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SUMMARY PROSPECTUS March 1, 2025 | |||
T. ROWE PRICE | |||
Emerging Markets Corporate Bond Fund | |||
TRECX TECIX PACEX | Investor Class I Class Advisor Class | ||
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has not approved or disapproved these securities or passed upon the adequacy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense. Before you invest, you may want to review the fund’s prospectus, which contains more information about the fund and its risks. You can find the fund’s prospectus, shareholder reports, and other information about the fund online at troweprice.com/prospectus. You can also get this information at no cost by calling 1-800-638-5660, by sending an e-mail request to info@troweprice.com, or by contacting your financial intermediary. This Summary Prospectus incorporates by reference the fund’s prospectus, dated March 1, 2025, as amended or supplemented, and Statement of Additional Information, dated March 1, 2025, as amended or supplemented. | |||
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SUMMARY | 1 |
Investment Objective(s)
The fund seeks to provide high current income and, secondarily, capital appreciation.
Fees and Expenses
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell shares of the fund. You may also incur brokerage commissions and other charges when buying or selling shares of the fund, which are not reflected in the table or example below.
Fees and Expenses of the Fund |
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Shareholder fees (fees paid directly from your investment) |
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Maximum account fee | $20 | a | — |
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Annual
fund operating expenses |
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Management fees | 0.69 | % | 0.69 | % | 0.69 | % |
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Distribution and service (12b-1) fees | — |
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| 0.25 |
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Other expenses | 0.37 |
| 0.16 | b | 0.73 |
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Total annual fund operating expenses | 1.06 |
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Fee waiver/expense reimbursement | (0.18 | )c | (0.11 | )b | (0.51 | )d |
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Total annual fund operating expenses after fee waiver/expense reimbursement | 0.88 | c | 0.74 | b | 1.16 | d |
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a | Subject to certain exceptions and account minimums, accounts are charged an annual $20 fee. | |||||||
b | T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., has contractually agreed (through April 30, 2026) to pay the operating expenses of the fund’s I Class excluding management fees; interest; expenses related to borrowings, taxes, and brokerage; nonrecurring, extraordinary expenses; and acquired fund fees and expenses (I Class Operating Expenses), to the extent the I Class Operating Expenses exceed 0.05% of the class’ average daily net assets. The agreement may only be terminated at any time after April 30, 2026, with approval by the fund’s Board of Directors. Any expenses paid under this agreement (and any applicable prior limitations) are subject to reimbursement to T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., by the class whenever the I Class Operating Expenses are below 0.05%. However, the class will not reimburse T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., more than three years from the date such amounts were initially waived or paid. The class may only reimburse T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., if the reimbursement does not cause the I Class Operating Expenses (after the reimbursement is taken into account) to exceed the current expense limitation on I Class Operating Expenses (or the expense limitation in place at the time the amounts were waived or paid). | |||||||
c | T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., has contractually agreed (through April 30, 2026) to waive its fees and/or bear any expenses (excluding interest; expenses related to borrowings, taxes, and brokerage; nonrecurring, extraordinary expenses; and acquired fund fees and expenses) that would cause the class’ ratio of expenses to average daily net assets to exceed 0.88%. The agreement may only be terminated at any time after April 30, 2026, with approval by the fund’s Board of Directors. Fees waived and expenses paid under this agreement (and any applicable prior limitations) are subject to reimbursement to T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., by the class whenever the class’ expense ratio is below 0.88%. However, the class will not reimburse T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., more than three years from the date such amounts were initially waived or paid. The class may only reimburse T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., if the reimbursement does not cause the class’ expense ratio (after the reimbursement is taken into account) to exceed the class’ current expense limitation (or the expense limitation in place at the time the amounts were waived or paid). | |||||||
T. ROWE PRICE | 2 |
