AB Growth Fund Class I AGFIX

AllianceBernstein has announced that Vinay Thapar, AB Growth's co-CIO and co-lead manager, will retire on March 31, 2028, after 15 years at AllianceBernstein and 27 years in the industry. As a result, he will relinquish his portfolio management responsibilities for the strategy effective July 31, 2026. Thapar originally joined the strategy as a comanager in 2023. While his upcoming departure is notable, the firm has added two new portfolio managers, Esteban Gomez and Heather Pavlak, effective July 31, 2026, who will join existing managers John Fogarty and Ryan Oden, to bridge the gap. Gomez and Pavlak are both portfolio managers and senior research analysts on AB's US Small- and Mid-Cap Growth Equities team. Gomez joined AB in 2016 and has 20 years of industry experience; he currently covers the consumer, commercial services, autos, and transportation sectors for the US Small- and Mid-Cap Growth Equities team. Pavlak joined AB in 2018 and also has 20 years of industry experience; she covers the financials, industrials, materials, and energy sectors for the same team. Gomez's and Pavlak's experience in small- and mid-cap growth investing will bring valuable perspective to this strategy, which seeks to invest in companies across the market-cap spectrum. The firm states that no changes to the approach are expected. The team supporting this strategy remains adequate to execute the mandate, though its stability and the contributions of the new managers remain things to monitor. Accordingly, the strategy's Average People rating, Average Process rating, and overall Morningstar Medalist Rating remain unchanged.