Item 1. Business
Item 1. Business
The words “ we ” and “ our ” in this Form 10-K refer collectively to AB Holding and AB and its subsidiaries, or to their officers and employees. Similarly, the words “ company ” and “ firm ” refer to both AB Holding and AB. Where the context requires distinguishing between AB Holding and AB, we identify which company is being discussed. Cross-references are in italics.
We use “ global ” in this Form 10-K to refer to all nations, including the United States; we use “ international ” or “ non-U.S. ” to refer to nations other than the United States.
We use “ emerging markets ” in this Form 10-K to refer to countries included in the Morgan Stanley Capital International (“ MSCI ”) emerging markets index, which include, as of December 31, 2023: Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Korea, Kuwait, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey and United Arab Emirates.
Clients
We provide diversified investment management, research and related services globally to a broad range of clients through our three buy-side distribution channels: Institutions, Retail and Private Wealth Management, and our sell-side business, Bernstein Research Services. S ee “Distribution Channels” in this Item 1 for additional information.
As of December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, our AUM were approximately $725 billion, $646 billion and $779 billion, respectively, and our net revenues were approximately $4.2 billion, $4.1 billion and $4.4 billion, respectively. EQH ( our parent company ) and its subsidiaries, whose AUM consist primarily of fixed income investments, is our largest client. Our EQH affiliates represented approximately 16%, 16% and 17% of our AUM as of December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, and we earned approximately 5%, 4% and 4% of our net revenues from services we provided to them in each of 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively.
Assets Under Management (AUM)
($ billions)
Net Revenues
($ billions)
See “Distribution Channels” below and “Assets Under Management” and “Net Revenues” in Item 7 for additional information regarding our AUM and net revenues.
Generally, we are compensated for our investment services on the basis of investment advisory and services fees calculated as a percentage of AUM. For additional information about our investment advisory and services fees, including performance-based fees, see “ Risk Factors ” in Item 1A and “Net Revenues – Investment Advisory and Services Fees” in Item 7 .
Research
Our high-quality, in-depth research is the foundation of our asset management and private wealth management businesses. We believe that our global team of research professionals, whose disciplines include economic, fundamental equity, fixed income and quantitative research, gives us a competitive advantage in achieving investment success for our clients. We also have experts focused on multi-asset strategies, wealth management, environmental, social and governance (“ ESG ”), and alternative investments.
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Purpose, Values and Corporate Responsibility
At AB, we pursue insight that unlocks opportunity. This is our firm's purpose. Together with our firm's mission and values, which we have described below , our purpose forms the foundation of corporate responsibility at AB.
AB's mission is to help our clients define and achieve their investment goals, explicitly stating what we do to unlock opportunity for our clients. As an active manager, our differentiated insights drive our ability to deliver alpha and design innovative investment solutions. Our clients and their needs come first, always.
Our values provide a framework for the behaviors and actions that create our strong culture and enable us to meet our clients' needs. Each value inspires us to be better:
• We invest in one another, meaning that we have a strong organizational culture in which diversity is celebrated and mentorship is critical to our success.
• We strive for distinctive knowledge, meaning that we collaboratively identify creative solutions to clients' investment challenges through our expertise in a wide range of investment disciplines.
• We speak with courage and conviction, which informs how we engage with our AB colleagues, clients and others.
• We act with integrity — always, which is the bedrock of our relationships and drives us to avoid activities that could create potential conflicts of interest or distract us from our singular focus to provide asset management and research to our clients.
As noted above , we challenge ourselves to become a better version of AB. We are committed to being a responsible firm and striving to model the behavior that we expect from the companies in which we invest. This means, in part, giving back to the communities in which we work, and reducing our environmental footprint. Additionally, by promoting diversity, equity and inclusion, we are afforded different perspectives and ways of thinking, which can lead to better outcomes for our clients ( See Diversity, Equity and Inclusion below in this Item 1 ).
Also, striving to be a good corporate citizen gives us a richer perspective for evaluating other companies. Our investors — research analysts and portfolio managers — understand the companies and industries they cover in-depth. And, we continue to invest in technology and innovation to further enable our investment teams to formalize their evaluations and share insights from our engagements with other companies.
We provide additional information in this regard in the AB Responsibility Report, which can be found under “Responsibility - Overview” on www.alliancebernstein.com. And, we have described our firm's governance structure, including our Board and its committees, in Item 10 of this Form 10-K.
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Investment Philosophy
We believe that by using differentiated research insights and a disciplined process to build high active share portfolios, we can achieve strong investment results for our clients over time. We are fully invested in delivering better outcomes for our clients. Key to this philosophy is developing and integrating research on material ESG issues, as well as our approach to engagement, when in the best interest of our clients. Our global research network, intellectual curiosity and collaborative culture allow us to advance clients' investment objectives, whether our clients are seeking idiosyncratic alpha, total return, downside mitigation, or sustainability and impact-focused outcomes.
