497 1 d7738287_497.htm

AB Logo (3)

 

 

PROSPECTUS | JUNE 28, 2017, as revised NOVEMBER 21, 2017

AB FlexFeeTM International Strategic Core Portfolio

(Shares Offered—Exchange Ticker Symbol)

(Advisor Class–FFSYX)

The Securities and Exchange Commission has not approved or disapproved these securities or passed upon the adequacy of this Prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

 
 

Investment Products Offered

Ø Are Not FDIC Insured

Ø May Lose Value

Ø Are Not Bank Guaranteed

 

 
 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

 

   
 

Page

 

SUMMARY INFORMATION 4
   
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE FUND'S RISKS AND INVESTMENTS 7
   
INVESTING IN THE FUND 18
   
How to Buy Shares 18
   
Payments to Financial Advisors and Their Firms 19
   
How to Exchange Shares 20
   
How to Sell or Redeem Shares 21
   
Frequent Purchases and Redemptions of Fund Shares 22
   
How the Fund Values Its Shares 23
   
MANAGEMENT OF THE FUND 24
   
DIVIDENDS, DISTRIBUTIONS AND TAXES 28
   
GENERAL INFORMATION 29
   
GLOSSARY OF INVESTMENT TERMS 30
   
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS 31
   
APPENDIX A—HYPOTHETICAL INVESTMENT AND EXPENSE INFORMATION A-1
 
 

SUMMARY INFORMATION

 

AB FlexFeeTM International Strategic Core

 

 

INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE

The Fund's investment objective is to seek long-term growth of capital.

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 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)

None

Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)

    Advisor Class  
Management Fees (a)   .55%  
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees   None  
Other Expenses:      
Transfer Agent   .07%  
Other Expenses   .38%  
Total Other Expenses (b)   .45%  
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses   1.00%  
Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement (c)   (.35)%  
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense    Reimbursement   .65%  
             

___________________________

(a)The management fee paid to the Adviser consists of a base fee at an annualized rate of 0.55% of the Fund's average daily net assets and a positive or negative performance adjustment of up to an annualized rate of 0.50% based upon the Fund's performance relative to the MSCI EAFE Index (net), resulting in a minimum total fee of 0.05% and a maximum total fee of 1.05%.
(b)Total Other Expenses are estimated for the current fiscal year.
(c)The Adviser has contractually agreed to waive fees and/or to bear expenses of the Fund through December 31, 2018 to the extent necessary to prevent Total Other Expenses (excluding acquired fund fees and expenses other than the advisory fees of any AB Mutual Funds in which the Fund may invest, interest expense, taxes, extraordinary expenses, and brokerage commissions and other transaction costs), on an annualized basis, from exceeding 0.10% of average daily net assets ("expense limitation"). Any fees waived and expenses borne by the Adviser may be reimbursed by the Fund until the end of the third fiscal year after the fiscal period in which the fee was waived or the expense was borne, provided that no reimbursement payment will be made that would cause the Fund's Total Other Expenses to exceed the expense limitation.

Example

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 these periods. The Examples also assume that your investment has a 5% return each year, that the Fund's operating expenses stay the same and that any expense limitation and fee waiver are in effect through the date indicated above. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

 

 

   Advisor Class
After 1 Year  $66    
After 3 Years  $284   

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.

4 
 

 

PRINCIPAL STRATEGIES

The Adviser seeks to achieve the Fund's investment objective by investing, under normal circumstances, primarily in common stocks of non-U.S. companies, and in companies in at least three countries other than the United States.

The Fund will invest in companies that are determined by the Adviser to offer favorable long-term sustainable profitability, price stability, and attractive valuations. The Adviser will employ an integrated approach that combines both fundamental and quantitative research to identify attractive investment opportunities. Factors that the Adviser will consider in this regard will include: a company's record and projections of profitability, accuracy and availability of information with respect to the company, success and experience of management, competitive advantage, low stock price volatility, and liquidity of the company's securities. The Adviser will compare these results to the characteristics of the general stock markets to determine the relative attractiveness of each company at a given time. The Adviser will weigh economic, political and market factors in making investment decisions. The Adviser will seek to manage the Fund so that it is subject to less share price volatility than many other international mutual funds, although there can be no guarantee that the Adviser will be successful in this regard.

The Fund will primarily invest in mid- and large-capitalization companies, which are currently defined for the Fund as companies that have market capitalizations of $1.5 billion or more. The Fund's holdings of non-U.S. companies will generally include some companies located in emerging markets.

Fluctuations in currency exchange rates can have a dramatic impact on the returns of equity securities. The Adviser may adjust the foreign currency exposure resulting from the Fund's security positions through the use of currency-related derivatives, primarily in an effort to minimize the currency risk to which the Fund is subject. However, the Adviser is not required to use such derivatives.

PRINCIPAL RISKS

Market Risk: The value of the Fund's assets will fluctuate as the stock or bond markets fluctuate. The value of the Fund's investments may decline, sometimes rapidly and unpredictably, simply because of economic changes or other events that affect large portions of the market.
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 less liquid due to adverse market, economic, political, regulatory or other factors. These risks may be heightened with respect to investments in emerging market countries, where there may be an increased amount of economic, political and social instability.
Currency Risk: Fluctuations in currency exchange rates may negatively affect the value of the Fund's investments or reduce its returns.
Capitalization Risk: Investments in mid-capitalization companies may be more volatile than investments in large-capitalization companies. Investments in mid-capitalization companies may have additional risks because these companies have limited product lines, markets or financial resources.
Derivatives Risk: Derivatives may be illiquid, difficult to price, and leveraged so that small changes may produce disproportionate losses for the Fund, and may be subject to counterparty risk to a greater degree than more traditional investments.
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 for the Fund, but there is no guarantee that its techniques will produce the intended results.

As with all investments, you may lose money by investing in the Fund.

BAR CHART AND PERFORMANCE INFORMATION

No performance information is available for the Fund because it has not yet been in operation for a full calendar year.

INVESTMENT ADVISER

AllianceBernstein L.P. is the investment adviser for the Fund.

 

PORTFOLIO MANAGERS

The following table lists the persons responsible for day-to-day management of the Fund's portfolio:

 

Employee Length of Service    Title
Kent W. Hargis Since June 2017 Senior Vice President of the Adviser
     
Sammy Suzuki Since June 2017 Senior Vice President of the Adviser
5 
 

 

PURCHASE AND SALE OF FUND SHARES

Purchase Minimums

 

  Initial Subsequent
Advisor Class shares (only available to fee-based programs or through other limited arrangements and certain commission-based brokerage arrangements) None None

You may sell (redeem) your shares each day the New York Stock Exchange (the "Exchange") is open. You may sell your shares through your financial intermediary or by mail (AllianceBernstein Investor Services, Inc., P.O. Box 786003, San Antonio, TX 78278-6003) or telephone (800-221-5672).

TAX INFORMATION

The Fund may pay income dividends or make capital gains distributions, which may be subject to federal income taxes and taxable as ordinary income or capital gains, and may also be subject to state and local taxes.

PAYMENTS TO BROKER-DEALERS AND OTHER FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES

If you purchase shares of the Fund through a broker-dealer or other financial intermediary (such as a bank or a group retirement plan), the Fund and its related companies may pay the intermediary for the sale of Fund shares and related services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the broker-dealer or other financial intermediary and your salesperson to recommend the Fund over another investment. Ask your salesperson or visit your financial intermediary's website for more information.

6 
 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE FUND'S RISKS AND INVESTMENTS

 

 

This section of the Prospectus provides additional information about the Fund's investment practices and related risks, including principal and non-principal strategies and risks. Most of these investment practices are discretionary, which means that the Adviser may or may not decide to use them. This Prospectus does not describe all of the Fund's investment practices and additional information about the Fund's risks and investments can be found in the Fund's Statement of Additional Information ("SAI").

Derivatives

The Fund may, but is not required to, use derivatives for hedging or other risk management purposes or as part of its investment strategies. Derivatives are financial contracts whose value depends on, or is derived from, the value of an underlying asset, reference rate or index. The Fund may use derivatives to earn income and enhance returns, to hedge or adjust the risk profile of its investments, to replace more traditional direct investments and to obtain exposure to otherwise inaccessible markets.

There are four principal types of derivatives—options, futures contracts, forwards and swaps—each of which is described below. Derivatives include listed and cleared transactions where the Fund's derivatives trade counterparty is an exchange or clearinghouse and non-cleared bilateral "over-the-counter" transactions where the Fund's derivatives trade counterparty is a financial institution. Exchange-traded or cleared derivatives transactions tend to be more liquid and subject to less counterparty credit risk than those that are privately negotiated.

The Fund's use of derivatives may involve risks that are different from, or possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in securities or other more traditional instruments. These risks include the risk that the value of a derivative instrument may not correlate perfectly, or at all, with the value of the assets, reference rates, or indices that they are designed to track. Other risks include: the possible absence of a liquid secondary market for a particular instrument and possible exchange-imposed price fluctuation limits, either of which may make it difficult or impossible to close out a position when desired; and the risk that the counterparty will not perform its obligations. Certain derivatives may have a leverage component and involve leverage risk. Adverse changes in the value or level of the underlying asset, note or index can result in a loss substantially greater than the Fund's investment (in some cases, the potential loss is unlimited).

The Fund's investments in derivatives may include, but are not limited to, the following:

Forward Contracts. A forward contract is an agreement that obligates one party to buy, and the other party to sell, a specific quantity of an underlying commodity or other tangible asset for an agreed-upon price at a future date. A forward contract generally is settled by physical delivery of the commodity or tangible asset to an agreed-upon location (rather than settled by cash), or is rolled forward into a new forward contract or, in the case of a non-deliverable forward, by a cash payment at maturity. The Fund's investments in forward contracts may include the following:
Forward Currency Exchange Contracts. The Fund may purchase or sell forward currency exchange contracts for hedging purposes to minimize the risk from adverse changes in the relationship between the U.S. Dollar and other currencies or for non-hedging purposes as a means of making direct investments in foreign currencies as described below under "Other Derivatives and Strategies—Currency Transactions". The Fund, for example, may enter into a forward contract as a transaction hedge (to "lock in" the U.S. Dollar price of a non-U.S. Dollar security), as a position hedge (to protect the value of securities the Fund owns that are denominated in a foreign currency against substantial changes in the value of the foreign currency) or as a cross-hedge (to protect the value of securities the Fund owns that are denominated in a foreign currency against substantial changes in the value of that foreign currency by entering into a forward contract for a different foreign currency that is expected to change in the same direction as the currency in which the securities are denominated).
Futures Contracts and Options on Futures Contracts. A futures contract is a standardized, exchange-traded agreement that obligates the buyer to buy and the seller to sell a specified quantity of an underlying asset (or settle for cash the value of a contract based on an underlying asset, rate or index) at a specific price on the contract maturity date. Options on futures contracts are options that call for the delivery of futures contracts upon exercise. The Fund may purchase or sell futures contracts and options thereon to hedge against changes in interest rates, securities (through index futures or options) or currencies. The Fund may also purchase or sell futures contracts for foreign currencies or options thereon for non-hedging purposes as a means of making direct investments in foreign currencies, as described below under "Other Derivatives and Strategies—Currency Transactions".
7 
 

 

Options. An option is an agreement that, for a premium payment or fee, gives the option holder (the buyer) the right but not the obligation to buy (a "call option") or sell (a "put option") the underlying asset (or settle for cash an amount based on an underlying asset, rate or index) at a specified price (the exercise price) during a period of time or on a specified date. Investments in options are considered speculative. The Fund may lose the premium paid for them if the price of the underlying security or other asset decreased or remained the same (in the case of a call option) or increased or remained the same (in the case of a put option). If a put or call option purchased by the Fund were permitted to expire without being sold or exercised, its premium would represent a loss to the Fund. The Fund's investments in options include the following:
Options on Foreign Currencies—The Fund may invest in options on foreign currencies that are privately negotiated or traded on U.S. or foreign exchanges for hedging purposes to protect against declines in the U.S. Dollar value of foreign currency denominated securities held by the Fund and against increases in the U.S. Dollar cost of securities to be acquired. The purchase of an option on a foreign currency may constitute an effective hedge against fluctuations in exchange rates, although if rates move adversely, the Fund may forfeit the entire amount of the premium plus related transaction costs. The Fund may also invest in options on foreign currencies for non-hedging purposes as a means of making direct investments in foreign currencies, as described below under "Other Derivatives and Strategies—Currency Transactions".
Options on Securities. The Fund may purchase or write a put or call option on securities. The Fund will only exercise an option it purchased if the price of the security is less (in the case of a put option) or more (in the case of a call option) than the exercise price. If the Fund does not exercise a purchased option, the premium it paid for the option will be lost. The Fund may write covered options, which means writing an option for securities the Fund owns, and uncovered options. The Fund may also enter into options on the yield "spread" or yield differential between two securities. In contrast to other types of options, this option is based on the difference between the yields of designated securities, futures or other instruments. In addition, the Fund may write covered straddles. A straddle is a combination of a call and a put written on the same underlying security. In purchasing an option on securities, the Fund would be in a position to realize a gain if, during the option period, the price of the underlying securities increased (in the case of a call) or decreased (in the case of a put) by an amount in excess of the premium paid; otherwise the Fund would experience a loss not greater than the premium paid for the option. Thus, the Fund would realize a loss if the price of the underlying security declined or remained the same (in the case of a call) or increased or remained the same (in the case of a put) or otherwise did not increase (in the case of a put) or decrease (in the case of a call) by more than the amount of the premium. If a put or call option purchased by the Fund were permitted to expire without being sold or exercised, its premium would represent a loss to the Fund.

