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, 2024: 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. See “Distribution Channels” in this Item 1 for additional information.
As of December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, our AUM were approximately $792 billion, $725 billion and $646 billion, respectively, and our net revenues were approximately $4.5 billion, $4.2 billion and $4.1 billion, respectively. EQH (our parent company) and its subsidiaries, whose AUM consist primarily of fixed income investments, is our largest client. Our EQH affiliates represented approximately 17%, 16% and 16% of our AUM as of December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, and we earned approximately 4% of our net revenues from services we provided to them in each of 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively.
Assets Under Management (AUM)($ 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.
2024 Annual Report
Part I
Purpose, Values & Corporate Responsibility
Our purpose—to pursue insight that unlocks opportunity—describes the ethos of our firm. Because we are an active investment manager, differentiated insights drive our ability to design innovative investment solutions and help our clients achieve their investment goals.
Our values illustrate 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 superior asset management and research to our clients.
Our purpose and values challenge us to be a responsible firm. Our vision for corporate responsibility is: Deliver better outcomes to clients while upholding high ethical standards, building a strong culture, and promoting the future viability of our business.
We work towards these objectives across five pillars.
•Resilient Operations: AB takes precautions to protect our business while adapting to change. This means safeguarding client information and business systems, maintaining strong corporate governance and enhancing our risk management practices.
•Thriving Workforce: Our business thrives when our people thrive. We seek to build diverse teams, create fair outcomes, and develop inclusive behaviors. We also offer opportunities for physical and mental wellness, open pathways for learning and development and recognize success.
•Community & Civic Engagement: Our approach to community engagement is holistic. We connect our resources to our communities’ most pressing needs, and we encourage civic participation. We do this through philanthropy, gift matching, volunteering, board participation and civic engagement.
•Resource Conservation: To us, environmental sustainability is about using resources thoughtfully. Most of our employees are located in green buildings, and we are conscious of our greenhouse gas footprint. We compost and recycle in large offices and we create opportunities for employees to learn about sustainability.
•Responsible Investing: Rigorous responsible investing research, integration, stewardship and solutions can make us better stewards of our clients’ assets. Our responsible investing approach includes evidence-based thought leadership, engagement, integration and solutions that meet clients’ unique responsible investing needs.
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.
AllianceBernstein
Part I
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 both high quality fundamental and quantitative research, as well as regular company engagement where appropriate. 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, private credit, 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, 2024, 2023 and 2022 are as follows:
AUM by Client Domicile($ in billions) AUM by Investment Service($ in billions)
2024 Annual Report
Part I
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 27%, 25% and 24% of our institutional AUM as of December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively, and approximately 22%, 22% and 19% of our institutional revenues for 2024, 2023 and 2022, 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, 2024.
EQH and Subsidiaries as a % of our Institutional AUM EQH and Subsidiaries as a % of our Institutional Revenues
AllianceBernstein
Part I
As of December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, Institutional Services represented approximately 41%, 44% and 46%, respectively, of our AUM, and the fees we earned from providing these services represented approximately 16% 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
2024 2023 2022 2024-23 2023-22
(in millions)
Equity:
Equity Actively Managed $48,952 $59,423 $55,731 (17.6 %) 6.6 %
Equity Passively Managed(1) 24,614 23,630 21,062 4.2 12.2
Total Equity 73,566 83,053 76,793 (11.4) 8.2
U.S. 40,799 40,930 35,428 (0.3) 15.5
Global & Non-U.S. 32,767 42,123 41,365 (22.2) 1.8
Total Equity 73,566 83,053 76,793 (11.4) 8.2
Fixed Income:
Fixed Income Taxable 116,744 126,350 121,871 (7.6) 3.7
Fixed Income Tax-Exempt 1,564 1,317 849 18.8 55.1
Fixed Income Passively Managed(1) 81 306 192 (73.5) 59.4
Total Fixed Income 118,389 127,973 122,912 (7.5) 4.1
U.S. 88,720 95,808 88,800 (7.4) 7.9
Global & Non-U.S. 29,669 32,165 34,112 (7.8) (5.7)
Total Fixed Income 118,389 127,973 122,912 (7.5) 4.1
Alternatives/Multi-Asset Solutions(2):
U.S. 30,942 13,810 12,873 124.1 7.3
Global & Non-U.S. 98,493 92,288 84,703 6.7 9.0
Total Alternatives/Multi-Asset Solutions 129,435 106,098 97,576 22.0 8.7
Total:
U.S. 160,461 150,548 137,101 6.6 9.8
Global & Non-U.S. 160,929 166,576 160,180 (3.4) 4.0
Total $321,390 $317,124 $297,281 1.3 % 6.7 %
Affiliated - EQH $87,447 $78,942 $70,924 10.8 % 11.3 %
Non-affiliated 233,943 238,182 226,357 (1.8) 5.2
Total $321,390 $317,124 $297,281 1.3 % 6.7 %
(1)Includes index and enhanced index services.