Our investment services include expertise in:
• Actively managed equity strategies across global and regional universes, as well as capitalization ranges, concentration ranges and investment strategies, including value, growth and core equities;
• Actively managed traditional and unconstrained fixed income strategies, including taxable and tax-exempt strategies;
• Actively managed alternative investments, including fundamental and systematically-driven hedge funds, fund of hedge funds and direct assets (e.g., direct lending, real estate debt and private equity);
• Portfolios with Purpose, including Sustainable, Impact and Responsible+ (Climate-Conscious and ESG leaders) equity, fixed income and multi-asset strategies that address our clients' desire to invest their capital with a dedicated ESG focus, while pursuing strong investment returns;
• Multi-asset services and solutions, including dynamic asset allocation, customized target-date funds and target-risk funds; and
• Passively managed equity and fixed income strategies, including index, ESG index and enhanced index strategies.
Our AUM by client domicile and investment service as of December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021 are as follows:
AUM by Client Domicile
($ in billions)
AUM by Investment Service
($ in billions)
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Distribution Channels
Institutions
We offer to our institutional clients, which include private and public pension plans, foundations and endowments, insurance companies, central banks and governments worldwide, and EQH and its subsidiaries, separately managed accounts, sub- advisory relationships, structured products, collective investment trusts, mutual funds, hedge funds and other investment vehicles (“ Institutional Services ”).
We manage the assets of our institutional clients pursuant to written investment management agreements or other arrangements, which generally are terminable at any time or upon relatively short notice by either party. In general, our written investment management agreements may not be assigned without the client's consent. For information about our institutional investment advisory and services fees, including performance-based fees, see “ Risk Factors ” in Item 1A and “Net Revenues – Investment Advisory and Services Fees” in Item 7 .
EQH and its subsidiaries constitute our largest institutional client. EQH and its subsidiaries combined AUM accounted for approximately 25%, 24% and 25% of our institutional AUM as of December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively, and approximately 22%, 19% and 18% of our institutional revenues for 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively. No single institutional client other than EQH and its respective subsidiaries accounted for more than approximately 1% of our net revenues for the year ended December 31, 2023.
EQH and Subsidiaries as a % of our Institutional AUM EQH and Subsidiaries as a % of our Institutional Revenues
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As of December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, Institutional Services represented approximately 44%, 46% and 43%, respectively, of our AUM, and the fees we earned from providing these services represented approximately 16%, 16% and 13%, respectively, of our net revenues for each of those years. Our AUM and revenues are as follows:
Institutional Services Assets Under Management
(by Investment Service)
Years Ended December 31 % Change
2023 2022 2021 2023-22 2022-21
(in millions)
Equity:
Equity Actively Managed $ 59,423 $ 55,731 $ 73,726 6.6 % (24.4 %)
Equity Passively Managed (1)
23,630 21,062 28,995 12.2 (27.4)
Total Equity 83,053 76,793 102,721 8.2 (25.2)
U.S. 40,930 35,428 47,409 15.5 (25.3)
Global & Non-U.S. 42,123 41,365 55,312 1.8 (25.2)
Total Equity 83,053 76,793 102,721 8.2 (25.2)
Fixed Income:
Fixed Income Taxable 126,350 121,871 155,940 3.7 (21.8)
Fixed Income Tax-Exempt 1,317 849 1,108 55.1 (23.4)
Fixed Income Passively Managed (1)
306 192 224 59.4 (14.3)
Total Fixed Income 127,973 122,912 157,272 4.1 (21.8)
U.S. 95,808 88,800 110,312 7.9 (19.5)
Global & Non-U.S. 32,165 34,112 46,960 (5.7) (27.4)
Total Fixed Income 127,973 122,912 157,272 4.1 (21.8)
Alternatives/Multi-Asset Solutions (2) :
U.S. 13,810 12,873 7,697 7.3 67.2
Global & Non-U.S. 92,288 84,703 69,390 9.0 22.1
Total Alternatives/Multi-Asset Solutions 106,098 97,576 77,087 8.7 26.6
Total:
U.S. 150,548 137,101 165,418 9.8 (17.1)
Global & Non-U.S. 166,576 160,180 171,662 4.0 (6.7)
Total $ 317,124 $ 297,281 $ 337,080 6.7 (11.8)
Affiliated - EQH 78,942 70,924 84,096 11.3 (15.7)
Non-affiliated 238,182 226,357 252,984 5.2 (10.5)
Total $ 317,124 $ 297,281 $ 337,080 6.7 (11.8)
(1) Includes index and enhanced index services.
(2) Includes certain multi-asset solutions and services not included in equity or fixed income services.