If the Fund purchases or writes privately-negotiated options on securities, it will effect such transactions only with investment dealers and other financial institutions (such as commercial banks or savings and loan institutions) deemed creditworthy by the Adviser. The Adviser has adopted procedures for monitoring the creditworthiness of such counterparties.

Options on Securities Indices. An option on a securities index is similar to an option on a security except that, rather than taking or making delivery of a security at a specified price, an option on a securities index gives the holder the right to receive, upon exercise of the option, an amount of cash if the closing level of the chosen index is greater than (in the case of a call) or less than (in the case of a put) the exercise price of the option.
Other Option Strategies. In an effort to earn extra income, to adjust exposure to individual securities or markets, or to protect all or a portion of its portfolio from a decline in value, sometimes within certain ranges, the Fund may use option strategies such as the concurrent purchase of a call or put option, including on individual securities and stock indices, futures contracts (including on individual securities and stock indices) or shares of exchange-traded funds ("ETFs") at one strike price and the writing of a call or put option on the same individual security, stock index, futures contract or ETF at a higher strike price in the case of a call option or at a lower strike price in the case of a put option. The maximum profit from this strategy would result for the call options from an increase in the value of the individual security, stock index, futures contract or ETF above the higher strike price or, for the put options, from the decline in the value of the individual security, stock index, futures contract or ETF below the lower strike price. If the price of the individual security, stock index, futures contract or ETF declines, in the case of the call option, or increases, in the case of the put option, the Fund has the risk of losing the entire amount paid for the call or put options.
8 
 

Swap Transactions. A swap is an agreement that obligates two parties to exchange a series of cash flows at specified intervals (payment dates) based upon or calculated by reference to changes in specified prices or rates (e.g., interest rates in the case of interest rate swaps, currency exchange rates in the case of currency swaps) for a specified amount of an underlying asset (the "notional" principal amount). Generally, the notional principal amount is used solely to calculate the payment stream, but is not exchanged. Most swaps are entered into on a net basis (i.e., the two payment streams are netted out, with the Fund receiving or paying, as the case may be, only the net amount of the two payments). Certain standardized swaps, including certain interest rate swaps and credit default swaps, are (or soon will be) subject to mandatory central clearing. Cleared swaps are transacted through futures commission merchants ("FCMs") that are members of central clearinghouses with the clearinghouse serving as central counterparty, similar to transactions in futures contracts. The Fund posts initial and variation margin to support its obligations under cleared swaps by making payments to its clearing member FCMs. Central clearing is expected to reduce counterparty credit risks and increase liquidity, but central clearing does not make swap transactions risk free. Centralized clearing will be required for additional categories of swaps on a phased-in basis based on Commodity Futures Trading Commission approval of contracts for central clearing. Bilateral swap agreements are two-party contracts entered into primarily by institutional investors and are not cleared through a third party. The Fund's investments in swap transactions include the following:
Currency Swaps. The Fund may invest in currency swaps for hedging purposes to protect against adverse changes in exchange rates between the U.S. Dollar and other currencies or for non-hedging purposes as a means of making direct investments in foreign currencies, as described below under "Other Derivatives and Strategies—Currency Transactions". Currency swaps involve the exchange by the Fund with another party of a series of payments in specified currencies. Currency swaps may be bilateral and privately negotiated with the Fund expecting to achieve an acceptable degree of correlation between its portfolio investments and its currency swaps position. Currency swaps may involve the exchange of actual principal amounts of currencies by the counterparties at the initiation, and again upon the termination, of the transaction.
Total Return Swaps. The Fund may enter into total return swaps, under which one party agrees to pay the other the total return of a defined underlying asset, such as a security or basket of securities, or non-asset reference, such as a securities index, during the specified period in return for periodic payments based on a fixed or variable interest rate or the total return from different underlying assets or references. Total return swaps could result in losses if the underlying asset or reference does not perform as anticipated.
Interest Rate Swaps, Swaptions, Caps and Floors. Interest rate swaps involve the exchange by the Fund with another party of payments calculated by reference to specified interest rates (e.g., an exchange of floating-rate payments for fixed-rate payments). Unless there is a counterparty default, the risk of loss to the Fund from interest rate swap transactions is limited to the net amount of interest payments that the Fund is contractually obligated to make. If the counterparty to an interest rate swap transaction defaults, the Fund's risk of loss consists of the net amount of interest payments that the Fund contractually is entitled to receive.

An option on a swap agreement, also called a "swaption", is an option that gives the buyer the right, but not the obligation, to enter into a swap on a future date in exchange for paying a market-based "premium". A receiver swaption gives the owner the right to receive the total return of a specified asset, reference rate, or index. A payer swaption gives the owner the right to pay the total return of a specified asset, reference rate, or index. Swaptions also include options that allow an existing swap to be terminated or extended by one of the counterparties.

The purchase of an interest rate cap entitles the purchaser, to the extent that a specified index exceeds a predetermined interest rate, to receive payments of interest on a contractually-based principal amount from the party selling the interest rate cap. The purchase of an interest rate floor entitles the purchaser, to the extent that a specified index falls below a predetermined interest rate, to receive payments of interest on an agreed principal amount from the party selling the interest rate floor. Caps and floors may be less liquid than swaps.

The value of these transactions will fluctuate based on changes in interest rates. Interest rate swap, swaption, cap, and floor transactions may be used to preserve a return or spread on a particular investment or a portion of the Fund's portfolio or to protect against an increase in the price of securities the Fund anticipates purchasing at a later date.

Credit Default Swap Agreements. The "buyer" in a credit default swap contract is obligated to pay the "seller" a periodic stream of payments over the term of the contract in return for a contingent payment upon the occurrence of a credit event with respect to an underlying reference obligation. Generally, a credit event means bankruptcy, failure to pay, obligation acceleration or restructuring. The Fund may be either the buyer or seller in the transaction. If the Fund is a seller, the Fund receives a fixed rate of income throughout the term of the contract, which typically is between one month and ten years, provided that no credit event occurs. If a credit event occurs, the Fund typically must pay the contingent payment to the buyer, which will be either (i) the "par value" (face amount) of the reference obligation, in which case the Fund will receive the reference obligation in return or (ii) an amount equal to the difference between the par value and the current market value of the reference obligation. The periodic payments previously received by the Fund, coupled with the value of any reference obligation received, may be less than the full amount it pays to the buyer, resulting in a loss to the Fund. If the Fund is a buyer and no credit event occurs, the Fund will lose its periodic stream of payments over the term of the contract. However, if a credit event occurs, the buyer typically receives full notional value for a reference obligation that may have little or no value.
9 
 

 

Credit default swaps may involve greater risks than if the Fund had invested in the reference obligation directly. Credit default swaps are subject to general market risk, liquidity risk and credit risk.

Other Derivatives and Strategies
Currency Transactions. The Fund may invest in non-U.S. Dollar-denominated securities on a currency hedged or un-hedged basis. The Adviser may actively manage the Fund's currency exposures and may seek investment opportunities by taking long or short positions in currencies through the use of currency-related derivatives, including forward currency exchange contracts, futures contracts and options on futures contracts, swaps and options. The Adviser may enter into transactions for investment opportunities when it anticipates that a foreign currency will appreciate or depreciate in value but securities denominated in that currency are not held by the Fund and do not present attractive investment opportunities. Such transactions may also be used when the Adviser believes that it may be more efficient than a direct investment in a foreign currency-denominated security. The Fund may also conduct currency exchange contracts on a spot basis (i.e., for cash at the spot rate prevailing in the currency exchange market for buying or selling currencies).
Synthetic Foreign Equity Securities. The Fund may invest in different types of derivatives generally referred to as synthetic foreign equity securities. These securities may include international warrants or local access products. International warrants are financial instruments issued by banks or other financial institutions, which may or may not be traded on a foreign exchange. International warrants are a form of derivative security that may give holders the right to buy or sell an underlying security or a basket of securities representing an index from or to the issuer of the warrant for a particular price or may entitle holders to receive a cash payment relating to the value of the underlying security or index, in each case upon exercise by the Fund. Local access products are similar to options in that they are exercisable by the holder for an underlying security or a cash payment based upon the value of that security, but are generally exercisable over a longer term than typical options. These types of instruments may be American style, which means that they can be exercised at any time on or before the expiration date of the international warrant, or European style, which means that they may be exercised only on the expiration date.

Other types of synthetic foreign equity securities in which the Fund may invest include covered warrants and low exercise price warrants. Covered warrants entitle the holder to purchase from the issuer, typically a financial institution, upon exercise, common stock of an international company or receive a cash payment (generally in U.S. Dollars). The issuer of the covered warrants usually owns the underlying security or has a mechanism, such as owning equity warrants on the underlying securities, through which it can obtain the underlying securities. The cash payment is calculated according to a predetermined formula, which is generally based on the difference between the value of the underlying security on the date of exercise and the strike price. Low exercise price warrants are warrants with an exercise price that is very low relative to the market price of the underlying instrument at the time of issue (e.g., one cent or less). The buyer of a low exercise price warrant effectively pays the full value of the underlying common stock at the outset. In the case of any exercise of warrants, there may be a time delay between the time a holder of warrants gives instructions to exercise and the time the price of the common stock relating to exercise or the settlement date is determined, during which time the price of the underlying security could change significantly. In addition, the exercise or settlement date of the warrants may be affected by certain market disruption events, such as difficulties relating to the exchange of a local currency into U.S. Dollars, the imposition of capital controls by a local jurisdiction or changes in the laws relating to foreign investments. These events could lead to a change in the exercise date or settlement currency of the warrants, or postponement of the settlement date. In some cases, if the market disruption events continue for a certain period of time, the warrants may become worthless, resulting in a total loss of the purchase price of the warrants.

The Fund will acquire synthetic foreign equity securities issued by entities deemed to be creditworthy by the Adviser, which will monitor the creditworthiness of the issuers on an ongoing basis. Investments in these instruments involve the risk that the issuer of the instrument may default on its obligation to deliver the underlying security or cash in lieu thereof. These instruments may also be subject to liquidity risk because there may be a limited secondary market for trading the warrants. They are also subject, like other investments in foreign securities, to foreign (non-U.S.) risk and currency risk.

Convertible Securities

Prior to conversion, convertible securities have the same general characteristics as non-convertible debt securities, which generally provide a stable stream of income with generally higher yields than those of equity securities of the same or similar issuers. The price of a convertible security will normally vary with changes in the price of the underlying equity security, although the higher yield tends to make the convertible security less volatile than the underlying equity security. As with debt securities, the market value of convertible securities tends to decrease as interest rates rise and increase as interest rates decline. While convertible securities generally offer lower interest or dividend yields than non-convertible debt securities of similar quality, they offer investors the potential to benefit from increases in the market prices of the underlying common stock. Convertible debt securities that are rated Baa3 or lower by Moody's Investors Service, Inc. or BBB- or lower by S&P Global Ratings or Fitch Ratings and comparable unrated securities may share some or all of the risks of debt securities with those ratings.

10 
 

 

Depositary Receipts and Securities of Supranational Entities

The Fund may invest in depositary receipts. American Depositary Receipts, or ADRs, are depositary receipts typically issued by a U.S. bank or trust company that evidence ownership of underlying securities issued by a foreign corporation. Global Depositary Receipts, or GDRs, European Depositary Receipts, or EDRs, and other types of depositary receipts are typically issued by non-U.S. banks or trust companies and evidence ownership of underlying securities issued by either a U.S. or a non-U.S. company. Depositary receipts may not necessarily be denominated in the same currency as the underlying securities into which they may be converted. In addition, the issuers of the stock underlying unsponsored depositary receipts are not obligated to disclose material information in the United States. Generally, depositary receipts in registered form are designed for use in the U.S. securities markets, and depositary receipts in bearer form are designed for use in securities markets outside of the United States. For purposes of determining the country of issuance, investments in depositary receipts of either type are deemed to be investments in the underlying securities.

