eq advisors trustsm · fmg llc and (ii) the investment subadvisory agreements between fmg llc and...

1

EQ ADVISORS TRUSTSM SUPPLEMENT DATED NOVEMBER 7, 2018,TO THE SUMMARY PROSPECTUS, PROSPECTUS, AND STATEMENT OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION DATED MAY 1, 2018, AS SUPPLEMENTED This Supplement updates certain information contained in the Summary Prospectus, Prospectus, and Statement of Additional Information dated May 1, 2018, as supplemented, of EQ Advisors Trust (“Trust”). You should read this Supplement in connection with the Summary Prospectus, Prospectus, and Statement of Additional Information and retain it for future reference. You may obtain an additional copy of the Summary Prospectus, Prospectus or Statement of Additional Information, free of charge, by writing to the Trust at 1290 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10104, or you can view, print, and download a copy of these documents at the Trust’s website at www.axa-equitablefunds.com. The purpose of this Supplement is to provide you with information regarding certain sub-advisory changes affecting the following Portfolios:

EQ/Large Cap Value Index Portfolio

EQ/Mid Cap Index Portfolio Multimanager Technology Portfolio

(each, a “Passive Equity Portfolio” and together, the “Passive Equity Portfolios”) On July 12, 2018, the Board of Trustees of the Trust approved certain proposed changes, including: (i) the termination of SSGA Funds Management, Inc. (“SSGA FM”) as sub-adviser to, or for an allocated portion of, each Passive Equity Portfolio; and (ii) the appointment of AllianceBernstein L.P (“AllianceBernstein”) as a new sub-adviser to, or for an allocated portion of, each Passive Equity Portfolio. On October 25, 2018, at a Special Meeting of Shareholders of the Trust, these proposed changes were approved by the Passive Equity Portfolios’ shareholders. The changes will become effective on or about November 19, 2018. As a result of these changes, AXA Equitable Funds Management Group, LLC (the “Adviser”) has entered into a new sub-advisory agreement with AllianceBernstein, to provide sub-advisory services with respect to each Passive Equity Portfolio. All references to SSGA FM, in the Summary Prospectus, Prospectus, and SAI in relation to each Passive Equity Portfolio, are hereby deleted. The information regarding SSGA FM in the sections of the Prospectus entitled “EQ/Large Cap Value Index Portfolio — Who Manages the Portfolio — Sub-Adviser,” “EQ/Mid Cap Index Portfolio — Who Manages the Portfolio — Sub-Adviser,” and “Multimanager Technology Portfolio” — Who Manages the Portfolio —Sub-Adviser” is hereby deleted and replaced with the following information:

Sub-Adviser: AllianceBernstein L.P. (“AllianceBernstein”) Portfolio Managers: The members of the team that are jointly and primarily responsible for the securities selection, research and trading for the Portfolio (or, with respect to the Multimanager Technology Portfolio, the Index Allocated Portion of the Portfolio) are:

2

Name

Title

Date Began Managing the Portfolio

Judith DeVivo Senior Vice President and Portfolio Manager of AllianceBernstein

November 2018

Joshua Lisser Senior Vice President/Chief Investment Officer, Index Strategies of AllianceBernstein

November 2018

Ben Sklar Portfolio Manager, Index Strategies of AllianceBernstein

November 2018

The first through sixth paragraphs under the section of the Prospectus entitled “Management of the Trust – The Sub-Advisers – SSGA Funds Management, Inc. (“SSGA FM”)” regarding SSGA FM’s “Global Equity Beta Solution Group” is deleted in its entirety. The paragraph of the section of the Prospectus entitled “Management of the Trust – The Sub-Advisers – AllianceBernstein L.P. (“AllianceBernstein”)” is hereby deleted and replaced with the following information:

AllianceBernstein L.P. (“AllianceBernstein”), 1345 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10105. AllianceBernstein serves as Sub-Adviser to the AXA/AB Dynamic Aggressive Growth Portfolio, the AXA/AB Dynamic Growth Portfolio, the AXA/AB Dynamic Moderate Growth Portfolio, the AXA/AB Short Duration Government Bond Portfolio, the EQ/Common Stock Index Portfolio, the EQ/Equity 500 Index Portfolio, the EQ/International Equity Index Portfolio, the EQ/Large Cap Growth Index Portfolio, EQ/Large Cap Value Index Portfolio, EQ/Mid Cap Index Portfolio, and the EQ/Small Company Index Portfolio. AllianceBernstein also serves as Sub-Adviser to the Active and Index Allocated Portions of the AXA/AB Small Cap Growth Portfolio, AXA Large Cap Value Managed Volatility Portfolio and the EQ/Quality Bond PLUS Portfolio. AllianceBernstein also serves as Sub-Adviser to the Index Allocated Portion of each of the EQ/Emerging Markets Equity PLUS Portfolio, Multimanager Aggressive Equity Portfolio, and Multimanager Technology Portfolio. AllianceBernstein also serves as Sub-Adviser to an Active Allocated Portion of the Multimanager Mid Cap Growth Portfolio. AllianceBernstein manages investments for investment companies, endowment funds, insurance companies, foreign entities, qualified and non-tax qualified corporate funds, public and private pension and profit-sharing plans, foundations and tax-exempt organizations. As of December 31, 2017, AllianceBernstein had approximately $554 billion in assets under management.

The eleventh paragraph under the section of the Prospectus entitled “Management of the Trust – The Sub-Advisers – AllianceBernstein L.P. (“AllianceBernstein”)” regarding “AllianceBernstein’s Passive Equity Investment Team” is hereby amended to include “EQ/Large Cap Value Index Portfolio, EQ/Mid Cap Index Portfolio, and Multimanager Technology Portfolio,” in the list of Portfolios for which AllianceBernstein’s Passive Equity Investment Team is responsible.

***************

The section of the SAI entitled “Investment Management and Other Services – The Sub-Advisers” is hereby amended to include the following information:

EQ/Large Cap Value Index Portfolio AllianceBernstein, a limited partnership, is indirectly majority owned by, and

3

therefore controlled by and affiliated with, AXA Equitable, a life insurance company.

EQ/Mid Cap Index Portfolio AllianceBernstein, a limited partnership, is indirectly majority owned by, and therefore controlled by and affiliated with, AXA Equitable, a life insurance company.

Multimanager Technology Portfolio AllianceBernstein, a limited partnership, is indirectly majority owned by, and therefore controlled by and affiliated with, AXA Equitable, a life insurance company.

References to Michael Feehily, Karl Schneider, David Chin, and Raymond Donofrio contained in the section of the Statement of Additional Information entitled “Appendix C – Portfolio Manager Information” with respect to the Passive Equity Portfolios are hereby deleted in their entirety. The section of the SAI entitled “Appendix C – EQ Advisors Trust – Portfolio Manager Information – AllianceBernstein L.P. (“AllianceBernstein” or “Sub-Adviser”)” is amended to include the following information:

AllianceBernstein L.P. (“AllianceBernstein” or “Sub-Adviser”)

Presented below for each portfolio manager is the number of other accounts of the Adviser managed by the portfolio manager and the total assets in the accounts managed within each category as of September 30, 2018

Portfolio Manager

Registered Investment Companies

Other Pooled Investment Vehicles Other Accounts

Number of Accounts

Total Assets (in millions)

Number of Accounts


Number of Accounts


EQ/Large Cap Value Index Portfolio Judith DeVivo 27 $23,669 32 $6,203 369 $37,202 Joshua Lisser 27 $23,669 32 $6,203 369 $37,202 Ben Sklar 27 $23,669 32 $6,203 369 $37,202 EQ/Mid Cap Index Portfolio Judith DeVivo 27 $23,669 32 $6,203 369 $37,202 Joshua Lisser 27 $23,669 32 $6,203 369 $37,202 Ben Sklar 27 $23,669 32 $6,203 369 $37,202 Multimanager Technology Portfolio Judith DeVivo 27 $23,669 32 $6,203 369 $37,202 Joshua Lisser 27 $23,669 32 $6,203 369 $37,202 Ben Sklar 27 $23,669 32 $6,203 369 $37,202

Of total listed above, those for which advisory fee is based on performance


Presented below for each of the categories is the number of accounts and the total assets in the accounts with respect to which the advisory fee is based on the performance of the account

Portfolio Manager



Number of Accounts


Number of Accounts


Number of Accounts


EQ/Large Cap Value Index Portfolio Judith DeVivo 0 N/A 0 N/A 1 $247 Joshua Lisser 0 N/A 0 N/A 1 $247 Ben Sklar 0 N/A 0 N/A 1 $247

4


Presented below for each of the categories is the number of accounts and the total assets in the accounts with respect to which the advisory fee is based on the performance of the account

Portfolio Manager



Number of Accounts


Number of Accounts


Number of Accounts


EQ/Mid Cap Index Portfolio Judith DeVivo 0 N/A 0 N/A 1 $247 Joshua Lisser 0 N/A 0 N/A 1 $247 Ben Sklar 0 N/A 0 N/A 1 $247 Multimanager Technology Portfolio Judith DeVivo 0 N/A 0 N/A 1 $247 Joshua Lisser 0 N/A 0 N/A 1 $247 Ben Sklar 0 N/A 0 N/A 1 $247

Ownership of Securities of each Portfolio as of September 30, 2018

Portfolio Manager

None

$1- $10,000

$10,001- $50,000

$50,001- $100,000

$100,001- $500,000

$500,001- $1,000,000

over $1,000,000

EQ/Large Cap Value Index Portfolio Judith DeVivo X Joshua Lisser X Ben Sklar X EQ/Mid Cap Index Portfolio Judith DeVivo X Joshua Lisser X Ben Sklar X Multimanager Technology Portfolio Judith DeVivo X Joshua Lisser X Ben Sklar X

*************** The purpose of this Supplement is to provide you with information, related to each Portfolio of the Trust, regarding the Adviser’s organizational structure and the status of the Sell-Down Plan, as described in the Trust’s proxy statement dated September 21, 2018, relating to the Special Meeting of Shareholders of the Trust held on October 25, 2018 (the “Meeting”), and the outcome of the Meeting: The section of the Prospectus entitled “Management of the Trust – The Adviser” and the section of SAI entitled “Investment Management and Other Services – The Adviser” are amended to include the following information: AXA S.A. (“AXA”), a French insurance holding company, formerly owned all of the outstanding shares of common stock of AXA Equitable Holdings, Inc. (“AEH”), which is the indirect parent company of AXA Equitable Funds Management Group, LLC (“FMG LLC”), the investment adviser to each series of the Trust (the “Portfolios”). On May 14, 2018, AXA sold approximately 24.5% of the outstanding shares of AEH via an initial public offering (“IPO”) on the New York Stock Exchange. Contemporaneously with the IPO, AXA sold mandatorily exchangeable notes (the “MxB Notes”) due May 15, 2021 and exchangeable into up to approximately 7% of the outstanding shares of common stock of AEH. AXA retains ownership of such shares of common stock until the MxB Notes are exchanged, which may be on a date that is earlier than the maturity date at AXA’s option upon the occurrence of certain events.

