or profitability, an increase in costs, or an adverse effect on the issuers competitive position.
Foreign Investment Risk
Investments in securities of foreign issuers may involve risks including adverse fluctuations in currency exchange rates, political
instability, confiscations, taxes or restrictions on currency exchange, difficulty in selling foreign investments, and reduced legal protection. These risks may be more pronounced for investments in developing countries because the economies of
those countries are usually less diversified, communications, transportation and economic infrastructures are less developed, and developing countries ordinarily have less established legal, political, business and social frameworks. At times the
prices of equity securities or debt obligations of a developing country issuer may be extremely volatile. An issuer domiciled in a developed country may be similarly affected by these developing country risks to the extent that the issuer conducts a
significant percentage of its business in developing countries.
Smaller Company Risk
Investments in smaller companies may involve additional risks
because of limited product lines, limited access to markets and financial resources, greater vulnerability to competition and changes in markets, lack of management depth, increased volatility in share price, and possible difficulties in valuing or
selling the investments.
Credit Risk
If debt obligations held by the Fund are downgraded by ratings agencies or go into default, or if management
action, legislation or other government action reduces the ability of issuers to pay principal and interest when due, the value of those debt obligations may decline and the Funds share value and any dividends paid by the Fund may be reduced.
Because the ability of an issuer of a lower-rated or unrated debt obligation to pay principal and interest when due is typically less certain than for an issuer of a higher-rated debt obligation, lower-rated and unrated debt obligations are
generally more vulnerable than higher-rated debt obligations to default, to ratings downgrades, and to liquidity risk.
Interest Rate Risk
When
interest rates increase, the value of the Funds investments in debt obligations may decline and the Funds share value may be reduced. This effect is typically more pronounced for intermediate and longer-term debt obligations. Decreases
in market interest rates may result in prepayments of debt obligations the Fund acquires, requiring the Fund to reinvest at lower interest rates.
Liquidity Risk
Due to a lack of demand in the marketplace or other factors, the Fund may not be able to sell some or all of the investments promptly, or may only be able to sell investments at less than desired prices.
Additional information about Fund investments, investment strategies, and risks of investing in the Fund appears beginning on page 38 of the Prospectus.
Past Performance of the Fund
The following information provides
some indication of the risks of investing in International Value Fund by showing how the Funds investment results vary from year to year. The bar chart shows how the annual total returns for Class R3 shares vary in each full year shown. The
average annual total return figures compare Class
R3, Class R4, Class R5 and Class R6 share performance to the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Europe,
Australasia and Far East (EAFE) Index and the MSCI All Country (AC) World ex-U.S. Index, each of which is a broad measure of market performance. Past performance (before and after taxes) is not necessarily an indication of how the Fund will perform
in the future. The performance information shown below is as of the calendar year ended December 31, 2013. Updated performance information may be obtained on the Thornburg website at www.thornburg.com or by calling 1-800-847-0200.
Annual Total Returns Class R3 Shares
Highest quarterly results for time period shown: 22.73%
(quarter ended 6-30-09).
Lowest quarterly results for time period shown:
-20.95%
(quarter ended 9-30-11).