A supranational entity is an entity designated or supported by the national government of one or more countries to promote economic reconstruction or development. Examples of supranational entities include the World Bank (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development) and the European Investment Bank. "Semi-governmental securities" are securities issued by entities owned by either a national, state or equivalent government or are obligations of one of such government jurisdictions that are not backed by its full faith and credit and general taxing powers.

Forward Commitments

Forward commitments for the purchase or sale of securities may include purchases on a when-issued basis or purchases or sales on a delayed delivery basis. In some cases, a forward commitment may be conditioned upon the occurrence of a subsequent event, such as approval and consummation of a merger, corporate reorganization or debt restructuring or approval of a proposed financing by appropriate authorities (i.e., a "when, as and if issued" trade).

When forward commitments with respect to fixed-income securities are negotiated, the price, which is generally expressed in yield terms, is fixed at the time the commitment is made, but payment for and delivery of the securities take place at a later date. Securities purchased or sold under a forward commitment are subject to market fluctuation and no interest or dividends accrue to the purchaser prior to the settlement date. There is the risk of loss if the value of either a purchased security declines before the settlement date or the security sold increases before the settlement date. The use of forward commitments helps the Fund to protect against anticipated changes in interest rates and prices.

Illiquid Securities

The Fund limits its investments in illiquid securities to 15% of its net assets. Until the Fund's compliance date of December 1, 2018 for new Rule 22e-4 under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the "1940 Act"), the term "illiquid securities" for this purpose means securities that cannot be disposed of within seven days in the ordinary course of business at approximately the amount the Fund has valued the securities. After such date, the term shall mean any security or investment that the Fund reasonably expects cannot be sold or disposed of in current market conditions in seven calendar days or less without the sale or disposition significantly changing the market value of the investment.

A fund that invests in illiquid securities may not be able to sell such securities and may not be able to realize their full value upon sale. Restricted securities (securities subject to legal or contractual restrictions on resale) may be illiquid. Some restricted securities (such as securities issued pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933 ("Rule 144A Securities") or certain commercial paper) may be treated as liquid, although they may be less liquid than registered securities traded on established secondary markets.

Inflation-Indexed Securities

Inflation-indexed securities are fixed-income securities whose principal value is periodically adjusted according to the rate of inflation. If the index measuring inflation falls, the principal value of these securities will be adjusted downward, and consequently the interest payable on these securities (calculated with respect to a smaller principal amount) will be reduced.

The value of inflation-indexed securities tends to react to changes in real interest rates. In general, the price of inflation-indexed securities can fall when real interest rates rise, and can rise when real interest rates fall. In addition, the value of these securities can fluctuate based on fluctuations in expectations of inflation. Interest payments on these securities can be unpredictable and will vary as the principal and/or interest is adjusted for inflation.

Treasury Inflation Protected Securities, or TIPS, which are issued by the U.S. Treasury, use the Consumer Price Index for Urban Consumers, or the CPI, as the inflation measure. The principal of a TIPS increases with inflation and decreases with deflation, as measured by the CPI. When a TIPS matures, the holder is paid the adjusted principal or original principal, whichever is greater. TIPS pay interest twice a year, at a fixed rate, which is determined by auction at the time the TIPS are issued. The rate is applied to the adjusted principal; so, like the principal, interest payments rise with inflation and fall with deflation. TIPS are issued in terms of 5, 10, and 30 years.

11 
 

 

Investment in Exchange-Traded Funds and Other Investment Companies

The Fund may invest in shares of ETFs, subject to the restrictions and limitations of the 1940 Act, or any applicable rules, exemptive orders or regulatory guidance thereunder. ETFs are pooled investment vehicles, which may be managed or unmanaged, that generally seek to track the performance of a specific index. ETFs will not track their underlying indices precisely since the ETFs have expenses and may need to hold a portion of their assets in cash, unlike the underlying indices, and the ETFs may not invest in all of the securities in the underlying indices in the same proportion as the indices for varying reasons. The Fund will incur transaction costs when buying and selling ETF shares, and indirectly bear the expenses of the ETFs. In addition, the market value of an ETF's shares, which is based on supply and demand in the market for the ETF's shares, may differ from its net asset value ("NAV"). Accordingly, there may be times when an ETF's shares trade at a discount to its NAV.

The Fund may also invest in investment companies other than ETFs, as permitted by the 1940 Act, the rules and regulations or exemptive orders thereunder. As with ETF investments, if the Fund acquires shares in other investment companies, shareholders would bear, indirectly, the expenses of such investment companies (which may include management and advisory fees), which if not waived or reimbursed in whole or in part, would be in addition to the Fund's expenses. The Fund intends to invest uninvested cash balances in an affiliated money market fund as permitted by Rule 12d1-1 under the 1940 Act. The Fund's investment in other investment companies, including ETFs, subjects the Fund indirectly to the underlying risks of those investment companies.

Investments in Pre-IPO Securities

The Fund may invest in pre-IPO (initial public offering) securities. Pre-IPO securities, or venture capital investments, are investments in new and early stage companies, often funded by venture capital and referred to as "venture capital companies", whose securities have not been offered to the public and that are not publicly traded. These investments may present significant opportunities for capital appreciation but involve a high degree of risk that may result in significant decreases in the value of these investments. Venture capital companies may not have established products, experienced management or earnings history. The Fund may not be able to sell such investments when the portfolio managers and/or investment personnel deem it appropriate to do so because they are not publicly traded. As such, these investments are generally considered to be illiquid until a company's public offering (which may never occur) and are often subject to additional contractual restrictions on resale following any public offering that may prevent the Fund from selling its shares of these companies for a period of time. Market conditions, developments within a company, investor perception or regulatory decisions may adversely affect a venture capital company and delay or prevent a venture capital company from ultimately offering its securities to the public.

Loans of Portfolio Securities

For the purpose of achieving income, the Fund may make secured loans of portfolio securities to brokers, dealers and financial institutions ("borrowers") to the extent permitted under the 1940 Act or the rules and regulations thereunder (as such statute, rules or regulations may be amended from time to time) or by guidance regarding, interpretations of or exemptive orders under the 1940 Act. Under the Fund's securities lending program, all securities loans will be secured continually by cash collateral. The loans will be made only to borrowers deemed by the Adviser to be creditworthy, and when, in the judgment of the Adviser, the consideration that can be earned currently from securities loans justifies the attendant risk. The Fund will be compensated for the loan from a portion of the net return from the interest earned on cash collateral after a rebate paid to the borrower (in some cases this rebate may be a "negative rebate" or fee paid by the borrower to the Fund in connection with the loan) and payments for fees of the securities lending agent and for certain other administrative expenses.

The Fund will have the right to call a loan and obtain the securities loaned at any time on notice to the borrower within the normal and customary settlement time for the securities. While the securities are on loan, the borrower is obligated to pay the Fund amounts equal to any income or other distributions from the securities. The Fund will not have the right to vote any securities during the existence of a loan, but will have the right to regain ownership of loaned securities in order to exercise voting or other ownership rights. When the Fund lends securities, its investment performance will continue to reflect changes in the value of the securities loaned.

The Fund will invest cash collateral in a money market fund approved by the Fund's Board of Directors (the "Board") and expected to be managed by the Adviser. Any such investment will be at the Fund's risk. The Fund may pay reasonable finders', administrative, and custodial fees in connection with a loan.

A principal risk of lending portfolio securities is that the borrower will fail to return the loaned securities upon termination of the loan and that the collateral will not be sufficient to replace the loaned securities.

12 
 

 

Preferred Stock

The Fund may invest in preferred stock. Preferred stock is a class of capital stock that typically pays dividends at a specified rate. Preferred stock is generally senior to common stock but is subordinated to any debt the issuer has outstanding. Accordingly, preferred stock dividends are not paid until all debt obligations are first met. Preferred stock may be subject to more fluctuations in market value, due to changes in market participants' perceptions of the issuer's ability to continue to pay dividends, than debt of the same issuer. These investments include convertible preferred stock, which includes an option for the holder to convert the preferred stock into the issuer's common stock under certain conditions, among which may be the specification of a future date when the conversion must begin, a certain number of shares of common stock per share of preferred stock, or a certain price per share for the common stock. Convertible preferred stock tends to be more volatile than non-convertible preferred stock, because its value is related to the price of the issuer's common stock as well as the dividends payable on the preferred stock.

Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)

REITs are pooled investment vehicles that invest primarily in income-producing real estate or real estate related loans or interests. REITs are generally classified as equity REITs, mortgage REITs or a combination of equity and mortgage REITs. Equity REITs invest the majority of their assets directly in real property and derive income primarily from the collection of rents. Equity REITs can also realize capital gains by selling properties that have appreciated in value. Mortgage REITs invest the majority of their assets in real estate mortgages and derive income from the collection of interest and principal payments. Similar to investment companies such as the Fund, REITs are not taxed on income distributed to shareholders provided they comply with several requirements of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Code"). A fund will indirectly bear its proportionate share of expenses incurred by REITs in which the fund invests in addition to the expenses incurred directly by the fund.

Repurchase Agreements and Buy/Sell Back Transactions

The Fund may enter into repurchase agreements. From a technical perspective, in a repurchase agreement transaction the Fund buys a security and simultaneously agrees to sell it back to the counterparty at a specified price in the future. However, a repurchase agreement is economically similar to a secured loan, in that the Fund lends cash to a counterparty for a specific term, normally a day or a few days, and is given acceptable collateral (the purchased securities) to hold in case the counterparty does not repay the loan. The difference between the purchase price and the repurchase price of the securities reflects an agreed-upon "interest rate". Given that the price at which the Fund will sell the collateral back is specified in advance, the Fund is not exposed to price movements on the collateral unless the counterparty defaults. If the counterparty defaults on its obligation to buy back the securities at the maturity date and the liquidation value of the collateral is less than the outstanding loan amount, the Fund would suffer a loss. In order to further mitigate any potential credit exposure to the counterparty, if the value of the securities falls below a specified level that is linked to the loan amount during the life of the agreement, the counterparty must provide additional collateral to support the loan.

The Fund may enter into buy/sell back transactions, which are similar to repurchase agreements. In this type of transaction, the Fund enters a trade to buy securities at one price and simultaneously enters a trade to sell the same securities at another price on a specified date. Similar to a repurchase agreement, the repurchase price is higher than the sale price and reflects current interest rates. Unlike a repurchase agreement, however, the buy/sell back transaction is considered two separate transactions.

Reverse Repurchase Agreements

The Fund may enter into reverse repurchase agreements. The terms of these agreements are essentially the reverse of "Repurchase Agreements" described above. In a reverse repurchase agreement transaction, the Fund sells a security and simultaneously agrees to repurchase it at a specified time and price. The economic effect of a reverse repurchase agreement is that of the Fund borrowing money on a secured basis, and reverse repurchase agreements may be considered a form of borrowing for some purposes. Even though the Fund posts securities as collateral, the Fund maintains exposure to price declines on these securities since it has agreed to repurchase the securities at a fixed price. Accordingly, reverse repurchase agreements create leverage risk for the Fund because the Fund maintains exposure to price declines of both the securities it sells in the reverse repurchase agreement and any securities it purchases with the cash it receives under the reverse repurchase agreement. If the value of the posted collateral declines, the counterparty would require the Fund to post additional collateral. If the value of the collateral increases, the Fund may ask for some of its collateral back. If the counterparty defaults and fails to sell the securities back to the Fund at a time when the market purchase price of the securities exceeds the agreed-upon repurchase price, the Fund would suffer a loss.

In the event the buyer of securities under a reverse repurchase agreement files for bankruptcy or becomes insolvent, the Fund's use of the proceeds of the agreement may be restricted pending a determination by the other party, or its trustee or receiver, whether to enforce the Fund's obligation to repurchase the securities.

13 
 

 

Rights and Warrants

Rights and warrants are option securities permitting their holders to subscribe for other securities. Rights are similar to warrants except that they have a substantially shorter duration. Rights and warrants do not carry with them dividend or voting rights with respect to the underlying securities, or any rights in the assets of the issuer. As a result, an investment in rights and warrants may be considered more speculative than certain other types of investments. In addition, the value of a right or a warrant does not necessarily change with the value of the underlying securities, and a right or a warrant ceases to have value if it is not exercised prior to its expiration date.

