COHEN & STEERS SPECIAL EQUITY FUND, INC.
Supplement to the Prospectus
The information below replaces the information on pages 7 - 8 of the Fund's
Prospectus in the section "MANAGEMENT OF THE FUND":
THE INVESTMENT ADVISER
Cohen & Steers Capital Management, Inc., with offices located at 757 Third
Avenue, New York, New York 10017, has been retained to provide investment
advice, and in general, to conduct the management and investment program of
the Fund under the overall supervision and control of the Board of Directors
of the Fund. Cohen & Steers Capital Management, Inc., a registered
investment adviser, was formed in 1986 and is a leading U.S. manager of
portfolios dedicated to investments in REITs. Its current clients include
pension plans, endowment funds and mutual funds, including Cohen & Steers
Realty Income Fund, Inc. and Cohen & Steers Total Return Realty Fund, Inc.,
which are closed-end investment companies, and Cohen & Steers Equity Income
Fund, Inc., Cohen & Steers Realty Shares, Inc. and Cohen & Steers
Institutional Realty Shares, Inc., which are open-end investment companies.
All of Cohen & Steers' client accounts are invested principally in real
estate securities.
Under its Investment Advisory Agreement with the Fund, the investment adviser
furnishes a continuous investment program for the Fund's portfolio, makes the
day-to-day investment decisions for the Fund, and generally manages the
Fund's investments in accordance with the stated policies of the Fund,
subject to the supervision of the Board of Directors of the Fund. The
investment adviser performs certain administrative services for the Fund and
provides persons satisfactory to the Directors of the Fund to serve as
officers of the Fund. These officers, as well as certain other employees and
Directors of the Fund, may be directors, officers or employees of the
investment adviser.
The investment adviser also selects brokers and dealers to execute the Fund's
portfolio transactions. Consistent with the Conduct Rules of the National
Association of Securities Dealers, Inc., and subject to seeking best price
and execution, the investment adviser may consider sales of shares of the
Fund as a factor in the selection of brokers and dealers to execute portfolio
transactions on behalf of the Fund.
For its services under the Investment Advisory Agreement, the Fund pays the
investment adviser a monthly management fee at the annual rate of 0.90% of
the average daily net asset value of the Fund. This fee is higher than that
incurred by most other investment companies. In addition to this investment
advisory fee, the Fund pays other operating expenses, such as administrative,
transfer agency, custodial, legal and accounting fees.
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The following information supplements the information on pages 9 - 12 under
"HOW TO PURCHASE AND SELL FUND SHARES":
EXCHANGE PRIVILEGE
The Fund may charge you a fee if you exchange shares that you have held for
less than one year. See the section of the Prospectus entitled "Payment of
Redemption Proceeds."
HOW TO SELL FUND SHARES
Other Redemption Information
Payment of Redemption Proceeds. The Fund will charge you a fee of 2% of your
redemption amount if you sell your shares within one year of the time you
purchased them. Since the Fund is designed to be a long-term investment,
this fee is intended to compensate the Fund for the costs that short-term
investors impose. The Fund also will charge you this fee if you redeem your
shares through an exchange. The Fund will not charge you this fee on shares
that you acquire by reinvesting your dividends or distributions. When you
sell any shares, you will sell first those shares you hold longer than one
year and shares you acquire by reinvesting your dividends or distributions.
May 1, 2000
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