5

AXA anticipates selling all of its remaining interest in AEH — and, indirectly, FMG LLC — through a series of sales of AEH’s common stock (the “Sell-Down Plan”) over time. It is possible that AXA’s divestment of AEH may take place by means of a sale to a single buyer or group of buyers. It is anticipated that one or more of the transactions contemplated as part of the Sell-Down Plan would result in the automatic termination of (i) the investment advisory agreements between the Portfolios and FMG LLC and (ii) the investment sub-advisory agreements between FMG LLC and each of AllianceBernstein L.P., AXA Investment Managers, Inc., and AXA Rosenberg Investment Management LLC (the “Affiliated Sub-Advisers”) with respect to each Portfolio sub-advised by an Affiliated Sub-Adviser. To ensure that FMG LLC and the Affiliated Sub-Advisers continue to provide advisory and sub-advisory services to the Portfolios without interruption, the Board approved new advisory and sub-advisory agreements for the Portfolios, as applicable, in connection with the Sell-Down Plan. On October 25, 2018, shareholders of each Portfolio approved new investment advisory and affiliated sub-advisory agreements, as applicable, prompted by the Sell-Down Plan, as well as any future advisory and affiliated sub-advisory agreements prompted by the Sell-Down Plan that were previously approved by the Board and whose terms are not materially different from the current agreements. This means that shareholders may not have another opportunity to vote on a new agreement with FMG LLC or an Affiliated Sub-Adviser even if they undergo a change of control, as long as no single person or group of persons acting together gains “control” (as defined in the 1940 Act) of AEH. FMG LLC and its affiliates do not anticipate that the Sell-Down Plan will have a material impact on FMG LLC or any of its affiliates. As a result of the Sell-Down Plan, the names of the Portfolios may change in the future to reflect a change in the name of AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company or FMG LLC. Shareholders will be notified of any change in the name of a Portfolio. Notwithstanding the foregoing, it is possible that the completion of the Sell-Down Plan, whether implemented through public offerings or other means, could create the potential for disruption to the businesses of AEH and its subsidiaries. AEH, today and in the future as a stand-alone entity, is a publicly held U.S. company subject to the reporting requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as well as other U.S. government and state regulations applicable to public companies that it was not subject to prior to the IPO. The Sell-Down Plan may be implemented in phases. During the time that AXA retains a controlling interest in AEH, circumstances affecting AXA, including restrictions or requirements imposed on AXA by European and other authorities, may also affect AEH. A failure to implement or complete the Sell-Down Plan could create uncertainty about the nature of the relationship between AEH and AXA, and could adversely affect AEH and its subsidiaries, including FMG LLC. If the Sell-Down Plan is implemented fully, AEH will continue to be a publicly traded U.S. company, but will no longer be a subsidiary of AXA; FMG LLC will remain a wholly-owned subsidiary of AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company, which will remain a wholly-owned subsidiary of AEH.

***************

The purpose of this Supplement is to provide you with information regarding the election of additional Trustees to the Board of Trustees of the Trust. At a meeting of the Trust’s Governance Committee (“Committee”) held on August 22, 2018, the Committee nominated Michael B. Clement and Kathleen Stephansen, as well as each of the ten Trustees currently serving, to serve on the Board of Trustees of the Trust. Upon the recommendation of the Committee, the Board of Trustees recommended that shareholders of the Trust vote for the election of Mr. Clement and Ms.Stephansen, as well as each of the ten Trustees currently serving, to serve on the Board of Trustees.

At a meeting held on October 25, 2018, shareholders of the Trust voted to elect Mr. Clement and Ms. Stephansen, as well as each of the ten Trustees currently serving, to serve on the Board of Trustees of the Trust.

6

Effective January 1, 2019, the first table in the section of the SAI entitled “Management of the Trust – The Trustees,” is revised to include the following information regarding Michael B. Clement and Kathleen Stephansen.

Name, Address and Year of Birth

Position(s) Held With the Trust

Term of Office and Length of

Time Served

Principal Occupation(s)

During Past 5 Years

Number of Portfolios in

Fund Complex

Overseen by Trustee

Other Directorships

Held by Trustee During Past 5

Years

Michael B. Clement c/o EQ Advisors Trust 1290 Avenue of the Americas New York, New York 10104 (1957)

Trustee From January 1, 2019

From 2011 to present, Professor of Accounting, most recently was appointed Department of Accounting Chair effective September 2018, and from 1997 to 2002, Assistant Professor, University of Texas; from 2002 to 2004, Vice President – Global Investment Research, Goldman Sachs; from 1988 to 1991, Vice President – Capital Planning and Analysis, and from 1982 to 1986, Manager – Audit Division, Citicorp; and from 1980 to 1982, Senior Assistant Accountant, Deloitte Haskins & Sell

145

Kathleen Stephansen c/o EQ Advisors Trust 1290 Avenue of the Americas New York, New York 10104 (1954)

Trustee From January 1, 2019

From 2018 to present and in 2016, Senior Economic Advisor- Henderson Institute Center for Macroeconomics, Boston Consulting Group; From 2016 to 2018, Chief Economist, Huawei Technologies USA Inc.; from 2010 to 2016, held various positions at American International Group, including Chief Economist and Senior Managing Director and Senior Investment Strategies and Global Head of

145

7

Name, Address and Year of Birth

Position(s) Held With the Trust

Term of Office and Length of

Time Served

Principal Occupation(s)

During Past 5 Years

Number of Portfolios in

Fund Complex

Overseen by Trustee

Other Directorships

Held by Trustee During Past 5

Years

Sovereign Research – AIG Asset Management; from 2009 to 2010, Chief Economist and Managing Director, Aladdin Capital; from 2000 to 2009, Director and Head of Global Economics, Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC; and from 1984 to 2000, Co-Head of Economic Research and Chief International Economist, Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Corporation.

****************

Effective January 1, 2019, the following information is added to the section of the SAI entitled “Management of the Trust – Qualifications and Experience of the Trustees – Independent Trustees,” regarding Michael B. Clement and Kathleen Stephansen. Michael B. Clement — Mr. Clement has a background in the financial services industry, background as an accounting scholar and professor, and multiple years of service on the board of a real estate investment trust. Kathleen Stephansen — Ms. Stephansen has a background in the financial services industry, background as an economist, and senior management experience with a large financial services firm.

772291v1

EQ ADVISORS TRUSTSM SUPPLEMENT DATED AUGUST 15, 2018 TO THE PROSPECTUS DATED MAY 1, 2018, AS SUPPLEMENTED This Supplement updates certain information contained in the Prospectus dated May 1, 2018, as supplemented, of EQ Advisors Trust ("Trust"). You should read this Supplement in conjunction with the Prospectus and retain it for future reference. You may obtain an additional copy of the Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information, free of charge, by writing to the Trust at 1290 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10104, or you can view, print, and download a copy of these documents at the Trust's website at www.axa-equitablefunds.com.

The purpose of this Supplement is to provide you with information regarding changes to the fee rates payable by certain of the Portfolios of the Trust for management and administrative services and changes to the expense limitation arrangements for certain of the Portfolios of the Trust.

Effective October 1, 2018, the section of the Prospectus entitled "More Information on Fees and Expenses - Management Fees" is amended to include the following information:

The following table shows the contractual rate of the management fee (as a percentage of the Portfolio's average daily net assets) payable by the Portfolio listed in the table, effective as of October 1, 2018.

Portfolio First $1

Billion Next $1 Billion

Next $3 Billion

Next $5 Billion

Thereafter

EQ/Oppenheimer Global 0.850% 0.800% 0.775% 0.750% 0.725%

Effective October 1, 2018, the second and third paragraphs in the section of the Prospectus entitled "More Information on Fees and Expenses - Administrative Fees" are deleted in their entirety and replaced with the following information:

With respect to the AXA/AB Short Duration Government Bond Portfolio, AXA/ClearBridge Large Cap Growth Portfolio, AXA/Janus Enterprise Portfolio, AXA/Loomis Sayles Growth Portfolio, EQ/BlackRock Basic Value Equity Portfolio, EQ/Capital Guardian Research Portfolio, EQ/Common Stock Index Portfolio, EQ/Core Bond Index Portfolio, EQ/Equity 500 Index Portfolio, EQ/lnternational Equity Index Portfolio, EQ/lntermediate Government Bond Portfolio, EQ/lnvesco Comstock Portfolio, EQ/JPMorgan Value Opportunities Portfolio, EQ/Large Cap Growth Index Portfolio, EQ/Large Cap Value Index Portfolio, EQ/MFS International Growth Portfolio, EQ/Mid Cap Index Portfolio, EQ/Money Market Portfolio, EQ/Oppenheimer Global Portfolio, EQ/PIMCO Global Real Return Portfolio, EQ/PIMCO Ultra Short Bond Portfolio, EQ/Small Company Index Portfolio, EQ/T. Rowe Price Growth Stock Portfolio, and EQ/UBS Growth and Income Portfolio (together with the 1290 VT Doubleline Opportunistic Bond Portfolio, 1290 VT Equity Income Portfolio,1290 VT Natural Resources Portfolio, 1290 VT Real Estate Portfolio, 1290 VT SmartBeta Equity Portfolio, 1290 VT Socially Responsible Portfolio, 1290 VT GAMCO Mergers & Acquisitions Portfolio, 1290 VT GAMCO Small Company Value Portfolio, 1290 VT Multi-Alternative Strategies Portfolio, 1290 VT Energy Portfolio, 1290 VT Low Volatility Global Equity Portfolio and 1290 VT Doubleline Dynamic Allocation Portfolio, which are offered in another prospectus, and also with the EQ/American Century Mid Cap Value Portfolio, EQ/Fidelity Institutional AMSM Large Cap Portfolio, EQ/Franklin Rising Dividends Portfolio, EQ/Goldman Sachs Mid Cap Value Portfolio, EQ/Invesco Global Real Estate Portfolio, EQ/Invesco International Growth Portfolio, EQ/Ivy Energy Portfolio, EQ/Ivy Mid Cap Growth Portfolio, EQ/Ivy Science and Technology Portfolio, EQ/Lazard Emerging Markets Equity Portfolio, EQ/MFS International Value Portfolio, EQ/MFS Technology Portfolio, EQ/MFS Utilities Series Portfolio, EQ/T. Rowe Price Health Sciences Portfolio, EQ/Franklin Strategic Income Portfolio, EQ/PIMCO Real Return Portfolio and EQ/PIMCO Total Return Portfolio, which are offered in another prospectus), each, a "Single-Advised Portfolio", for administrative services, in addition to the management fee, each Single-Advised Portfolio pays FMG LLC its proportionate share of an asset-based administration fee for the Single-Advised Portfolios, subject to a minimum annual fee of $30,000 per portfolio. The table below shows the Single-Advised Portfolios' asset-based administration fee rates based on aggregate average daily net assets of these Portfolios:

0.100% of the first $30 billion; 0.0975% of the next $10 billion; 0.0950% of the next $5 billion; and 0.0800% thereafter

http://www.axa-eauitablefunds.com/

772291v1

With respect to the AXA Global Equity Managed Volatility Portfolio, AXA International Core Managed Volatility Portfolio, AXA International Value Managed Volatility Portfolio, AXA Large Cap Core Managed Volatility Portfolio, AXA Large Cap Growth Managed Volatility Portfolio, AXA Large Cap Value Managed Volatility Portfolio, AXA Mid Cap Value Managed Volatility Portfolio, AXA/AB Small Cap Growth Portfolio, AXA/Franklin Balanced Managed Volatility Portfolio, AXA/Franklin Small Cap Value Managed Volatility Portfolio, AXA/Morgan Stanley Small Cap Growth Portfolio, AXA/Mutual Large Cap Equity Managed Volatility Portfolio, AXA/Templeton Global Equity Managed Volatility Portfolio, EQ/Emerging Markets Equity PLUS Portfolio, EQ/Global Bond PLUS Portfolio, EQ/Quality Bond PLUS Portfolio, Multimanager Aggressive Equity Portfolio, Multimanager Core Bond Portfolio, Multimanager Mid Cap Growth Portfolio, Multimanager Mid Cap Value Portfolio, and Multimanager Technology Portfolio (together with t h e 1290 VT Small Cap Value Portfolio, 1290 VT Micro Cap Portfolio, 1290 VT Convertible Securities Portfolio and 1290 VT High Yield Bond Portfolio, which are offered in another prospectus), each a "Hybrid Portfolio," and the AXA/AB Dynamic Aggressive Growth Portfolio, AXA/AB Dynamic Growth Portfolio, AXA/AB Dynamic Moderate Growth Portfolio, AXA/Goldman Sachs Strategic Allocation Portfolio, AXA/Invesco Strategic Allocation Portfolio, AXA/JPMorgan Strategic Allocation Portfolio, AXA/Legg Mason Strategic Allocation Portfolio, and the ATM Portfolios (the "ATM Portfolios" are ATM International Managed Volatility Portfolio, ATM Large Cap Managed Volatility Portfolio, ATM Mid Cap Managed Volatility Portfolio, ATM Small Cap Managed Volatility Portfolio, AXA 2000 Managed Volatility Portfolio, AXA 400 Managed Volatility Portfolio, AXA 500 Managed Volatility Portfolio and AXA International Managed Volatility Portfolio), together with the Allocation Portfolios (the "Allocation Portfolios," which are offered in another prospectus, are AXA Ultra Conservative Strategy Portfolio, AXA Conservative Strategy Portfolio, AXA Conservative Growth Strategy Portfolio, AXA Balanced Strategy Portfolio, AXA Moderate Growth Strategy Portfolio, AXA Growth Strategy Portfolio, AXA Aggressive Strategy Portfolio, All Asset Growth - Alt 20 Portfolio and AXA/Franklin Templeton Allocation Managed Volatility Portfolio), for administrative services, in addition to the management fee, each of the Portfolios pays FMG LLC its proportionate share of an asset-based administration fee, subject to a minimum annual fee of $32,500 per portfolio. For purposes of calculating the asset-based administration fee, the assets of the portfolios of the AXA Premier VIP Trust, which are also managed by FMG LLC and which are offered in another prospectus, are aggregated with the assets of the Portfolios referenced in this paragraph. The table below shows the asset-based administration fee rates based on aggregate average daily net assets of these Portfolios:

0.140% of the first $60 billion; 0.110% of the next $20 billion; 0.0875% of the next $20 billion; and 0.0800% thereafter

Effective October 1, 2018, the section of the Prospectus entitled "More Information on Fees and Expenses" is revised to include the following information:

Voluntary Expense Limitation

The Adviser has voluntarily agreed to make payments or waive all or a portion of its management, administrative and other fees to limit the expenses of the Portfolios listed below so that the annual operating expenses of each Portfolio (other than interest, taxes, brokerage commissions, acquired fund fees and expenses, dividend and interest expenses on securities sold short, other expenditures that are capitalized in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and other extraordinary expenses not incurred in the ordinary course of each Portfolio's business) as a percentage of average daily net assets do not exceed the following respective expense ratios:

Voluntary Expense Limitation Provisions*

Portfolios Total Expenses Limited to (% of average daily net assets) Class IA Class IB Class K

AXA/Janus Enterprise 1.05% 1.05% 0.80% EQ/Oppenheimer Global 1.15% 1.15% 0.90% EQ/MFS International Growth 1.15% 1.15% 0.90% AXA/AB Short Duration Government Bond 0.80% 0.80% 0.55% EQ/PIMCO Ultra Short Bond 0.80% 0.80% 0.55% Multimanager Technology 1.20% 1.20% 0.95% AXA Global Equity Managed Volatility 1.10% 1.10% 0.85% AXA/Templeton Global Equity Managed Volatility

1.10% 1.10% 0.85%

*Voluntary waivers may be reduced or discontinued at any time without notice.

EQ Advisors TrustSM

Prospectus dated May 1, 2018

This Prospectus describes four (4) Portfolios* offered by EQ Advisors Trust (the “Trust”) and the Class IA and Class IB shares offered by the Truston behalf of each Portfolio that you can choose as investment alternatives. Each Portfolio has its own investment objective and strategies that aredesigned to meet different investment goals. This Prospectus contains information you should know before investing. Please read this Prospectuscarefully before investing and keep it for future reference.

Equity PortfoliosEQ/Common Stock Index

EQ/International Equity IndexMultimanager Aggressive Equity

Fixed Income PortfolioEQ/Money Market

* Not all of these Portfolios may be available as an investment in your variable life or annuity product or under your retirement plan. In addi-tion, certain of these Portfolios may be available only as underlying investment portfolios of certain other portfolios of EQ Advisors Trust andAXA Premier VIP Trust and may not be available directly as an investment under your variable life or annuity product or retirement plan.Please consult your product prospectus or retirement plan documents to see which Portfolios are available under your contract or plan.

The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission have not approved or disapprovedthese securities or passed upon the adequacy of this Prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

AG & WS

EQ Advisors Trust

Table of contents

1. About the Investment Portfolios

Equity Portfolios 3EQ/Common Stock Index 3EQ/International Equity Index 6Multimanager Aggressive Equity 10

Fixed Income Portfolio 15EQ/Money Market 15

2. More Information on Fees andExpenses 19

Management Fees 19Expense Limitation Agreement 20

3. More Information on Strategies, Risksand Benchmarks 21

Strategies 21Risks 28Benchmarks and Other Indexes 48

4. Management of the Trust 49

The Trust 49The Adviser 49The Sub-Advisers 51Conflicts of Interest 52Legal Proceedings 55Legal Proceedings Relating to the Sub-Advisers

5. Fund Distribution Arrangements 57

6. Buying and Selling Shares 59

7. How Portfolio Shares are Priced 61

8. Dividends and Other Distributions andTax Consequences 62

9. Glossary of Terms 63

10. Financial Highlights 64

2 Table of contents EQ Advisors Trust

EQ/Common Stock Index Portfolio – Class IA and IB Shares

Investment Objective: Seeks to achieve a total return before ex-penses that approximates the total return performance of the Russell3000® Index, including reinvestment of dividends, at a risk levelconsistent with that of the Russell 3000 Index.

FEES AND EXPENSES OF THE PORTFOLIO

The following table describes the fees and expenses that you maypay if you buy and hold shares of the Portfolio. The table below doesnot reflect any fees and expenses associated with variable life in-surance contracts and variable annuity certificates and contracts(“Contracts”), which would increase overall fees and expenses. Seethe Contract prospectus for a description of those fees and expenses.

Shareholder Fees(fees paid directly from your investment)Not applicable.

Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses(expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value ofyour investment)

EQ/Common Stock Index PortfolioClass IAShares

Class IBShares

Management Fee* 0.32% 0.32%Distribution and/or Service Fees (12b-1 fees) 0.25% 0.25%Other Expenses 0.12% 0.12%Total Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses 0.69% 0.69%

* Management Fee has been restated to reflect current fees.

Example

This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing inthe Portfolio with the cost of investing in other portfolios. The Exam-ple assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Portfolio for the periodsindicated, that your investment has a 5% return each year, and thatthe Portfolio’s operating expenses remain the same. This Exampledoes not reflect any Contract-related fees and expenses includingredemption fees (if any) at the Contract level. If such fees and ex-penses were reflected, the total expenses would be higher. Althoughyour actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assump-tions, whether you redeem or hold your shares, your costs would be:

1 Year 3 Years 5 Years 10 YearsClass IA Shares $70 $221 $384 $859Class IB Shares $70 $221 $384 $859

PORTFOLIO TURNOVER

The Portfolio pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when itbuys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher port-folio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs. These costs,which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in theExample, affect the Portfolio’s performance. During the most recentfiscal year, the Portfolio’s portfolio turnover rate was 3% of theaverage value of the Portfolio.

INVESTMENTS, RISKS, AND PERFORMANCE

Principal Investment Strategy: The Portfolio generally invests atleast 80% of its net assets, plus borrowings for investment purposes,in common stocks of companies represented in the Russell 3000®

Index (“Russell 3000”). The Russell 3000 is an unmanaged indexthat measures the performance of the 3,000 largest U.S. companiesbased on total market capitalizations, which represents approx-imately 98% of the investable U.S. equity market.

The Portfolio’s investments are selected by a stratified sampling con-struction process in which the Sub-Adviser selects a subset of the3,000 companies in the Russell 3000 based on the Sub-Adviser’sanalysis of key risk factors and other characteristics. Such factors in-clude industry weightings, market capitalizations, return variability, andyield. This strategy is commonly referred to as an indexing strategy.

The Portfolio also may lend its portfolio securities to earn additionalincome.

Principal Risks: An investment in the Portfolio is not a deposit of abank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit In-surance Corporation or any other government agency. You may losemoney by investing in the Portfolio. Performance may be affected byone or more of the following risks.

The following risks are described in alphabetical order and not inorder of importance or potential exposure.

Equity Risk: In general, stocks and other equity security valuesfluctuate, and sometimes widely fluctuate, in response to changes ina company’s financial condition as well as general market, economicand political conditions and other factors.

Index Strategy Risk: The Portfolio employs an index strategy,that is, it generally invests in the securities included in its index or arepresentative sample of such securities regardless of market trends.The Portfolio generally will not modify its index strategy to respondto changes in the economy, which means that it may be particularlysusceptible to a general decline in the market segment relating to therelevant index. In addition, although the index strategy attempts toclosely track its benchmark index, the Portfolio may not invest in allof the securities in the index. Also, the Portfolio’s fees and expenseswill reduce the Portfolio’s returns, unlike those of the benchmarkindex. Cash flow into and out of the Portfolio, portfolio transactioncosts, changes in the securities that comprise the index, and thePortfolio’s valuation procedures also may affect the Portfolio’s per-formance. Therefore, there can be no assurance that the performanceof the index strategy will match that of the benchmark index.

Large-Cap Company Risk: Larger more established companiesmay be unable to respond quickly to new competitive challengessuch as changes in technology and consumer tastes. Many largercompanies also may not be able to attain the high growth rate ofsuccessful smaller companies, especially during extended periods ofeconomic expansion.

EQ Advisors Trust About the investment portfolios 3

Mid-Cap and Small-Cap Company Risk: The Portfolio’s in-vestments in mid- and small-cap companies may involve greater risksthan investments in larger, more established issuers because they gen-erally are more vulnerable than larger companies to adverse businessor economic developments. Such companies generally have narrowerproduct lines, more limited financial and management resources andmore limited markets for their securities as compared with larger com-panies. As a result, the value of such securities may be more volatilethan the value of securities of larger companies, and the Portfolio mayexperience difficulty in purchasing or selling such securities at the de-sired time and price or in the desired amount. In general, these risksare greater for small-cap companies than for mid-cap companies.

Sector Risk: From time to time, based on market or economicconditions, the Portfolio may have significant positions in one ormore sectors of the market. To the extent the Portfolio invests moreheavily in particular sectors, its performance will be especially sensi-tive to developments that significantly affect those sectors. Individualsectors may be more volatile, and may perform differently, than thebroader market. The industries that constitute a sector may all reactin the same way to economic, political or regulatory events.

Securities Lending Risk: The Portfolio may lend its portfoliosecurities to seek income. There is a risk that a borrower may defaulton its obligations to return loaned securities, however, the Portfolio’ssecurities lending agent may indemnify the Portfolio against that risk.The Portfolio will be responsible for the risks associated with the in-vestment of cash collateral, including any collateral invested in an af-filiated money market fund. The Portfolio may lose money on itsinvestment of cash collateral or may fail to earn sufficient income onits investment to meet obligations to the borrower. In addition, de-lays may occur in the recovery of securities from borrowers, whichcould interfere with the Portfolio’s ability to vote proxies or to settletransactions.

Risk/Return Bar Chart and Table

The bar chart and table below provide some indication of the risks ofinvesting in the Portfolio by showing changes in the Portfolio’s per-formance from year to year and by showing how the Portfolio’saverage annual total returns for the past one, five and ten yearsthrough December 31, 2017 compared to the returns of a broad-based securities market index. Past performance is not an indicationof future performance.

The performance results do not reflect any Contract-related fees andexpenses, which would reduce the performance results.