Short Sales

The Fund may make short sales as a part of overall portfolio management or to offset a potential decline in the value of a security. A short sale involves the sale of a security that the Fund does not own or, if the Fund owns the security, is not to be delivered upon consummation of the sale. When the Fund makes a short sale of a security that it does not own, it must borrow from a broker-dealer the security sold short and deliver the security to the broker-dealer upon conclusion of the short sale.

If the price of the security sold short increases between the time of the short sale and the time the Fund replaces the borrowed security, the Fund will incur a loss; conversely, if the price declines, the Fund will realize a short-term capital gain. Although the Fund's gain is limited to the price at which it sold the security short, its potential loss is theoretically unlimited because there is a theoretically unlimited potential for the price of a security sold short to increase.

Standby Commitment Agreements

Standby commitment agreements are similar to put options that commit the Fund, for a stated period of time, to purchase a stated amount of a security that may be issued and sold to the Fund at the option of the issuer. The price and coupon of the security are fixed at the time of the commitment. At the time of entering into the agreement, the Fund is paid a commitment fee, regardless of whether the security ultimately is issued. The Fund will enter into such agreements only for the purpose of investing in the security underlying the commitment at a yield and price considered advantageous to the Fund and unavailable on a firm commitment basis.

There is no guarantee that a security subject to a standby commitment will be issued. In addition, the value of the security, if issued, on the delivery date may be more or less than its purchase price. Since the issuance of the security is at the option of the issuer, the Fund will bear the risk of capital loss in the event the value of the security declines and may not benefit from an appreciation in the value of the security during the commitment period if the issuer decides not to issue and sell the security to the Fund.

Structured Products

The Fund may invest in certain derivatives-type instruments that combine features of a stock or bond with those of, for example, a futures contract or an option. These instruments include structured notes and indexed securities and commodity-linked notes and commodity index-linked notes. The performance of the structured product, which is generally structured as a note or other fixed-income security, is tied (positively or negatively) to the price or prices of an unrelated reference indicator such as a security or basket of securities, currencies, commodities or a securities or commodities index. The structured product may not pay interest or protect the principal invested. The structured product or its interest rate may be a multiple of the reference indicator and, as a result, may be leveraged and move (up or down) more rapidly than the reference indicator. Investments in structured products may provide a more efficient and less expensive means of investing in underlying securities or commodities and related derivatives, but may potentially be more volatile, less liquid and carry greater market risk than investments in traditional securities. The purchase of a structured product also exposes the Fund to the credit risk of the issuer of the structured product.

Structured notes are derivative debt instruments. The interest rate or principal of these notes is determined by reference to an unrelated indicator (for example, a currency, security, or index thereof), unlike a typical note where the borrower agrees to make fixed or floating interest payments and to pay a fixed sum at maturity. Indexed securities may include structured notes as well as securities other than debt securities, the interest or principal of which is determined by an unrelated indicator.

Commodity-linked notes and commodity index-linked notes provide exposure to the commodities markets. These are derivative securities with one or more commodity-linked components that have payment features similar to commodity futures contracts, commodity options, commodity indices or similar instruments. Commodity-linked products may be either equity or debt securities, leveraged or unleveraged, and have both security and commodity-like characteristics. A portion of the value of these instruments may be derived from the value of a commodity, futures contract, index or other economic variable.

14 
 

 

Zero-Coupon and Payment-in-Kind Bonds

Zero-coupon bonds are issued at a significant discount from their principal amount in lieu of paying interest periodically. Payment-in-kind bonds allow the issuer to make current interest payments on the bonds in additional bonds. Because zero-coupon bonds and payment-in-kind bonds do not pay current interest in cash, their value is generally subject to greater fluctuation in response to changes in market interest rates than bonds that pay interest in cash currently. Both zero-coupon and payment-in-kind bonds allow an issuer to avoid the need to generate cash to meet current interest payments. These bonds may involve greater credit risks than bonds paying interest currently. Although these bonds do not pay current interest in cash, the Fund is nonetheless required to accrue interest income on such investments and to distribute such amounts at least annually to shareholders. Thus, the Fund could be required at times to liquidate other investments in order to satisfy its dividend requirements.

ADDITIONAL RISKS AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

Investments in the Fund involve the risk considerations described below.

Foreign (Non-U.S.) Securities

Investing in foreign securities involves special risks and considerations not typically associated with investing in U.S. securities. The securities markets of many foreign countries are relatively small, with the majority of market capitalization and trading volume concentrated in a limited number of companies representing a small number of industries. A fund that invests in foreign fixed-income securities may experience greater price volatility and significantly lower liquidity than a portfolio invested solely in securities of U.S. companies. These markets may be subject to greater influence by adverse events generally affecting the market, and by large investors trading significant blocks of securities, than is usual in the United States.

Securities registration, custody, and settlement may in some instances be subject to delays and legal and administrative uncertainties. Foreign investment in the securities markets of certain foreign countries is restricted or controlled to varying degrees. These restrictions or controls may at times limit or preclude investment in certain securities and may increase the costs and expenses of the Fund. In addition, the repatriation of investment income, capital or the proceeds of sales of securities from certain of the countries is controlled under regulations, including in some cases the need for certain advance government notification or authority, and if a deterioration occurs in a country's balance of payments, the country could impose temporary restrictions on foreign capital remittances.

The Fund also could be adversely affected by delays in, or a refusal to grant, any required governmental approval for repatriation, as well as by the application to it of other restrictions on investment. Investing in local markets may require the Fund to adopt special procedures or seek local governmental approvals or other actions, any of which may involve additional costs to the Fund. These factors may affect the liquidity of the Fund's investments in any country and the Adviser will monitor the effect of any such factor or factors on the Fund's investments. Transaction costs, including brokerage commissions for transactions both on and off the securities exchanges, in many foreign countries are generally higher than in the United States.

Issuers of securities in foreign jurisdictions are generally not subject to the same degree of regulation as are U.S. issuers with respect to such matters as insider trading rules, restrictions on market manipulation, shareholder proxy requirements, and timely disclosure of information. The reporting, accounting, and auditing standards of foreign countries may differ, in some cases significantly, from U.S. standards in important respects, and less information may be available to investors in foreign securities than to investors in U.S. securities. Substantially less information is publicly available about certain non-U.S. issuers than is available about most U.S. issuers.

The economies of individual foreign countries may differ favorably or unfavorably from the U.S. economy in such respects as growth of gross domestic product or gross national product, rate of inflation, capital reinvestment, resource self-sufficiency, and balance of payments position. Nationalization, expropriation or confiscatory taxation, currency blockage, political changes, government regulation, political or social instability, revolutions, wars or diplomatic developments could affect adversely the economy of a foreign country. In the event of nationalization, expropriation, or other confiscation, the Fund could lose its entire investment in securities in the country involved. In addition, laws in foreign countries governing business organizations, bankruptcy and insolvency may provide less protection to security holders such as the Fund than that provided by U.S. laws.

In June 2016, the United Kingdom ("UK") voted in a referendum to leave the European Union ("EU"). On March 29, 2017, the UK notified the European Council of its intention to withdraw from the EU. It is expected that the UK's withdrawal will be completed within two years of such notification. There is still considerable uncertainty relating to the potential consequences of the withdrawal. During this period and beyond, the impact on the UK and European economies and the broader global economy could be significant, resulting in increased volatility and illiquidity, currency fluctuations, impacts on arrangements for trading and on other existing cross-border cooperation arrangements (whether economic, tax, fiscal, legal, regulatory or otherwise), and in potentially lower growth for companies in the UK, Europe and globally, which could have an adverse effect on the value of the Fund's investments.

15 
 

 

Investments in securities of companies in emerging markets involve special risks. There are approximately 100 countries identified by the World Bank as Low Income, Lower Middle Income and Upper Middle Income countries that are generally regarded as emerging markets. Emerging market countries that the Adviser currently considers for investment are listed below. Countries may be added to or removed from this list at any time.

 

Argentina

Belarus

Belize

Brazil

Bulgaria

Chile

China

Colombia

Croatia

Dominican Republic

Ecuador

Egypt

El Salvador

Gabon

Georgia

Ghana

Hungary

India

Indonesia

Iraq

Ivory Coast

Jamaica

Jordan

Kazakhstan

Lebanon

Lithuania

Malaysia

Mexico

Mongolia

Nigeria

Pakistan

Panama

Peru

Philippines

Poland

Russia

Senegal

Serbia

South Africa

South Korea

Sri Lanka

Taiwan

Thailand

Turkey

Ukraine

Uruguay

Venezuela

Vietnam

Investing in emerging market securities imposes risks different from, or greater than, risks of investing in domestic securities or in foreign, developed countries. These risks include: smaller market capitalization of securities markets, which may suffer periods of relative illiquidity; significant price volatility; restrictions on foreign investment; and possible repatriation of investment income and capital. In addition, foreign investors may be required to register the proceeds of sales and future economic or political crises could lead to price controls, forced mergers, expropriation or confiscatory taxation, seizure, nationalization, or creation of government monopolies. The currencies of emerging market countries may experience significant declines against the U.S. Dollar, and devaluation may occur subsequent to investments in these currencies by the Fund. Inflation and rapid fluctuations in inflation rates have had, and may continue to have, negative effects on the economies and securities markets of certain emerging market countries.

Additional risks of emerging market securities may include: greater social, economic and political uncertainty and instability; more substantial governmental involvement in the economy; less governmental supervision and regulation; unavailability of currency hedging techniques; companies that are newly organized and small; differences in auditing and financial reporting standards, which may result in unavailability of material information about issuers; and less developed legal systems. In addition, emerging securities markets may have different clearance and settlement procedures, which may be unable to keep pace with the volume of securities transactions or otherwise make it difficult to engage in such transactions. Settlement problems may cause the Fund to miss attractive investment opportunities, hold a portion of its assets in cash pending investment, or be delayed in disposing of a portfolio security. Such a delay could result in possible liability to a purchaser of the security.

Foreign (Non-U.S.) Currencies

Investing in and exposure to foreign currencies involve special risks and considerations. The Fund will be adversely affected by reductions in the value of those currencies relative to the U.S. Dollar. Foreign currency exchange rates may fluctuate significantly. They are determined by supply and demand in the foreign exchange markets, the relative merits of investments in different countries, actual or perceived changes in interest rates, and other complex factors. Currency exchange rates also can be affected unpredictably by intervention (or the failure to intervene) by U.S. or foreign governments or central banks or by currency controls or political developments. In light of these risks, the Fund may engage in certain currency hedging transactions, as described above, which involve certain special risks.

The Fund may also invest directly in foreign currencies for non-hedging purposes on a spot basis (i.e., cash) or through derivatives transactions, such as forward currency exchange contracts, futures contracts and options thereon, swaps and options as described above. These investments will be subject to the same risks. In addition, currency exchange rates may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time, causing the Fund's NAV to fluctuate.

16 
 

 

Borrowings and Leverage

The Fund may use borrowings for investment purposes subject to its investment policies and procedures and to applicable statutory or regulatory requirements. Borrowings by the Fund result in leveraging of the Fund's shares. Likewise, the Fund's use of certain derivatives may effectively leverage the Fund's portfolio. The Fund may use leverage for investment purposes by entering into transactions such as reverse repurchase agreements, forward contracts, dollar rolls or certain derivatives. This means that the Fund uses cash made available during the term of these transactions to make investments in other securities.

Utilization of leverage, which is usually considered speculative, involves certain risks to the Fund's shareholders. These include a higher volatility of the NAV of the Fund's shares and the relatively greater effect of changes in the value of the Fund's portfolio on the NAV of the shares. In the case of borrowings for investment purposes, so long as the Fund is able to realize a net return on its investment portfolio that is higher than the interest expense paid on borrowings, the effect of such leverage will be to cause the Fund's shareholders to realize a higher net return than if the Fund were not leveraged. With respect to the Fund's use of derivatives that result in leverage of the Fund's shares, if the Fund is able to realize a net return on its investments that is higher than the costs of the leverage, the effect of such leverage will be to cause the Fund to realize a higher return than if the Fund were not leveraged. If the interest expense on borrowings or other costs of the leverage approach the return on the Fund's investment portfolio or investments made through leverage, as applicable, the benefit of leverage to the Fund's shareholders will be reduced. If the interest expense on borrowings or other costs of leverage were to exceed the net return to the Fund, the Fund's use of leverage would result in a lower rate of return than if the Fund were not leveraged. Similarly, the effect of leverage in a declining market would normally be a greater decrease in NAV than if the Fund were not leveraged.