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Revenues from Institutional Services
(by Investment Service)
Years Ended December 31 % Change
2023 2022 2021 2023-22 2022-21
(in thousands)
Equity:
Equity Actively Managed $ 197,822 $ 220,917 $ 240,049 (10.5 %) (8.0 %)
Equity Passively Managed (1)
4,115 4,910 6,119 (16.2) (19.8)
Total Equity 201,937 225,827 246,168 (10.6) (8.3)
U.S. 75,861 80,908 97,522 (6.2) (17.0)
Global & Non-U.S. 126,076 144,919 148,646 (13.0) (2.5)
Total Equity 201,937 225,827 246,168 (10.6) (8.3)
Fixed Income:
Fixed Income Taxable 180,625 189,679 199,866 (4.8) (5.1)
Fixed Income Tax-Exempt 1,300 1,182 1,356 10.0 (12.8)
Fixed Income Passively Managed (1)
580 425 105 36.5 n/m
Fixed Income Servicing (2)
20,149 15,991 14,738 26.0 8.5
Total Fixed Income 202,654 207,277 216,065 (2.2) (4.1)
U.S. 135,560 128,392 124,004 5.6 3.5
Global & Non-U.S. 67,094 78,885 92,061 (14.9) (14.3)
Total Fixed Income 202,654 207,277 216,065 (2.2) (4.1)
Alternatives/Multi-Asset Solutions (3) :
U.S. 94,488 114,982 64,646 (17.8) 77.9
Global & Non-U.S. 166,964 111,202 59,179 50.1 87.9
Total Alternatives/Multi-Asset Solutions 261,452 226,184 123,825 15.6 82.7
Total Investment Advisory and Services Fees:
U.S. 305,909 324,282 286,172 (5.7) 13.3
Global & Non-U.S. 360,134 335,004 299,886 7.5 11.7
Total 666,043 659,286 586,058 1.0 12.5
Distribution Revenues 250 268 474 (6.7) (43.5)
Shareholder Servicing Fees 377 429 485 (12.1) (11.5)
Total $ 666,670 $ 659,983 $ 587,017 1.0 12.4
Affiliated - EQH 144,523 125,229 105,415 15.4 18.8
Non-affiliated 522,147 534,754 481,602 (2.4) 11.0
Total $ 666,670 $ 659,983 $ 587,017 1.0 12.4
(1) Includes index and enhanced index services.
(2) Fixed Income Servicing includes advisory-related services fees that are not based on AUM, including derivative transaction fees, capital purchase program-related advisory services and other fixed income advisory services.
(3) Includes certain multi-asset solutions and services not included in equity or fixed income services.
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Retail
We provide investment management and related services to a wide variety of individual retail investors globally through retail mutual funds we sponsor, mutual fund sub-advisory relationships, separately-managed account programs ( see below ), and other investment vehicles (“ Retail Products and Services ”).
We distribute our Retail Products and Services through financial intermediaries, including broker-dealers, insurance sales representatives, banks, registered investment advisers and financial planners. These products and services include open-end and closed-end funds that are either (i) registered as investment companies under the Investment Company Act (“ U.S. Funds ”), or (ii) not registered under the Investment Company Act and generally not offered to U.S. persons (“ Non-U.S. Funds ” and, collectively with the U.S. Funds, “ AB Funds ”). They also include separately-managed account programs, which are sponsored by financial intermediaries and generally charge an all-inclusive fee covering investment management, trade execution, asset allocation, and custodial and administrative services. In addition, we provide distribution, shareholder servicing, transfer agency services and administrative services for our Retail Products and Services. See “Net Revenues – Investment Advisory and Services Fees” in Item 7 for information about our retail investment advisory and services fees. See Note 2 to AB’s consolidated financial statements in Item 8 for a discussion of the commissions we pay to financial intermediaries in connection with the sale of open-end AB Funds.
Fees paid by the U.S. Funds are reflected in the applicable investment management agreement, which generally must be approved annually by the board of directors or trustees of those funds, by a majority vote of the independent directors or trustees. Increases in these fees must be approved by fund shareholders; decreases need not be, including any decreases implemented by a fund’s directors or trustees. In general, each investment management agreement with the U.S. Funds provides for termination by either party, at any time, upon 60 days’ notice.
Fees paid by Non-U.S. Funds are reflected in management agreements that continue until they are terminated. Increases in these fees generally must be approved by the relevant regulatory authority, depending on the domicile and structure of the fund, and Non-U.S. Fund shareholders must be given advance notice of any fee increases.
The mutual funds we sub-advise for EQH and its subsidiaries constitute our largest retail client. EQH and its subsidiaries accounted for approximately 14% of our retail AUM as of December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021 and approximately 1% of our retail net revenues for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021.
Most open-end U.S. Funds have adopted a plan under Rule 12b-1 of the Investment Company Act that allows the fund to pay, out of assets of the fund, distribution and service fees for the distribution and sale of its shares. The open-end U.S. Funds have entered into such agreements with us, and we have entered into selling and distribution agreements pursuant to which we pay sales commissions to the financial intermediaries that distribute our open-end U.S. Funds. These agreements are terminable by either party upon notice (generally 30 days) and do not obligate the financial intermediary to sell any specific amount of fund shares.
As of December 31, 2023, retail U.S. Fund AUM were approximately $66 billion, or 23% of retail AUM, as compared to $54 billion, or 22%, as of December 31, 2022, and $73 billion, or 23%, as of December 31, 2021. Retail non-U.S. Fund AUM, as of December 31, 2023, totaled $107 billion, or 37% of retail AUM, as compared to $96 billion, or 39%, as of December 31, 2022, and $130 billion, or 41%, as of December 31, 2021.
