25.85%) Q1 2020
Average Annual Total Returns as of 12/31/20
Average Annual Returns - Laudus International MarketMasters Fund
1 Year
5 Years
10 Years
Laudus International MarketMasters Fund 23.90% 10.98% 7.73%
After Taxes on Distributions | Laudus International MarketMasters Fund 22.24% 9.93% 7.00%
After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares | Laudus International MarketMasters Fund 15.43% 8.67% 6.25%
Comparative Index (reflects no deduction for expenses or taxes) MSCI EAFE Index (Net) [1] 7.82% 7.45% 5.51%
[1] The net version of the index reflects reinvested dividends net of withholding taxes, but reflects no deductions for expenses or other taxes.​
The after-tax figures reflect the highest individual federal income tax rates in effect during the period and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns depend on your individual tax situation. In addition, after-tax returns are not relevant if you hold your fund shares through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan, an individual retirement account (IRA) or other tax-advantaged account.