Investment in Smaller, Less-Seasoned Companies

Investment in smaller, less-seasoned companies involves greater risks than are customarily associated with securities of more established companies. Companies in the earlier stages of their development often have products and management personnel that have not been thoroughly tested by time or the marketplace; their financial resources may not be as substantial as those of more established companies. The securities of smaller, less-seasoned companies may have relatively limited marketability and may be subject to more abrupt or erratic market movements than securities of larger, more established companies or broad market indices. The revenue flow of such companies may be erratic and their results of operations may fluctuate widely and may also contribute to stock price volatility.

Future Developments

The Fund may take advantage of other investment practices that are not currently contemplated for use by the Fund, or are not available but may yet be developed, to the extent such investment practices are consistent with the Fund's investment objective and legally permissible for the Fund. Such investment practices, if they arise, may involve risks that exceed those involved in the activities described above.

Changes in Investment Objectives and Policies

The Fund's Board may change the Fund's investment objective without shareholder approval. The Fund will provide shareholders with 60 days' prior written notice of any change to the Fund's investment objective. The Fund will not change its policy to invest at least 80% of its net assets in securities indicated by its name without 60 days' prior written notice to shareholders. Unless otherwise noted, all other investment policies of the Fund may be changed without shareholder approval.

Temporary Defensive Position

For temporary defensive purposes in an attempt to respond to adverse market, economic, political or other conditions, the Fund may reduce its position in equity securities and longer-term debt securities and invest in, without limit, certain types of short-term, liquid, high-grade or high-quality (depending on the Fund) debt securities. While the Fund is investing for temporary defensive purposes, it may not meet its investment objectives.

Portfolio Holdings

A description of the Fund's policies and procedures with respect to the disclosure of the Fund's portfolio securities is available in the Fund's SAI.

Cyber Security Risk

Mutual funds, including the Fund, are susceptible to cyber security risk. Cyber security breaches may allow an unauthorized party to gain access to Fund assets, customer data, or proprietary information, or cause the Fund and/or its service providers to suffer data corruption or lose operational functionality. In addition, cyber security breaches at issuers in which the Fund invests may affect the value of your investment in the Fund.

17 
 

INVESTING IN THE FUND

 

 

The Fund offers one class of shares through this Prospectus. This section discusses how to buy, sell or redeem, or exchange the class of shares of the Fund that is offered through this Prospectus.

The NAV of the Fund is disclosed daily on the Fund's website or through the investor's online account information at www.abfunds.com and/or by calling (800) 221-5672.

HOW TO BUY SHARES

The purchase of the Fund's shares is priced at the next-determined NAV after your order is received in proper form.

Advisor Class Shares

You may purchase Advisor Class shares through your financial advisor at NAV. Advisor Class shares may be purchased and held solely:

through accounts established under a fee-based program, sponsored and maintained by a registered broker-dealer or other financial intermediary and approved by AllianceBernstein Investments, Inc. ("ABI");
through a defined contribution employee benefit plan (e.g., a 401(k) plan) that purchases shares directly without the involvement of a financial intermediary; and
by investment advisory clients of, and certain other persons associated with, the Adviser and its affiliates or the Fund.

Advisor Class shares may also be available on brokerage platforms of firms that have agreements with ABI to offer such shares when acting solely on an agency basis for the purchase or sale of such shares. If you transact in Advisor Class shares through one of these programs, you may be required to pay a commission and/or other forms of compensation to the broker.

The Fund's SAI has more detailed information about who may purchase and hold Advisor Class shares.

Other Purchase Information

Your broker or financial advisor must receive your purchase request by the Fund Closing Time, which is the close of regular trading on any day the Exchange is open (ordinarily, 4:00 p.m., Eastern time, but sometimes earlier, as in the case of scheduled half-day trading or unscheduled suspensions of trading), and submit it to the Fund by a pre-arranged time for you to receive the next-determined NAV.

If you are an existing Fund shareholder and you have completed the appropriate section of the Mutual Fund Application, you may purchase additional shares by telephone with payment by electronic funds transfer in amounts not exceeding $500,000. AllianceBernstein Investor Services, Inc., or ABIS, must receive and confirm telephone requests before the Fund Closing Time, to receive that day's public offering price. Call 800-221-5672 to arrange a transfer from your bank account.

Shares of the Fund are generally available for purchase in the United States, Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Except to the extent otherwise permitted by the Fund, the Fund will only accept purchase orders directly from U.S. citizens with a U.S. address (including an APO or FPO address) or resident aliens with a U.S. address (including an APO or FPO address) and a U.S. taxpayer identification number (i.e., W-9 tax status). Subject to the requirements of local law applicable to the offering of Fund shares, U.S. citizens (i.e., W-9 tax status) residing in foreign countries are permitted to purchase shares of the Fund through their accounts at U.S. registered broker-dealers and other similar U.S. financial intermediaries, provided the broker-dealer or intermediary has an agreement with the Fund's distributor permitting it to accept orders for the purchase and sale of Fund shares.

The Fund will not accept purchase orders (including orders for the purchase of additional shares) from foreign persons or entities or from resident aliens who, to the knowledge of the Fund, have reverted to non-resident status (e.g., a resident alien who has a non-U.S. address at time of purchase).

Required Information

The Fund is required by law to obtain, verify, and record certain personal information from you or persons authorized to act on your behalf in order to establish an account. Required information includes name, date of birth, permanent residential address and taxpayer identification number (for most investors, your social security number). The Fund may also ask to see other identifying documents. If you do not provide the information, the Fund will not be able to open your account. If the Fund is unable to verify your identity, or that of another person(s) authorized to act on your behalf, or, if the Fund believes it has identified potentially criminal activity, the Fund reserves the right to take action it deems appropriate or as required by law, which may include closing your account. If you are not a U.S. citizen or resident alien, your account must be affiliated with a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA, member firm.

The Fund is required to withhold 28% of taxable dividends, capital gains distributions, and redemptions paid to any shareholder who has not provided the Fund with his or her correct taxpayer identification number. To avoid this, you must provide your correct taxpayer identification number on your Mutual Fund Application.

18 
 

 

General

IRA custodians, plan sponsors, plan fiduciaries, plan recordkeepers, and other financial intermediaries may establish their own eligibility requirements as to the purchase, sale or exchange of Fund shares, including minimum and maximum investment requirements. The Fund is not responsible for, and has no control over, the decisions of any plan sponsor, fiduciary or other financial intermediary to impose such differing requirements. ABI may refuse any order to purchase shares. The Fund reserves the right to suspend the sale of its shares to the public in response to conditions in the securities markets or for other reasons.

Dividend Reinvestment Program

Unless you specifically have elected to receive dividends or distributions in cash, they will automatically be reinvested, without an initial sales charge or CDSC, in the same class of additional shares of the Fund. If you elect to receive distributions in cash, you will only receive a check if the amount of the distribution is equal to or exceeds $25.00. Distributions of less than $25.00 will automatically be reinvested in shares of the Fund. To receive distributions of less than $25.00 in cash, you must have bank instructions associated to your account so that distributions can be delivered to you electronically via Electronic Funds Transfer using the Automated Clearing House or "ACH". In addition, the Fund may reinvest your distribution check (and future checks) in additional shares of the Fund if your check (i) is returned as undeliverable or (ii) remains uncashed for nine months.

Dividend Direction Plan

A shareholder who already maintains accounts in more than one AB Mutual Fund may direct the automatic investment of income dividends and/or capital gains by one Fund, in any amount, without the payment of any sales charges, in shares of any eligible class of one or more other AB Mutual Fund(s) in which the shareholder maintains an account.

Automatic Investment Program

The Automatic Investment Program allows investors to purchase shares of the Fund through pre-authorized transfers of funds from the investor's bank account. Please see the Fund's SAI for more details.

PAYMENTS TO FINANCIAL ADVISORS AND THEIR FIRMS

Financial intermediaries market and sell shares of the Fund. These financial intermediaries employ financial advisors and receive compensation for selling shares of the Fund. This compensation is paid from various sources. Your individual financial advisor may receive some or all of the amounts paid to the financial intermediary that employs him or her.

 

WHAT IS A FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARY?

A financial intermediary is a firm that receives compensation for selling shares of the Fund offered in this Prospectus and/or provides services to the Fund's shareholders. Financial intermediaries may include, among others, your broker, your financial planner or advisor, banks and insurance companies. Financial intermediaries may employ financial advisors who deal with you and other investors on an individual basis.

 

Your financial advisor's firm receives compensation from the Fund, ABI and/or the Adviser in several ways from various sources, which include some or all of the following:

- additional distribution support;

- defrayal of costs for educational seminars and training; and

- payments related to providing shareholder recordkeeping and/or transfer agency services.

Please read this Prospectus carefully for information on this compensation.

  

Other Payments for Distribution Services and Educational Support

In addition to any commissions paid to or charged by financial intermediaries at the time of sale and Rule 12b-1 fees, some or all of which may be paid to financial intermediaries (and, in turn, to your financial advisor), ABI, at its expense, currently provides additional payments to firms that sell shares of the AB Mutual Funds. Although the individual components may be higher and the total amount of payments made to each qualifying firm in any given year may vary, the total amount paid to a financial intermediary in connection with the sale of shares of the AB Mutual Funds will generally not exceed the sum of (a) 0.25% of the current year's fund sales by that firm and (b) 0.10% of average daily net assets attributable to that firm over the year. These sums include payments for distribution analytical data regarding AB Mutual Fund sales by financial advisors of these firms and to reimburse directly or indirectly the costs incurred by these firms and their employees in connection with educational seminars and training efforts about the AB Mutual Funds for the firms' employees and/or their clients and potential clients. The costs and expenses associated with these efforts may include travel, lodging, entertainment and meals. ABI may pay a portion of "ticket" or other transactional charges.

19 
 

 

For 2017, ABI's additional payments to these firms for distribution services and educational support related to the AB Mutual Funds are expected to be approximately 0.06% of the average monthly assets of the AB Mutual Funds, or approximately $23 million. In 2016, ABI paid approximately 0.05% of the average monthly assets of the AB Mutual Funds, or approximately $21 million, for distribution services and education support related to the AB Mutual Funds.

A number of factors are considered in determining the additional payments, including each firm's AB Mutual Fund sales, assets and redemption rates, and the willingness and ability of the firm to give ABI access to its financial advisors for educational and marketing purposes. In some cases, firms will include the AB Mutual Funds on a "preferred list". ABI's goal is to make the financial advisors who interact with current and prospective investors and shareholders more knowledgeable about the AB Mutual Funds so that they can provide suitable information and advice about the funds and related investor services.

The Fund and ABI also make payments for recordkeeping and other transfer agency services to financial intermediaries that sell AB Mutual Fund shares. Please see "Management of the Fund—Transfer Agency and Retirement Plan Services" below. If paid by the Fund, these expenses are included in "Other Expenses" under "Fees and Expenses of the Fund—Annual Fund Operating Expenses" in the Summary Information at the beginning of this Prospectus.

 

If one mutual fund sponsor makes greater distribution assistance payments than another, your financial advisor and his or her firm may have an incentive to recommend one fund complex over another. Similarly, if your financial advisor or his or her firm receives more distribution assistance for one share class versus another, then they may have an incentive to recommend that class.

Please speak with your financial advisor to learn more about the total amounts paid to your financial advisor and his or her firm by the Fund, the Adviser, ABI and by sponsors of other mutual funds he or she may recommend to you. You should also consult disclosures made by your financial advisor at the time of purchase.

 

As of the date of this Prospectus, ABI anticipates that the firms that will receive additional payments for distribution services and/or educational support include:

AIG Advisor Group

Ameriprise Financial Services

AXA Advisors

Cadaret, Grant & Co.

Citigroup Global Markets

Citizens Securities

Commonwealth Financial Network

Donegal Securities

Institutional Cash Distributors (ICD)

JP Morgan Securities

Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp.

Lincoln Financial Securities Corp.

LPL Financial

Merrill Lynch

Morgan Stanley

Northwestern Mutual Investment Services

PNC Investments

Raymond James

RBC Wealth Management

Robert W. Baird

Santander Securities

SunTrust Bank

UBS Financial Services

US Bancorp Investments

Wells Fargo Advisors

Although the Fund may use brokers and dealers that sell shares of the Fund to effect portfolio transactions, the Fund does not consider the sale of AB Mutual Fund shares as a factor when selecting brokers or dealers to effect portfolio transactions.

