Emerging Markets Growth Portfolio-PM Commentary-2Q19
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International/Global Growth 2Q 6.30.19 AB FLEXFEETM EMERGING MARKETS GROWTH PORTFOLIO Advisor Class: FFEYX MARKET OVERVIEW AIA Group, the largest pan-Asian insurance group, also contributed. Despite turbulence in May, emerging-market (EM) stocks rose Shares also benefited from improving sentiment toward China. In modestly in the quarter thanks to a sharp rebound in June. Fluctuating addition, the Chinese government announced it will scrap foreign sentiment around a US-China trade settlement and the odds of lower ownership limits on life insurance companies by 2020, which should US interest rates drove markets for the period. The MSCI Emerging help AIA in its geographic expansion in the country. Markets Index advanced 0.61% for the quarter and is up 10.58% year MANAGING PORTFOLIO RISK to date. Financials and utilities stocks fared best, while healthcare stocks lagged. We rebalanced the Portfolio during the quarter, shifting capital from China to other areas, such as Indian and Russian financials and Escalating US trade tensions with China and Mexico jolted markets in consumer-staples stocks, that should be more immune to a May as the US warned of future tariffs on Chinese goods if a US-China weakening US-China relationship and a slowing Chinese economy. compromise could not be reached and threatened to impose tariffs on Actions by both the US and China—including the US blocking Mexico. China retaliated with tariffs of its own. The imposition of American companies from supplying Huawei and China threatening to restrictions on exports of US technology to Chinese telecom cut off the supply of rare earth minerals used by some US equipment–maker Huawei Technologies further increased tensions. manufacturers—increased our concerns about a protracted trade and Investor sentiment improved in June, as the US suspended scheduled technology war between the two countries. The portfolio adheres to a tariffs on Mexican goods and agreed to resume trade talks with China consistent process and philosophy and has a high-conviction active during the G20 summit. strategy. These tools allow us to effectively manage the risk in the Easing monetary policy also buoyed markets. Expectations that the Portfolio. US Federal Reserve could begin to cut interest rates sent stocks higher, while weakening economic data from the European Union PORTFOLIO POSITIONING fueled hopes for future interest-rate cuts from the European Central Solid long-term growth companies remain in China, and our holdings Bank. During the quarter, India, Malaysia, the Philippines and Russia will likely shift back in favor of them when valuations return to more all lowered rates, while China’s central bank took steps to encourage reasonable levels and/or macro/trade risks subside. Country risk is a more bank lending. much more important consideration when managing an EM portfolio, even as a largely bottom-up-focused manager, than when managing a PORTFOLIO PERFORMANCE developed-market portfolio. The FlexFee Emerging Markets Growth Portfolio underperformed the China’s efforts to stimulate the economy included plans to cut the benchmark for the quarter. Security selection was negative, while reserve requirement for banks to encourage lending and plans to sector and currency selection were positive. Stock selection in the decrease corporate and personal income taxes to boost spending. technology and financials sectors detracted the most. An overweight Small businesses will now enjoy a 5%–10% tax rate, depending on to financials, as did stock selection in consumer discretionary. the scale of their profits, compared with a previous rate of 25% for all Detractors were concentrated in Indian financials. Poor earnings corporates. affected YES BANK. IndusInd Bank and Indiabulls Housing Finance In India, the majority win of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in the pulled back on concerns about asset-quality weakness. We believe lower house of parliament should be beneficial for growth. Prime that these banks’ exposure to stressed groups is very limited. Their Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity across the country puts him in a credit costs are unlikely to rise, and their profitability should improve strong position to enact economic reforms to spur growth. meaningfully over the next few quarters. Elsewhere, structural growth opportunities abound even in Our Chinese holdings, including e-commerce service provider Baozun challenged EM markets. For instance, Yandex in Russia is seeing and premium liquor-maker Wuliangye Yibin had the most positive strong advertising growth and has maintained positive real growth impact on performance. These companies benefited from improving during oil-linked economic downturns. In addition, the company’s taxi investor sentiment toward China along with resilient growth in their business, which recently merged with Uber Russia, is one of the few respective