(2)Includes certain multi-asset solutions and services not included in equity or fixed income services.
2024 Annual Report
Part I
Revenues from Institutional Services(by Investment Service)
Years Ended December 31 % Change
2024 2023 2022 2024-23 2023-22
(in thousands)
Equity:
Equity Actively Managed $183,526 $197,822 $220,917 (7.2 %) (10.5 %)
Equity Passively Managed(1) 4,190 4,115 4,910 1.8 (16.2)
Total Equity 187,716 201,937 225,827 (7.0) (10.6)
U.S. 79,185 75,861 80,908 4.4 (6.2)
Global & Non-U.S. 108,531 126,076 144,919 (13.9) (13.0)
Total Equity 187,716 201,937 225,827 (7.0) (10.6)
Fixed Income:
Fixed Income Taxable 166,539 180,625 189,679 (7.8) (4.8)
Fixed Income Tax-Exempt 1,955 1,300 1,182 50.4 10.0
Fixed Income Passively Managed(1) 934 580 425 61.0 36.5
Fixed Income Servicing(2) 22,315 20,149 15,991 10.7 26.0
Total Fixed Income 191,743 202,654 207,277 (5.4) (2.2)
U.S. 127,699 135,560 128,392 (5.8) 5.6
Global & Non-U.S. 64,044 67,094 78,885 (4.5) (14.9)
Total Fixed Income 191,743 202,654 207,277 (5.4) (2.2)
Alternatives/Multi-Asset Solutions(3):
U.S. 130,533 94,488 114,982 38.1 (17.8)
Global & Non-U.S. 190,234 166,964 111,202 13.9 50.1
Total Alternatives/Multi-Asset Solutions 320,767 261,452 226,184 22.7 15.6
Total Investment Advisory and Services Fees:
U.S. 337,417 305,909 324,282 10.3 (5.7)
Global & Non-U.S. 362,809 360,134 335,004 0.7 7.5
Total 700,226 666,043 659,286 5.1 1.0
Distribution Revenues 203 250 268 (18.8) (6.7)
Shareholder Servicing Fees 367 377 429 (2.7) (12.1)
Total $700,796 $666,670 $659,983 5.1 % 1.0 %
Affiliated - EQH $157,017 $144,523 $125,229 8.6 % 15.4 %
Non-affiliated 543,779 522,147 534,754 4.1 (2.4)
Total $700,796 $666,670 $659,983 5.1 % 1.0 %
(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.
AllianceBernstein
Part I
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 13%, 14% and 14% of our retail AUM as of December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively, and approximately 1% of our retail net revenues for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022.
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, 2024, retail U.S. Fund AUM were approximately $74 billion, or 22% of retail AUM, as compared to $66 billion, or 23%, as of December 31, 2023, and $54 billion, or 22%, as of December 31, 2022. Retail non-U.S. Fund AUM, as of December 31, 2024, totaled $127 billion, or 38% of retail AUM, as compared to $107 billion, or 37%, as of December 31, 2023, and $96 billion, or 39%, as of December 31, 2022.
2024 Annual Report
Part I
Our Retail Services represented approximately 42%, 39% and 38% of our AUM as of December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively, and the fees we earned from providing these services represented approximately 52%, 46% and 49% of our net revenues for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively. Our AUM and revenues are as follows:
Retail Services Assets Under Management(by Investment Service)
Years Ended December 31 % Change
2024 2023 2022 2024-23 2023-22
(in millions)
Equity:
Equity Actively Managed $160,638 $137,702 $116,235 16.7 % 18.5 %
Equity Passively Managed(1) 37,608 34,582 30,445 8.8 13.6
Total Equity 198,246 172,284 146,680 15.1 17.5
U.S. 168,086 141,721 118,547 18.6 19.5
Global & Non-U.S. 30,160 30,563 28,133 (1.3) 8.6
Total Equity 198,246 172,284 146,680 15.1 17.5
Fixed Income:
Fixed Income Taxable 73,839 64,051 53,995 15.3 18.6
Fixed Income Tax-Exempt 44,652 33,014 26,714 35.3 23.6
Fixed Income Passively Managed(1) 10,212 11,066 9,206 (7.7) 20.2
Total Fixed Income 128,703 108,131 89,915 19.0 20.3
U.S. 69,525 52,683 41,151 32.0 28.0
Global & Non-U.S. 59,178 55,448 48,764 6.7 13.7
Total Fixed Income 128,703 108,131 89,915 19.0 20.3
Alternatives/Multi-Asset Solutions(2):
U.S. 2,808 2,724 2,697 3.1 1.0
Global & Non-U.S. 4,498 3,636 3,594 23.7 1.2
Total Alternatives/Multi-Asset Solutions 7,306 6,360 6,291 14.9 1.1
Total:
U.S. 240,419 197,128 162,395 22.0 21.4
Global & Non-U.S. 93,836 89,647 80,491 4.7 11.4
Total $334,255 $286,775 $242,886 16.6 % 18.1 %
Affiliated - EQH $44,009 $40,516 $34,110 8.6 % 18.8 %
Non-affiliated 290,246 246,259 208,776 17.9 18.0
Total $334,255 $286,775 $242,886 16.6 % 18.1 %
(1)Includes index and enhanced index services.