HOW TO EXCHANGE SHARES

You may exchange your Fund shares for shares of the same class of other AB Mutual Funds provided that the other fund offers the same class of shares and, in the case of retirement plans, is an investment option under the plan. Exchanges of shares are made at the next-determined NAV, without sales or service charges, after your order is received in proper form. You may request an exchange either directly or through your financial intermediary or, in the case of retirement plan participants, by following the procedures specified by your plan sponsor or plan recordkeeper. In order to receive a day's NAV, ABIS must receive and confirm your telephone exchange request by the Fund Closing Time on that day. The Fund may modify, restrict, or terminate the exchange privilege on 60 days' written notice.

20 
 

 

HOW TO SELL OR REDEEM SHARES

You may "redeem" your shares (i.e., sell your shares to the Fund) on any day the Exchange is open, either directly or through your financial intermediary or, in the case of retirement plan participants, by following the procedures specified by your plan sponsor or plan recordkeeper. If you are in doubt about what procedures or documents are required by your investment program or employee benefit plan to sell your shares, you should contact your financial intermediary. Your sale price will be the next-determined NAV after the Fund receives your redemption request in proper form. The Fund expects that it will typically take one to three business days following the receipt of your redemption request in proper form to pay out redemption proceeds. However, while not expected, payment of redemption proceeds may take up to seven days from the day your request is received in proper form by the Fund by the Fund Closing Time. If you recently purchased your shares by check or electronic funds transfer, your redemption payment may be delayed until the Fund is reasonably satisfied that the check or electronic funds transfer has been collected (which may take up to 10 days).

The Fund expects, under normal circumstances, to use cash or cash equivalents held by the Fund to satisfy redemption requests. The Fund may also determine to sell portfolio assets to meet such requests. Under certain circumstances, including stressed market conditions, the Fund may determine to pay a redemption request by accessing a bank line of credit or by distributing wholly or partly in kind securities from its portfolio, instead of cash.

Sale In-Kind. The Fund normally pays proceeds of a sale of Fund shares in cash. However, the Fund has reserved the right to pay the sale price in whole or in part by a distribution in-kind of securities in lieu of cash. If the redemption payment is made in-kind, the securities received will be subject to market risk and may decline in value. In addition, you may incur brokerage commissions if you elect to sell the securities for cash.

Selling Shares Through Your Financial Intermediary or Retirement Plan

Your financial intermediary or plan recordkeeper must receive your sales request by the Fund Closing Time and submit it to the Fund by a pre-arranged time for you to receive that day's NAV. Your financial intermediary, plan sponsor or plan recordkeeper is responsible for submitting all necessary documentation to the Fund and may charge you a fee for this service.

Selling Shares Directly to the Fund

By Mail:

Send a signed letter of instruction or stock power, along with certificates, to:

AllianceBernstein Investor Services, Inc.

P.O. Box 786003

San Antonio, TX 78278-6003

For certified or overnight deliveries, send to:

AllianceBernstein Investor Services, Inc.

8000 IH 10 W, 4th floor

San Antonio, TX 78230

For your protection, a bank, a member firm of a national stock exchange or another eligible guarantor institution must guarantee signatures. Stock power forms are available from your financial intermediary, ABIS and many commercial banks. Additional documentation is required for the sale of shares by corporations, intermediaries, fiduciaries and surviving joint owners. If you have any questions about these procedures, contact ABIS.

By Telephone:

You may redeem your shares for which no stock certificates have been issued by telephone request. Call ABIS at 800-221-5672 with instructions on how you wish to receive your sale proceeds.
ABIS must receive and confirm a telephone redemption request by the Fund Closing Time, for you to receive that day's NAV.
For your protection, ABIS will request personal or other information from you to verify your identity and will generally record the calls. Neither the Fund nor the Adviser, ABIS, ABI or other Fund agent will be liable for any loss, injury, damage or expense as a result of acting upon telephone instructions purporting to be on your behalf that ABIS reasonably believes to be genuine.
If you have selected electronic funds transfer in your Mutual Fund Application, the redemption proceeds will be sent directly to your bank. Otherwise, the proceeds will be mailed to you.
Redemption requests by electronic funds transfer or check may not exceed $100,000 per Fund account per day.
Telephone redemption is not available for shares held in nominee or "street name" accounts, retirement plan accounts, or shares held by a shareholder who has changed his or her address of record within the previous 30 calendar days.
21 
 

 

FREQUENT PURCHASES AND REDEMPTIONS OF FUND SHARES

The Fund's Board has adopted policies and procedures designed to detect and deter frequent purchases and redemptions of Fund shares or excessive or short-term trading that may disadvantage long-term Fund shareholders. These policies are described below. There is no guarantee that the Fund will be able to detect excessive or short-term trading activity or to identify shareholders engaged in such practices, particularly with respect to transactions in omnibus accounts. Shareholders should be aware that application of these policies may have adverse consequences, as described below, and should avoid frequent trading in Fund shares through purchases, sales and exchanges of shares. The Fund reserves the right to restrict, reject, or cancel, without any prior notice, any purchase or exchange order for any reason, including any purchase or exchange order accepted by any shareholder's financial intermediary.

Risks Associated With Excessive or Short-Term Trading Generally. While the Fund will try to prevent market timing by utilizing the procedures described below, these procedures may not be successful in identifying or stopping excessive or short-term trading in all circumstances. By realizing profits through short-term trading, shareholders that engage in rapid purchases and sales or exchanges of the Fund's shares dilute the value of shares held by long-term shareholders. Volatility resulting from excessive purchases and sales or exchanges of Fund shares, especially involving large dollar amounts, may disrupt efficient portfolio management and cause the Fund to sell shares at inopportune times to raise cash to accommodate redemptions relating to short-term trading activity. In particular, the Fund may have difficulty implementing its long-term investment strategies if it is forced to maintain a higher level of its assets in cash to accommodate significant short-term trading activity. In addition, the Fund may incur increased administrative and other expenses due to excessive or short-term trading, including increased brokerage costs and realization of taxable capital gains.

Funds that may invest significantly in securities of foreign issuers may be particularly susceptible to short-term trading strategies. This is because securities of foreign issuers are typically traded on markets that close well before the time the Fund ordinarily calculates its NAV at 4:00 p.m., Eastern time, which gives rise to the possibility that developments may have occurred in the interim that would affect the value of these securities. The time zone differences among international stock markets can allow a shareholder engaging in a short-term trading strategy to exploit differences in Fund share prices that are based on closing prices of securities of foreign issuers established some time before the Fund calculates its own share price (referred to as "time zone arbitrage"). The Fund has procedures, referred to as fair value pricing, designed to adjust closing market prices of securities of foreign issuers to reflect what is believed to be the fair value of those securities at the time the Fund calculates its NAV. While there is no assurance, the Fund expects that the use of fair value pricing, in addition to the short-term trading policies discussed below, will significantly reduce a shareholder's ability to engage in time zone arbitrage to the detriment of other Fund shareholders.

A shareholder engaging in a short-term trading strategy may also target the Fund irrespective of its investments in securities of foreign issuers. Any fund that invests in securities that are, among other things, thinly traded, traded infrequently or relatively illiquid has the risk that the current market price for the securities may not accurately reflect current market values. A shareholder may seek to engage in short-term trading to take advantage of these pricing differences (referred to as "price arbitrage"). The Fund may be adversely affected by price arbitrage.

Policy Regarding Short-Term Trading. Purchases and exchanges of shares of the Fund should be made for investment purposes only. The Fund seeks to prevent patterns of excessive purchases and sales of Fund shares to the extent they are detected by the procedures described below, subject to the Fund's ability to monitor purchase, sale and exchange activity. The Fund reserves the right to modify this policy, including any surveillance or account blocking procedures established from time to time to effectuate this policy, at any time without notice.

Transaction Surveillance Procedures. The Fund, through its agents, ABI and ABIS, maintains surveillance procedures to detect excessive or short-term trading in Fund shares. This surveillance process involves several factors, which include scrutinizing transactions in Fund shares that exceed certain monetary thresholds or numerical limits within a specified period of time. Generally, more than two exchanges of Fund shares during any 60-day period or purchases of shares followed by a sale within 60 days will be identified by these surveillance procedures. For purposes of these transaction surveillance procedures, the Fund may consider trading activity in multiple accounts under common ownership, control, or influence. Trading activity identified by either, or a combination, of these factors, or as a result of any other information available at the time, will be evaluated to determine whether such activity might constitute excessive or short-term trading. With respect to managed or discretionary accounts for which the account owner gives his/her broker, investment adviser or other third party authority to buy and sell Fund shares, the Fund may consider trades initiated by the account owner, such as trades initiated in connection with bona fide cash management purposes, separately in their analysis. These surveillance procedures may be modified from time to time, as necessary or appropriate to improve the detection of excessive or short-term trading or to address specific circumstances.
22 
 

 

Account Blocking Procedures. If the Fund determines, in its sole discretion, that a particular transaction or pattern of transactions identified by the transaction surveillance procedures described above is excessive or short-term trading in nature, the Fund will take remedial actions that may include issuing a warning, revoking certain account-related activities (such as the ability to place purchase, sale and exchange orders over the internet or by phone) or prohibiting or "blocking" future purchase or exchange activity. However, sales of Fund shares back to the Fund or redemptions will continue to be permitted in accordance with the terms of the Fund's current Prospectus. As a result, unless the shareholder redeems his or her shares, which may have consequences if the shares have declined in value, a CDSC is applicable or adverse tax consequences may result, the shareholder may be "locked" into an unsuitable investment. A blocked account will generally remain blocked for 90 days. Subsequent detections of excessive or short-term trading may result in an indefinite account block, or an account block until the account holder or the associated broker, dealer or other financial intermediary provides evidence or assurance acceptable to the Fund that the account holder did not or will not in the future engage in excessive or short-term trading.
Applications of Surveillance Procedures and Restrictions to Omnibus Accounts. Omnibus account arrangements are common forms of holding shares of the Fund, particularly among certain brokers, dealers and other financial intermediaries, including sponsors of retirement plans. The Fund applies its surveillance procedures to these omnibus account arrangements. As required by Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") rules, the Fund has entered into agreements with all of its financial intermediaries that require the financial intermediaries to provide the Fund, upon the request of the Fund or its agents, with individual account level information about its transactions. If the Fund detects excessive trading through their monitoring of omnibus accounts, including trading at the individual account level, the financial intermediaries will also execute instructions from the Fund to take actions to curtail the activity, which may include applying blocks to accounts to prohibit future purchases and exchanges of Fund shares. For certain retirement plan accounts, the Fund may request that the retirement plan or other intermediary revoke the relevant participant's privilege to effect transactions in Fund shares via the internet or telephone, in which case the relevant participant must submit future transaction orders via the U.S. Postal Service (i.e., regular mail).

HOW THE FUND VALUES ITS SHARES

The Fund's NAV is calculated on any day the Exchange is open at the close of regular trading (ordinarily, 4:00 p.m., Eastern time, but sometimes earlier, as in the case of scheduled half-day trading or unscheduled suspensions of trading). To calculate NAV, the Fund's assets are valued and totaled, liabilities are subtracted, and the balance, called net assets, is divided by the number of shares outstanding. If the Fund invests in securities that are primarily traded on foreign exchanges that trade on weekends or other days when the Fund does not price its shares, the NAV of the Fund's shares may change on days when shareholders will not be able to purchase or redeem their shares in the Fund.

The Fund values its securities at their current market value determined on the basis of market quotations or, if market quotations are not readily available or are unreliable, at "fair value" as determined in accordance with procedures established by and under the general supervision of each Board. When the Fund uses fair value pricing, it may take into account any factors it deems appropriate. The Fund may determine fair value based upon developments related to a specific security, current valuations of foreign stock indices (as reflected in U.S. futures markets) and/or U.S. sector or broader stock market indices. The prices of securities used by the Fund to calculate its NAV may differ from quoted or published prices for the same securities. Fair value pricing involves subjective judgments and it is possible that the fair value determined for a security is materially different than the value that could be realized upon the sale of that security.

The Fund expects to use fair value pricing for securities primarily traded on U.S. exchanges only under very limited circumstances, such as the early closing of the exchange on which a security is traded or suspension of trading in the security, or for securities for which market prices are not readily available or deemed unreliable (including restricted securities). The Fund may use fair value pricing more frequently for securities primarily traded in non-U.S. markets because, among other things, most foreign markets close well before the Fund ordinarily values its securities at 4:00 p.m., Eastern time. The earlier close of these foreign markets gives rise to the possibility that significant events, including broad market moves, may have occurred in the interim. Factors considered in fair value pricing may include, but are not limited to, information obtained by contacting the issuer or analysts, or by analysis of the issuers' financial statements. The Fund may value its securities using fair value prices based on independent pricing services.

