SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (Policies)

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2024

Basis of Presentation and Principles of Consolidation

The unaudited interim consolidated financial statements (the “consolidated financial statements”) have been prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP” or “GAAP”) on a basis consistent with reporting interim financial information in accordance with instructions to the Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).

In the opinion of management, all adjustments necessary for a fair statement of the financial position and results of operations have been made. All such adjustments are of a normal, recurring nature. Interim results are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the full year. These financial statements should be read in conjunction with the Company’s consolidated financial statements included in the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023.

The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements present the consolidated results of operations, financial condition, and cash flows of the Company and its subsidiaries and those investment companies, partnerships and joint ventures in which the Company has control and a majority economic interest as well as those variable interest entities (“VIEs”) that meet the requirements for consolidation.

All significant intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated in consolidation. The terms “first quarter 2024” and “first quarter 2023” refer to the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively. The terms “first three months of 2024” and “first three months of 2023” refer to the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively.

Future Adoption of New Accounting Pronouncements


Description	Effective Date and Method of Adoption	Effect on the Financial Statement or Other Significant Matters
ASU 2023-07: Segment Reporting (Topic 280): Improvements to Reportable Segment Disclosures
This ASU provides improvements to reportable segment disclosure requirements, primarily through enhanced disclosures about significant segment expenses. In addition, the amendments enhance interim disclosure requirements, clarify circumstances in which an entity can disclose multiple measures of segment profit or loss, provide new segment disclosure requirements for entities with a single reportable segment and contain other disclosure requirements.	The ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023, and interim periods in fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2024. A calendar year public entity will adopt the ASU for its 2024 Form 10-K. The ASU should be adopted retrospectively to all periods presented in the financial statements unless it is impracticable to do so.	The Company is currently assessing the additional required disclosures under the ASU including providing new segment disclosure requirements for entities with a single reportable segment. Management is evaluating the impact the adoption of this guidance will have on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.
ASU 2023-09: Income Taxes (Topic 740): Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures
The ASU enhanced existing income tax disclosures primarily related to the rate reconciliation and income taxes paid information. With regard to the improvements to disclosures of rate reconciliation, a public business entity is required on an annual basis to (1) disclose specific categories in the rate reconciliation and (2) provide additional information for reconciling items that meet a quantitative threshold. Similarly, a public entity is required to provide the amount of income taxes paid (net of refunds received) disaggregated by (1) federal, state, and foreign taxes and by(2) individual jurisdictions in which income taxes paid (net of refunds received) is equal to or greater than 5 percent of total income taxes paid (net of refunds received). The ASU also includes certain other amendments to improve the effectiveness of income tax disclosures, for example, an entity is required to provide (1) pretax income (or loss) from continuing operations disaggregated between domestic and foreign, and (2) income tax expense (or benefit) from continuing operations disaggregated by federal, state, and foreign.	The ASU will be effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2024. Entities are required to apply the ASU on a prospective basis.	The adoption of ASU 2023-09 is not expected to materially impact the Company’s financial position, results of operation, or cash flows.


Description	Effective Date and Method of Adoption	Effect on the Financial Statement or Other Significant Matters
SEC Release Nos. 33-11275; 34-99678, The Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors
The SEC adopted rules requiring registrants to disclose climate-related information in registration statements and annual reports. The new rules include disclosure of material climate-related risks, including descriptions of board oversight and risk management activities. the material impacts of these risks on a registrant’s strategy, business model and outlook and any material climate-related targets or goals. In addition, registrants will need to quantify certain effects of severe weather events and other natural conditions in a note to their audited financial statements. In April 2024, citing litigation challenging the rules that commenced immediately after they were issued, the SEC issued an order staying applicability of the rules while judicial review proceeds.	Financial statement and all other disclosures are required at the beginning of the fiscal year 2025 with disclosures about material expenditure and impact required at the beginning of the fiscal year 2026. Disclosures are provided prospectively upon adoption. Scope 1 and Scope 2 Greenhouse gas emissions are required in 2026 with limited assurance in 2029 and reasonable assurance in 2033. Disclosures are provided prospectively upon adoption.	The Company is currently assessing the additional required disclosures under the SEC Release. Management is evaluating the impact of the adoption of this guidance will have on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

Accounting and Consolidation of VIEs

For all new investment products and entities developed by the Company, the Company first determines whether the entity is a VIE, which involves determining an entity’s variability and variable interests, identifying the holders of the equity investment at risk and assessing the five characteristics of a VIE. Once an entity is determined to be a VIE, the Company then determines whether it is the primary beneficiary of the VIE based on its beneficial interests. If the Company is deemed to be the primary beneficiary of the VIE, the Company consolidates the entity.