Calendar Year Annual Total Returns — Class IB

2014201320122008 20112009

28.31%

15.93% 15.62%

0.50%

2010-43.81%

32.48%

12.03% 11.69%

20.50%

-0.07%

2015 20172016

Best quarter (% and time period) Worst quarter (% and time period)16.68% (2009 2nd Quarter) –25.39% (2008 4th Quarter)

Average Annual Total ReturnsOneYear

FiveYears

TenYears

EQ/Common Stock Index Portfolio –Class IA Shares 20.49% 14.83% 6.95%

EQ/Common Stock Index Portfolio –Class IB Shares 20.50% 14.82% 6.84%

Russell 3000® Index (reflects no deduction forfees, expenses, or taxes) 21.13% 15.58% 8.60%

WHO MANAGES THE PORTFOLIO

Investment Adviser: FMG LLC

Portfolio Managers: The members of the team that are jointly andprimarily responsible for the selection, monitoring and oversight ofthe Portfolio’s Sub-Adviser are:

Name Title

Date BeganManaging

the Portfolio

Kenneth T. Kozlowski,CFP®, CLU, ChFC

Executive Vice Presidentand Chief InvestmentOfficer of FMG LLC

May 2011

Alwi Chan, CFA® Senior Vice Presidentand Deputy ChiefInvestment Officer ofFMG LLC

May 2009

Sub-Adviser: AllianceBernstein L.P. (“AllianceBernstein”)

Portfolio Manager: The individual primarily responsible for thesecurities selection, research and trading for the Portfolio is:

Name Title

Date BeganManaging

the Portfolio

Judith DeVivo Senior Vice President andPortfolio Manager ofAllianceBernstein

December 2008

AXA Equitable Funds Management Group, LLC (“FMG LLC” or the“Adviser”) has been granted relief by the Securities and Exchange

4 About the investment portfolios EQ Advisors Trust

Commission to hire, terminate and replace Sub-Advisers and amendsub-advisory agreements subject to the approval of the Board ofTrustees and without obtaining shareholder approval. However, theAdviser may not enter into a sub-advisory agreement on behalf ofthe Portfolio with an “affiliated person” of the Adviser, such as Alli-anceBernstein L.P., unless the sub-advisory agreement is approved bythe Portfolio’s shareholders. The Adviser is responsible for overseeingSub-Advisers and recommending their hiring, termination and re-placement to the Board of Trustees.

PURCHASE AND REDEMPTION OF PORTFOLIO SHARES

The Portfolio’s shares are currently sold only to insurance companyseparate accounts in connection with Contracts issued by AXA Equi-table Life Insurance Company (“AXA Equitable”), AXA Life and An-nuity Company, or other affiliated or unaffiliated insurancecompanies and to The AXA Equitable 401(k) Plan. Shares also maybe sold to other tax-qualified retirement plans, to other portfoliosmanaged by FMG LLC that currently sell their shares to such ac-counts and plans and to other investors eligible under applicablefederal income tax regulations.

The Portfolio does not have minimum initial or subsequent invest-ment requirements. Shares of the Portfolio are redeemable on anybusiness day (which typically is any day the New York Stock Ex-change is open) upon receipt of a request. All redemption requestswill be processed and payment with respect thereto will normally bemade within seven days after tender. Please refer to your Contractprospectus for more information on purchasing and redeemingPortfolio shares.

TAX INFORMATION

The Portfolio’s shareholders are (or may include) insurance companyseparate accounts, qualified plans and other investors eligible underapplicable federal income tax regulations. Distributions made by thePortfolio to such an account or plan, and exchanges and re-demptions of Portfolio shares made by such an account or plan,ordinarily do not cause the holders of underlying Contracts or planparticipants or beneficiaries to recognize income or gain for federalincome tax purposes at the time of the distributions, exchanges orredemptions; the holders, plan participants or beneficiaries generallyare taxed only on amounts they withdraw from their Contract orplan. See the prospectus for your Contract or your plan doc-umentation for further tax information.

PAYMENTS TO BROKER-DEALERS AND OTHERFINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES

This Portfolio is not sold directly to the general public but instead isoffered as an underlying investment option for Contracts and retire-ment plans and to other eligible investors. The Portfolio and the Ad-viser and its affiliates may make payments to a sponsoring insurancecompany (or its affiliates) or other financial intermediary for dis-tribution and/or other services. These payments may create a conflictof interest by influencing the insurance company or other financial

intermediary and your financial adviser to recommend the Portfolioover another investment or by influencing an insurance company toinclude the Portfolio as an underlying investment option in the Con-tract. The prospectus (or other offering document) for your Contractmay contain additional information about these payments. Ask yourfinancial adviser or visit your financial intermediary’s website formore information.


EQ/International Equity Index Portfolio – Class IA and IB Shares

Investment Objective: Seeks to achieve a total return (before ex-penses) that approximates the total return performance of a compo-site index comprised of 40% DJ EuroSTOXX 50 Index, 25% FTSE 100Index, 25% TOPIX Index, and 10% S&P/ASX 200 Index, includingreinvestment of dividends, at a risk level consistent with that of thecomposite index.





EQ/International Equity Index PortfolioClass IAShares

Class IBShares

Management Fee 0.40% 0.40%Distribution and/or Service Fees (12b-1 fees) 0.25% 0.25%Other Expenses 0.14% 0.14%Total Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses 0.79% 0.79%

Example


1 Year 3 Years 5 Years 10 YearsClass IA Shares $81 $252 $439 $978Class IB Shares $81 $252 $439 $978

PORTFOLIO TURNOVER

The Portfolio pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when itbuys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher port-folio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs. These costs,which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in theExample, affect the Portfolio’s performance. During the most recent

fiscal year, the Portfolio’s portfolio turnover rate was 6% of the aver-age value of the Portfolio.


Principal Investment Strategy: Under normal circumstances thePortfolio invests at least 80% of its net assets, plus borrowings forinvestment purposes, in equity securities of companies represented inthe FTSE 100 Index (“FTSE 100”), TOPIX Index (“TOPIX”), DJ Euro-STOXX 50 Index (“EuroSTOXX 50”), and S&P/ASX 200 Index (“S&P/ASX 200”). The Portfolio will allocate its assets approximately 25%to securities in the FTSE 100, 25% to securities in the TOPIX, 40% tosecurities in the EuroSTOXX 50, and 10% to securities in the S&P/ASX 200. Actual allocations may vary by up to 3%. The FTSE 100Index represents the performance of the 100 largest UK-domiciledblue chip companies. The TOPIX Index comprises all companies listedon the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange (approximately2000 companies). The DJ EuroSTOXX 50 Index index represents theperformance of the 50 largest companies in 11 Eurozone countries.The S&P/ASX 200 Index represents the 200 largest and most liquidpublicly listed companies in Australia. Each of these indices isweighted by market capitalization.

The Portfolio’s investments will be selected by a stratified samplingconstruction process in which the Sub-Adviser selects a subset of thecompanies represented in each index based on the Sub-Adviser’sanalysis of key risk factors and other characteristics. Such factors in-clude industry weightings, market capitalizations, return variability,and yields. This strategy is commonly referred to as an indexingstrategy.




Equity Risk: In general, stocks and other equity security valuesfluctuate, and sometimes widely fluctuate, in response to changes ina company’s financial condition as well as general market, economicand political conditions and other factors.

Foreign Securities Risk: Investments in foreign securities, in-cluding depositary receipts, involve risks not associated with invest-ments in U.S. securities. Foreign markets may be less liquid, morevolatile and subject to less government supervision and regulationthan U.S. markets. Security values also may be negatively affected bychanges in the exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and foreigncurrencies. Differences between U.S. and foreign legal, political andeconomic systems, regulatory regimes and market practices also may


impact security values, and it may take more time to clear and settletrades involving foreign securities. In addition, securities issued byU.S. entities with substantial foreign operations or holdings can in-volve risks relating to conditions in foreign countries.

Currency Risk: Investments in foreign currencies and insecurities that trade in, or receive revenues in, or in derivativesthat provide exposure to foreign currencies are subject to therisk that those currencies will decline in value relative to theU.S. dollar. Any such decline may erode or reverse any potentialgains from an investment in securities denominated in foreigncurrency or may widen existing loss. In the case of hedgingpositions, there is the risk that the U.S. dollar will decline invalue relative to the currency being hedged. Currency rates mayfluctuate significantly over short periods of time for a number ofreasons, including changes in interest rates, intervention (or thefailure to intervene) by governments, central banks or suprana-tional entities, or by the imposition of currency controls or otherpolitical developments in the U.S. or abroad.

European Economic Risk: The European Union’s (the“EU”) Economic and Monetary Union (the “EMU”) requiresmember countries to comply with restrictions on interest rates,deficits, debt levels, and inflation rates, and other factors, eachof which may significantly impact every European country. Theeconomies of EU member countries and their trading partnersmay be adversely affected by changes in the euro’s exchangerate, changes in EU or governmental regulations on trade, andthe threat of default or an actual default by an EU membercountry on its sovereign debt, which could negatively impactthe Portfolio’s investments and cause it to lose money. In re-cent years, the European financial markets have been neg-atively impacted by concerns relating to rising government debtlevels and national unemployment; possible default on or re-structuring of sovereign debt in several European countries; andeconomic downturns. A European country’s default or debt re-structuring would adversely affect the holders of the country’sdebt and sellers of credit default swaps linked to the country’screditworthiness and could negatively impact global marketsmore generally. Recent events in Europe may adversely affectthe euro’s exchange rate and value and may continue to impactthe economies of every European country. In June 2016, theUnited Kingdom (the “UK”) voted to withdraw from the EU,commonly referred to as “Brexit.” The impact of Brexit is so faruncertain. The negative impact on not only the UK and Euro-pean economies but also the broader global economy could besignificant, potentially resulting in increased volatility and illi-quidity, which could adversely affect the value of the Portfolio’sinvestments. Any further withdrawals from the EU could causeadditional market disruption globally.

Index Strategy Risk: The Portfolio employs an index strategy,that is, it generally invests in the securities included in its index or arepresentative sample of such securities regardless of market trends.The Portfolio generally will not modify its index strategy to respondto changes in the economy, which means that it may be particularly

susceptible to a general decline in the market segment relating to therelevant index. In addition, although the index strategy attempts toclosely track its benchmark index, the Portfolio may not invest in allof the securities in the index. Also, the Portfolio’s fees and expenseswill reduce the Portfolio’s returns, unlike those of the benchmarkindex. Cash flow into and out of the Portfolio, portfolio transactioncosts, changes in the securities that comprise the index, and thePortfolio’s valuation procedures also may affect the Portfolio’s per-formance. Therefore, there can be no assurance that the performanceof the index strategy will match that of the benchmark index.

Large-Cap Company Risk: Larger more established companiesmay be unable to respond quickly to new competitive challengessuch as changes in technology and consumer tastes. Many largercompanies also may not be able to attain the high growth rate ofsuccessful smaller companies, especially during extended periods ofeconomic expansion.


Securities Lending Risk: The Portfolio may lend its portfoliosecurities to seek income. There is a risk that a borrower may defaulton its obligations to return loaned securities, however, the Portfolio’ssecurities lending agent may indemnify the Portfolio against that risk.The Portfolio will be responsible for the risks associated with the in-vestment of cash collateral, including any collateral invested in an af-filiated money market fund. The Portfolio may lose money on itsinvestment of cash collateral or may fail to earn sufficient income onits investment to meet obligations to the borrower. In addition, de-lays may occur in the recovery of securities from borrowers, whichcould interfere with the Portfolio’s ability to vote proxies or to settletransactions.