Subject to its oversight, the Fund's Board has delegated responsibility for valuing the Fund's assets to the Adviser. The Adviser has established a Valuation Committee, which operates under the policies and procedures approved by the Board, to value the Fund's assets on behalf of the Fund. The Valuation Committee values Fund assets as described above. More information about the valuation of the Fund's assets is available in the Fund's SAI.

23 
 

 

MANAGEMENT OF THE FUND

 

 

INVESTMENT ADVISER

The Fund's Adviser is AllianceBernstein L.P., 1345 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10105. The Adviser is a leading global investment adviser supervising client accounts with assets as of September 30, 2017, totaling approximately $535 billion (of which over $105 billion represented assets of registered investment companies sponsored by the Adviser). As of September 30, 2017, the Adviser managed retirement assets for many of the largest public and private employee benefit plans (including 16 of the nation's FORTUNE 100 companies), for public employee retirement funds in 28 states and the District of Columbia, for investment companies, and for foundations, endowments, banks and insurance companies worldwide. The 30 registered investment companies managed by the Adviser, comprising approximately 117 separate investment portfolios, had as of September 30, 2017 approximately 2.1 million accounts.

The Adviser provides investment advisory services and order placement facilities for the Fund.

For its services, the Adviser receives an investment advisory fee, which consists of a base fee and a performance adjustment (the "Management Fee").

The base fee is calculated and accrued daily, at an annualized rate of 0.55% of the Fund's average daily net assets ("Base Fee").

The Management Fee is increased or decreased from the Base Fee by a performance adjustment ("Performance Adjustment") that depends on whether, and to what extent, the investment performance of the Advisor Class shares of the Fund ("Measuring Class") exceeds, or is exceeded by, the performance of the MSCI EAFE Index (net)* ("Index") plus 1.40% (140 basis points) ("Index Hurdle") over the Performance Period (as defined below). The Performance Adjustment is calculated and accrued daily, according to a schedule that adds or subtracts 0.00357% (0.357 basis points) of the Fund's average daily net assets for each 0.01% (1 basis point) of absolute performance by which the performance of the Measuring Class exceeds or lags the Index Hurdle for the period from the beginning of the Performance Period through the current business day. The maximum Performance Adjustment (positive or negative) will not exceed an annualized rate of +/- 0.50% (50 basis points) ("Maximum Performance Adjustment") of the Fund's average daily net assets, which would occur when the performance of the Measuring Class exceeds, or is exceeded by, the Index Hurdle by 1.40% (140 basis points) or more for the Performance Period.

On a monthly basis, the Fund will pay the Adviser the minimum fee rate of 0.05% on an annualized basis (Base Fee minus the Maximum Performance Adjustment) applied to the average daily net assets for the month.

At the end of the Performance Period, the Fund will pay to the Adviser the total Management Fee, less the amount of any minimum fees paid during the Performance Period and any waivers described below in this section.

The period over which performance is measured ("Performance Period") is initially from the commencement of operations to December 31, 2018 and thereafter each 12-month period beginning on the first business day in the month of January through December 31 of the same year.

Calculation of Performance Adjustment for the Fund

For purposes of the Performance Adjustment calculations, the investment performance of the Measuring Class will be the sum of:

1)the change in the Class' NAV per share during the Performance Period; plus
2)the value of the Class' cash distributions per share accumulated to the end of the Performance Period; plus
3)the value of capital gains taxes per share paid or payable on undistributed realized long-term capital gains accumulated to the end of the Performance Period; expressed as a percentage of the Class' NAV per share at the beginning of the Performance Period. For this purpose, the value of distributions per share of realized capital gains, of dividends per share paid from investment income and of capital gains taxes per share paid or payable on undistributed realized long-term capital gains shall be treated as reinvested in shares of the Class at the NAV per share in effect at the close of business on the record date for the payment of such distributions and dividends and the date on which provision is made for such taxes, after giving effect to such distributions, dividends and taxes.

___________________

* For the period from August 4, 2017 to October 31, 2017, the MSCI EAFE Index with IDCo Fair Value Pricing (net) was used for purposes of calculating the Performance Adjustment.

 

24 
 

 

The investment record of the Index will be the sum of:

1)the change in the level of the Index during the Performance Period; plus
2)the value, computed consistently with the Index, of cash distributions made by companies whose securities comprise the Index accumulated to the end of the Performance Period; expressed as a percentage of the Index level at the beginning of the Performance Period. For this purpose, cash distributions on the securities which comprise the Index shall be treated as reinvested in the Index at least as frequently as the end of each calendar quarter following the payment of the dividend.

A Performance Adjustment will not be based on whether the absolute performance of the Measuring Class is positive or negative, but rather based on whether such performance exceeds, or is exceeded by, the Index Hurdle. The Fund could pay a Performance Adjustment for positive relative performance even if the Measuring Class decreases in value, so long as the Fund's performance exceeds that of the Index Hurdle. It is possible that, if you buy shares of the Fund after the beginning of a Performance Period, you will bear a share of a Performance Adjustment payable by the Fund based on performance that preceded your purchase and from which you therefore did not benefit.

As described under "Fees and Expenses of the Fund—Annual Fund Operating Expenses" in the Summary Information at the beginning of this Prospectus, the Adviser has contractually agreed to waive fees and/or to bear expenses of the Fund through December 31, 2018 to the extent necessary to prevent Total Other Expenses (excluding acquired fund fees and expenses other than the advisory fees of any AB Mutual Funds in which the Fund may invest, interest expense, taxes, extraordinary expenses, and brokerage commissions and other transaction costs), on an annualized basis, from exceeding 0.10% of average daily net assets ("expense limitations"). Any fees waived and expenses borne by the Adviser may be reimbursed by the Fund until the end of the third fiscal year after the fiscal period in which the fee was waived or the expense was borne, provided that no reimbursement payment will be made that would cause the Fund's Total Other Expenses to exceed the expense limitations.

In addition, the Adviser has agreed to waive its Management Fee by limiting the Fund's accrual of the Management Fee (Base Fee plus Performance Adjustment) on any day to the amount corresponding to the maximum fee rate multiplied by the Fund's current net assets as of the preceding day if such amount is less than the amount that would have been accrued based on the Fund's average daily net assets for the Performance Period.

A discussion regarding the basis for the Board's most recent approval of the Fund's investment advisory agreement is available in the Fund's semi-annual report to shareholders for the fiscal period ended June 30, 2017.

The Adviser may act as an investment adviser to other persons, firms, or corporations, including investment companies, hedge funds, pension funds, and other institutional investors. The Adviser may receive management fees, including performance fees, that may be higher or lower than the advisory fees it receives from the Fund. Certain other clients of the Adviser may have investment objectives and policies similar to those of the Fund. The Adviser may, from time to time, make recommendations that result in the purchase or sale of a particular security by its other clients simultaneously with the Fund. If transactions on behalf of more than one client during the same period increase the demand for securities being purchased or the supply of securities being sold, there may be an adverse effect on price or quantity. It is the policy of the Adviser to allocate advisory recommendations and the placing of orders in a manner that is deemed equitable by the Adviser to the accounts involved, including the Fund. When two or more of the clients of the Adviser (including the Fund) are purchasing or selling the same security on a given day from the same broker-dealer, such transactions may be averaged as to price.

PORTFOLIO MANAGERS

The day-to-day management of, and investment decisions for, the Fund are made by the Adviser's Strategic Core Investment Team. The Strategic Core Investment Team relies heavily on the fundamental analysis and research of the Adviser's internal research staff. No one person is principally responsible for coordinating the Fund's investments.

The following table lists the senior members of the Strategic Core Investment Team with the responsibility for day-to-day management of the Fund's portfolio, the length of time that each person has been jointly and primarily responsible for the Fund, and each person's principal occupation during the past five years:

 

   
Employee; Length of Service; Title Principal Occupation During
the Past Five (5) Years
Kent W. Hargis; since June 2017; Senior Vice President of the Adviser Senior Vice President, Portfolio Manager of Strategic Core Equities and Head of Quantitative Research—Equities of the Adviser, with which he has been associated in a similar capacity to his current position since prior to 2012.
   
Sammy Suzuki; since June 2017; Senior Vice President of the Adviser Senior Vice President and Portfolio Manager of Strategic Core Equities of the Adviser since 2015. Previously, he was Director of Research, Emerging Markets Value Equities from prior to 2012 until 2015.
   

 

The Fund's SAI provides additional information about the Portfolio Managers' compensation, other accounts managed by the Portfolio Managers, and the Portfolio Managers' ownership of securities in the Fund.

25 
 


PERFORMANCE OF SIMILARLY MANAGED ACCOUNTS

Certain members of the investment team employed by the Adviser to manage the Fund have experience in managing a non-fee paying discretionary account of the Adviser (the "Proprietary Account") and another registered investment company that each have substantially the same investment objective and policies and were managed in accordance with substantially similar investment strategies as the Fund. The Proprietary Account was not a registered investment company and was not subject to certain limitations, diversification requirements and other restrictions imposed under the 1940 Act and the Code to which the Fund, as a registered investment company, is subject and which, if applicable to the Proprietary Account, may have adversely affected the performance of the Proprietary Account.

Set forth below is performance data provided by the Adviser relating to the Proprietary Account, the other registered investment company and the Fund (together, the "Similarly Managed Accounts") for the periods during which each account or fund was operational. The net assets of the Similarly Managed Accounts as of September 30, 2017 were approximately $48.81 million. The performance data is net of fees charged by the Adviser, generally calculated by deducting the highest fee that would be charged to an institutional account managed in a substantially similar manner (0.55% of account assets), and portfolio transaction costs. Net-of-fee performance figures reflect the compounding effect of such fees. Performance for the Similarly Managed Accounts was not subject to a performance adjustment, which would have generated different performance results.

The data has not been adjusted to reflect fees and expenses that are payable by the Fund, which may be higher than the fees imposed on other accounts and will reduce the returns of the Fund. While Similarly Managed Account performance is net of foreign withholding taxes, the performance data has not been adjusted for corporate or individual taxes, if any, payable by account owners.

The MSCI EAFE Index (net) is used for purposes of this example as a benchmark to measure the relative performance of the Similarly Managed Accounts. The MSCI EAFE Index (net) is a free float-adjusted market capitalization index designed to measure developed-market equity performance throughout the world.

To the extent the Adviser utilizes investment techniques such as swaps, futures contracts, forwards or options, the performance of the MSCI EAFE Index (net) may not be substantially comparable to the performance of the investment team's Similarly Managed Accounts.

The performance data below is provided solely to illustrate the performance of the Similarly Managed Accounts as measured against a broad-based market index. The performance of the Fund will be affected by the performance of the investment team managing the Fund's assets. If the investment team were to perform relatively poorly, the performance of the Fund would suffer. Investors should not rely on the performance data of the Similarly Managed Accounts as an indication of future performance of the Fund.

The investment performance for the periods presented may not be indicative of future rates of return. The performance of the Proprietary Account was not calculated pursuant to the methodology established by the SEC that is used to calculate the Fund's performance. The use of methodology different from that used to calculate performance could result in different performance data.

 

SIMILARLY MANAGED ACCOUNTS – SCHEDULE OF HISTORICAL PERFORMANCE*

 

 

AB FlexFee International
Strategic Core Portfolio

Similarly Managed Accounts
Total Return**

MSCI
EAFE Index (net)
Nine Months Ended September 30, 2017 19.94%   19.96%  
Year Ended December 31:        
2016 0.25%   1.00%  
2015 5.51%   -0.81%  
2014 3.57%   -4.90%  
2013 23.54%   22.78%  
2012 10.55%   17.32%  
Three months ended December 31, 2011*** 4.31%   3.33%  
Cumulative total return for the period from inception of
Proprietary Account to September 30, 2017***
87.19%   70.10%  

 

 

26 
 

 

AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS AS OF SEPTEMBER 30, 2017*
 

  1 Year 3 Years 5 Years Since Inception***
AB FlexFee International Strategic Core Portfolio        
Similarly Managed Accounts** 14.34% 7.96% 10.39% 11.01%
MSCI EAFE Index (net) 19.10% 5.04%   8.38%   9.26%

__________________

*Total return is a measure of investment performance that is based upon the change in value of an investment from the beginning to the end of a specified period and assumes reinvestment of all dividends and other distributions. The basis of presentation of this data is described in the preceding discussion.

