Strategy. The Fund is an index ? fund that seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the total return of the MSCI Emerging Markets Index (the Index) over the long term. As an index ? fund, the Fund is not managed according to traditional methods of active ? investment management, which involve the buying and selling of securities based upon economic, financial and market analysis and investment judgment. In seeking to track the performance of the Index, the Fund employs a sampling strategy, which means that the Fund is not required to purchase all of the securities represented in the Index. Instead, the Fund may purchase a subset of the securities in the Index in an effort to create a portfolio … Show more… The Fund is an index ? fund that seeks to track, before fees and expenses, the total return of the MSCI Emerging Markets Index (the Index) over the long term. As an index ? fund, the Fund is not managed according to traditional methods of active ? investment management, which involve the buying and selling of securities based upon economic, financial and market analysis and investment judgment. In seeking to track the performance of the Index, the Fund employs a sampling strategy, which means that the Fund is not required to purchase all of the securities represented in the Index. Instead, the Fund may purchase a subset of the securities in the Index in an effort to create a portfolio of securities with generally the same risk and return characteristics as those of the Index. The number of holdings in the Fund will be based on a number of factors, including asset size of the Fund. SSGA Funds Management, Inc. ( SSGA FM ? or the Adviser), the investment adviser to the Fund, may invest the Fund's assets in a subset of securities in the Index or may invest the Fund's assets in substantially all of the securities represented in the Index, in approximately the same proportions as the Index, but reserves the right to hold as many securities as it believes necessary to achieve the Fund's investment objective. In addition, from time to time stocks are added to or removed from the Index. The Fund may sell securities that are represented in the Index, or purchase securities that are not yet represented in the Index, in anticipation of their removal from or addition to the Index. Under normal circumstances, the Fund generally invests substantially all, but at least 80%, of its net assets (plus borrowings, if any) in securities included in the Index or in other securities of emerging market companies providing exposure comparable, in the Adviser's view, to securities comprising the Index. An emerging market company ? is any company domiciled or doing a substantial portion of its business in countries represented in the Index at the time of purchase. These securities may be represented by American Depositary Receipts ( ADRs), Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs), Non-Voting Depositary Receipts ( NVDRs) or Participatory Notes (P-Notes). The notional value of the Fund's investments in derivatives or other synthetic instruments that provide exposures comparable, in the judgment of the Adviser, to investments in the Index may be counted toward satisfaction of this 80% policy. The Fund will provide shareholders with at least 60 days' notice prior to any change in this 80% investment policy. The Fund may invest a portion of its assets in cash and cash equivalents, repurchase agreements and money market instruments, such as money market funds (including money market funds advised by the Adviser). The Fund may purchase or sell futures contracts, or options on those futures, in lieu of investing directly in the stocks making up the Index. The Fund might do so, for example, in order to increase its investment exposure pending investment of cash in stocks or other investments. Alternatively, the Fund might use futures or options on futures to reduce its investment exposure in situations where it intends to sell a portion of the stocks in its portfolio but the sale has not yet been completed. The Fund may enter into other derivatives transactions, including the use of options, forwards or swap transactions, in lieu of investing directly in the stocks making up the Index. The Fund may also, to the extent permitted by applicable law, invest in shares of other mutual funds whose investment objectives and policies are similar to those of the Fund (including funds advised by the Adviser). The Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization index that is designed to measure equity market performance of emerging market countries. As of February 28, 2025, the Index comprised 1,250 securities covering large- and mid-cap companies across 24 countries and represented 85% of the market capitalization of MSCI Emerging Markets Investable Market Index (IMI), which is composed of large-, mid- and small-cap companies. As of February 28, 2025, the market capitalization of the companies included in the Index ranged from $ 129.39 million to $780.84 billion. Countries represented in the Index have historically included, among others, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Korea, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey and United Arab Emirates. As of February 28, 2025, a significant portion of the Index comprised companies in the financials and technology sectors, although this may change from time to time. As of February 28, 2025, a significant portion of the Index comprised companies located in China, Taiwan and India and a significant portion of the Index constituents are denominated in Hong Kong Dollars and Taiwan Dollars, although this may change from time to time. The Index is sponsored by MSCI, Inc. (the Index Provider), which is not affiliated with the Fund or the Adviser. The Index Provider determines the composition of the Index, relative weightings of the securities in the Index and publishes information regarding the market value of the Index. Show less