The bar chart and table below provide some indication of the risks ofinvesting in the Portfolio by showing changes in the Portfolio’s per-formance from year to year and by showing how the Portfolio’saverage annual total returns for the past one, five and ten years (orsince inception) through December 31, 2017 compared to the re-turns of a broad-based securities market index. The additional indexshows how the Portfolio’s performance compared with the returns ofanother index that has characteristics relevant to the Portfolio’s in-vestment strategies and more closely reflects the securities in whichthe Portfolio invests. The return of the broad-based market index(and any additional comparative index) shown in the right hand col-umn below is the return of the index for the last 10 years or, ifshorter, since the inception of the share class with the longest his-tory. Past performance is not an indication of future performance.




201320122011201020092008

27.45%

16.14%

5.24%

-12.20%

-50.83%

21.48%

2014 201720162015

-6.85%-2.12%

2.15%

23.29%

Best quarter (% and time period) Worst quarter (% and time period)25.05% (2009 2nd Quarter) –26.12% (2008 4th Quarter)

Average Annual Total Returns

OneYear

FiveYears

TenYears/SinceInception

EQ/International Equity Index Portfolio –Class IA Shares 23.16% 6.86% –0.54%

EQ/International Equity Index Portfolio –Class IB Shares 23.29% 6.88% –0.64%

International Proxy Index (reflects nodeduction for fees, expenses, or taxes) 24.36% 7.84% 1.67%

MSCI EAFE Index (reflects no deduction forfees or expenses) 25.03% 7.90% 1.94%



Portfolio Managers: The members of the team that are jointly andprimarily responsible for the selection, monitoring and oversight ofthe Portfolio’s Sub-Adviser are:

Name Title

Date BeganManaging

the Portfolio

Kenneth T. Kozlowski,CFP®, CLU, ChFC

ExecutiveVice President andChief Investment Officerof FMG LLC

May 2011

Alwi Chan, CFA® Senior Vice Presidentand DeputyChief Investment Officerof FMG LLC

May 2009


Portfolio Manager: The individual primarily responsible for thesecurities selection, research and trading for the Portfolio is:

Name Title

Date BeganManaging

the Portfolio

Judith DeVivo Senior Vice President andPortfolio Manager ofAllianceBernstein

December 2010

AXA Equitable Funds Management Group, LLC (“FMG LLC” or the“Adviser”) has been granted relief by the Securities and ExchangeCommission to hire, terminate and replace Sub-Advisers and amendsub-advisory agreements subject to the approval of the Board ofTrustees and without obtaining shareholder approval. However, theAdviser may not enter into a sub-advisory agreement on behalf ofthe Portfolio with an “affiliated person” of the Adviser, such as Alli-anceBernstein L.P., unless the sub-advisory agreement is approved bythe Portfolio’s shareholders. The Adviser is responsible for overseeingSub-Advisers and recommending their hiring, termination and re-placement to the Board of Trustees.

PURCHASE AND REDEMPTION OF PORTFOLIOSHARES



TAX INFORMATION

The Portfolio’s shareholders are (or may include) insurance companyseparate accounts, qualified plans and other investors eligible underapplicable federal income tax regulations. Distributions made by thePortfolio to such an account or plan, and exchanges and re-demptions of Portfolio shares made by such an account or plan,ordinarily do not cause the holders of underlying Contracts or planparticipants or beneficiaries to recognize income or gain for federalincome tax purposes at the time of the distributions, exchanges orredemptions; the holders, plan participants or beneficiaries generally


are taxed only on amounts they withdraw from their Contract orplan. See the prospectus for your Contract or your plan doc-umentation for further tax information.


This Portfolio is not sold directly to the general public but instead isoffered as an underlying investment option for Contracts and retire-ment plans and to other eligible investors. The Portfolio and the Ad-viser and its affiliates may make payments to a sponsoring insurancecompany (or its affiliates) or other financial intermediary for dis-tribution and/or other services. These payments may create a conflictof interest by influencing the insurance company or other financialintermediary and your financial adviser to recommend the Portfolioover another investment or by influencing an insurance company toinclude the Portfolio as an underlying investment option in the Con-tract. The prospectus (or other offering document) for your Contractmay contain additional information about these payments. Ask yourfinancial adviser or visit your financial intermediary’s website formore information.


Multimanager Aggressive Equity Portfolio – Class IA and IB Shares

Investment Objective: Seeks to achieve long-term growth of capital.





Multimanager Aggressive Equity PortfolioClass IAShares

Class IBShares


Example


1 Year 3 Years 5 Years 10 YearsClass IA Shares $101 $315 $547 $1,213Class IB Shares $101 $315 $547 $1,213

PORTFOLIO TURNOVER

The Portfolio pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when itbuys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher port-folio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs. These costs,which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in theExample, affect the Portfolio’s performance. During the most recentfiscal year, the Portfolio’s portfolio turnover rate was 47% of theaverage value of the Portfolio.


Principal Investment Strategy: Under normal circumstances, thePortfolio intends to invest at least 80% of its net assets, plus borrow-ings for investment purposes, in equity securities. For purposes of thisPortfolio, equity securities shall include common stocks, preferredstocks, and other equity securities, and financial instruments that de-rive their value from such securities. The Portfolio invests primarily insecurities of large capitalization growth companies. For purposes ofthis Portfolio, large capitalization companies are companies withmarket capitalization within the range of the Russell 3000® GrowthIndex (“Russell 3000 Growth”) at the time of investment (marketcapitalization range of approximately $22.7 million to $868.9 billionas of December 31, 2017). The Portfolio intends to invest primarily incommon stocks, but may also invest in other equity securities that aSub-Adviser believes provide opportunities for capital growth. Thesize of companies in the Russell 3000 Growth changes with marketconditions, which can result in changes to the market capitalizationrange of companies in the index. The Portfolio may invest up to 15%of its total assets in securities of foreign issuers, including emergingmarket securities and depositary receipts.

AXA Equitable Funds Management Group, LLC (“FMG LLC” or“Adviser”) will generally allocate the Portfolio’s assets among three ormore Sub-Advisers, each of which will manage its portion of thePortfolio using different yet complementary investment strategies.Under normal circumstances, one portion of the Portfolio will track theperformance of a particular index (“Index Allocated Portion”) and theother portions of the Portfolio will be actively managed (“Active Allo-cated Portions”). Under normal circumstances, the Adviser anticipatesallocating approximately 50% of the Portfolio’s net assets to the IndexAllocated Portion and the remaining 50% of net assets among the Ac-tive Allocated Portions. These percentages are targets established bythe Adviser and actual allocations between the portions may deviatefrom these targets by up to 20% of the Portfolio’s net assets.

The Index Allocated Portion of the Portfolio seeks to track the per-formance (before fees and expenses) of the Russell 3000 Growthwith minimal tracking error. This strategy is commonly referred to asindexing strategy. Generally, the Index Allocated Portion utilizes asampling construction process in which the Index Allocated Portioninvests in a subset of the companies represented in the Russell 3000Growth based on the Sub-Adviser’s analysis of key risk factors andcharacteristics. Such factors and characteristics include industryweightings, market capitalizations, return variability and yield.

Each Active Allocated Portion invests primarily in equity securities ofcompanies whose above-average prospective earnings growth is notfully reflected, in the view of the Sub-Adviser, in current market valu-ations. The Active Allocated Portions may invest up to 25% of theirtotal assets in securities of foreign companies, including companiesbased in developing countries. A Sub-Adviser may sell a security for avariety of reasons, such as to make other investments believed by theSub-Adviser to offer superior investment opportunities.





Equity Risk: In general, stocks and other equity security valuesfluctuate, and sometimes widely fluctuate, in response to changes ina company’s financial condition as well as general market, economic,and political conditions and other factors.

Foreign Securities Risk: Investments in foreign securities, in-cluding depositary receipts, involve risks not associated with invest-ments in U.S. securities. Foreign markets may be less liquid, morevolatile and subject to less government supervision and regulationthan U.S. markets. Security values also may be negatively affected bychanges in the exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and foreigncurrencies. Differences between U.S. and foreign legal, political andeconomic systems, regulatory regimes and market practices also mayimpact security values, and it may take more time to clear and settletrades involving foreign securities. In addition, securities issued byU.S. entities with substantial foreign operations or holdings can in-volve risks relating to conditions in foreign countries.

Currency Risk: Investments in foreign currencies and insecurities that trade in, or receive revenues in, or in derivativesthat provide exposure to foreign currencies are subject to therisk that those currencies will decline in value relative to theU.S. dollar. Any such decline may erode or reverse any potentialgains from an investment in securities denominated in foreigncurrency or may widen existing loss. In the case of hedgingpositions, there is the risk that the U.S. dollar will decline invalue relative to the currency being hedged. Currency rates mayfluctuate significantly over short periods of time for a number ofreasons, including changes in interest rates, intervention (or thefailure to intervene) by governments, central banks or suprana-tional entities, or by the imposition of currency controls or otherpolitical developments in the U.S. or abroad.

Depositary Receipts Risk: Investments in depositary re-ceipts (including American Depositary Receipts, European De-positary Receipts and Global Depositary Receipts) are generallysubject to the same risks of investing directly in the foreignsecurities that they evidence or into which they may be con-verted. In addition, issuers underlying unsponsored depositaryreceipts may not provide as much information as U.S. issuersand issuers underlying sponsored depositary receipts. Un-sponsored depositary receipts also may not carry the same vot-ing privileges as sponsored depositary receipts.

Emerging Markets Risk: There are greater risks involved ininvesting in emerging market countries and/or their securities

markets, and investments in these countries and/or markets aremore susceptible to loss than investments in developed countriesand/or markets. Investments in these countries and/or marketsmay present market, credit, currency, liquidity, legal, political,technical and other risks different from, or greater than, the risksof investing in developed countries. In addition, the risks asso-ciated with investing in a narrowly defined geographic area aregenerally more pronounced with respect to investments inemerging market countries.

Index Strategy Risk: The Portfolio employs an index strategy,that is, it generally invests in the securities included in its index or arepresentative sample of such securities regardless of market trends.The Portfolio generally will not modify its index strategy to respondto changes in the economy, which means that it may be particularlysusceptible to a general decline in the market segment relating to therelevant index. In addition, although the index strategy attempts toclosely track its benchmark index, the Portfolio may not invest in allof the securities in the index. Also, the Portfolio’s fees and expenseswill reduce the Portfolio’s returns, unlike those of the benchmarkindex. Cash flow into and out of the Portfolio, portfolio transactioncosts, changes in the securities that comprise the index, and thePortfolio’s valuation procedures also may affect the Portfolio’s per-formance. Therefore, there can be no assurance that the performanceof the index strategy will match that of the benchmark index.

Large-Cap Company Risk: Larger more established companiesmay be unable to respond quickly to new competitive challengessuch as changes in technology and consumer tastes. Many largercompanies also may not be able to attain the high growth rate ofsuccessful smaller companies, especially during extended periods ofeconomic expansion

Mid-Cap and Small-Cap Company Risk: The Portfolio’s in-vestments in mid- and small-cap companies may involve greater risksthan investments in larger, more established issuers because they gen-erally are more vulnerable than larger companies to adverse businessor economic developments. Such companies generally have narrowerproduct lines, more limited financial and management resources andmore limited markets for their securities as compared with larger com-panies. As a result, the value of such securities may be more volatilethan the value of securities of larger companies, and the Portfolio mayexperience difficulty in purchasing or selling such securities at the de-sired time and price or in the desired amount. In general, these risksare greater for small-cap companies than for mid-cap companies.

