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AB SUSTAINABLE INTERNATIONAL THEMATIC FUND, INC.
AB Sustainable International Thematic Fund
INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE
The Fund’s investment objective is 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.
Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)
Shareholder Fees
AB SUSTAINABLE INTERNATIONAL THEMATIC FUND, INC.
Class Z Shares
Maximum Sales Charge (Load) Imposed on Purchases (as a percentage of offering price) none
Maximum Deferred Sales Charge (Load) (as a percentage of offering price or redemption proceeds, whichever is lower) none
Exchange Fee none
Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment)
Annual Fund Operating Expenses
AB SUSTAINABLE INTERNATIONAL THEMATIC FUND, INC.
Class Z
Management Fees 0.65% [1]
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees none
Other Expenses: Transfer Agent 0.02%
Other Expenses 0.13%
Total Other Expenses 0.15% [2]
Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses 0.01%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses 0.81%
Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement 0.01% [3]
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement 0.80%
[1] Management fee was effective as of June 18, 2021.
[2] Total Other Expenses are based on estimated amounts for the current fiscal year.
[3] In connection with the Fund’s investments in AB Government Money Market Portfolio (the “Money Market Portfolio”) (except for the investment of any cash collateral from securities lending), the Adviser has contractually agreed to waive its management fee from the Fund and/or reimburse other expenses of the Fund in an amount equal to the Fund’s pro rata share of the Money Market Portfolio’s effective management fee, as included in “Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses”. The agreement may only be terminated or changed with the consent of the Fund’s Board of Directors.
Examples
The Examples are intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Examples assume that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Examples also assume that your investment has a 5% return each year, that the Fund’s operating expenses stay the same and that any fee waiver remains in effect for only the first year. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:
Expense Example
AB SUSTAINABLE INTERNATIONAL THEMATIC FUND, INC.
Class Z
USD ($)
After 1 Year $ 82
After 3 Years 258
After 5 Years 449
After 10 Years $ 1,001
Portfolio Turnover
The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys or sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These transaction costs, which are not reflected in the Annual Fund Operating Expenses or in the Examples, affect the Fund’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Fund’s portfolio turnover rate was 37% of the average value of its portfolio.
PRINCIPAL STRATEGIES
The Fund invests primarily in a focused international portfolio of equity securities of companies that are positively exposed to sustainable investment themes. Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests at least 80% of its net assets in equity securities of issuers located outside of the United States that the Adviser believes are positively exposed to sustainable investment themes at the time of purchase, and related derivatives.
The Adviser employs a combination
of “top-down” and “bottom-up” investment
processes with the goal of identifying securities of companies worldwide, fitting into sustainable investment themes. The Adviser identifies through its
“top-down”
process sustainable investment themes that are broadly consistent with achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. These themes include climate, health and empowerment and may change over time based on the Adviser’s research. In addition to this
“top-down”
thematic approach, the Adviser also uses a
“bottom-up”
analysis of individual companies, focusing on prospective earnings growth, valuation, and quality of company management and on evaluating a company’s exposure to environmental, social and corporate governance (“ESG”) factors. The Adviser emphasizes company-specific positive selection criteria over broad-based negative screens in assessing a company’s exposure to ESG factors.
The Adviser normally considers a large universe of
mid-
to large-capitalization companies worldwide for investment, but may invest in companies of any size. The Fund invests, under normal circumstances, in the equity securities of companies located in at least three countries (and normally substantially more) other than the United States. The Fund invests in securities of companies in both developed and emerging market countries, with the stock selection process determining the geographic distribution of the Fund’s investments. The Fund also invests in the equity securities of companies located in the United States with exposure to international markets. The Fund may sell securities that no longer meet the investment criteria described above.
Currencies can have a dramatic impact on equity returns, significantly adding to returns in some years and greatly diminishing them in others. Currency and equity positions are evaluated separately. The Adviser may seek to hedge the currency exposure resulting from securities positions when it finds the currency exposure unattractive. To hedge all or a portion of its currency risk, the Fund may, from time to time, invest in currency-related derivatives, including forward currency exchange contracts, futures contracts, options on futures contracts, swaps and options. The Adviser may also seek investment opportunities by taking long or short positions in currencies through the use of currency-related derivatives.
The Fund may enter into other derivatives transactions, such as options, futures contracts, forwards, and swaps. The Fund may use options strategies involving the purchase and/or writing of various combinations of call and/or put options, including on individual securities and stock indices, futures contracts (including futures contracts on individual securities and stock indices) or shares of exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”). These transactions may be used, for example, in an effort to earn extra income, to adjust exposure to individual securities or markets, or to protect all or a portion of the Fund’s portfolio from a decline in value, sometimes within certain ranges.
PRINCIPAL RISKS
•  
Market Risk:
The value of the Fund’s assets will fluctuate as the stock or bond market fluctuates. The value of its investments may decline, sometimes rapidly and unpredictably, simply because of economic changes or other events, including public health crises (including the occurrence of a contagious disease or illness), that affect large portions of the market. It includes the risk that a particular style of investing may underperform the market generally.
 