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Our Retail Services represented approximately 39%, 38% and 41% of our AUM as of December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively, and the fees we earned from providing these services represented approximately 46%, 49% and 50% of our net revenues for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively. Our AUM and revenues are as follows:
Retail Services Assets Under Management
(by Investment Service)
Years Ended December 31 % Change
2023 2022 2021 2023-22 2022-21
(in millions)
Equity:
Equity Actively Managed $ 137,702 $ 116,235 $ 154,200 18.5 % (24.6 %)
Equity Passively Managed (1)
34,582 30,445 40,821 13.6 (25.4)
Total Equity 172,284 146,680 195,021 17.5 (24.8)
U.S. 141,721 118,547 152,106 19.5 (22.1)
Global & Non-U.S. 30,563 28,133 42,915 8.6 (34.4)
Total Equity 172,284 146,680 195,021 17.5 (24.8)
Fixed Income:
Fixed Income Taxable 64,051 53,995 75,813 18.6 (28.8)
Fixed Income Tax-Exempt 33,014 26,714 29,009 23.6 (7.9)
Fixed Income Passively Managed (1)
11,066 9,206 12,762 20.2 (27.9)
Total Fixed Income 108,131 89,915 117,584 20.3 (23.5)
U.S. 52,683 41,151 46,361 28.0 (11.2)
Global & Non-U.S. 55,448 48,764 71,223 13.7 (31.5)
Total Fixed Income 108,131 89,915 117,584 20.3 (23.5)
Alternatives/Multi-Asset Solutions (2) :
U.S. 2,724 2,697 3,595 1.0 (25.0)
Global & Non-U.S. 3,636 3,594 3,718 1.2 (3.3)
Total Alternatives/Multi-Asset Solutions 6,360 6,291 7,313 1.1 (14.0)
Total:
U.S. 197,128 162,395 202,062 21.4 (19.6)
Global & Non-U.S. 89,647 80,491 117,856 11.4 (31.7)
Total $ 286,775 $ 242,886 $ 319,918 18.1 % (24.1 %)
Affiliated - EQH 40,516 34,110 44,417 18.8 (23.2)
Non-affiliated 246,259 208,776 275,501 18.0 (24.2)
Total $ 286,775 $ 242,886 $ 319,918 18.1 % (24.1 %)
(1) Includes index and enhanced index services.
(2) Includes certain multi-asset solutions and services not included in equity or fixed income services
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Revenues from Retail Services
(by Investment Service)
Years Ended December 31 % Change
2023 2022 2021 2023-22 2022-21
(in thousands)
Equity:
Equity Actively Managed $ 732,186 $ 746,889 $ 766,578 (2.0 %) (2.6 %)
Equity Passively Managed (1)
11,283 12,870 14,773 (12.3) (12.9)
Total Equity 743,469 759,759 781,351 (2.1) (2.8)
U.S. 556,751 558,319 556,398 (0.3) 0.3
Global & Non-U.S. 186,718 201,440 224,953 (7.3) (10.5)
Total Equity 743,469 759,759 781,351 (2.1) (2.8)
Fixed Income:
Fixed Income Taxable 373,659 390,708 517,327 (4.4) (24.5)
Fixed Income Tax-Exempt 88,128 89,450 84,945 (1.5) 5.3
Fixed Income Passively Managed (1)
12,247 13,682 12,994 (10.5) 5.3
Total Fixed Income 474,034 493,840 615,266 (4.0) (19.7)
U.S. 118,288 119,053 115,248 (0.6) 3.3
Global & Non-U.S. 355,746 374,787 500,018 (5.1) (25.0)
Total Fixed Income 474,034 493,840 615,266 (4.0) (19.7)
Alternatives/Multi-Asset Solutions (2) :
U.S. 44,273 55,356 81,872 (20.0) (32.4)
Global & Non-U.S. 13,499 13,484 13,117 0.1 2.8
Total Alternatives/Multi-Asset Solutions 57,772 68,840 94,989 (16.1) (27.5)
Total Investment Advisory and Services Fees:
U.S. 719,312 732,728 753,518 (1.8) (2.8)
Global & Non-U.S. 555,963 589,711 738,086 (5.7) (20.1)
Consolidated company-sponsored investment funds 836 770 1,243 8.6 (38.1)
Total 1,276,111 1,323,209 1,492,847 (3.6) (11.4)
Distribution Revenues 569,485 594,431 644,125 (4.2) (7.7)
Shareholder Servicing Fees 80,424 83,268 86,857 (3.4) (4.1)
Total $ 1,926,020 $ 2,000,908 $ 2,223,829 (3.7 %) (10.0 %)
Affiliated - EQH 21,842 23,836 28,334 (8.4) (15.9)
Non-affiliated 1,904,178 1,977,072 2,195,495 (3.7) (9.9)
Total $ 1,926,020 $ 2,000,908 $ 2,223,829 (3.7 %) (10.0 %)
(1) Includes index and enhanced index services.
(2) Includes certain multi-asset solutions and services not included in equity or fixed income services.
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Private Wealth Management
We partner with our clients, embracing innovation and research to address increasingly complex challenges. Our clients include high-net-worth individuals and families who have created generational wealth as successful business owners, athletes, entertainers, corporate executives and private practice owners. We also provide investment and wealth advice to foundations and endowments, family offices and other entities. Our flexible and extensive investment platform offers a range of solutions, including separately-managed accounts, hedge funds, mutual funds and other investment vehicles, tailored to meet each distinct client's needs. Our investment platform is complimented with a wealth platform that includes complex tax and estate planning, pre-IPO and pre-transaction planning, multi-generational family engagement, and philanthropic advice in addition to tailored approaches to meeting the unique needs of emerging wealth and multi-cultural demographics (" Private Wealth Services ").
We manage accounts pursuant to written investment advisory agreements, which generally are terminable at any time or upon relatively short notice by any authorized party, and may not be assigned without the client's consent. For information about our investment advisory and services fees, including performance-based fees, see “ Risk Factors ” in Item 1A and “Net Revenues – Investment Advisory and Services Fees” in Item 7 .