Quarterly, management of the Company reviews its investment management agreements and its investments in, and other financial arrangements with, certain entities that hold client AUM to determine the entities the Company is required to consolidate under this guidance. These entities include certain mutual fund products, hedge funds, structured products, group trusts, collective investment trusts, and limited partnerships.

The analysis performed to identify variable interests held, determine whether entities are VIEs or VOEs, and evaluate whether the Company has a controlling financial interest in such entities requires the exercise of judgment and is updated on a continuous basis as circumstances change or new entities are developed. The primary beneficiary evaluation generally is performed qualitatively based on all facts and circumstances, including consideration of economic interests in the VIE held directly and indirectly through related parties and entities under common control, as well as quantitatively, as appropriate.

Consolidated VIEs

Consolidated CLOs

The Company is the investment manager of certain asset-backed investment vehicles, commonly referred to as CLOs, and certain other vehicles for which the Company earns fee income for investment management services. The Company may sell or syndicate investments through these vehicles, principally as part of the strategic investing activity as part of its investment management businesses. Additionally, the Company may invest in securities issued by these vehicles which are eliminated in consolidation of the CLOs.

As of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively, Equitable Financial holds $110 million and $113 million of equity interests in the CLOs. The Company consolidated the CLOs as of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023 as it is the primary beneficiary due to the combination of both its equity interest held by Equitable Financial and the majority ownership of AB, which functions as the CLOs loan manager. The assets of the CLOs are legally isolated from the Company’s creditors and can only be used to settle obligations of the CLOs. The liabilities of the CLOs are non-recourse to the Company and the Company has no obligation to satisfy the liabilities of the CLOs. As of March 31, 2024, Equitable Financial holds $24 million of equity interests in a SPE established to purchase loans from the market in anticipation of a new CLO transaction. The Company consolidated the SPE as of March 31, 2024 as it is the primary beneficiary due to the combination of both its equity interest held by Equitable Financial and the majority ownership of AB, which functions as the SPE loan manager.

Resulting from this consolidation in the Company’s consolidated balance sheets are fixed maturities, at fair value using the fair value option with total assets of $1.7 billion and $1.7 billion notes issued by consolidated variable interest entities, at fair value using the fair value option with total liabilities of $1.6 billion and $1.6 billion at March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively. The unpaid outstanding principal balance of the notes and short-term borrowing is $1.6 billion and $1.6 billion at March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023.

Consolidated Limited Partnerships and LLCs

As of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023 the Company consolidated limited partnerships and LLCs for which it was identified as the primary beneficiary under the VIE model. Included in other invested assets, mortgage loans on real estate, other equity investments, trading securities, cash and other liabilities in the Company’s consolidated balance sheets at March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023 are total net assets of $2.5 billion and $1.8 billion, respectively related to these VIEs.

Consolidated AB-Sponsored Investment Funds

Included in the Company’s consolidated balance sheets as of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023 are assets of $188 million and $309 million, liabilities of $10 million and $10 million, and redeemable noncontrolling interests of $104 million and $203 million, respectively, associated with the consolidation of AB-sponsored investment funds under the VIE model. Also included in the Company’s consolidated balance sheets as of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023 are assets of $129 million and $121 million, liabilities of $4 million and $3 million, and redeemable noncontrolling interests of $21 million and $7 million, respectively, from consolidation of AB-sponsored investment funds under the VOE model.

