GMO Trust

06/30/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 06/30/2026 14:31

Summary Prospectus by Investment Company (Form 497K)

GMO EMERGING MARKETS DEBT TOTAL RETURN FUND
Summary Prospectus June 30, 2026
Share Class:
Class R6
Class I
Ticker:
GMVSX
GMVJX
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, statement of additional information and other information about the Fund online at https://www.gmo.com/americas/investment-capabilities/mutual-funds/. You can also get this information at no cost by calling 1-617-346-7646, by sending an email request to [email protected], or by contacting your financial intermediary. The Fund's prospectus and statement of additional information, each dated June 30, 2026, each as may be revised and/or supplemented from time to time, are incorporated by reference into this summary prospectus.
Investment objective
Positive total return.
Fees and expenses
The table below describes 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 table and example below.
Annual Fund operating expenses1
(expenses that you bear each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) 
Class R6
Class I
Management fee2
0.60%2
0.60%2
Other expenses3
0.58%
0.73%3
Total annual fund operating expenses
1.18%
1.33%
Expense reimbursement/waiver2,3
(0.48%)2
(0.48%)2,3
Total annual fund operating expenses after expense reimbursement/waiver (Fund and underlying fund
expenses)
0.70%
0.85%
1The amounts represent an annualized estimate of the Fund's operating expenses for its initial fiscal year.
2Includes both management fee of 0.45% 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 its fees with respect to and/or reimburse the Fund to the extent that the Fund's total annual fund operating expenses (after applying all other contractual and voluntary expense limitation arrangements in effect at the time) exceed the following amounts for each class of shares, in each case representing the average daily net assets for the indicated class of shares: 0.70% for Class R6 shares and 0.70% for Class I shares (each, an "Expense Cap"). Fees and expenses of the "non-interested" Trustees and legal counsel to the "non-interested" Trustees, investment-related costs (such as brokerage commissions, interest, and acquired fund fees and expenses), payments out of assets attributable to Class I shares for sub-transfer agency, recordkeeping and other administrative services provided by financial intermediaries, borrowing and borrowing-related costs (such as expenses incurred in establishing and maintaining a credit facility), taxes, litigation and indemnification expenses, judgments, and other extraordinary or non-recurring expenses not incurred in the ordinary course of the Fund's business (collectively, "Excluded Expenses"), are excluded from the Expense Cap. GMO is permitted to recover from the Fund, on a class-by-class basis, expenses it has borne or reimbursed pursuant to an Expense Cap (whether through reduction of its fees or otherwise) to the extent that the Fund's total annual fund operating expenses (excluding Excluded Expenses) later fall below that Expense Cap set forth above or any 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 Expense Caps set forth above or any lower expense limits 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 and GMO-managed ETFs ("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, 2027 and may not be terminated prior to this date without the action or consent of the Trust's Board of Trustees.
3Includes 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 for sub-transfer agency, recordkeeping and other administrative services provided by financial intermediaries for the benefit of Class I shareholders exceed 0.15% of the average daily net assets attributable to Class I shares. This reimbursement will continue through at least June 30, 2027 and may not be terminated prior to this date without the action or consent of the Trust'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. 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
GMO EMERGING MARKETS DEBT TOTAL RETURN FUND
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: 
 1 Year 
 3 Years 
Class R6
$72
$327
Class I
$87
$374
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. Because the Fund had not commenced operations as of the fiscal year ended February 28, 2026, the Fund has no reportable portfolio turnover rate.
Principal investment strategies
The Fund seeks annualized returns of 3% (net of fees) above the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) over a complete market cycle by investing primarily in debt of emerging markets sovereign, quasi-sovereign, and corporate issuers and in emerging markets credit, currency, and interest rate derivatives. "Sovereign" refers to a government, and "quasi-sovereign" refers to a governmental agency, political subdivision or other instrumentality or corporate issuer that is majority owned, directly or indirectly, or whose obligations are guaranteed, by or derived from a government. The Fund can invest in both local currency denominated debt ("local debt") and non-local currency denominated debt ("hard currency debt") and may have significant exposure to both at any given time.
In constructing the Fund's portfolio, GMO uses fundamental analytical techniques to select country credit, corporate credit, currency, interest-rate, and individual bond and derivative instruments. For country credit selection, GMO considers a country's economic structure, fiscal sustainability, external liquidity, and certain ESG (environmental, social, and governance) criteria. For quasi-sovereign and corporate credit selection, GMO focuses on quasi-sovereign credits and considers the stand-alone credit quality of the issuer, its relationship to the local government, and any idiosyncratic risks of the bond and issuer. In selecting individual bonds, GMO considers the bond-specific characteristics, such as the coupon rate, seniority and yield. With respect to local currency investments, GMO considers the nature of the currency (i.e., floating-rate or pegged), a country's economic cycle, market sentiment (for floating rate currencies) and valuation-based factors (for pegged currencies). With respect to local currency interest rates, GMO considers real yields and its assessment of fundamental fair values.