**Net of fees.

***Net inception cumulative Similarly Managed Accounts and index returns are from the inception date of the Proprietary Account (October 1, 2011).

 

TRANSFER AGENCY AND RETIREMENT PLAN SERVICES

ABIS acts as the transfer agent for the Fund. ABIS, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of the Adviser, registers the transfer, issuance, and redemption of Fund shares and disburses dividends and other distributions to Fund shareholders.

Many Fund shares are owned by financial intermediaries for the benefit of their customers. Retirement plans may also hold Fund shares in the name of the plan, rather than the participant. In those cases, the Fund often does not maintain an account for you. Thus, some or all of the transfer agency functions for these and certain other accounts are performed by the financial intermediaries and plan recordkeepers. Financial intermediaries and recordkeepers, which may have affiliated financial intermediaries that sell shares of the AB Mutual Funds, may be paid by the Fund, the Adviser, ABI and ABIS (i) account fees in amounts up to $19 per account per annum, (ii) asset-based fees of up to 0.25% (except in respect of a limited number of intermediaries) per annum of the average daily assets held through the intermediary, or (iii) a combination of both. These amounts include fees for shareholder servicing, sub-transfer agency, sub-accounting and recordkeeping services. These amounts do not include fees for shareholder servicing that may be paid separately by the Fund pursuant to its Rule 12b-1 plan. Amounts paid by the Fund for these services are included in "Other Expenses" under "Fees and Expenses of the Fund" in the Summary Information section of this Prospectus. In addition, financial intermediaries may be affiliates of entities that receive compensation from the Adviser or ABI for maintaining retirement plan "platforms" that facilitate trading by affiliated and non-affiliated financial intermediaries and recordkeeping for retirement plans.

Because financial intermediaries and plan recordkeepers may be paid varying amounts per class for sub-transfer agency and related recordkeeping services, the service requirements of which may also vary by class, this may create an additional incentive for financial intermediaries and their financial advisors to favor one fund complex over another or one class of shares over another.

For more information, please refer to the Fund's SAI, call your financial advisor or visit our website at www.abfunds.com.

27 
 

DIVIDENDS, DISTRIBUTIONS AND TAXES

 

 

Income dividends and capital gains distributions, if any, declared by the Fund on its outstanding shares will, at the election of each shareholder, be paid in cash or in additional shares of the same class of shares of the Fund. If paid in additional shares, the shares will have an aggregate NAV as of the close of business on the declaration date of the dividend or distribution equal to the cash amount of the dividend or distribution. You may make an election to receive dividends and distributions in cash or in shares at the time you purchase shares. Your election can be changed at any time prior to a record date for a dividend. There is no sales or other charge in connection with the reinvestment of dividends or capital gains distributions. Cash dividends may be paid by check, or, at your election, electronically via the ACH network.

If you receive an income dividend or capital gains distribution in cash you may, within 120 days following the date of its payment, reinvest the dividend or distribution in additional shares of the Fund without charge by returning to the Adviser, with appropriate instructions, the check representing the dividend or distribution. Thereafter, unless you otherwise specify, you will be deemed to have elected to reinvest all subsequent dividends and distributions in shares of the Fund.

While it is the intention of the Fund to distribute to its shareholders substantially all of each fiscal year's net income and net realized capital gains, if any, the amount and timing of any dividend or distribution will depend on the realization by the Fund of income and capital gains from investments. There is no fixed dividend rate and there can be no assurance that the Fund will pay any dividends or realize any capital gains. The final determination of the amount of the Fund's return of capital distributions for the period will be made after the end of each calendar year.

You will normally have to pay federal income tax, and any state or local income taxes, on the distributions you receive from the Fund, whether you take the distributions in cash or reinvest them in additional shares. Distributions of net capital gains from the sale of investments that the Fund owned for more than one year and that are properly designated as capital gains distributions are taxable as long-term capital gains. Distributions of dividends to the Fund's non-corporate shareholders may be treated as "qualified dividend income", which is taxed at the same preferential tax rates applicable to long-term capital gains, if such distributions are derived from, and designated by the Fund as, "qualified dividend income" and provided that holding period and other requirements are met by both the shareholder and the Fund. "Qualified dividend income" generally is income derived from dividends from U.S. corporations and "qualified foreign corporations". Other distributions by the Fund are generally taxable to you as ordinary income. Dividends declared in October, November, or December and paid in January of the following year are taxable as if they had been paid the previous December. The Fund will notify you as to how much of the Fund's distributions, if any, qualify for these reduced tax rates.

Investment income received by the Fund from sources within foreign countries may be subject to foreign income taxes withheld at the source. To the extent that the Fund is liable for foreign income taxes withheld at the source, the Fund intends, if possible, to operate so as to meet the requirements of the Code to "pass through" to the Fund's shareholders credits for foreign income taxes paid (or to permit shareholders to claim a deduction for such foreign taxes), but there can be no assurance that the Fund will be able to do so, and Funds that invest primarily in U.S. securities will not do so. Furthermore, a shareholder's ability to claim a foreign tax credit or deduction for foreign taxes paid by the Fund may be subject to certain limitations imposed by the Code, as a result of which a shareholder may not be permitted to claim a credit or deduction for all or a portion of the amount of such taxes.

Under certain circumstances, if the Fund realizes losses (e.g., from fluctuations in currency exchange rates) after paying a dividend, all or a portion of the dividend may subsequently be characterized as a return of capital. Returns of capital are generally nontaxable, but will reduce a shareholder's basis in shares of the Fund. If that basis is reduced to zero (which could happen if the shareholder does not reinvest distributions and returns of capital are significant), any further returns of capital will be taxable as a capital gain.

If you buy shares just before the Fund deducts a distribution from its NAV, you will pay the full price for the shares and then receive a portion of the price back as a taxable distribution.

The sale or exchange of Fund shares is a taxable transaction for federal income tax purposes.

Each year shortly after December 31, the Fund will send you tax information stating the amount and type of all its distributions for the year. You are encouraged to consult your tax adviser about the federal, state, and local tax consequences in your particular circumstances, as well as about any possible foreign tax consequences.

Non-U.S. Shareholders

If you are a nonresident alien individual or a foreign corporation for federal income tax purposes, please see the Fund's SAI for information on how you will be taxed as a result of holding shares in the Fund.

28 
 

GENERAL INFORMATION

 

 

Under unusual circumstances, the Fund may suspend redemptions or postpone payment for up to seven days or longer, as permitted by federal securities law. The Fund reserves the right to close an account that has remained below $1,000 for 90 days.

During drastic economic or market developments, you might have difficulty in reaching ABIS by telephone, in which event you should issue written instructions to ABIS. ABIS is not responsible for the authenticity of telephone requests to purchase, sell, or exchange shares. ABIS will employ reasonable procedures to verify that telephone requests are genuine, and could be liable for losses resulting from unauthorized transactions if it failed to do so. Dealers and agents may charge a commission for handling telephone requests. The telephone service may be suspended or terminated at any time without notice.

Shareholder Services. ABIS offers a variety of shareholder services. For more information about these services or your account, call ABIS's toll-free number, 800-221-5672. Some services are described in the Mutual Fund Application.

Householding. Many shareholders of the AB Mutual Funds have family members living in the same home who also own shares of the same funds. In order to reduce the amount of duplicative mail that is sent to homes with more than one fund account and to reduce expenses of the funds, all AB Mutual Funds will, until notified otherwise, send only one copy of each prospectus, shareholder report and proxy statement to each household address. This process, known as "householding", does not apply to account statements, confirmations, or personal tax information. If you do not wish to participate in householding, or wish to discontinue householding at any time, call ABIS at 1-800-221-5672. We will resume separate mailings for your account within 30 days of your request.

29 
 

GLOSSARY OF INVESTMENT TERMS

 

 

Equity securities include (i) common stocks, partnership interests, business trust shares and other equity or ownership interests in business enterprises and (ii) securities convertible into, and rights and warrants to subscribe for the purchase of, such stocks, shares and interests.

Fixed-income securities are debt securities and dividend-paying preferred stocks, including floating-rate and variable-rate instruments.

MSCI EAFE Index is a stock market index of foreign stocks, from the perspective of a North American investor. The index targets coverage of 85% of the market capitalization of the equity markets of all countries that are a part of the index. The EAFE acronym stands for "Europe, Australasia, and Far East".

Non-U.S. company or non-U.S. issuer is an entity that (i) is organized under the laws of a foreign country and conducts business in a foreign country, (ii) derives 50% or more of its total revenues from business in foreign countries, or (iii) issues equity or debt securities that are traded principally on a stock exchange in a foreign country.

 

30 
 

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

 

 

Financial highlights information is not available because the Fund has been in operation for under six months as of the date of this Prospectus.

 

31 
 

 

APPENDIX A

 

 

Hypothetical Investment and Expense Information

 

The following supplemental hypothetical investment information provides additional information calculated and presented in a manner different from expense information found under "Fees and Expenses of the Fund" in the Summary Information at the beginning of this Prospectus about the effect of the Fund's expenses, including investment advisory fees and other Fund costs, on the Fund's returns over a 10-year period. The chart shows the estimated expenses that would be charged on a hypothetical investment of $10,000 in Advisor Class shares of the Fund assuming a 5% return each year. Except as otherwise indicated, the chart also assumes that the current annual expense ratio stays the same throughout the 10-year period. The current annual expense ratio for the Fund is the same as stated under "Fees and Expenses of the Fund". Additional information concerning the fees and expenses incurred by the Fund may be found at FINRA's Fund Analyzer web page (available at http://apps.finra.org/fundanalyzer/1/fa.aspx). Your actual expenses may be higher or lower.

AB FlexFee International Strategic Core Portfolio

 

 

           
Year Hypothetical
Investment

Hypothetical

Performance

Earnings

Investment

After

Returns

Hypothetical

Expenses*

Hypothetical

Ending

Investment

1 $ 10,000.00 $ 500.00 $ 10,500.00 $ 68.25 $ 10,431.75
2 10,431.75 521.59 10,953.34 109.53 10,843.81
3 10,843.81 542.19 11,386.00 113.86 11,272.14
4 11,272.14 563.61 11,835.75 118.36 11,717.39
5 11,717.39 585.87 12,303.26 123.03 12,180.23
6 12,180.23 609.01 12,789.24 127.89 12,661.35
7 12,661.35 633.07 13,294.42 132.94 13,161.48
8 13,161.48 658.07 13,819.55 138.20 13,681.35
9 13,681.35 684.07 14,365.42 143.65 14,221.77
10 14,221.77 711.09 14,932.86 149.33 14,783.53
Cumulative   $ 6,008.57   $ 1,225.04  

__________________

* Expenses are net of any fee waiver or expense waiver in the first year. Thereafter, the expense ratio reflects the Fund's operating expenses as reflected under "Fees and Expenses of the Fund" before waiver in the Summary Information at the beginning of this Prospectus.

 

 

A-1
 

 

For more information about the Fund, the following documents are available upon request:

ANNUAL/SEMI-ANNUAL REPORTS TO SHAREHOLDERS

The Fund's annual report (once available) and semi-annual report to shareholders contain additional information on the Fund's investments. In the annual report, you will find a discussion of the market conditions and investment strategies that significantly affected the Fund's performance during its last fiscal year.

STATEMENT OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION (SAI)

The Fund has an SAI, which contains more detailed information about the Fund, including its operations and investment policies. The Fund's SAI is incorporated by reference into (and is legally part of) this Prospectus.

You may request a free copy of the current annual/semi-annual report, once available, or the SAI, or make inquiries concerning the Fund, by contacting your broker or other financial intermediary, or by contacting the Adviser:

 

By Mail:

c/o AllianceBernstein Investor Services, Inc.

P.O. Box 786003
San Antonio, TX 78278-6003

   
By Phone: For Information: (800) 221-5672
For Literature: (800) 227-4618
   
On the Internet: www.abfunds.com

Or you may view or obtain these documents from the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"):

Call the SEC at 1-202-551-8090 for information on the operation of the Public Reference Room.
Reports and other information about the Fund are available on the EDGAR Database on the SEC's Internet site at http://www.sec.gov.
Copies of the information may be obtained, after paying a duplicating fee, by electronic request at publicinfo@sec.gov, or by writing the SEC's Public Reference Section, Washington, DC 20549-1520.

You also may find these documents and more information about the Adviser and the Fund on the Internet at: www.abfunds.com.

The [A/B] Logo is a service mark of AllianceBernstein and AllianceBernstein® is a registered trademark used by permission of the owner, AllianceBernstein L.P.

 

   
SEC File No. 811-01716