Our Private Wealth Services represented approximately 17%, 16% and 16% of our AUM as of December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively. The fees we earned from providing these services represented approximately 25% of our net revenues for 2023, 2022 and 2021. Our AUM and revenues are as follows:
Private Wealth Services Assets Under Management
(by Investment Service)
Years Ended December 31 % Change
2023 2022 2021 2023-22 2022-21
(in millions)
Equity:
Equity Actively Managed $ 50,351 $ 45,977 $ 59,709 9.5 % (23.0 %)
Equity Passively Managed (1)
3,851 2,304 1,764 67.1 % 30.6 %
Total Equity 54,202 48,281 61,473 12.3 (21.5)
U.S. 33,639 28,014 35,014 20.1 (20.0)
Global & Non-U.S. 20,563 20,267 26,459 1.5 (23.4)
Total Equity 54,202 48,281 61,473 12.3 (21.5)
Fixed Income:
Fixed Income Taxable 18,201 14,391 14,567 26.5 (1.2)
Fixed Income Tax-Exempt 26,760 24,953 26,929 7.2 (7.3)
Fixed Income Passively Managed (1)
2 2 231 — (99.1)
Total Fixed Income 44,963 39,346 41,727 14.3 (5.7)
U.S. 40,166 34,764 36,166 15.5 (3.9)
Global & Non-U.S. 4,797 4,582 5,561 4.7 (17.6)
Total Fixed Income 44,963 39,346 41,727 14.3 (5.7)
Alternatives/Multi-Asset Solutions (2) :
U.S. 6,923 6,607 6,926 4.8 (4.6)
Global & Non-U.S. 15,167 12,021 11,446 26.2 5.0
Total Alternatives/Multi-Asset Solutions 22,090 18,628 18,372 18.6 1.4
Total:
U.S. 80,728 69,385 78,106 16.3 (11.2)
Global & Non-U.S. 40,527 36,870 43,466 9.9 (15.2)
Total $ 121,255 $ 106,255 $ 121,572 14.1 % (12.6 %)
(1) Includes index and enhanced index services.
(2) Includes certain multi-asset solutions and services not included in equity or fixed income services.
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Revenues from Private Wealth Services
(by Investment Service)
Years Ended December 31 % Change
2023 2022 2021 2023-22 2022-21
(in thousands)
Equity:
Equity Actively Managed $ 502,673 $ 521,155 $ 584,455 (3.5 %) (10.8 %)
Equity Passively Managed (1)
14,711 8,700 4,780 69.1 82.0
Total Equity 517,384 529,855 589,235 (2.4) (10.1)
U.S. 304,456 295,235 325,154 3.1 (9.2)
Global & Non-U.S. 212,928 234,620 264,081 (9.2) (11.2)
Total Equity 517,384 529,855 589,235 (2.4) (10.1)
Fixed Income:
Fixed Income Taxable 70,887 66,851 72,404 6.0 (7.7)
Fixed Income Tax-Exempt 124,438 125,123 130,391 (0.5) (4.0)
Fixed Income Passively Managed (1)
13 1,804 2,634 (99.3) (31.5)
Total Fixed Income 195,338 193,778 205,429 0.8 (5.7)
U.S. 164,601 159,411 167,402 3.3 (4.8)
Global & Non-U.S. 30,737 34,367 38,027 (10.6) (9.6)
Total Fixed Income 195,338 193,778 205,429 0.8 (5.7)
Alternatives/Multi-Asset Solutions (2) :
U.S. 223,518 195,666 249,432 14.2 (21.6)
Global & Non-U.S. 97,074 69,245 71,524 40.2 (3.2)
Total Alternatives/Multi-Asset Solutions 320,592 264,911 320,956 21.0 (17.5)
Total Investment Advisory and Services Fees:
U.S. 692,575 650,311 741,987 6.5 (12.4)
Global & Non-U.S. 340,739 338,232 373,632 0.7 (9.5)
Total 1,033,314 988,543 1,115,619 4.5 % (11.4 %)
Distribution Revenues 16,528 12,496 7,641 32.3 63.5
Shareholder Servicing Fees 3,001 2,964 2,882 1.2 2.8
Total $ 1,052,843 $ 1,004,003 $ 1,126,142 4.9 % (10.8 %)
(1) Includes index and enhanced index services.
(2) Includes certain multi-asset solutions and services not included in equity or fixed income services.
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Bernstein Research Services
We offer high-quality fundamental and quantitative research and trade execution services in equities and listed options to institutional investors, such as mutual fund and hedge fund managers, pension funds and other institutional investors ( "Bernstein Research Services" or " BRS " ) . We serve our clients, which are based in major markets around the world, through our trading professionals, who are primarily based in New York, London and Hong Kong, and our research analysts, who provide fundamental company and industry research along with quantitative research into securities valuation and factors affecting stock-price movements.
Additionally, we occasionally provide equity capital markets services to issuers of publicly traded securities, such as initial public offerings and follow-on offerings, generally acting as co-manager in such offerings.
We earn revenues for providing investment research to, and executing brokerage transactions for, institutional clients. These clients compensate us principally by directing us to execute brokerage transactions on their behalf, for which we earn commissions, and to a lesser but increasing extent, by paying us directly for research through commission sharing agreements or cash payments. Bernstein Research Services accounted for approximately 9%, 10% and 10% of our net revenues for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022 and 2021, respectively.