d | T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., has contractually agreed (through April 30, 2026) to waive its fees and/or bear any expenses (excluding interest; expenses related to borrowings, taxes, and brokerage; nonrecurring, extraordinary expenses; and acquired fund fees and expenses) that would cause the class’ ratio of expenses to average daily net assets to exceed 1.16%. The agreement may only be terminated at any time after April 30, 2026, with approval by the fund’s Board of Directors. Fees waived and expenses paid under this agreement (and any applicable prior limitations) are subject to reimbursement to T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., by the class whenever the class’ expense ratio is below 1.16%. However, the class will not reimburse T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., more than three years from the date such amounts were initially waived or paid. The class may only reimburse T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., if the reimbursement does not cause the class’ expense ratio (after the reimbursement is taken into account) to exceed the class’ current expense limitation (or the expense limitation in place at the time the amounts were waived or paid). |
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, that your investment has a 5% return each year, and that the fund’s operating expenses remain the same. The example also assumes that any current expense limitation arrangement remains in place for the period noted in the previous table; therefore, the figures have been adjusted to reflect fee waivers or expense reimbursements only in the periods for which the expense limitation arrangement is expected to continue. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
| 1 Year | 3 Years | 5 Years | 10 Years |
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Investor Class | $ | 90 | $ | 316 | $ | 564 | $ | 1,275 |
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I Class |
| 76 |
| 258 |
| 459 |
| 1,037 |
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Advisor Class |
| 118 |
| 468 |
| 851 |
| 1,926 |
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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 the fund’s 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 80.3% of the average value of its portfolio.
Investments, Risks, and Performance
Principal Investment Strategies
The fund normally invests at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in bonds that are issued by companies that are located or listed in, or conduct the predominant part of their business activities in, the emerging market countries of Latin America, Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. The fund considers frontier markets to be a subset of emerging markets and any investments in frontier markets are counted toward the fund’s 80% investment policy. For purposes of the fund’s 80% investment policy, the fund relies on a
SUMMARY | 3 |
classification by either JPMorgan or the International Monetary Fund to determine which countries are considered emerging markets, and the fund relies on Bloomberg or another unaffiliated data provider to determine the country assigned to a security. Any derivatives that provide exposure to the investment focus suggested by the fund’s name, or to one or more market risk factors associated with the investment focus suggested by the fund’s name, are counted (as applicable) toward compliance with the fund’s 80% investment policy.
While it is expected that the securities held by the fund will primarily be U.S. dollar-denominated, the fund may also hold securities denominated in emerging market currencies and other non-U.S. currencies. The fund does not generally attempt to cushion the impact of non-U.S. currency fluctuations against the U.S. dollar. Although the fund expects to generally maintain an intermediate-term weighted average maturity, there are no maturity restrictions on the overall portfolio or on individual securities purchased by the fund.
Most of the fund’s investments are expected to be rated below investment grade (BB or lower, or an equivalent rating) by a major credit rating agency or by T. Rowe Price. However, the fund may purchase bonds of any credit quality and there are no overall limits on the fund’s holdings that are unrated or rated below investment grade. Investments in below investment-grade corporate bonds, also known as “junk” bonds, should be considered speculative.
The fund may use a variety of derivatives, such as futures, forwards, and swaps for a number of purposes such as for exposure or hedging. Specifically, the fund uses interest rate futures and forward foreign currency exchange contracts. Interest rate futures are primarily used as an efficient means of managing the fund’s exposure to interest rate changes and to adjust the fund’s duration. Forward foreign currency exchange contracts are primarily used to help protect the fund’s non-U.S. dollar denominated holdings from unfavorable changes in foreign currency exchange rates, although other currency hedging techniques may be used from time to time.
Principal Risks
As with any fund, there is no guarantee that the fund will achieve its objective(s). The fund’s share price fluctuates, which means you could lose money by investing in the fund. The principal risks of investing in this fund, which may be even greater in bad or uncertain market conditions, are summarized as follows:
Emerging markets: Investments in emerging market countries are subject to greater risk and overall volatility than investments in the U.S. and other developed markets. Emerging market countries tend to have economic structures that are less diverse and mature, less developed legal and regulatory regimes, and political systems that are less stable, than those of developed countries. In addition to the risks associated with investing outside the U.S., emerging markets are more susceptible to governmental interference, political and economic uncertainty, local taxes and restrictions on the fund’s investments, less efficient trading markets with lower overall liquidity, and more volatile currency exchange rates.