Multiple Sub-Adviser Risk: The Adviser allocates the Portfo-lio’s assets among multiple Sub-Advisers, each of which is respon-sible for investing its allocated portion of the Portfolio’s assets. To asignificant extent, the Portfolio’s performance will depend on thesuccess of the Adviser in allocating the Portfolio’s assets to Sub-Advisers and its selection and oversight of the Sub-Advisers. The Sub-Advisers’ investment strategies may not work together as planned,which could adversely affect the Portfolio’s performance. In addition,because each Sub-Adviser manages its allocated portion of the Port-folio independently from another Sub-Adviser, the same security may


be held in different portions of the Portfolio, or may be acquired forone portion of the Portfolio at a time when a Sub-Adviser to anotherportion deems it appropriate to dispose of the security from that otherportion, resulting in higher expenses without accomplishing any netresult in the Portfolio’s holdings. Similarly, under some market con-ditions, one Sub-Adviser may believe that temporary, defensiveinvestments in short-term instruments or cash are appropriate for itsallocated portion of the Portfolio when another Sub-Adviser believescontinued exposure to the equity or debt markets is appropriate for itsallocated portion of the Portfolio. Because each Sub-Adviser directs thetrading for its own portion of the Portfolio, and does not aggregate itstransactions with those of the other Sub-Adviser, the Portfolio may in-cur higher brokerage costs than would be the case if a single Sub-Adviser were managing the entire Portfolio. In addition, while theAdviser seeks to allocate the Portfolio’s assets among the Portfolio’sSub-Advisers in a manner that it believes is consistent with achievingthe Portfolio’s investment objective(s), the Adviser is subject to conflictsof interest in allocating the Portfolio’s assets among Sub-Advisers, in-cluding affiliated Sub-Advisers, because the Adviser pays different feesto the Sub-Advisers and due to other factors that could impact the Ad-viser’s revenues and profits.

Portfolio Management Risk: The Portfolio is subject to therisk that strategies used by an investment manager and its securitiesselections fail to produce the intended results.


Securities Lending Risk: The Portfolio may lend its portfolio secu-rities to seek income. There is a risk that a borrower may default on itsobligations to return loaned securities, however, the Portfolio’s securitieslending agent may indemnify the Portfolio against that risk. The Portfoliowill be responsible for the risks associated with the investment of cashcollateral, including any collateral invested in an affiliated money marketfund. The Portfolio may lose money on its investment of cash collateralor may fail to earn sufficient income on its investment to meet obliga-tions to the borrower. In addition, delays may occur in the recovery ofsecurities from borrowers, which could interfere with the Portfolio’s abil-ity to vote proxies or to settle transactions.


The bar chart and table below provide some indication of the risks ofinvesting in the Portfolio by showing changes in the Portfolio’s per-formance from year to year and by showing how the Portfolio’saverage annual total returns for the past one, five and ten years (orsince inception) through December 31, 2017 compared to the re-turns of a broad-based securities market index. The return of thebroad-based securities market index shown in the right hand columnbelow is the return of the index for the last 10 years or, if shorter,since the inception of the share class with the longest history. Pastperformance is not an indication of future performance.


Prior to April 2014, the Portfolio employed a volatility managementstrategy; returns prior to that date may have been different if thePortfolio had followed its current policies. For periods prior to June2014, the performance shown below is that of the Portfolio’s prede-cessor, a series of AXA Premier VIP Trust that had a substantiallyidentical investment objective, policies and strategies.


20172009 20122008 2011 2013 2014 2015 20162010

-46.68%

-6.33%

17.63%14.19%

37.14%

10.68%4.00% 3.43%

30.35%37.34%

Best Quarter (% and time period) Worst Quarter (% and time period)17.70% (2009 2nd Quarter) –25.44% (2008 4th Quarter)

Average Annual Total Returns

OneYear

FiveYears

TenYears/SinceInception

Multimanager Aggressive EquityPortfolio – Class IA 30.34% 16.31% 7.08%

Multimanager Aggressive EquityPortfolio – Class IB 30.35% 16.31% 6.97%

Russell 3000® Growth Index (reflectsno deduction for fees, expenses,or taxes) 29.59% 17.16% 9.93%



Portfolio Managers: The members of the team that are jointly andprimarily responsible for (i) the selection, monitoring and oversight ofthe Portfolio’s Sub-Advisers and (ii) allocating assets among the Port-folio’s Allocated Portions are:

Name Title

Date BeganManaging

the PortfolioKenneth T. Kozlowski,

CFP®, CLU, ChFCExecutive Vice Presidentand Chief InvestmentOfficer of FMG LLC

May 2011

Alwi Chan, CFA® Senior Vice Presidentand Deputy ChiefInvestment Officer ofFMG LLC

February 2010



Portfolio Manager: The individual primarily responsible for thesecurities selection, research and trading for the Index Allocated Por-tion of the Portfolio is:

Name Title

Date BeganManaging a Portion

of the PortfolioJudith DeVivo Senior Vice President

and Portfolio Manager ofAllianceBernstein

December 2009

Sub-Adviser: ClearBridge Investments, LLC (“ClearBridge”)

Portfolio Managers: The members of the team that are jointly andprimarily responsible for the securities selection, research and tradingfor a portion of the Active Allocated Portion of the Portfolio are:

Name Title


of the PortfolioRichard Freeman Managing Director

and PortfolioManager of ClearBridge

January 2007

Evan Bauman Managing Directorand PortfolioManager of ClearBridge

January 2007

Sub-Adviser: Scotia Institutional Asset Management US, Ltd.(“Scotia”)

Portfolio Manager: The individual primarily responsible for thesecurities selection, research and trading for a portion of the ActiveAllocated Portion of the Portfolio is:

Name Title


of the Portfolio

NoahBlackstein

Vice President of Scotia September 2010

Sub-Adviser: T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. (“T. RowePrice”)

Portfolio Manager: The individual primarily responsible for thesecurities selection, research and trading for a portion of the ActiveAllocated Portion of the Portfolio is:

Name Title


of the Portfolio

Taymour R.Tamaddon,CFA®

Vice President and PortfolioManager of T. Rowe Price

January 2017

Sub-Adviser: Westfield Capital Management Company,L.P. (“Westfield”)

Portfolio Managers: The members of the team that are jointly andprimarily responsible for the securities selection, research and tradingfor a portion of the Active Allocated Portion of the Portfolio are:

Name Title


of the Portfolio

William A.Muggia

President, Chief ExecutiveOfficer and ChiefInvestment Officer ofWestfield

September 2010

Richard D.Lee,CFA®

Managing Partner andDeputy Chief InvestmentOfficer of Westfield

May 2018

Ethan J.Meyers,CFA®

Managing Partner andDirector of Research ofWestfield

September 2010

John M.Montgomery

Managing Partner, PortfolioStrategist and ChiefOperating Officer ofWestfield

September 2010

The Adviser has been granted relief by the Securities and ExchangeCommission to hire, terminate and replace Sub-Advisers and amendsub-advisory agreements subject to the approval of the Board ofTrustees and without obtaining shareholder approval. However, theAdviser may not enter into a sub-advisory agreement on behalf ofthe Portfolio with an “affiliated person” of the Adviser, such as Alli-anceBernstein L.P., unless the sub-advisory agreement is approved bythe Portfolio’s shareholders. The Adviser is responsible for overseeingSub-Advisers and recommending their hiring, termination and re-placement to the Board of Trustees.





TAX INFORMATION





EQ/Money Market Portfolio – Class IA and IB Shares

Investment Objective: Seeks to obtain a high level of current in-come, preserve its assets and maintain liquidity.





EQ/Money Market PortfolioClass IAShares

Class IBShares


Example


1 Year 3 Years 5 Years 10 YearsClass IA Shares $73 $227 $395 $883

Class IB Shares $73 $227 $395 $883


Principal Investment Strategy: The Portfolio invests 99.5% ormore of its total assets in:

• debt securities issued or guaranteed as to principal or interest by theU.S. government, or by U.S. government agencies or instrumentalities;

• repurchase agreements that are collateralized fully by cash itemsor U.S. Treasury and U.S. government securities; and

• cash.

The Portfolio invests only in U.S. dollar-denominated securities and ininstruments with a remaining maturity of 397 calendar days or less at

the time of investment. Debt securities issued or guaranteed as to prin-cipal or interest by the U.S. government, or by U.S. government agen-cies or instrumentalities, may include, among others, direct obligationsof the U.S. Treasury (such as Treasury bills, notes or bonds), obligationsissued or guaranteed as to principal and interest (but not as to marketvalue) by the U.S. government, its agencies or its instrumentalities, andmortgage-backed securities issued or guaranteed by governmentagencies or government-sponsored enterprises.

A repurchase agreement is a transaction in which the Portfolio pur-chases securities or other obligations from a bank or securities dealer(or its affiliate) and simultaneously commits to resell them to a coun-terparty at an agreed-upon date or upon demand and at a price re-flecting a market rate of interest unrelated to the coupon rate ormaturity of the purchased obligations. The difference between theoriginal purchase price and the repurchase price is normally based onprevailing short-term interest rates. Under a repurchase agreement,the seller is required to furnish collateral (i.e., U.S. Treasury or U.S.government securities) at least equal in value or market price to theamount of the seller’s repurchase obligation. In evaluating whetherto enter into a repurchase agreement, the Adviser and Sub-Adviserwill carefully consider the creditworthiness of the seller.

As prevailing market conditions and the economic environment war-rant, and at the discretion of the Adviser and Sub-Adviser, apercentage of the Portfolio’s total assets may be held in cash. Duringsuch periods, cash assets will be held in the Portfolio’s custody ac-count. Cash assets held in the Portfolio’s custody account are notincome-generating. Without limitation, such a strategy may bedeemed advisable during periods where the interest rate on newly-issued U.S. Treasury securities is extremely low or where no interestrate is paid at all, or when Treasuries are in short supply, or due to adislocation in the Treasury or broader fixed income markets.

The Portfolio maintains a dollar-weighted average portfolio maturity of60 days or less, a dollar-weighted average life to maturity of 120 daysor less, and uses the amortized cost method of valuation to seek tomaintain a stable $1.00 net asset value (“NAV”) per share price.

The Adviser or Sub-Adviser may, in its sole discretion, maintain atemporary defensive position with respect to the Portfolio. Althoughnot required to do so, as a temporary defensive measure, the Advisermay waive or cause to be waived fees owed by the Portfolio, in at-tempting to maintain a stable $1.00 NAV per share.

The Portfolio intends to continue to qualify as a “government moneymarket fund,” as such term is defined in or interpreted under Rule2a-7 under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended.“Government money market funds” are exempt from rules that re-quire money market funds to impose a liquidity fee and/or temporaryredemption gates. While the Portfolio’s Board of Trustees may electto subject the Portfolio to liquidity fee and gate requirements in thefuture, the Board of Trustees has not elected to do so at this time.

Principal Risks: You could lose money by investing in the Portfolio.Although the Portfolio seeks to preserve the value of your investments


at $1.00 per share, it cannot guarantee it will do so. An investment inthe Portfolio is not guaranteed by the Federal Deposit InsuranceCorporation or any other government agency. The Portfolio’s sponsorhas no legal obligation to provide financial support to the Portfolio,and you should not expect that the sponsor will provide financial sup-port to the Portfolio at any time. Performance may be affected by oneor more of the following risks.


Credit Risk: The Portfolio is subject to the risk that the issuer orthe guarantor (or other obligor, such as a party providing insuranceor other credit enhancement) of a fixed income security, or the coun-terparty to a repurchase agreement or other transaction, is unable orunwilling, or is perceived (whether by market participants, ratingsagencies, pricing services or otherwise) as unable or unwilling, tomake timely principal and/or interest payments, or otherwise honorits obligations. Securities are subject to varying degrees of credit risk,which are often reflected in their credit ratings. The downgrade ofthe credit rating of a security may decrease its value.