(2)Includes certain multi-asset solutions and services not included in equity or fixed income services
AllianceBernstein
Part I
Revenues from Retail Services(by Investment Service)
Years Ended December 31 % Change
2024 2023 2022 2024-23 2023-22
(in thousands)
Equity:
Equity Actively Managed $869,324 $732,186 $746,889 18.7 % (2.0 %)
Equity Passively Managed(1) 12,652 11,283 12,870 12.1 (12.3)
Total Equity 881,976 743,469 759,759 18.6 (2.1)
U.S. 685,686 556,751 558,319 23.2 (0.3)
Global & Non-U.S. 196,290 186,718 201,440 5.1 (7.3)
Total Equity 881,976 743,469 759,759 18.6 (2.1)
Fixed Income:
Fixed Income Taxable 443,908 373,659 390,708 18.8 (4.4)
Fixed Income Tax-Exempt 105,123 88,128 89,450 19.3 (1.5)
Fixed Income Passively Managed(1) 11,160 12,247 13,682 (8.9) (10.5)
Total Fixed Income 560,191 474,034 493,840 18.2 (4.0)
U.S. 147,419 118,288 119,053 24.6 (0.6)
Global & Non-U.S. 412,772 355,746 374,787 16.0 (5.1)
Total Fixed Income 560,191 474,034 493,840 18.2 (4.0)
Alternatives/Multi-Asset Solutions(2):
U.S. 61,732 44,273 55,356 39.4 (20.0)
Global & Non-U.S. 17,794 13,499 13,484 31.8 0.1
Total Alternatives/Multi-Asset Solutions 79,526 57,772 68,840 37.7 (16.1)
Total Investment Advisory and Services Fees:
U.S. 894,837 719,312 732,728 24.4 (1.8)
Global & Non-U.S. 626,856 555,963 589,711 12.8 (5.7)
Consolidated company-sponsored investment funds 486 836 770 (41.9) 8.6
Total 1,522,179 1,276,111 1,323,209 19.3 (3.6)
Distribution Revenues 703,174 569,485 594,431 23.5 (4.2)
Shareholder Servicing Fees 85,964 80,424 83,268 6.9 (3.4)
Total $2,311,317 $1,926,020 $2,000,908 20.0 % (3.7 %)
Affiliated - EQH $24,060 $21,842 $23,836 10.2 % (8.4 %)
Non-affiliated 2,287,257 1,904,178 1,977,072 20.1 (3.7)
Total $2,311,317 $1,926,020 $2,000,908 20.0 % (3.7 %)
(1)Includes index and enhanced index services.
(2)Includes certain multi-asset solutions and services not included in equity or fixed income services.
2024 Annual Report
Part I
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%, 17% and 16% of our AUM as of December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively. The fees we earned from providing these services represented approximately 28%, 25% and 25% of our net revenues for 2024, 2023 and 2022. Our AUM and revenues are as follows:
Private Wealth Services Assets Under Management(by Investment Service)
Years Ended December 31 % Change
2024 2023 2022 2024-23 2023-22
(in millions)
Equity:
Equity Actively Managed $53,788 $50,351 $45,977 6.8 % 9.5 %
Equity Passively Managed(1) 6,102 3,851 2,304 58.5 67.1
Total Equity 59,890 54,202 48,281 10.5 12.3
U.S. 39,056 33,639 28,014 16.1 20.1
Global & Non-U.S. 20,834 20,563 20,267 1.3 1.5
Total Equity 59,890 54,202 48,281 10.5 12.3
Fixed Income:
Fixed Income Taxable 18,712 18,201 14,391 2.8 26.5
Fixed Income Tax-Exempt 29,971 26,760 24,953 12.0 7.2
Fixed Income Passively Managed(1) — 2 2 (100.0) —
Total Fixed Income 48,683 44,963 39,346 8.3 14.3
U.S. 43,969 40,166 34,764 9.5 15.5
Global & Non-U.S. 4,714 4,797 4,582 (1.7) 4.7
Total Fixed Income 48,683 44,963 39,346 8.3 14.3
Alternatives/Multi-Asset Solutions(2):
U.S. 9,504 6,923 6,607 37.3 4.8
Global & Non-U.S. 18,462 15,167 12,021 21.7 26.2
Total Alternatives/Multi-Asset Solutions 27,966 22,090 18,628 26.6 18.6
Total:
U.S. 92,529 80,728 69,385 14.6 16.3
Global & Non-U.S. 44,010 40,527 36,870 8.6 9.9
Total $136,539 $121,255 $106,255 12.6 % 14.1 %
(1)Includes index and enhanced index services.
(2)Includes certain multi-asset solutions and services not included in equity or fixed income services.
AllianceBernstein
Part I
Revenues from Private Wealth Services(by Investment Service)
Years Ended December 31 % Change
2024 2023 2022 2024-23 2023-22
(in thousands)
Equity:
Equity Actively Managed $552,321 $502,673 $521,155 9.9 % (3.5 %)
Equity Passively Managed(1) 24,473 14,711 8,700 66.4 69.1
Total Equity 576,794 517,384 529,855 11.5 (2.4)
U.S. 359,338 304,456 295,235 18.0 3.1
Global & Non-U.S. 217,456 212,928 234,620 2.1 (9.2)
Total Equity 576,794 517,384 529,855 11.5 (2.4)
Fixed Income:
Fixed Income Taxable 81,457 70,887 66,851 14.9 6.0
Fixed Income Tax-Exempt 134,814 124,438 125,123 8.3 (0.5)
Fixed Income Passively Managed(1) 8 13 1,804 (38.5) (99.3)
Total Fixed Income 216,279 195,338 193,778 10.7 0.8
U.S. 184,086 164,601 159,411 11.8 3.3
Global & Non-U.S. 32,193 30,737 34,367 4.7 (10.6)
Total Fixed Income 216,279 195,338 193,778 10.7 0.8
Alternatives/Multi-Asset Solutions(2):
U.S. 311,875 223,518 195,666 39.5 14.2
Global & Non-U.S. 114,786 97,074 69,245 18.2 40.2
Total Alternatives/Multi-Asset Solutions 426,661 320,592 264,911 33.1 21.0
Total Investment Advisory and Services Fees:
U.S. 855,299 692,575 650,311 23.5 6.5
Global & Non-U.S. 364,435 340,739 338,232 7.0 0.7
Total 1,219,734 1,033,314 988,543 18.0 % 4.5 %
Distribution Revenues 23,293 16,528 12,496 40.9 32.3
Shareholder Servicing Fees 2,864 3,001 2,964 (4.6) 1.2
Total $1,245,891 $1,052,843 $1,004,003 18.3 % 4.9 %
(1)Includes index and enhanced index services.
(2)Includes certain multi-asset solutions and services not included in equity or fixed income services.
2024 Annual Report
Part I
Bernstein Research Services
Effective April 1, 2024, AB and Societe Generale ("SocGen") completed their previously announced transaction to form a global joint venture with two joint venture holding companies, one outside of North America and one within North America ("NA JV", and together the "JVs"). AB owns a majority interest in the NA JV while SocGen owns a majority interest in the joint venture outside of North America. AB has deconsolidated the Bernstein Research Services business ("Bernstein Research Services" or "BRS") and retained the Bernstein Private Wealth Management business within its existing U.S. broker dealer Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., LLC. For further discussion, see Note 24 Divestitures to AB's consolidated financial statements in Item 8.
Prior to the deconsolidation of the BRS business, we earned revenues for providing investment research to, and executing brokerage transactions for, institutional clients. These clients compensated us principally by directing us to execute brokerage transactions on their behalf, for which we earned commissions, and to a lesser extent, by paying us directly for research through commission sharing agreements or cash payments. Bernstein Research Services accounted for approximately 2%, 9% and 10% of our net revenues for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively.
For information regarding trends in fee rates charged for brokerage transactions, see “Risk Factors” in Item 1A.
Our Bernstein Research Services revenues are as follows:
Revenues from Bernstein Research Services
Years Ended December 31 % Change
2024 2023 2022 2024-23 2023-22
(in thousands)
Bernstein Research Services $96,222 $386,142 $416,273 (75.1 %) (7.2 %)
Custody
Our U.S. based broker-dealer subsidiary acts as custodian for substantially all of our Private Wealth Management AUM and some of our Institutional AUM. Other custodian arrangements, directed by clients, or where clients authorize or instruct us to appoint a custodian on their behalf, 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 innovation 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. Our People team plays a central role in supporting our employees and advancing their work experience. We are keenly focused on fostering an inclusive culture; encouraging innovation; sourcing, developing, and retaining top performing talent; and consistently aligning employees’ incentives and risk taking with those of the firm.
As a result, we have a robust firm culture that helps us to elevate performance and drive excellence. Further, our firm’s role as a fiduciary is embedded in our culture and our day-to-day practices. 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 oversees a workforce that supports our values and drives our strategic initiatives.
Talent Acquisition and Development
AB seeks to excel as an organization, in 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 a unique and
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compelling experience. Enhancing the firm’s recruiting efforts to include talent with a nontraditional path to financial services has been a focus area this year. We recognize that traditional recruitment efforts may not always provide access to the full range of top talent available in the marketplace. Therefore, we remain committed to implementing a recruiting strategy that is broad and includes partnering with community organizations, exploring alternative education and training programs, while more effectively leveraging the networks of our existing top performing talent leading to a valuable expansion of the pool of qualified applicants available to the firm.
We focus heavily on high candidate engagement, an efficient offer process and sound onboarding to support success. Learning and continued development are central to our talent strategy. In addition to an established culture of mentoring, we leverage technology to develop and deploy relevant coursework. Internal mobility is championed throughout the firm and progressing assignments of responsibility offer employees career growth and new opportunities. We remain highly committed to development and believe that top performers expect and deserve this ongoing investment.
Employee Engagement and Fostering an Inclusive 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 both high performance 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. We prioritize the well-being of our staff through our global wellness programming, employee wellness groups, and our hybrid work schedule. Measuring engagement is key to understanding the views and perspectives 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.
AB is committed to promoting a diverse and inclusive workplace because we believe it has had a positive impact on our people, clients, and communities. In 2024, the workplace continued to undergo changes driven by various factors including rapid technological changes, evolving employee expectations, nuanced global needs and broader societal shifts. We have navigated the current dynamic environment by fostering a culture of continuous learning with a focus on employee engagement, exploring nontraditional recruiting sources, and locally driven inclusion initiatives.
We have prioritized initiatives and events that allow for learning, employee development and healthy discourse to cultivate an
environment centered on inclusion. Our Employee Resource Groups hosted over 70 events which aimed to not only foster an inclusive work environment, but also contribute to business opportunities and the professional development of employees worldwide. Additionally, we leverage data from our annual engagement survey to inform our decision-making process and gain a deeper understanding of the ever-changing needs of our diverse workforce across the globe.
Compensation and Benefits
We recognize the role that a competitive total reward 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 self-directed 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 offerings that meet their individual needs.
Employees
As of December 31, 2024, our firm had 4,341 full-time employees as compared to 4,707 employees as of December 31, 2023. The decrease was primarily due to the BRS deconsolidation.
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As of December 31, 2024, our employees reflected the following characteristics and locations:
Region: Female % Female Male % Male Grand Total % of Total
Americas 1,082 26 % 1,870 45 % 2,952 71 %
Asia ex Japan 319 8 % 407 9 % 726 17 %
EMEA 181 4 % 236 6 % 417 10 %
Japan 56 1 % 36 1 % 92 2 %
Grand Total(1) 1,638 39 % 2,549 61 % 4,187 100 %
(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 4,341 full-time employees as of December 31, 2024.
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 each of its subsidiaries, including our Institutional and Retail businesses, are referred to as “AllianceBernstein (AB)” or simply “AB.” Private Wealth Management is referred to as “AB Bernstein.”
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 five 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, and AB CarVal Investors) 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.
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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.
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, and the Financial Supervisory Commission in Taiwan. 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.
In April 2024, AB and Societe General, a leading European Bank, completed their previously announced transaction to form a jointly owned equity research provider and cash equity trading partner for institutional investors. AB deconsolidated the Bernstein Research Services business and contributed the business to the joint ventures. AB has retained the Bernstein Private Wealth Management business within its existing U.S. broker dealer, Sandford C Bernstein LLC. AB maintains an equity method investment in the joint ventures. For further discussion, see Note 24 Divestitures to AB's consolidated financial statements in Item 8.
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As of December 31, 2024, 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 61.9% interest in AB as of December 31, 2024.
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.