Foreign investing: Non-U.S. securities tend to be more volatile and have lower overall liquidity and trading volume than investments in U.S. securities and may lose value because of adverse local, political, social, or economic developments overseas, or due to changes in the exchange rates between foreign currencies and the U.S. dollar. Further, securities of non-U.S. issuers are
T. ROWE PRICE | 4 |
subject to trading markets with potential governmental interference, varying regulatory, auditing, and accounting standards, and settlement and clearance practices that differ from those of U.S. issuers. Investment in non-U.S. securities also carries currency risk. Any attempts to hedge currency risk could be unsuccessful. Such investments may have higher transaction costs compared with U.S. markets. The fund’s overall foreign investing risk is increased to the extent it has exposure to emerging markets.
Market conditions: The value of the fund’s investments may decrease, sometimes rapidly or unexpectedly, due to factors affecting an issuer held by the fund, particular industries, or the overall securities markets. A variety of factors can increase the volatility of the fund’s holdings and markets generally, including economic, political, or regulatory developments, recessions, inflation, rapid interest rate changes, war, military conflict, acts of terrorism, natural disasters, and outbreaks of infectious illnesses or other widespread public health issues (such as the coronavirus pandemic) and related governmental and public responses (including sanctions). Certain events may cause instability across global markets, including reduced liquidity and disruptions in trading markets, while some events may affect certain geographic regions, countries, sectors, and industries more significantly than others. Government intervention in markets may impact interest rates, market volatility, and security pricing. These adverse developments may cause broad declines in market value due to short-term market movements or for significantly longer periods during more prolonged market downturns.
Credit quality: An issuer of a debt instrument could suffer an adverse change in financial condition that results in a payment default (failure to make scheduled interest or principal payments), rating downgrade, or inability to meet a financial obligation. Securities that are rated below investment grade carry greater risk of default and should be considered speculative.
Junk investing: Investments in bonds that are rated below investment grade, commonly referred to as junk bonds, expose the fund to greater volatility and credit risk than investments in bonds that are rated investment grade. As a result, bonds rated below investment grade carry a higher risk of default and should be considered speculative.
Interest rates: A rise in interest rates typically causes the price of a fixed rate debt instrument to fall and its yield to rise. Conversely, a decline in interest rates typically causes the price of a fixed rate debt instrument to rise and the yield to fall. The prices and yields of inflation-linked bonds are directly impacted by the rate of inflation as well as changes in interest rates. Generally, funds with longer weighted average maturities and durations carry greater interest rate risk. Changes in monetary policy made by central banks and/or governments are likely to affect the interest rates or yields of the securities in which the fund invests.
Fixed income markets: Economic and other market developments can adversely affect the fixed income securities markets. At times, participants in these markets may develop concerns about the ability of certain issuers of debt instruments to make timely principal and interest payments, or they may develop concerns about the ability of financial institutions that make markets in certain debt instruments to facilitate an orderly market. Those concerns could cause increased volatility and reduced liquidity in particular securities or in the overall fixed income markets and the related derivatives markets. A lack of liquidity or other adverse credit market
SUMMARY | 5 |
conditions may hamper the fund’s ability to sell the debt instruments in which it invests or to find and purchase suitable debt instruments.
Frontier markets: Frontier markets generally have smaller economies and less mature capital markets than emerging markets. As a result, the risks associated with investing in emerging market countries are magnified in frontier market countries. Frontier markets are more susceptible to abrupt changes in currency values, have less mature markets and settlement practices, and can have lower trading volumes that could lead to greater price volatility and illiquidity. Investor protections in frontier market countries may be limited and settlement procedures and custody services may prove inadequate in certain markets.
