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EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS
 3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2025
Retirement Benefits [Abstract]  
EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS
Pension Plans
Holdings and Equitable Financial Retirement Plans
Holdings sponsors the MONY Life Retirement Income Security Plan for Employees, which is a frozen qualified defined benefit plan covering eligible employees and financial professionals. Equitable Financial sponsors the Equitable Retirement Plan (the “Equitable Financial QP”), which was frozen on December 31, 2013 but reopened on January 1, 2025 and is a qualified defined benefit plan covering eligible employees and financial professionals. These pension plans are non-contributory, and their benefits are generally based on a cash balance formula and/or, for certain participants, years of service and average earnings over a specified period. Holdings and Equitable Financial also sponsor certain nonqualified deferred compensation plans, including the Equitable Excess Retirement Plan, that provide retirement benefits in excess of the amount permitted under the tax law for the qualified plans. Holdings has assumed primary liability for both plans. Equitable Financial remains secondarily liable for its obligations under the Equitable Financial QP and would recognize such liability in the event Holdings does not perform.
AB Retirement Plans
AB maintained a qualified, non-contributory, defined benefit retirement plan (the “Retirement Plan”) covering current and former employees who were employed by AB in the United States prior to October 2, 2000. During 2024, the Compensation Committee of the AB Board of Directors approved the termination of the Retirement Plan, effective May 22, 2024. AB began the process of settling benefits with vested participants and all lump sum disbursements elected by plan participants were distributed in December 2024 in the amount of $35 million. The remaining retirement plan participants who did not elect a lump sum disbursement elected to roll over their benefit to a group annuity contract from a qualified insurance company to administer all future payments. During the three months ended March 31, 2025, AB settled all future obligations under the Retirement Plan and transferred the remaining benefit obligations to a qualified third party insurance provider under a group annuity contract. The final annuity premium transferred was $59 million. Following the settlement related to the annuity purchase, the plans funded status was in a deficit and AB funded an additional $2 million to cover all remaining obligations. As a result of the settlement, AB recognized a non-cash settlement charge of approximately $21 million related to Retirement Plan losses and the reclassification from accumulated other comprehensive loss to general and administrative expenses in the unaudited consolidated statements of income.
Net Periodic Pension Expense
Components of net periodic pension expense for the Company’s plans were as follows:
Three Months Ended March 31,
20252024
 (in millions)
Service cost$8 $2 
Interest cost28 30 
Expected return on assets(34)(37)
Prior period service cost amortization(1)(1)
Net amortization12 14 
Impact of settlement21 — 
Net Periodic Pension Expense$34 $8