end markets. Investors should considerthe investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses ofthe Fund/Portfolio carefully before investing. For copies of ourprospectusorsummaryprospectus,whichcontainthisandotherinformation,visitusonlineatwww.abfunds.comorcontactyourABrepresentative. Please read the prospectus and/or summary prospectus carefully before investing. Investment Products Offered • Are Not FDIC Insured • May Lose Value • Are Not Bank Guaranteed AB FLEXFEETM EMERGING MARKETS GROWTH PORTFOLIO Advisor Class: FFEYX 2Q 6.30.19 profitable global ride-hailing businesses, creating room for value confident in our Portfolio positioning and believe that our crystallization through a potential IPO. performance potential is significant as the headwinds that drove underperformance in 2018 continue to abate. OUTLOOK We continue to focus on long-term fundamentals and to allocate capital where we have the most conviction. We remain highly Current forecasts and performance are no guarantee of future results. References to specific securities are presented to illustrate our investment philosophy and are not to be considered advice or recommendations. This information reflects prevailing market conditions and our judgments as of the date indicated, which are subject to change. In preparing this presentation, we have relied upon and assumed without independent verification, the accuracy and completeness of all information available from third-party sources. It should not be assumed that any investments made in the future will be profitable or will equal the performance of the selected investments referenced herein. AB FLEXFEETM EMERGING MARKETS GROWTH PORTFOLIO Advisor Class: FFEYX 2Q 6.30.19 PORTFOLIO INFORMATION Class Ticker Inception Date Sector Breakdown6 Portfolio Benchmark1 Advisor FFEYX 11/13/14 Financials 31.30% 25.24% Consumer Discretionary 13.15 13.45 Portfolio Characteristics Portfolio Benchmark1 Information Technology 12.49 13.87 Total Number of Holdings 70 1190 Consumer Staples 11.78 6.60 P/E Ratio Communication Services 9.25 11.69 (Stock Price/Earnings: last 12 mo) 17.27x 13.46x~ Industrials 7.11 5.32 Forward P/E Ratio (2019) 17.61x 13.00x Energy 5.74 7.94 P/B (Stock Price to Book Ratio) 2.76x 1.61x~ Healthcare 3.82 2.63 Dividend Yield 1.80% 2.75%~ Real Estate 2.29 2.99 ROE (Return on Equity; next 12 mo) 17.45% 13.24% Utilities 2.06 2.69 Weighted Market Cap ($ Billions) 59.4 66.6 Cash and Cash Equivalents 1.01 — EPS (Earnings per Share) Growth Rate Materials — 7.59 (2019/2018) 10.42% 8.29% Country Breakdown6 Portfolio Statistics China 20.88% Beta(3yr)2 1.06 India 17.82 Sharpe Ratio (3 yr)3 0.39 South Korea 8.92 Standard Deviation (3 yr)4 15.83 Russia 8.65 Alpha (3 yr)5 -3.02 Brazil 7.23 Indonesia 5.17 Top Ten Holdings6 Hong Kong 3.56 Taiwan 3.35 Samsung Electronics 5.80% Vietnam 3.04 Petroleo Brasileiro 3.59 Other 21.38 AIA Group 3.56 Housing Development Finance 3.46 HDFC Bank 3.42 Top Five Contributors Top Five Detractors Ping An Insurance 3.12 OPAP Yes Bank Bank Central Asia 2.96 AIA Group IndusInd Bank Sberbank of Russia 2.84 Wuliangye Yibin Indiabulls Alibaba Group 2.83 Baozun Hangzhou Hikvision Yandex 2.78 Bank Mandiri ITC 1 MSCI Emerging Markets Index. 2 Beta measures a fund’s volatility relative to its benchmark. 3 Sharpe Ratio is a measure of the fund’s return relative to the investment risk it has taken. A higher Sharpe Ratio means the fund’s returns have been better given the level of risk the fund has taken. 4 Standard Deviation is a measure of the dispersion of a portfolio’s return from its mean. 5 Alpha is the risk-adjusted measurement of ‘excess return’ over the benchmark. 6 Holdings are expressed as a percentage of total fund assets and may vary over time. They are provided for informational purposes only and should not be deemed as a recommendation to buy or sell the securities mentioned. AB FLEXFEETM EMERGING MARKETS GROWTH PORTFOLIO Advisor Class: FFEYX 2Q 6.30.19 QUARTERLY AVERAGE ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS AS OF 06/30/19: ADVISOR CLASS PERFORMANCE Since QTD YTD 1 Yr 3 Yrs 5 Yrs 10 Yrs Inception Expense Ratios* as of 4/30/19 Gross 6.25% FlexFee Emerging Markets Growth Portfolio† 0.19% 18.04% -6.64% 7.64% — — 2.14% Net‡ 0.15% MSCI Emerging Markets Index 0.61 10.58 1.21 10.66 — — 3.73 as of 6/30/19 Gross 6.76% ‡ Morningstar Diversified Emerging Markets Category 1.56 12.06 1.16 8.92 — — 2.68 Net 1.55% The performance shown above represents past performance and does not guarantee future results. Current performance may be lower or higher than the performance information shown. You may obtain performance information current to the most recent month-end by visiting www.abfunds.com. The investment return and principal value of an investment in the Portfolio will fluctuate, so that your shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Advisor Class shares have no front-end or contingent deferred sales charges, however when purchased through a financial advisor additional fees may apply.