Investing in Asia: Many Asian economies have at various times been negatively affected by inflation, currency devaluations, an over-reliance on international trade and exports, particularly for certain commodities, political and social instability, and less developed financial systems and securities trading markets. Trade restrictions, unexpected decreases in exports, changes in government policies, expropriation and/or nationalization of assets, confiscatory taxation, or natural disasters could have a significant impact on companies doing business in Asia. The Asian region may be significantly affected by political unrest, military conflict, economic sanctions, and less demand for Asian products and services.
Liquidity: The fund may not be able to meet requests to redeem shares issued by the fund without significant dilution of the remaining shareholders’ interests in the fund. In addition, the fund may not be able to sell a holding in a timely manner at a desired price. Reduced liquidity in the bond markets can result from a number of events, such as limited trading activity, reductions in bond inventory, and rapid or unexpected changes in interest rates. Markets with lower overall liquidity could lead to greater price volatility and limit the fund’s ability to sell a holding at a suitable price.
Derivatives: The use of derivatives exposes the fund to additional volatility and potential losses. A derivative involves risks different from, and possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in the assets on which the derivative is based, including liquidity risk, valuation risk, correlation risk, market risk, interest rate risk, leverage risk, counterparty and credit risk, operational risk, management risk, legal risk, and regulatory risk. Derivatives can be highly volatile, illiquid, and difficult to value, and changes in the value of a derivative may not properly correlate with changes in the value of the underlying asset, reference rate, or index. The fund could be exposed to significant losses if it is unable to close a derivatives position due to the lack of a liquid secondary trading market. The prices of derivatives may move in unexpected ways, especially in abnormal market conditions. Certain derivatives are also subject to counterparty risk, which is the risk that the derivative counterparty will not fulfill its contractual obligations. The use of derivatives includes the risk of potential operational issues, such as settlement issues. Derivatives are exposed to legal risks, such as the legality or enforceability of a contract. The adviser may not be able to accurately predict the direction of prices, economic factors, or other associated risks which could cause loss in value or impair the fund’s efforts to reduce overall volatility. New regulations may make derivatives more costly, limit availability, or otherwise affect their value or performance.
T. ROWE PRICE | 6 |
Currency exposure: Because the fund invests in securities issued in foreign currencies, the fund is subject to the risk that it could experience losses based solely on the weakness of foreign currencies versus the U.S. dollar and changes in the exchange rates between such currencies and the U.S. dollar.
Active management: The fund’s overall investment program and holdings selected by the fund’s investment adviser may underperform the broad markets, relevant indices, or other funds with similar objectives and investment strategies.
Cybersecurity breaches: The fund could be harmed by intentional cyberattacks and other cybersecurity breaches, including unauthorized access to the fund’s assets, confidential information, or other proprietary information. In addition, a cybersecurity breach could cause one of the fund’s service providers or financial intermediaries to suffer unauthorized data access, data corruption, or loss of operational functionality.
Performance
The following performance information provides some indication of the risks of investing in the fund. The fund’s performance information represents only past performance (before and after taxes) and is not necessarily an indication of future results.
The following bar chart illustrates how much returns can differ from year to year by showing calendar year returns and the best and worst calendar quarter returns during those years for the fund’s Investor Class. Returns for other share classes vary since they have different expenses.
EMERGING MARKETS CORPORATE BOND FUND |
Calendar Year Returns
Quarter Ended | Total Return | Quarter Ended | Total Return | |||||
Best Quarter | 6/30/20 | 12.80% | Worst Quarter | 3/31/20 | -13.34% |
The following table shows the average annual total returns for each class of the fund that has been in operation for at least one full calendar year. The fund’s performance information included in the table is compared with a regulatory required index that represents an overall securities
SUMMARY | 7 |
market (Regulatory Benchmark). In addition, the table may also include one or more indexes that more closely aligns to the fund’s investment strategy (Strategy Benchmark(s)).