For information regarding trends in fee rates charged for brokerage transactions, see “Risk Factors” in Item 1A .
In the fourth quarter of 2022, AB and Société Générale (EURONEXT: GLE, “ SocGen ”), a leading European bank, announced plans to form a joint venture combining their respective cash equities and research businesses. As a result, the BRS business has been classified as held for sale on the consolidated statement of financial condition. For further discussion, s ee Note 24 Acquisitions and Divestitures to AB's consolidated financial statements in Item 8.
Our Bernstein Research Services revenues are as follows:
Revenues from Bernstein Research Services
Years Ended December 31 % Change
2023 2022 2021 2023-22 2022-21
(in thousands)
Bernstein Research Services $ 386,142 $ 416,273 $ 452,017 (7.2 %) (7.9 %)
Custody
Our U.S. based broker-dealer subsidiary acts as custodian for the majority of our Private Wealth Management AUM and some of our Institutional AUM. Other custodian arrangements, directed by clients, include banks, trust companies, brokerage firms and other financial institutions.
People Management
As a leading global investment management and research firm, we bring together a wide range of insights, expertise and innovations to advance the interests of our clients around the world. The intellectual capital and distinctive knowledge of our employees are collectively the most important assets of our firm, so the long-term sustainability and success of our firm is heavily dependent on our people. In 2022, our human capital and administrative services teams became our "People" team, a key acknowledgement of the central role they play in supporting our employees and advancing their work experience. We are keenly focused on:
• fostering an inclusive culture by incorporating diversity, equity and inclusion in all levels of our business;
• encouraging innovation;
• developing, retaining and recruiting high quality talent; and
• aligning employees’ incentives and risk taking with those of the firm.
As a result, we have a strong firm culture that helps us maximize performance and drive excellence. Further, our firm’s role as a fiduciary is embedded in our culture. As a fiduciary, our firm’s primary objective is to act in our clients' best interests and help them reach their financial goals.
Also, our Board of Directors (the " Board ") and committees of the Board, particularly our Compensation and Workplace Practices Committee, provide oversight into various matters affecting our people, including emerging people management risks and strategies to mitigate our exposure to those risks. These collaborative efforts contribute to the overall framework that guides how AB attracts, retains and develops a workforce that supports our values and strategic initiatives.
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Talent Acquisition and Development
AB seeks to achieve excellence in business, including investment performance, client service, and being defined as an employer of choice. Across our global offices, we recruit and hire a workforce with diverse perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences. Our talent acquisition strategy helps us serve both our clients and our workforce, hand in hand, at an optimal level. We engage external organizations, including search firms and partnerships to assist in attracting and recruiting top talent at all levels. We also leverage technology tools to source and evaluate candidates against our needs and we continue to prioritize attracting diverse talent throughout our search activities. Outside of traditional recruiting, we believe investing in emerging talent is key to our future planning. Both our internship and associate programs serve as robust pipelines for future leadership. The talent acquisition process is our firm’s first impression to future employees, and we strive to provide all candidates with an excellent experience. We focus heavily on high candidate engagement, an efficient offer process and sound onboarding to support success. Investing in the continued development of our talent is ongoing through a blend of formal training, independent learning, mentoring, and progressing assignments of responsibility. Internal mobility is championed throughout the firm. We are highly committed to development and believe that top performers expect and deserve this ongoing investment.
Employee Engagement and Culture
We believe a workforce is most engaged when employees feel connected to our culture. We seek to create a workplace where our people recognize the high importance of the work they do and enjoy the environment where the work gets done. By creating a culture of excellence and accountability, we see employees thrive and contribute at their highest levels. It is important that our employees are not only connected to our business but also to the communities in which we operate. We offer many opportunities to volunteer, including our firm-wide philanthropic initiative, AB Gives Back. Coming out of the global pandemic, we continue to prioritize the well-being of our staff through our global wellness programming, employee wellness groups, and our hybrid work schedule. We believe that the flexibility to work remotely up to two days per week allows our employees to maintain the important benefits of in-person collaboration while providing greater work-life balance. Measuring engagement is key to understanding the views of the organization. We utilize AB Voice, a periodic engagement survey designed to measure employee sentiment, to identify and address gaps that could impact productivity and retention.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
The past year has been a robust year for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (" DEI ") as we continued to focus on delivering equitable positive outcomes across the various segments of our business: colleagues, clients and communities. These elements included increasing education and support to address emerging topics, retaining and developing key diverse talent segments, improving data capture and reporting capabilities and scaling infrastructure for a more global, distributed DEI and philanthropy model. As DEI was again catapulted into the spotlight for a myriad of reasons, these elements have allowed for a more intentional, consistent approach and have acted to accelerate the overall success of the strategy. Furthermore, our Board and Board committees evaluate the overall effectiveness of our social responsibility policies, goals and programs and recommend changes to management as necessary.
Over the past few years, we have seen an increase in social issues being brought to the forefront of national and global conversations including in the workplace. In an effort to appropriately respond to such issues, we formed the Social Response Committee (the " SRC "). The SRC has developed an approach to value-driven action that is rooted in broad evaluation of the various issues integrated with AB’s purpose and values to maintain consistency in decision making. The SRC’s remit is to surface, review and direct AB’s public or internal response to social issues that impact our business and our people.
