Fund Evaluator:

Federated Hermes International Equity IS Overview

Federated Hermes International Equity IS (PIUIX) is an actively managed International Equity Foreign Large Blend fund. Federated launched the fund in 1997.

The investment seeks to provide long-term capital appreciation. The fund primarily invests in a portfolio of equity securities that are tied economically to a number of countries throughout the world, and typically invests in three or more countries outside of the United States (U.S.). The fund will invest its assets so that, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of its net assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) are invested in equity investments. The fund's investments in equity securities may include, for example, common stocks, American Depositary Receipts or other U.S. listings of foreign common stocks and other mutual funds.

About Federated Hermes International Equity IS (PIUIX)

There are 6 members of the management team with an average tenure of 8.53 years: Calvin Zhang (2008), Dariusz Czoch (2025), Martin Schulz (1998), Michael Czekaj (2024), Robert Ricardo (2025), Richard Winkowski (2025). Management tenure is more important for actively managed funds than passive index funds.

The fund has 2 primary benchmarks: MSCI ACWI Ex USA NR USD index with a weighting of 100% and Morningstar Foreign Large Bld Avg index with a weighting of 100%. Federated Hermes International Equity IS has 78 securities in its portfolio. The top 10 holdings constitute 64.2% of the fund’s assets. The fund meets the SEC requirement of being classified as a diversified fund. The fund is not considered to have an ESG focus with its investment selection and management.

Federated Hermes International Equity IS is part of the Equity global asset class and is within the International Equity fund group. Federated Hermes International Equity IS has 91.5% of its portfolio invested in foreign issues. The overall assets allocated to domestic stock is 3.3%. There is 91.5% 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). Federated Hermes International Equity IS has 4.6% of the portfolio in cash.

Assets Under Management

The fund has $103 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.

PIUIX 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 Federated Hermes International Equity IS expense ratio is high compared to funds in the Foreign Large Blend category. Federated Hermes International Equity IS has an expense ratio of 0.94%, which is the same as its category average, making the fund expense ratio grade a C. 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. Federated Hermes International Equity IS has a portfolio turnover rate of 88%, 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, Federated Hermes International Equity IS returned -0.8%, 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.

Federated Hermes International Equity IS has a trailing yield of 6.06%, which is above 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.

Federated Hermes International Equity IS Grades

Year to date, the fund has returned 11.4%, 0.2 percentage points worse than the category, which translates into a grade of C. The fund has returned 22.5% over the past year (grade of D), 14.1% over the past three years (grade of D) and 5.0% per year over the past five years (grade of F) and 9.3% per year over the past 10 years (grade of C).

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