Non-Consolidated VIEs

As of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023 respectively, the Company held approximately $2.7 billion and $2.6 billion of investment assets in the form of equity interests issued by non-corporate legal entities determined under the guidance to be VIEs, such as limited partnerships and limited liability companies, including CLOs, hedge funds, private equity funds and real estate-related funds. The Company continues to reflect these equity interests in the consolidated balance sheets as other equity investments and applies the equity method of accounting for these positions. The net assets of these non-consolidated VIEs are approximately $273.1 billion and $268.6 billion as of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023 respectively. The Company’s maximum exposure to loss from its direct involvement with these VIEs is the carrying value of its investment of $2.7 billion and $2.6 billion and approximately $1.3 billion and $1.3 billion of unfunded commitments as of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively. The Company has no further economic interest in these VIEs in the form of guarantees, derivatives, credit enhancements or similar instruments and obligations.

Non-Consolidated AB-Sponsored Investment Products

As of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, the net assets of investment products sponsored by AB that are non-consolidated VIEs are approximately $65.5 billion and $54.6 billion, respectively. The Company’s maximum exposure to loss from its direct involvement with these VIEs is its investment of $22 million and $10 million as of March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023. The Company has no further commitments to or economic interest in these VIEs.

Fair Value Disclosures

U.S. GAAP establishes a fair value hierarchy that requires an entity to maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs when measuring fair value, and identifies three levels of inputs that may be used to measure fair value:

Level 1 Unadjusted quoted prices for identical instruments in active markets. Level 1 fair values generally are supported by market transactions that occur with sufficient frequency and volume to provide pricing information on an ongoing basis.

Level 2 Observable inputs other than Level 1 prices, such as quoted prices for similar instruments, quoted prices in markets that are not active, and inputs to model-derived valuations that are directly observable or can be corroborated by observable market data.

Level 3 Unobservable inputs supported by little or no market activity and often requiring significant management judgment or estimation, such as an entity’s own assumptions about the cash flows or other significant components of value that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability.

The Company uses unadjusted quoted market prices to measure fair value for those instruments that are actively traded in financial markets. In cases where quoted market prices are not available, fair values are measured using present value or other valuation techniques. The fair value determinations are made at a specific point in time, based on available market information and judgments about the financial instrument, including estimates of the timing and amount of expected future cash flows and the credit standing of counterparties. Such adjustments do not reflect any premium or discount that could result from offering for sale at one time the Company’s entire holdings of a particular financial instrument, nor do they consider the tax impact of the realization of unrealized gains or losses. In many cases, the fair value cannot be substantiated by direct comparison to independent markets, nor can the disclosed value be realized in immediate settlement of the instrument.

Management is responsible for the determination of the value of investments carried at fair value and the supporting methodologies and assumptions. Under the terms of various service agreements, the Company often utilizes independent valuation service providers to gather, analyze, and interpret market information and derive fair values based upon relevant methodologies and assumptions for individual securities. These independent valuation service providers typically obtain data about market transactions and other key valuation model inputs from multiple sources and, through the use of widely accepted valuation models, provide a single fair value measurement for individual securities for which a fair value has been requested. As further described below with respect to specific asset classes, these inputs include, but are not limited to, market prices for recent trades and transactions in comparable securities, benchmark yields, interest rate yield curves, credit spreads, quoted prices for similar securities, and other market-observable information, as applicable. Specific attributes of the security being valued are also considered, including its term, interest rate, credit rating, industry sector, and when applicable, collateral quality and other security- or issuer-specific information. When insufficient market observable information is available upon which to measure fair value, the Company either will request brokers knowledgeable about these securities to provide a non-binding quote or will employ internal valuation models. Fair values received from independent valuation service providers and brokers and those internally modeled or otherwise estimated are assessed for reasonableness.

Assets and Liabilities Measured at Fair Value on a Nonrecurring Basis

Fair value measurements are required on a non-recurring basis for certain assets only when an impairment or other events occur. For the periods ended March 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, the Company recognized impairment adjustments and impairment losses, respectively, to adjust the carrying value of held-for-sale asset and liabilities to their fair value less cost to sell. The value is measured on a nonrecurring basis and categorized within Level 3 of the fair value hierarchy. The fair value was determined using a market approach, estimated based on the negotiated value of the asset and liabilities. See Note 19 of the Notes to these Consolidated Financial Statements for additional details of the Held-for-Sale assets and liabilities.