GMO considers risk at both the Fund's portfolio and individual security level and generally takes into account, among other factors, U.S. dollar and local currency interest rate duration, credit spread duration, currency exposure, liquidity, transaction costs and sovereign and corporate default scenarios. The factors GMO considers and investment methods GMO uses can change over time.
The Fund may invest in debt investments of all credit qualities, including securities that are in default. (The debt investments in which the Fund invests include 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 market debt securities.) The hard currency debt investments in which the Fund invests are usually denominated in U.S. dollars, Euros, Japanese yen, Swiss francs, or British pounds sterling. The Fund may invest in less liquid debt investments with the intention of holding them for an extended period of time.
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 markets (see "Name Policies"). In general, the Fund considers "emerging markets" to include countries included in the Bloomberg EM USD Aggregate Index or countries that have similar economic and social structures or default histories to those of countries in the Bloomberg EM USD Aggregate Index. GMO does not manage the Fund to, or control the Fund's risk relative to, any securities index or securities benchmark.
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. The Fund may also engage in short sales. 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 a higher risk of loss during those times than if the Fund were not leveraged. 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 does not seek to maintain a specified interest rate duration for the Fund. For an additional discussion of duration, see "Additional Information About the Funds' Investment Strategies, Risks, and Expenses - Bond Funds - Duration."
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GMO EMERGING MARKETS DEBT TOTAL RETURN FUND
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. An investment in the Fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the FDIC or any government agency. 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, 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 (including a sovereign or quasi-sovereign debt issuer) or the obligor of an obligation underlying an asset-backed security will be unable or unwilling to satisfy its obligation to pay principal and interest or otherwise to honor its obligations in a timely manner or at all. 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 a failure. Below investment grade investments (commonly referred to as high yield or "junk" bonds) have speculative characteristics and are subject to greater credit risk than other fixed income investments. Negative changes in economic conditions or other circumstances are more likely to impair the ability of issuers of below investment grade investments to make principal and interest payments than issuers of investment grade investments. In addition, investments in emerging country sovereign or quasi-sovereign debt are subject to 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 a default. Investments in quasi-sovereign debt also are subject to the risk that the issuer will default independently of its sovereign. Investments in distressed or defaulted or other low quality debt investments generally are considered speculative and are subject to substantial risks not normally associated with investments in higher quality securities, including adverse business, financial or economic conditions that lead to their issuers' payment defaults and insolvency proceedings. 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 in its effort to be repaid. If GMO's assessment of the eventual recovery value of a distressed or defaulted debt investment proves incorrect, the Fund may lose a substantial portion or all of its original investment or may be required to accept cash or instruments worth less than its original investment.
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 Risk - Fixed Income - The market price of a fixed income investment can decline due to market-related factors, including rising interest or inflation 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.
Market Disruption and Geopolitical Risk - Geopolitical and other events (e.g., wars, pandemics, sanctions, terrorism, diplomatic tensions, dramatic changes in regulatory and/or foreign policy, cyberattacks, and rapid technological developments such as artificial intelligence) often disrupt securities markets and adversely affect the general economy or particular 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 in countries, regions, asset classes, sectors, industries, currencies, or issuers that are subject to the same or similar risk factors and investments whose market prices are closely correlated are subject to higher overall risk than investments that are more diversified or whose market prices are not as closely correlated.
Illiquidity Risk - Low trading volume, lack of a market maker, large position size, or legal restrictions increase the risk that the Fund or an underlying fund is limited or prevented from selling particular securities or closing derivative positions at desirable prices at a particular time or at all.
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, leveraging risk, commodities 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 index or underlying securities. The Fund typically creates short investment exposure by selling securities short or 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. Specifically, the net asset value of the Fund's shares will be adversely affected if the securities or other assets that are the subject of the Fund's short exposures appreciate in value. The risk of loss associated with derivatives that provide short investment exposure and short sales of securities is theoretically unlimited.
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GMO EMERGING MARKETS DEBT TOTAL RETURN FUND
Counterparty Risk - The Fund runs the risk that the counterparty to a derivatives contract or a clearing member used by the Fund to hold a cleared derivatives contract is unable or unwilling to make timely settlement payments, return the Fund's collateral or otherwise honor its obligations.
