Equitable Holdings, Inc. (formerly The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States and AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company, and also known as The Equitable) is an American financial services and insurance company that was founded in 1859 by Henry Baldwin Hyde. In 1991, French insurance firm AXA acquired majority control of The Equitable.[2]
In 2004, the company officially changed its name to AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company.[3] By 2018, the company had over 15,800 agents licensed by the State of California.[4] In January 2020, it changed its name to Equitable Holdings, Inc. following its spinoff from AXA and the related public offerings beginning in May 2018.[5][6]
Equitable opened its headquarters at the Equitable Life Building in 1870 in the Financial District of Manhattan, with entrances facing Broadway, Pine Street, and Cedar Street. Aside from Hyde, who was president of Equitable, the firm's officers included James Waddell Alexander (Vice President), George W. Phillips (Actuary) who was Vice President of the Actuarial Society of America, and Samuel Borrowe (Secretary).[7][8] Borrowe's family was a prominent New York family connected to the Hallett and Alsop families.[9]
Between 1889 and 1891, the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States built in the Innere Stadt of Vienna, Austria, the sumptuous Palais Equitable, at Stock-im-Eisen-Platz in the city center next to the Stephansplatz.
James Waddell Alexander, the son of James Waddel Alexander, was the company president at the time of the Hyde costume ball scandal in 1905, in which James Hazen Hyde, the son of the founder and a vice president of the company, was falsely accused through a media smear campaign initiated by Alexander and board directors E. H. Harriman, Henry Clay Frick and J.P. Morgan of charging a fabulous $200,000 Versailles-themed affair to the company. The repercussions rocked Wall Street and resulted in an investigation of the entire insurance industry by the State of New York.
A life insurance policy for President James A. Garfield written by the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States on the 22nd of June, 1881, signed 9 days prior to Garfield being shot by Charles J. Guiteau at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station in Washington, D.C.
After the company's headquarters building burned down in 1912, Equitable erected the Equitable Building on the same site in Manhattan.
In 1943, during World War II, Equitable began underwriting policies for the War Agencies Employees Protective Association to provide group life insurance to U.S. Government employees working in or around war zones. Through WAEPA, Equitable sold policies to employees of some 40 U.S. agencies, including individuals from the Office of Strategic Services and War Information, which often sent their men behind enemy lines, and air-traveling statesmen and Congressmen. By May 1945, only 24 death claims had been filed (about half the normal peacetime rate for a group plan covering 7,000 workers), allowing the insurer to return roughly 30% of the premiums to WAEPA.[10]
In 1985, the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States, then the third largest life insurance company in the country, formed Equitable Real Estate Investment Management, a subsidiary used by Equitable Life to develop and finance new real estate projects and manage the US$20 billion worth of real estate under Equitable's control.[11]
In December 1990, Equitable announced its decision to demutualize under New York's liberalizing laws. This was intended to enable the Equitable to increase and diversify its asset base.[12]
AXA acquisition
On July 18, 1991, AXA Group of France bought a $1 billion stake in Equitable Life Assurance Society, for a 49% stake in the business. This enabled Equitable to set aside $500 million for losses in its real estate and junk bond portfolios. There had been rumors that Equitable was nearing a bankruptcy filing prior to the AXA Group infusion of capital.[13]
The investment by AXA Group significantly altered the trajectory of both companies. By 1997, the assets of the U.S. operation, the Equitable Insurance Group, had reached nearly a quarter of a trillion dollars, and by 2003, AXA Equitable Insurance Company was the leading carrier in the world with more than 50 million clients, in more than 50 countries, and with nearly a trillion dollars in client assets.[14]
By 2018, AXA, facing tougher European solvency laws, decided to re-balance its operations from life and annuities and towards property and casualty – from financial risks to insurance risks. As a result, the company decided to begin the process to spin off the U.S. operations, the old Equitable Life Assurance company. In its filing, AXA noted that once the IPO took place, there would be four separate companies created: AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company, AXA Distribution Holding Corp., EQ AZ Life Re Company, and MONY Life Insurance Company of America.[15]
Equitable Holdings
In May 2018, AXA announced the successful completion of the IPO of AXA Equitable Holdings, raising $2.75 billion on the sale of 24.5% of the outstanding shares. Additionally, the company announced an issuance of $750 million of bonds mandatorily exchangeable into shares of AXA Equitable Holdings stock. And finally, $502 million of options were exercised, bringing the total to $4.02 billion in proceeds to AXA.[16]
On March 25, 2019, AXA announced the successful completion of a secondary common stock offering of 40 million shares of AXA Equitable Holdings, Inc. (ticker EQH), bringing down their ownership stake from approximately 60% to 48.3% and raising net proceeds of $1.5 billion.[17]
On November 7, 2019, AXA announced the sale of its remaining stake in AXA Equitable Holdings (EQH), selling 144 million shares of common stock to Goldman Sachs, which was the sole underwriter for the public offering of the shares. The expected close date was stated by the company at the time as November 13, 2019. This brought to a close a long and largely successful chapter in the Equitable's history – the end of the AXA Group ownership of the company.[18]
On January 14, 2020, Equitable unveiled its new branding. In addition to an operating name change, the refreshed brand included a new logo, representative of the Greek goddess Athena, which has been a consistent element of the company’s 160-year-old visual identity.[19]
Related Research Articles
American International Group, Inc. (AIG) is an American multinational finance and insurance corporation with operations in more than 80 countries and jurisdictions. As of 2023, AIG employed 25,200 people. The company operates through three core businesses: general insurance, life & retirement, and a standalone technology-enabled subsidiary. General Insurance includes Commercial, Personal Insurance, U.S. and International field operations. Life & Retirement includes Group Retirement, Individual Retirement, Life, and Institutional Markets. AIG is the title sponsor of the AIG Women's Open golf tournament. In 2023, for the sixth consecutive year, DiversityInc named AIG among the Top 50 Companies for Diversity list.
Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited is a Canadian financial holding company based in Toronto, Ontario, engaged in property, casualty, insurance and reinsurance, investment management, and insurance claims management. The company operates primarily through several subsidiaries, including Allied World, Odyssey Re, Northbridge Financial, Crum & Forster, Verassure Insurance, Onlia Agency Inc., and Zenith Insurance Company. The company was also the largest shareholder of Torstar with 40% of the Class B shares, as of May 2020.
Axa S.A. is a French multinational insurance corporation headquartered in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. It also provides investment management and other financial services via its subsidiaries. As of 2023, it is the largest financial services company by revenue in France, and the 4th largest French company.
The People's Insurance Company (Group) of China Limited, known as PICC Group or just PICC, is a Chinese listed insurer. The Chinese Central Government is the controlling shareholder.
Genworth Financial, headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, provides life insurance, long-term care insurance, mortgage insurance, and annuities.
The Ambac Financial Group, Inc., generally known as Ambac, is an American holding company. Its subsidiaries provide financial guarantee products such as bond insurance to clients in both the public and private sectors globally. Ambac Assurance is a guarantor of public finance and structured finance obligations. Its common stock and common stock purchase warrants are listed on the NYSE under the symbols AMBC and AMBCW respectively. Ambac is regulated by the insurance commission of Wisconsin. It has its headquarters in Lower Manhattan, New York City.
Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) is an Indian multinational public sector life insurance company headquartered in Mumbai. It is India's largest insurance company as well as the largest institutional investor with total assets under management worth ₹52.52 trillion (US$630 billion) as of March 2024. It is under the ownership of Government of India and administrative control of the Ministry of Finance.
Axa XL is an American subsidiary of global insurance and reinsurance company Axa. It is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, domiciled in Hamilton, Bermuda, and has more than 100 offices on 6 continents.
Bharti Enterprises is an Indian multinational conglomerate, headquartered in Delhi, India. It was founded in 1976 by Sunil Bharti Mittal. Bharti Enterprises owns businesses spanning across telecommunications, manufacturing, insurance, real estate, hospitality, and food. The group's flagship company, Bharti Airtel, is a telecom service provider with operations in more than 18 countries across Asia, Africa and Europe. The company ranks amongst the top two mobile network operators globally by number of subscribers.
ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited is a general insurance company located in India. ICICI is engaged with general insurance, reinsurance, insurance claims management and investment management.
SNS REAAL was a Dutch financial institution in insurance and banking which focused on the private market and small to medium businesses. It became a government-owned corporation after its nationalisation in 2013 and in 2017.
Sanlam is a South African financial services group headquartered in Bellville, Western Cape, South Africa. Sanlam is one of the largest insurance company in Africa. It is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the Namibian Stock Exchange and the A2X. Established in 1918 as a life insurance company, Sanlam Group has developed into a diversified financial services business. Its five business clusters comprise Sanlam Personal Finance, Sanlam Emerging Markets, Sanlam Investments, Sanlam Corporate and Santam.
Ageas is a Belgian multinational insurance company co-headquartered in Brussels. Ageas is Belgium's largest insurer and operates in 13 countries worldwide. The company was renamed from Fortis Holding in April 2010 and consists of those insurance activities remaining after the breakup and sale of the financial services group Fortis during the financial crisis of 2007-2010.
Intact Financial Corporation is a Canadian multinational property and casualty insurance company. Originally established in 1809 as the Halifax Fire Insurance Association, it was later acquired by Nationale-Nederlanden; from 1993 to 2009, it was a subsidiary of the Dutch multinational ING Group under the name ING Canada. Intact Financial directly underwrites insurance through its subsidiary companies Intact Insurance and Belair Insurance, as well as operating additional brokerage, insurance service, and damage restoration subsidiaries. As of 2017, Intact was the largest provider of property and casualty insurance in Canada by annual premiums.
Old Mutual Holdings Plc, Formally known as UAP Holdings Limited, is an investment, retirement, and insurance group that operates mainly in Eastern Africa. UAP Holdings is one of the leading insurance and financial services groups in eastern Africa with a network of branches and operational subsidiaries spread across the greater eastern and central Africa regions.
Britam Holding PLC is a leading diversified financial services group and is listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange. The group has presence in seven Africa countries in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Sudan, Mozambique and Malawi.
SunLife Ltd is a UK-based financial services company. Founded in 1810, the company is best known for its range of services for people aged 50 and over.
The Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York was the oldest continuous writer of insurance policies in the United States. Incorporated in 1842, it was headquartered at 1740 Broadway, before becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of AXA Financial, Inc. in 2004.
FWD Group is an insurance company based in Hong Kong. Founded in 2013 as the insurance arm of Pacific Century Group, the company provides life and medical insurance, general insurance and employee benefits in Asia. As of 2021, the FWD managed approximately US$63 billion in assets. The company filed for its IPO in 2022 and refiled its Main Board listing application with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on March 13, 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
US$11.0 billion (2021)
US$731 billion (2021)