Data is at the heart of a strong and agile DEI strategy and serves as an incredibly effective tool to best uncover gaps and determine key focus areas. This year, we continued to closely monitor internal quantitative and qualitative metrics such as our AB Voice employee engagement survey to measure progress and determine which populations may require additional focus and development. We also leveraged external data sources such as the Investment Company Institute Asset Management D&I benchmarking survey, Disability Equality Index and Coqual’s Asian/Asian American and Pacific Islander focused research to maintain awareness of how we are performing relative to peers and competitors and ensure alignment with common practices.
As global demographics change and employee needs and expectations evolve, providing platforms for education and productive discourse becomes even more critical. In 2023, we introduced several intentional engagement and retention initiatives including disability inclusion, expanded programs and focus groups. Our Employee Resource Groups which hosted over 50 events, remain essential to AB’s commitment to inclusivity as they not only encourage a positive work culture, but also contribute to business development and the professional development of employees worldwide.
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Compensation and Benefits
We recognize the role that a competitive total rewards offering plays in attracting and retaining top talent. Our pay practices include base salaries, annual cash bonuses, and, for employees with total compensation over $300,000 annually, a long-term incentive compensation award. These awards are generally denominated in restricted AB Holding Units. We utilize this structure with intentionality to foster a stronger sense of ownership by employees, aligning their interests directly with the interests of our Unitholders and indirectly with the interests of our clients. We are a meritocracy and pay for performance under the auspices of providing compensation that is competitive and consistent with employee positions, skill levels, performance, experience, knowledge, and geographic location. Annually, we engage a compensation consulting firm to independently evaluate the accuracy of our executive compensation and to provide benchmarking against our industry peers. We also use these insights to make pay decisions for the broader organization. Periodically, we engage outside counsel to conduct privileged pay equity reviews. Pay is evaluated on an annual basis, with the firm providing merit-based and cost of living annual base salary increases, as well as incentive compensation. This information is communicated to employees at year-end. On occasion, pay is adjusted off-cycle due to internal transfer and/or promotion. Based on unique geographies, the firm makes benefits available to all eligible employees, including health insurance, paid and unpaid leaves, a retirement plan, and life and disability/accident coverage. We also offer a variety of voluntary benefits, ranging from adoption and surrogacy assistance to tuition reimbursement, which allows employees to select the options that meet their individual needs.
Employees
As of December 31, 2023, our firm had 4,707 full-time employees, including 284 new hires onboarded during the first quarter of 2023, which were previously outsourced consultants in Pune, India. Net of these hires, headcount declined year-over-year, as compared with 4,436 employees as of December 31, 2022.
As of December 31, 2023, our employees reflected the following characteristics and locations:
Region: Female % Female Male % Male Grand Total % of Total
Americas 1,133 25 % 2,037 45 % 3,170 70 %
Asia ex Japan 298 7 % 378 8 % 676 15 %
EMEA 224 5 % 350 8 % 574 13 %
Japan 55 1 % 42 1 % 97 2 %
Grand Total (1)
1,710 38 % 2,807 62 % 4,517 100 %
(1) The table above reflects only those employees who have self-reported as male or female and as such does not reconcile to our total of 4,707 full-time employees as of December 31, 2023.
Information about our Executive Officers
Please refer to "Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance" below for information relating to our firm's executive officers.
Service Marks
We have registered a number of service marks with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and various foreign trademark offices, including the mark “AllianceBernstein.” The logo set forth below is a service mark of AB:
In 2015, we established a new brand identity by prominently incorporating “AB” into our brand architecture, while maintaining the legal names of our corporate entities. With this and other related refinements, our company, and our Institutional and Retail businesses, are referred to as “AllianceBernstein (AB)” or simply “AB.” Private Wealth Management and Bernstein Research Services are referred to as “AB Bernstein.” Also, we adopted the logo service mark described above .
In connection with the Bernstein Transaction, we acquired all of the rights in, and title to, the Bernstein service marks, including the mark “Bernstein.”
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Service marks are generally valid and may be renewed indefinitely, as long as they are in use and/or their registrations are properly maintained.
Regulation
Virtually all aspects of our business are subject to various federal and state laws and regulations, rules of various securities regulators and exchanges, and laws in the foreign countries in which our subsidiaries conduct business. These laws and regulations primarily are intended to protect clients and fund shareholders and generally grant supervisory agencies broad administrative powers, including the power to limit or restrict the carrying on of business for failure to comply with such laws and regulations. Possible sanctions that may be imposed on us include the suspension of individual employees, limitations on engaging in business for specific periods, the revocation of the registration as an investment adviser or broker-dealer, censures and fines.
AB, AB Holding, the General Partner and six of our subsidiaries (Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., LLC (“ SCB LLC ”), AB Broadly Syndicated Loan Manager LLC, AB Custom Alternative Solutions LLC, AB Private Credit Investors LLC, AB CarVal Investors and W.P. Stewart Asset Management Ltd.) are registered with the SEC as investment advisers under the Investment Advisers Act. Additionally, AB Holding is an NYSE-listed company and, accordingly, is subject to applicable regulations promulgated by the NYSE. Also, AB, SCB LLC and AB Custom Alternative Solutions LLC are registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“ CFTC ”) as commodity pool operators and commodity trading advisers; SCB LLC also is registered with the CFTC as a commodities introducing broker.