Interest Rate Risk: Changes in interest rates may affect the yield,liquidity and value of investments in income producing or debt secu-rities. Changes in interest rates also may affect the value of other secu-rities. When interest rates rise, the value of the Portfolio’s debt securitiesgenerally declines. Conversely, when interest rates decline, the value ofthe Portfolio’s debt securities generally rises. Typically, the longer thematurity or duration of a debt security, the greater the effect a changein interest rates could have on the security’s price. Thus, the sensitivityof the Portfolio’s debt securities to interest rate risk will increase withany increase in the duration of those securities. As of the date of thisProspectus, interest rates are low relative to historic levels and are be-low zero in parts of the world. The Portfolio is subject to a greater riskof rising interest rates due to these market conditions. A significant orrapid rise in interest rates could result in losses to the Portfolio.

Money Market Risk: Although a money market fund is de-signed to be a relatively low risk investment, it is not free of risk.Despite the short maturities and high credit quality of a money mar-ket fund’s investments, increases in interest rates and deteriorationsin the credit quality of the instruments the money market fund haspurchased may reduce the money market fund’s yield and can causethe price of a money market security to decrease. In addition, amoney market fund is subject to the risk that the value of an invest-ment may be eroded over time by inflation. Changes to the rules thatgovern money market funds became effective in October 2016.These changes may affect the Portfolio’s operations and/or returnpotential. In accordance with the changes to the money market fundrules, the Portfolio operates as a “government money market fund.”The conversion of money market funds to “government money mar-ket funds,” in general, could lead to decreased supply within the U.S.Treasury securities market as demand increases for U.S. governmentsecurities.

Mortgage-Related and Other Asset-Backed SecuritiesRisk: Mortgage-related and other asset-backed securities typically

provide the issuer with the right to prepay the security prior to maturity.During periods of falling interest rates, the rate of prepayments tendsto increase because borrowers are more likely to pay off debt and re-finance at the lower interest rates then available. Unscheduledprepayments shorten the average lives of mortgage-related and otherasset-backed securities and may result in the Portfolio’s having to re-invest the proceeds of the prepayments at lower interest rates, therebyreducing the Portfolio’s income. During periods of rising interest rates,the rate of prepayments tends to decrease because borrowers are lesslikely to prepay debt. Slower than expected payments can extend theaverage lives of mortgage-related and other asset-backed securities,and this may “lock in” a below market interest rate, increase thesecurity’s duration and interest rate sensitivity, and reduce the value ofthe security. Moreover, declines in the credit quality of and defaults bythe issuers of mortgage-related and other asset-backed securities orinstability in the markets for such securities may affect the value andliquidity of such securities, which could result in losses to the Portfolio.In addition, certain mortgage-related and other asset-backed securitiesmay include securities backed by pools of loans made to “subprime”borrowers or borrowers with blemished credit histories; the risk of de-faults is generally higher in the case of mortgage pools that includesuch subprime mortgages.

Net Asset Value Risk: Although the Portfolio seeks to do so, itmay not be able to maintain a stable $1.00 NAV per share at alltimes. Furthermore, it is not anticipated that any Portfolio affiliatewill make a capital infusion, enter into a capital support agreementor take other actions to prevent the NAV per share of the Portfoliofrom falling below $0.995. In the event that any money market fundfails to maintain a stable net asset value (or if there is a perceivedthreat that a money market fund is likely to fail to maintain a stablenet asset value), money market funds in general, including thePortfolio, could face increased redemption pressures, which couldjeopardize the stability of their net asset values. Certain other moneymarket funds have in the past failed to maintain stable net asset val-ues, and there can be no assurance that such failures and resultingredemption pressures will not occur in the future. A low-interest rateenvironment may prevent the Portfolio from providing a positiveyield, cause the Portfolio to pay Portfolio expenses out of Portfolioassets, or impair the Portfolio’s ability to maintain a stable $1.00NAV per share. In addition, the actions of a few large investors in thePortfolio may have a significant adverse effect on other shareholders.

Portfolio Management Risk: The Portfolio is subject to therisk that strategies used by an investment manager and its securitiesselections fail to produce the intended results.

Repurchase Agreement Risk: Repurchase agreements carrycertain risks, including risks that are not associated with directinvestments in securities. If a seller under a repurchase agreementwere to default on the agreement and be unable to repurchase thesecurity subject to the repurchase agreement, the Portfolio wouldlook to the collateral underlying the seller’s repurchase agreement,including the securities or other obligations subject to the repurchaseagreement, for satisfaction of the seller’s obligation to the Portfolio.The Portfolio’s right to liquidate the securities or other obligations


subject to the repurchase agreement in the event of a default by theseller could involve certain costs and delays and, to the extent thatproceeds from any sale upon a default of the obligation to re-purchase are less than the repurchase price (e.g., due to transactionscosts or a decline in the value of the collateral), the Portfolio couldsuffer a loss. In addition, if bankruptcy proceedings are commencedwith respect to the seller, realization of the collateral may be delayedor limited and a loss may be incurred.

Risk Associated with Portfolio Holding Cash: ThePortfolio may maintain cash assets, which may be significant, withcounterparties such as the Trust’s custodian or its affiliates.Maintaining cash assets could negatively affect the Portfolio’s currentyield and may also subject the Portfolio to additional risks, such asincreased counterparty and credit risk with respect to the custodianbank holding the assets.

U.S. Government Securities Risk: Securities issued orguaranteed by the U.S. government or its agencies andinstrumentalities (such as securities issued by the GovernmentNational Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae), the Federal NationalMortgage Association (Fannie Mae), or the Federal Home LoanMortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac)) are subject to market risk,interest rate risk and credit risk. Securities, such as those issued orguaranteed by Ginnie Mae or the U.S. Treasury, that are backed bythe full faith and credit of the U.S. government are guaranteed asto the timely payment of interest and repayment of principal whenheld to maturity. Notwithstanding that these securities are backedby the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, circumstancescould arise that would prevent the payment of interest or principal.This would result in losses to the Portfolio. Securities issued orguaranteed by U.S. government related organizations, such asFannie Mae and Freddie Mac, are not backed by the full faith andcredit of the U.S. government and no assurance can be given thatthe U.S. government will provide financial support. Therefore, U.S.government related organizations may not have the funds to meettheir payment obligations in the future.


The bar chart and table below provide some indication of the risks ofinvesting in the Portfolio by showing changes in the Portfolio’s per-formance from year to year and by showing how the Portfolio’saverage annual total returns for the past one, five and ten yearsthrough December 31, 2017 compared to the returns of a broad-based securities market index. Past performance is not an indicationof future performance.

Prior to April 1, 2016, the Portfolio was not designated as a“government money market fund,” as defined in Rule 2a-7 underthe Investment Company Act of 1940, and invested in certain typesof securities that it is no longer permitted to hold. Consequently, theperformance shown below may have been different if the currentlimitations on the Portfolio’s investments had been in effect prior toits conversion to a government money market fund.



2010

0.00%

2009

0.01%

2.13%

2008

0.00% 0.00%

2013 2015 201720162014

0.00%

2012

0.01% 0.00% 0.00%0.40%

2011

Best quarter (% and time period) Worst quarter (% and time period)0.84% (2008 1st Quarter) 0.00% (2016 2nd Quarter)

Average Annual Total ReturnsOneYear

FiveYears

TenYears

EQ/Money Market Portfolio – Class IA Shares 0.40% 0.08% 0.31%EQ/Money Market Portfolio – Class IB Shares 0.40% 0.08% 0.25%ICE BofAML 3-Month U.S. Treasury Bill Index

(reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, ortaxes) 0.86% 0.27% 0.39%

The Portfolio’s 7-day yield as of December 31, 2017 was 0.00%.



Sub-Adviser: The Dreyfus Corporation (“Dreyfus”)

AXA Equitable Funds Management Group, LLC (“FMG LLC” or the“Adviser”) has been granted relief by the Securities and ExchangeCommission to hire, terminate and replace Sub-Advisers and amendsub-advisory agreements subject to the approval of the Board ofTrustees and without obtaining shareholder approval. However, theAdviser may not enter into a sub-advisory agreement on behalf ofthe Portfolio with an “affiliated person” of the Adviser, such as Alli-anceBernstein L.P., unless the sub-advisory agreement is approved bythe Portfolio’s shareholders. The Adviser is responsible for overseeingSub-Advisers and recommending their hiring, termination and re-placement to the Board of Trustees.





TAX INFORMATION





2. More information on fees and expenses

Management Fees

Each Portfolio pays a fee to the Adviser for management services.The table below shows the annual rate of the management fees (as apercentage of each Portfolio’s average daily net assets) that the Ad-viser received in 2017 for managing each of the Portfolios included inthe table and the rate of the management fees waived by the Adviserin 2017 in accordance with the provisions of the Expense LimitationAgreement (including voluntary waivers), as defined below, betweenthe Adviser and the Trust with respect to certain of the Portfolios.

Management Fees Paid by the Portfolios in 2017

AnnualRate

ReceivedRate of Fees Waived and

Expenses Reimbursed

Portfolios All Classes Class IA Class IBEQ/Common Stock Index 0.33% 0.00% 0.00%EQ/International Equity Index 0.40% 0.00% 0.00%Multimanager Aggressive Equity 0.58% 0.00% 0.00%EQ/Money Market 0.34% -0.25% -0.25%

The following tables show the current contractual rate of themanagement fees (as a percentage of the Portfolio’s average dailynet assets) payable by the Portfolios listed in the tables, which aresubject to contractual management fee rates that changed duringthe last fiscal year.

Portfolio*First

$1 BillionNext

$1 BillionNext

$3 BillionNext

$5 Billion Thereafter

MultimanagerAggressive Equity

0.580% 0.550% 0.525% 0.500% 0.475%

Portfolios*First

$2 BillionNext

$4 Billion ThereafterEQ/Common Stock Index 0.350% 0.300% 0.275%EQ/International Equity Index 0.400% 0.350% 0.325%

* Effective September 1, 2017

The Sub-Advisers are paid by the Adviser. Changes to the advisoryfees may be negotiated, which could result in an increase or decreasein the amount of the management fee retained by the Adviser, with-out shareholder approval. However, any amendment to an invest-ment management agreement between FMG LLC and the Trust thatwould result in an increase in the management fee rate specified inthat agreement (i.e., the aggregate management fee) charged to aPortfolio will be submitted to shareholders for approval.

A discussion of the basis for the decision by the Trust’s Board of Trust-ees to approve the investment management and advisory agree-ments with respect to the Portfolios is available in the Trust’s Semi-Annual or Annual Reports to Shareholders for the periods endedJune 30 and December 31, respectively.

Administrative Fees

FMG LLC also currently serves as the Administrator of the Trust. Theadministrative services provided to the Trust by FMG LLC include,among others, coordination of the Trust’s audit, financial statementsand tax returns; expense management and budgeting; legal admin-istrative services and compliance monitoring; portfolio accountingservices, including daily net asset value accounting; operational riskmanagement; and oversight of the Trust’s proxy voting policies andprocedures and anti-money laundering program.

