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Feb. 26, 2021
AB GLOBAL REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT FUND, INC.
AB Global Real Estate Investment Fund
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
The Fund’s investment objective is total return from long-term growth of capital and income.
FEES AND EXPENSES OF THE FUND
This table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. You may qualify for sales charge reductions if you and members of your family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $100,000 in AB Mutual Funds. More information about these and other discounts is available from your financial intermediary and in Investing in the Funds—Sales Charge Reduction Programs for Class A Shares on page 69 of this Prospectus, in Appendix B—Financial Intermediary Waivers of this Prospectus and in Purchase of Shares—Sales Charge Reduction Programs for Class A Shares on page 131 of the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”). You may be required to pay commissions and/or other forms of compensation to a broker for transactions in Advisor Class shares, which are not reflected in the tables or the examples below.
Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Purchases of Class A shares in amounts of $1,000,000 or more, or by certain group retirement plans, may be subject to a 1%, 1-year contingent deferred sales charge, or CDSC, which may be subject to waiver in certain circumstances.For Class C shares, the CDSC is 0% after the first year. Class C shares automatically convert to Class A shares after eight years.
Examples
The Examples are intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Examples assume that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Examples also assume that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Fund’s operating expenses stay the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:  
Portfolio Turnover
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys or sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These transaction costs, which are not reflected in the Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Examples, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 50% of the average value of its portfolio.
PRINCIPAL STRATEGIES
Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in the equity securities of real estate investment trusts, or REITs, and other real estate industry companies, such as real estate operating companies, or REOCs. The Fund invests in real estate companies that the Adviser believes have strong property fundamentals and management teams. The Fund seeks to invest in real estate companies whose underlying portfolios are diversified geographically and by property type. The Fund invests in U.S. and non-U.S. issuers. Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests significantly (at least 40%—unless market conditions are not deemed favorable by the Adviser) in securities of non-U.S. companies. In addition, the Fund invests, under normal circumstances, in the equity securities of companies located in at least three countries. Equity securities include common stock, shares of beneficial interest of REITs, and securities with common stock characteristics, such as preferred stock or convertible securities (“real estate equity securities”). The Fund’s investment policies emphasize investments in companies determined by the Adviser to be undervalued relative to their peers, using a fundamental value approach. In selecting real estate equity securities, the Adviser’s research and investment process seeks to identify globally those companies where the magnitude and growth of cash flow streams have not been appropriately reflected in the price of the security. These securities may trade at a more attractive valuation than others that may have similar overall fundamentals. The Adviser’s fundamental research efforts are focused on forecasting the short and long-term normalized cash generation capability of real estate companies by isolating supply and demand for property types in local markets, determining the replacement value of properties, assessing future development opportunities, and normalizing capital structures of real estate companies. Currencies can have a dramatic impact on equity return, significantly adding to returns in some years and greatly diminishing them in others. The Adviser evaluates currency and equity positions separately and may seek to hedge the currency exposure resulting from securities positions when it finds the currency exposure unattractive. To hedge a portion of its currency risk, the Fund may from time to time invest in currency-related derivatives, including forward currency exchange contracts, futures contracts, options on futures contracts, swaps and options. The Adviser also may seek investment opportunities by taking long or short positions in currencies through the use of currency-related derivatives. The Fund may enter into forward commitments and standby commitment agreements. The Fund may enter into other derivatives transactions, such as options, futures contracts, forwards, and swaps. The Fund may use options strategies involving the purchase and/or writing of various combinations of call and/or put options, including on individual securities and stock indices, futures contracts (including futures contracts on individual securities and stock indices) or shares of exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”). These transactions may be used, for example, in an effort to earn extra income, to adjust exposure to individual securities or markets, or to protect all or a portion of the Fund’s portfolio from a decline in value, sometimes within certain ranges. The Fund may, at times, invest in shares of ETFs in lieu of making direct investments in equity securities. ETFs may provide more efficient and economical exposure to the type of companies and geographic locations in which the Fund seeks to invest than direct investments.
