Fund Evaluator:

Parnassus International Equity Instl Overview

Parnassus International Equity Instl (PFPEX) is an actively managed International Equity Foreign Large Blend fund. Parnassus launched the fund in 2025.

The investment seeks to achieve capital appreciation. The fund’s objective is to achieve capital appreciation by investing primarily in a diversified portfolio of equity securities of non-U.S. companies. Equity securities include common stock, preferred stock, American Depositary Receipts (“ADRs”), American Depositary Shares (“ADSs”), convertible preferred stock, and warrants. Under normal circumstances, the fund will invest a minimum of 80% of its net assets (plus borrowings for investment purposes) in equity securities of non-U.S. companies.

About Parnassus International Equity Instl (PFPEX)

There are 2 members of the management team with an average tenure of 0.88 years: Ken Ryan (2025), Michael Beck (2026). Management tenure is more important for actively managed funds than passive index funds.

The fund has 1 primary benchmark: S&P 500 (TR) index with a weighting of 100%. Parnassus International Equity Instl has 51 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 33.9% of the fund’s assets. The fund meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a diversified fund. The fund is considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

Parnassus International Equity Instl is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the International Equity fund group. Parnassus International Equity Instl has 90.1% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 8.5%. There is 90.1% allocated to foreign stock, and 0.0% is allocated to preferred stocks. The bond allocation as a percentage of total assets is 0.0% (0.0% domestic bond, 0.0% foreign bond and 0.0% convertible bond). Parnassus International Equity Instl has 0.2% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $10 million in total assets, which is below the $2 billion average for the Foreign Large Blend category. Normally, lower assets under management translates to higher average expense ratios, and greater total assets are desired. However, for some investment categories, such as small-cap investing, it may be difficult for the manager to fully employ the desired active strategy if assets grow too large or too quickly.

PFPEX Performance and Fees

The expense ratio measures how much of a fund’s assets are used for administrative expenses and operating expenses, including adviser fees and fees for the transfer agent and custodial services. The Parnassus International Equity Instl expense ratio is above average compared to funds in the Foreign Large Blend category. Parnassus International Equity Instl has an expense ratio of 0.70%, which is 26% lower than its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a B. While it is difficult to predict returns, it is known that high annual expense ratios reduce your rate of return, and excessive fees are difficult to overcome. Active management normally comes with higher expense ratios than passive index management. Certain investment categories such as small company and foreign also normally have higher expense ratios. It is best to compare fund expense ratios against the category averages for meaningful assessments.

High portfolio turnover can translate to higher expenses and lower aftertax returns. Parnassus International Equity Instl has a portfolio turnover rate of 27%, indicating that holds its assets around 0.0 years. By way of comparison, the average portfolio turnover is 62% for the Foreign Large Blend category.

Recently, in the month of July 2026, Parnassus International Equity Instl returned 0.0%, which earned it a grade of D, as the Foreign Large Blend category had an average return of 0.7%. The letter grades of A, B, C, D and F are based upon relative rankings within the investment category. A grade of A, for example, would indicate that the return is in the highest 20% for that time period compared to all funds in that category.

Parnassus International Equity Instl has a trailing yield of 1.57%, which is below the 2.17% category average. The fund normally distributes its income annually and its capital gains annually.

It’s natural to seek the best-performing investments, but you must consider the relationship between risk and return and the impact of costs and taxes on your realized returns.

Parnassus International Equity Instl Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned 2.8%, 8.8 percentage points worse than the category, which translates into a grade of F. The fund has returned 6.2% over the past year (grade of F).

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