Non-U.S. Investment Risk - The market prices of many non-U.S. securities fluctuate more than those of U.S. securities. Many non-U.S. securities 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, non-U.S. securities issuers 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 is subject to taxation by countries other than the United States, including 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 its license is 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. The risks above (such as substantial price fluctuations and market instability, illiquidity and lack of regulation) and other risks (e.g., nationalization, expropriation or other confiscation of assets of non-U.S. issuers, difficulties enforcing legal judgments or contractual rights and geopolitical risks) tend to be higher for investments in the securities of issuers tied economically to emerging countries. The economies of emerging countries often depend predominantly on only a few industries or commodities and often are more volatile than the economies of developed countries.
Large Transactions 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 (or caused by) that shareholder or group will require the Fund to sell investments at disadvantageous prices, disrupt the Fund's operations, lead to temporary overexposure to the Fund's intended investment program or force the Fund's liquidation. The Fund also may be subject to these effects when a number of shareholders collectively redeem or sell a large amount of Fund shares.
Management and Operational Risk - The Fund runs the risk that GMO's investment techniques will fail to produce intended 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.
Leveraging Risk - The use of derivatives, short sales and securities lending can create 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 the value of the Fund's assets declines between the time a redemption request is treated as being received by the Fund and the time the Fund liquidates assets to fund that redemption.
Performance
Because the Fund had not yet completed a full calendar year of operations as of the date of this Prospectus, performance information for the Fund is not included.
Management of the Fund
Investment Adviser: Grantham, Mayo, Van Otterloo & Co. LLC
Investment Team and Senior Member of GMO primarily responsible for portfolio management of the Fund: 
Investment Team
Senior Member (Length of Service with Fund)
Title
Emerging Markets
Debt
Tina Vandersteel (since the Fund's inception in 2026)
Head, Emerging Markets Debt Team, GMO.
Purchase and sale of Fund shares
Under ordinary circumstances, you may purchase the Fund's shares on days when both (i) the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") is open for business and (ii) the U.S. bond markets are also open for business. Purchase orders should be submitted directly to GMO Trust (the "Trust") or through a broker or agent authorized to accept purchase and redemption orders on the Funds' behalf. Investors who have entered into agreements with the Trust may purchase shares of the Fund through the National Securities Clearing Corporation ("NSCC").
Class R6 shares and Class I shares are available for purchase by (i) eligible retirement plans (e.g., 401(k) plans, 457 plans, employer-sponsored 403(b) plans, profit-sharing and money purchase pension plans, defined benefit plans and non-qualified deferred compensation plans), (ii) section 529 plans, and (iii) other investors whose accounts are maintained by the Fund through third-party platforms or intermediaries. Purchases of Class R6 shares or Class I shares are not subject to any minimum dollar amount.
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GMO EMERGING MARKETS DEBT TOTAL RETURN FUND
Fund shares are redeemable. Under ordinary circumstances, you may redeem the Fund's shares on days when both (i) the NYSE is open for business and (ii) the U.S. bond markets are also open for business. Redemption orders should be submitted directly to the Trust unless the Fund shares to be redeemed were purchased through a broker or agent, in which case the redemption order should be submitted to that broker or agent. Investors who have entered into agreements with the Trust may redeem shares of the Fund through the NSCC. For instructions on redeeming shares directly, call the Trust at 1-617-346-7646 or send an email to [email protected].
U.S. tax information
The Fund intends to qualify and be treated each year, as a regulated investment company (a "RIC") under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Code") for U.S. federal income tax purposes and to distribute net investment income and net realized capital gains, if any, to shareholders. These distributions are taxable as ordinary income or capital gain to U.S. shareholders that are not exempt from U.S. income tax or that are not investing through a tax-advantaged account. U.S. shareholders who are investing through a tax-advantaged account may be taxed upon withdrawals from that account.
Financial intermediary compensation
The Fund makes payments out of the net assets attributable to Class I shares for sub-transfer agency, recordkeeping and other administrative services provided by financial intermediaries for the benefit of Class I shareholders. In addition, GMO pays brokers, agents, or other financial intermediaries for transfer agency and related services. These payments create a conflict of interest by creating a financial incentive for the broker, agent or other financial intermediary and salesperson to recommend the purchase of Fund shares over another investment. GMO also makes payments to financial intermediaries for the purchase of Fund shares, which creates a similar conflict of interest. Ask your salesperson or consult your financial intermediary's website for more information.
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GMO Trust published this content on June 30, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via EDGAR on June 30, 2026 at 20:31 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]