In addition, the table shows hypothetical after-tax returns to demonstrate how taxes paid by a shareholder may influence 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 an investor’s tax situation and may differ from those shown. After-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold their fund shares through tax-deferred arrangements, such as a 401(k) account or an IRA. After-tax returns are shown only for the Investor Class and will differ for other share classes.
Average Annual Total Returns |
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| Since | Inception |
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| inception | date |
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| 05/24/2012 |
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| Returns before taxes | 7.34 | % |
| 1.22 | % |
| 3.58 | % |
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| Returns after taxes on distributions | 4.99 |
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| Returns after taxes on distributions and sale |
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| of fund shares | 4.31 |
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| I Class |
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| 12/17/2015 |
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| Returns before taxes | 7.48 |
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| 4.26 |
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| Advisor Class |
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| 05/24/2012 |
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| Returns before taxes | 7.04 |
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| 3.37 |
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| Regulatory Benchmark* |
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| J.P. Morgan Emerging Markets Bond Index Global Diversified (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes) |
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| 6.54 |
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| Strategy Benchmark(s) |
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| J.P. Morgan Corporate Emerging Market Bond Index Broad Diversified (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes) |
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| 7.63 |
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| 2.18 |
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| 4.03 |
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| 4.33 | a |
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| Lipper Emerging Market Hard Currency Debt Funds Average |
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| 6.12 |
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| 0.62 |
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| 2.86 |
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| 3.50 | b |
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* Due to new SEC Rules on shareholder reporting, the fund adopted a new broad-based securities market index, referred to as the Regulatory Benchmark.
a Return since 12/17/15.
b Return since 12/31/15.
Updated performance information is available through troweprice.com.
Management
Investment Adviser T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. (T. Rowe Price or Price Associates)
Investment Subadviser T. Rowe Price International Ltd (Price International)
Investment Subadviser T. Rowe Price Hong Kong Limited (Price Hong Kong)
T. ROWE PRICE | 8 |
Portfolio Manager | Title | Managed | Joined |
Shiu Tak (Sheldon) Chan | Cochair of | 2024 | 2011 |
Siby Thomas | Cochair of | 2020 | 2009 |
Purchase and Sale of Fund Shares
The Investor Class and Advisor Class generally require a $2,500 minimum initial investment ($1,000 minimum initial investment if opening an IRA, a custodial account for a minor, or a small business retirement plan account). Additional purchases generally require a $100 minimum. These investment minimums generally are waived for financial intermediaries and certain employer-sponsored retirement plans submitting orders on behalf of their customers. Advisor Class shares may generally only be purchased through a financial intermediary or retirement plan.
The I Class requires a $500,000 minimum initial investment per fund per account registration, although the initial investment minimum generally is waived or reduced for financial intermediaries, eligible retirement plans, certain accounts for which T. Rowe Price or its affiliates have discretionary investment authority, qualifying directly held accounts, and certain other accounts.
For investors holding shares of the fund directly with T. Rowe Price, you may purchase, redeem, or exchange fund shares by mail; by telephone (1-800-225-5132 for IRAs and nonretirement accounts; 1-800-492-7670 for small business retirement plans; and 1-800-638-8790 for institutional investors and financial intermediaries); or, for certain other accounts, by accessing your account online through troweprice.com.
If you hold shares through a financial intermediary or retirement plan, you must purchase, redeem, and exchange shares of the fund through your intermediary or retirement plan. You should check with your intermediary or retirement plan to determine the investment minimums that apply to your account.
Tax Information
The fund declares dividends, if any, daily and pays them on the first business day of each month. Any capital gains are declared and paid annually, usually in December. Redemptions or exchanges of fund shares and distributions by the fund, whether or not you reinvest these amounts in additional fund shares, generally may be taxed as ordinary income or capital gains unless you invest through a tax-deferred account (in which case you will be taxed upon withdrawal from such account).
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 its related companies 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 salesperson to recommend the fund over another
SUMMARY | 9 |
investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.
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T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. | F193-045 3/1/25 |