•  
Focused Portfolio Risk:
 Investments in a limited number of companies may have more risk because changes in the value of a single security may have a more significant effect, either negative or positive, on the Fund’s net asset value, or NAV.
 
•  
Sector Risk:
The Fund may have more risk because it may invest to a significant extent in one or more particular market sectors, such as the information technology or financial services sector. To the extent it does so, market or economic factors affecting the relevant sector(s) could have a major effect on the value of the Fund’s investments.
 
•  
ESG Risk:
 Applying ESG and sustainability criteria to the investment process may exclude securities of certain issuers for
non-investment
reasons and, therefore, the Fund may forgo some market opportunities available to funds that do not use ESG or sustainability criteria. Securities of companies with ESG practices may shift into and out of favor depending on market and economic conditions, and the Fund’s performance may at times be better or worse than the performance of funds that do not use ESG or sustainability criteria.
 
•  
Foreign
(Non-U.S.)
Risk:
Investments in securities of
non-U.S.
issuers may involve more risk than those of U.S. issuers. These securities may fluctuate more widely in price and may be more difficult to trade due to adverse market, economic, political, regulatory or other factors.
 
•  
Emerging Market Risk:
Investments in emerging market countries may have more risk because the markets are less developed and less liquid as well as being subject to increased economic, political, regulatory or other uncertainties.
 
•  
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 small- and
mid-capitalization
companies may be more volatile than investments in large-capitalization companies. Investments in small-capitalization companies may have additional risks because these companies have limited product lines, markets or financial resources.
 
•  
Derivatives Risk:
Derivatives may be difficult to price or unwind and leveraged so that small changes may produce disproportionate losses for the Fund. Derivatives, especially
over-the-counter
derivatives, are also subject to counterparty risk.
 
•  
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. Some of these techniques may incorporate, or rely upon, quantitative models, but there is no guarantee that these models will generate accurate forecasts, reduce risk or otherwise perform as expected.
As with all investments, you may lose money by investing in the Fund.
BAR CHART AND PERFORMANCE INFORMATION
The bar chart and performance information provide an indication of the historical risk of an investment in the Fund by showing:
 
•  
how the Fund’s performance changed from year to year over ten years; and
 
•  
how the Fund’s average annual returns for one, five and ten years compare to those of a broad-based securities market index.
You may obtain updated performance information on the Fund’s website at
www.abfunds.com
(click on “Investments—Mutual Funds”).
The Fund’s past performance before and after taxes, of course, does not necessarily indicate how it will perform in the future.
On January 8, 2018, the Fund implemented its current investment strategies (previously, the Fund’s investment strategies did not emphasize sustainable investment themes) and also changed its name from AB International Growth Fund to AB Sustainable International Thematic Fund. Accordingly, the performance shown below for periods prior to January 8, 2018 is based on the Fund’s prior investment strategies and may not be representative of the Fund’s performance under its current investment strategies.
Bar Chart
The annual returns in the bar chart are for the Fund’s Class A shares and do not reflect sales loads. If sales loads were reflected, returns would be less than those shown. The annual returns for the Fund’s Class Z shares are not presented in the bar chart and would differ from the annual returns of the Fund’s Class A shares only to the extent that the Class Z shares do not have the same expenses as the Class A shares. Through June 30, 2021, the
year-to-date
unannualized return for Class A shares was 4.39%.
Bar Chart
During the period shown in the bar chart, the Fund’s:
Best Quarter was up 22.99%, 2nd quarter, 2020; and Worst Quarter was down
-23.25%,
3rd quarter, 2011.
Performance Table Average Annual Total Returns (For the periods ended December 31, 2020)
Average Annual Total Returns - AB SUSTAINABLE INTERNATIONAL THEMATIC FUND, INC.
1 Year
5 Years
10 Years
Inception Date
Class A [1] 24.02% 10.20% 5.52%  
Class A | Return After Taxes on Distributions [1] 23.50% 9.36% 5.11%  
Class A | Return After Taxes on Distributions and Sale of Fund Shares [1] 14.54% 7.87% 4.35%  
Class Z [2] 29.97% 11.51% 6.32% Jul. 26, 2021
MSCI ACWI Index (ex. U.S.) (Net) (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes except the reinvestment of dividends of non-U.S. withholding taxes) 10.65% 8.93% 4.92%  
[1] After-tax returns: – Are shown for Class A shares only and will vary for the other Classes of shares because these Classes have different expense ratios: – Are an estimate, which is based on the highest historical individual federal marginal income tax rates, and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes; actual after-tax returns depend on an individual investor’s tax situation and are likely to differ from those shown; and – Are not relevant to investors who hold fund shares through tax-deferred arrangements such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts.
[2] Inception date for Class Z shares: 7/26/21. Performance information for periods prior to the inception of Class Z shares is the performance of the Fund’s Class A shares adjusted to reflect the expenses of the Class Z shares.