PRINCIPAL RISKS
• Market Risk: The value of the Fund’s investments will fluctuate as the stock or bond market fluctuates. The value of its investments may decline, sometimes rapidly and unpredictably, simply because of economic changes or other events, including public health crises (including the occurrence of a contagious disease or illness), that affect large portions of the market. • Interest Rate Risk: Changes in interest rates will affect the value of investments in fixed-income securities. When interest rates rise, the value of existing investments in fixed-income securities tends to fall and this decrease in value may not be offset by higher income from new investments. Interest rate risk is generally greater for fixed-income securities with longer maturities or durations. Very low or negative interest rates would likely magnify the risks associated with changes in interest rates. During periods of very low or negative rates, the Fund’s returns would likely be adversely affected. • Credit Risk: An issuer or guarantor of a fixed-income security, or the counterparty to a derivatives or other contract, may be unable or unwilling to make timely payments of interest or principal, or to otherwise honor its obligations. The issuer or guarantor may default, causing a loss of the full principal amount of a security and accrued interest. The degree of risk for a particular security may be reflected in its credit rating. There is the possibility that the credit rating of a fixed-income security may be downgraded after purchase, which may adversely affect the value of the security. Investments in fixed-income securities with lower ratings tend to have a higher probability that an issuer will default or fail to meet its payment obligations. • Real Estate Risk: The Fund’s investments in the real estate market have many of the same risks as direct ownership of real estate, including the risk that the value of real estate could decline due to a variety of factors that affect the real estate market generally. Investments in REITs may have additional risks. REITs are dependent on the capability of their managers, may have limited diversification, and could be significantly affected by changes in tax laws. • Foreign (Non-U.S.) Risk: Investments in securities of non-U.S. issuers may involve more risk than those of U.S. issuers. These securities may fluctuate more widely in price and may be more difficult to trade due to adverse market, economic, political, regulatory or other factors. • Currency Risk: Fluctuations in currency exchange rates may negatively affect the value of the Fund’s investments or reduce its returns. • Mortgage-Related and/or Other Asset-Backed Securities Risk: Investments in mortgage-related and other asset-backed securities are subject to certain additional risks. The value of these securities may be particularly sensitive to changes in interest rates. These risks include “extension risk”, which is the risk that, in periods of rising interest rates, issuers may delay the payment of principal, and “prepayment risk”, which is the risk that in periods of falling interest rates, issuers may pay principal sooner than expected, exposing the Fund to a lower rate of return upon reinvestment of principal. Mortgage-backed securities offered by nongovernmental issuers and other asset-backed securities may be subject to other risks, such as higher rates of default in the mortgages or assets backing the securities or risks associated with the nature and servicing of mortgages or assets backing the securities. • Derivatives Risk: Derivatives may be difficult to price or unwind and leveraged so that small changes may produce disproportionate losses for the Fund. Derivatives, especially over-the-counter derivatives, are also subject to counterparty risk to a greater degree than more traditional investments. • Leverage Risk: When the Fund borrows money or otherwise leverages its portfolio, it may be more volatile because leverage tends to exaggerate the effect of any increase or decrease in the value of the Fund’s investments. The Fund may create leverage through the use of reverse repurchase agreements, forward commitments, or by borrowing money. • Management Risk: The Fund is subject to management risk because it is an actively-managed investment fund. The Adviser will apply its investment techniques and risk analyses in making investment decisions, but there is no guarantee that its techniques will produce the intended results. Some of these techniques may incorporate, or rely upon, quantitative models, but there is no guarantee that these models will generate accurate forecasts, reduce risk or otherwise perform as expected. As with all investments, you may lose money by investing in the Fund.
BAR CHART AND PERFORMANCE INFORMATION
The bar chart and performance information provide an indication of the historical risk of an investment in the Fund by showing:   •   how the Fund’s performance changed from year to year over ten years; and •   how the Fund’s average annual returns for one, five and ten years compare to those of a broad-based securities market index. You may obtain updated performance information on the Fund’s website at www.abfunds.com (click on “Investments—Mutual Funds”). The Fund’s past performance before and after taxes, of course, does not necessarily indicate how it will perform in the future.
Bar Chart
The annual returns in the bar chart are for the Fund’s Class A shares and do not reflect sales loads. If sales loads were reflected, returns would be less than those shown.
Calendar Year End (%) During the period shown in the bar chart, the Fund’s: Best Quarter was up 14.93%, 1st quarter, 2019; and Worst Quarter was down -27.03%, 1st quarter, 2020.
Performance Table Average Annual Total Returns (For the periods ended December 31, 2020)