Each U.S. Fund is registered with the SEC under the Investment Company Act and each Non-U.S. Fund is subject to the laws in the jurisdiction in which the fund is registered. For example, our platform of Luxembourg-based funds operates pursuant to Luxembourg laws and regulations, including Undertakings for the Collective Investment in Transferable Securities Directives, and is authorized and supervised by the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (“ CSSF ”), the primary regulator in Luxembourg. AllianceBernstein Investor Services, Inc., one of our subsidiaries, is registered with the SEC as a transfer and servicing agent.
SCB LLC and another of our subsidiaries, AllianceBernstein Investments, Inc., are registered with the SEC as broker-dealers, and both are members of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. In addition, SCB LLC is a member of the NYSE and other principal U.S. exchanges.
Many of our subsidiaries are subject to the oversight of regulatory authorities in the jurisdictions outside the United States in which they operate, including the Ontario Securities Commission, the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada, the European Securities and Markets Authority, the Financial Conduct Authority in the U.K., the CSSF in Luxembourg, the Financial Services Agency in Japan, the Securities & Futures Commission in Hong Kong, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the Financial Services Commission in South Korea, the Financial Supervisory Commission in Taiwan and The Securities and Exchange Board of India. While these regulatory requirements often may be comparable to the requirements of the SEC and other U.S. regulators, they are sometimes more restrictive and may cause us to incur substantial expenditures of time and money related to our compliance efforts. For additional information relating to the regulations that impact our business, please refer to "Risk Factors" in Item 1A .
History and Structure
We have been in the investment research and management business for more than 50 years. Bernstein was founded in 1967. Alliance Capital was founded in 1971 when the investment management department of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette, Inc. (since November 2000, a part of Credit Suisse Group) merged with the investment advisory business of Moody’s Investors Service, Inc.
In April 1988, AB Holding “went public” as a master limited partnership. AB Holding Units, which trade under the ticker symbol “AB,” have been listed on the NYSE since that time.
In October 1999, AB Holding reorganized by transferring its business and assets to AB, a newly-formed operating partnership, in exchange for all of the AB Units (the “ Reorganization ”). Since the date of the Reorganization, AB has conducted the business formerly conducted by AB Holding and AB Holding’s activities have consisted of owning AB Units and engaging in related activities. Unlike AB Holding Units, AB Units do not trade publicly and are subject to significant restrictions on transfer. The General Partner is the general partner of both AB and AB Holding.
In October 2000, our two legacy firms, Alliance Capital and Bernstein, combined, bringing together Alliance Capital’s expertise in growth equity and corporate fixed income investing and its family of retail mutual funds, with Bernstein’s expertise in value equity investing, tax-exempt fixed income management, and its Private Wealth Management and Bernstein Research Services businesses.
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As of December 31, 2023, the condensed ownership structure of AB is as follows (for a more complete description of our ownership structure, see “Principal Security Holders” in Item 12 ):
The General Partner owns 100,000 general partnership units in AB Holding and a 1.0% general partnership interest in AB. Including these general partnership interests, EQH, directly and through certain of its subsidiaries ( see “Principal Security Holders” in Item 12 ), had an approximate 61.2% economic interest in AB as of December 31, 2023.
Competition
We compete in all aspects of our business with numerous investment management firms, mutual fund sponsors, brokerage and investment banking firms, insurance companies, banks and other financial institutions that often provide investment products with similar features and objectives as those we offer. Our competitors offer a wide range of financial services to the same customers that we seek to serve. Some of our competitors are larger, have a broader range of product choices and investment capabilities, conduct business in more markets, and have substantially greater resources than we do. These factors may place us at a competitive disadvantage, and we can give no assurance that our strategies and efforts to maintain and enhance our current client relationships, and create new ones, will be successful.
In addition, EQH and its subsidiaries provide financial services, some of which compete with those we offer. The AB Partnership Agreement specifically allows EQH and its subsidiaries (other than the General Partner) to compete with AB and to pursue opportunities that may be available to us. EQH and certain of its subsidiaries have substantially greater financial resources than we do and are not obligated to provide resources to us.
To grow our business, we believe we must be able to compete effectively for AUM. Key competitive factors include:
• our investment performance for clients;
• our commitment to place the interests of our clients first;
• the quality of our research;
• our ability to attract, motivate and retain highly skilled, and often highly specialized, personnel;
• the array of investment products we offer;
• the fees we charge;
• Morningstar/Lipper rankings for the AB Funds;
• our ability to sell our actively-managed investment services despite the fact that many investors favor passive services;
• our operational effectiveness;
• our ability to further develop and market our brand; and
• our global presence.
Competition is an important risk that our business faces and should be considered along with the other factors we discuss in “Risk Factors” in Item 1A .
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Available Information
AB and AB Holding file or furnish annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, amendments to such reports, and other reports (and amendments thereto) required to comply with federal securities laws, including Section 16 beneficial ownership reports on Forms 3, 4 and 5, registration statements and proxy statements. We maintain an Internet site ( http://www.alliancebernstein.com ) where the public can view these reports, free of charge, as soon as reasonably practicable after each report is filed with, or furnished to, the Securities and Exchange Commission (" SEC "). In addition, the SEC maintains an Internet site ( http://www.sec.gov ) that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC.