Equitable Gets Its Name Back

A New York-based life insurer that once dominated the U.S. financial services sector is getting its old name back.

The company that has been operating as AXA Equitable Holdings Inc. has cut “AXA” out of its name and is now Equitable Holdings Inc.

The company continues to use the stock symbol “EQH.”

The company was founded in 1859 as the Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States, as a policyholder-owned mutual insurer. Theodore Roosevelt talked at length about his relationship with Equitable in an autobiography he published in 1913.

The company first went public in 1992. It was then acquired by AXA S.A. of Paris later in 1992.

AXA began talking about turning AXA Equitable back into a separate, stand-alone company in early 2017, in part because of concerns about how Europe’s Solvency II approach to solvency regulation would affect life insurers.

AXA started to implement the separation process in May 2018, by turning AXA Equitable into a stand-alone company by distributing shares of AXA Equitable stock to AXA shareholders through a special dividend.

Equitable has relationships with about 2.8 million U.S. clients, and with about 4,330 financial professionals.

The company now has a new logo, which features an image of the Greek goddess Athena, as well as a new name.

Mark Pearson, Equitable’s chief executive officer, said in a comment accompanying the announcement about the new name that the Equitable brand is at the core of the company’s commitment to its clients. “Throughout our 160-year history, we have helped millions of Americans reach their goals and achieve financial security,” Pearson said.

Kathryn Ferrero, the company’s chief marketing officer, said in a comment that the image of Athena in the new logo shows Athena “facing forward with confidence embodying a warm and human presence.”

“Together, the name Equitable and symbol of Athena reflect our mission and the values that guide us,” Ferrero said.

— Read AXA Equitable Shares Debut on New York Stock Exchange, on ThinkAdvisor.

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