With respect to the AXA/AB Short Duration Government Bond Portfo-lio, AXA/ClearBridge Large Cap Growth Portfolio, AXA/Janus Enter-prise Portfolio, AXA/Loomis Sayles Growth Portfolio, EQ/BlackRockBasic Value Equity Portfolio, EQ/Capital Guardian Research Portfolio,EQ/Common Stock Index Portfolio, EQ/Core Bond Index Portfolio,EQ/Equity 500 Index Portfolio, EQ/International Equity Index Portfo-lio, EQ/Intermediate Government Bond Portfolio, EQ/Invesco Com-stock Portfolio, EQ/JPMorgan Value Opportunities Portfolio, EQ/LargeCap Growth Index Portfolio, EQ/Large Cap Value Index Portfolio, EQ/MFS International Growth Portfolio, EQ/Mid Cap Index Portfolio, EQ/Money Market Portfolio, EQ/Oppenheimer Global Portfolio, EQ/PIMCO Global Real Return Portfolio, EQ/PIMCO Ultra Short BondPortfolio, EQ/Small Company Index Portfolio, EQ/T. Rowe PriceGrowth Stock Portfolio, and EQ/UBS Growth and Income Portfolio(together with the 1290 VT DoubleLine Opportunistic Bond Portfolio,1290 VT Equity Income Portfolio, 1290 VT Natural Resources Portfo-lio, 1290 VT Real Estate Portfolio, 1290 VT SmartBeta Equity Portfo-lio, 1290 VT Socially Responsible Portfolio, 1290 VT GAMCOMergers & Acquisitions Portfolio, 1290 VT GAMCO Small CompanyValue Portfolio, 1290 VT Multi-Alternative Strategies Portfolio, 1290VT Energy Portfolio, 1290 VT Low Volatility Global Equity Portfolioand 1290 VT DoubleLine Dynamic Allocation Portfolio, which are of-fered in another prospectus), each, a “Single-Advised Portfolio”, foradministrative services, in addition to the management fee, eachSingle-Advised Portfolio pays FMG LLC its proportionate share of anasset-based administration fee, subject to a minimum annual fee of$30,000 per Portfolio. The table below shows the Single-AdvisedPortfolios’ asset-based administration fee rates based on aggregateaverage daily net assets of the Single-Advised Portfolios:

0.100% of the first $30 billion;0.0975% of the next $10 billion;0.0950% of the next $5 billion; and0.0900% thereafter

With respect to AXA Global Equity Managed Volatility Portfolio, AXAInternational Core Managed Volatility Portfolio, AXA InternationalValue Managed Volatility Portfolio, AXA Large Cap Core ManagedVolatility Portfolio, AXA Large Cap Growth Managed Volatility Portfo-lio, AXA Large Cap Value Managed Volatility Portfolio, AXA Mid Cap

EQ Advisors Trust More information on fees and expenses 19

Value Managed Volatility Portfolio, AXA/AB Small Cap Growth Portfo-lio, AXA/Franklin Balanced Managed Volatility Portfolio, AXA/FranklinSmall Cap Value Managed Volatility Portfolio, AXA/Morgan StanleySmall Cap Growth Portfolio, AXA/Mutual Large Cap Equity ManagedVolatility Portfolio, AXA/Templeton Global Equity Managed VolatilityPortfolio, EQ/Emerging Markets Equity PLUS Portfolio, EQ/Global BondPLUS Portfolio, EQ/Quality Bond PLUS Portfolio, Multimanager Ag-gressive Equity Portfolio, Multimanager Core Bond Portfolio, Multi-manager Mid Cap Growth Portfolio, Multimanager Mid Cap ValuePortfolio, and Multimanager Technology Portfolio (together with 1290VT Small Cap Value Portfolio, 1290 VT Micro Cap Portfolio, 1290 VTConvertible Securities Portfolio and 1290 VT High Yield Bond Portfolio,which are offered in another prospectus), each a “Hybrid Portfolio,”and the AXA/AB Dynamic Aggressive Growth Portfolio, AXA/AB Dy-namic Growth Portfolio, AXA/AB Dynamic Moderate Growth Portfolio,AXA/Goldman Sachs Strategic Allocation Portfolio, AXA/InvescoStrategic Allocation Portfolio, AXA/JPMorgan Strategic Allocation Port-folio, AXA/Legg Mason Strategic Allocation Portfolio, and the ATMPortfolios (the “ATM Portfolios” are ATM International ManagedVolatility Portfolio, ATM Large Cap Managed Volatility Portfolio, ATMMid Cap Managed Volatility Portfolio, ATM Small Cap Managed Vola-tility Portfolio, AXA 2000 Managed Volatility Portfolio, AXA 400 Man-aged Volatility Portfolio, AXA 500 Managed Volatility Portfolio andAXA International Managed Volatility Portfolio), for administrativeservices, in addition to the management fee, each of the Portfoliospays FMG LLC its proportionate share of an asset-based administrationfee, subject to a minimum annual fee of $32,500 per Portfolio. Thetable below shows the Portfolios’ asset-based administration fee ratesbased on aggregate average daily net assets of the Portfolios:

0.15% of the first $25 billion;0.11% of the next $10 billion;0.10% of the next $5 billion;0.095% of the next $5 billion; and0.090% thereafter

Expense Limitation Agreement

In the interest of limiting through April 30, 2019 (unless the Board ofTrustees consents to an earlier revision or termination of this arrange-ment) the expenses of each Portfolio listed in the following table, theAdviser has entered into an expense limitation agreement with the Trustwith respect to the Portfolios (“Expense Limitation Agreement”). Pur-suant to that Expense Limitation Agreement, the Adviser has agreed tomake payments or waive its management, administrative and other feesto limit the expenses of the Portfolios listed below so that the annualoperating expenses of each Portfolio (other than interest, taxes,brokerage commissions, acquired fund fees and expenses, dividend andinterest expenses on securities sold short, other expenditures that arecapitalized in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles,and other extraordinary expenses not incurred in the ordinary course of

each Portfolio’s business) as a percentage of average daily net assets donot exceed the following respective expense ratios:

Expense Limitation Provisions

Total Expenses Limited to(% of average daily net assets)

PortfolioClass IAShares

Class IBShares

Multimanager Aggressive EquityPortfolio

1.00% 1.00%

The Adviser may be reimbursed the amount of any such paymentsand waivers in the future provided that the payments or waivers arereimbursed within three years of the payments or waivers being re-corded and the combination of the Portfolio’s expense ratio and suchreimbursements does not exceed the Portfolio’s expense cap at thetime of the waiver or the Portfolio’s expense cap at the time of thereimbursement, whichever is lower. If the actual expense ratio is lessthan the expense cap and the Adviser has recouped any eligible pre-vious payments or waivers made, the Portfolio will be charged suchlower expenses.

Payments or waivers will increase returns and yield, and reimburse-ment of payments or waivers will decrease returns and yield.

20 More information on fees and expenses EQ Advisors Trust

3. More information on strategies, risks and benchmarks

Strategies

Changes in Investment Objectives and InvestmentStrategies

As described in this Prospectus, each Portfolio has its own invest-ment objective(s), policies and strategies. There is no assurance thata Portfolio will achieve its investment objective. The investment ob-jective of each Portfolio may be changed without shareholder appro-val. Except as otherwise noted, the investment policies and strategiesof a Portfolio are not fundamental policies and may be changedwithout a shareholder vote. In addition, to the extent a Portfolio isnew or is undergoing a transition (such as a rebalancing, or experi-ences large inflows or outflows) or takes a temporary defensive posi-tion, it may not be pursuing its investment objective or executing itsprincipal investment strategies.

80% Policies

Each of the following Portfolios has a policy that it will invest at least80% of its net assets, plus borrowings for investment purposes, in aparticular type of investment connoted by its name (or former name inthe case of certain of the Portfolios that have undergone a namechange), as described in the section of the Prospectus entitled “Aboutthe Investment Portfolios”: EQ/Common Stock Index Portfolio, EQ/International Equity Index Portfolio and Multimanager AggressiveEquity Portfolio. Each such policy is subject to change only uponat least sixty (60) days’ prior notice to shareholders of the affectedPortfolio.

Concentration Policies

Multimanager Technology Portfolio will concentrate its investmentsin the related group of industries consisting of the technology in-dustries (e.g., computers, electronics (including hardware andcomponents), communications, software, e-commerce, informationservice, biotechnology, chemical products and synthetic materials,and defense and aerospace industries).

Indexing Strategies

As described in this Prospectus, certain Portfolios (or portionsthereof) seek to track the total return performance (before fees andexpenses) of a particular index. Additional information about theseindexes is provided in the section “Benchmarks and OtherIndexes.” The following provides additional information regardingthe management strategies employed by the Sub-Advisers of thesePortfolios (or portions thereof) in pursuing these objectives.

The Sub-Adviser to a Portfolio or portion thereof that seeks to trackthe total return performance (before fees and expenses) of a partic-ular index does not utilize customary economic, financial or marketanalyses or other traditional investment techniques to manage the

Portfolio or portion. Rather, the Sub-Adviser may employ a full repli-cation technique or sampling technique in seeking to track the totalreturn performance (before fees and expenses) of the index. A fullreplication technique generally involves holding each security in aparticular index in approximately the same weight that the securityrepresents in the index. Conversely, a sampling technique strives tomatch the characteristics of a particular index without having to pur-chase every stock in that index by selecting a representative sampleof securities for the Portfolio or portion thereof based on the charac-teristics of the index and the particular securities included therein.Such characteristics may include, with respect to equity indexes, in-dustry weightings, market capitalizations and fundamentalcharacteristics and, with respect to fixed income indexes, interest ratesensitivity, credit quality and sector diversification.

In addition, during any period when the Adviser or the Sub-Adviserto a Portfolio determines that it would be impracticable or un-economical for a Portfolio to invest its assets in accordance with itsprimary investment policies (e.g., the Portfolio does not have suffi-cient assets to buy all of the securities in a particular broad-basedindex and to manage those assets in an efficient manner), thePortfolio may pursue its investment strategy by investing in otherportfolios, as consistent with the Portfolio’s investment policies andstrategies, including portfolios managed by the Adviser to the extentpermitted by statute or regulation.

Tactical Strategies

As described in this Prospectus, the Adviser invests a portion of cer-tain Portfolios’ assets in futures and options to manage each suchPortfolio’s overall equity exposure. The following provides additionalinformation regarding the Adviser’s implementation of thesemanagement strategies.

Each such Portfolio uses proprietary models to implement its tacticalinvestment strategy. The level of the Portfolio’s exposure to a particularindex generally is determined based on an assessment of marketfundamentals and quantitative signals of market movement, includingthe level of volatility in the market as may be measured by the ChicagoBoard Options Exchange Volatility Index (the “VIX Index”) or anotherquantitative indicator of market volatility. The VIX Index is a measure ofmarket expectations of near-term volatility based on the S&P 500 Indexoption prices. The Portfolio will decrease or increase its exposure to therelevant index based on thresholds of market volatility as measured bythe VIX Index or another quantitative indicator of market volatility.These thresholds may be different for each Portfolio and may bechanged from time to time without shareholder approval. The thresh-olds for each Portfolio may differ based on a variety of factors, includ-ing whether the particular Portfolio is offered on a stand alone basis asan investment option for Contract owners or as an investment optionfor other portfolios managed by the Adviser that invest in the Portfolioas part of an investment strategy to manage the overall volatility of the

EQ Advisors Trust More information on strategies, risks and benchmarks 21

investing fund’s portfolio. During periods of extremely high marketvolatility, it is possible that a Portfolio could have zero or negative ex-posure to the relevant index. During periods of unusually low marketvolatility, it is possible that a Portfolio could have 100% or more ex-posure to the relevant index.

If the proprietary models prove to be flawed or for other reasons do notproduce the desired results, any decisions made in reliance on themodels may expose a Portfolio to additional risks and losses. The useof models has inherent risks, and the success of relying on or otherwiseusing a model depends, among other things, on the accuracy andcompleteness of the model’s development, implementation and main-tenance; on the model’s assumptions and methodologies; and on theaccuracy and reliability of the inputs and output of the model.

Allocation Strategies

As described in this Prospectus, the Adviser allocates the assets ofcertain Portfolios among two or more portions of those Portfolios,each of which is managed using different yet complementaryinvestment strategies.

Hybrid Portfolios

Each allocation percentage for the Hybrid Portfolios is an assetallocation target established by FMG LLC intended to achieve theHybrid Portfolio’s investment objective and may be changedwithout shareholder approval. Each Portion of a Hybrid Portfoliomay deviate temporarily from its asset allocation target for de-fensive purposes, in response to large inflows or outflows of as-sets to and from the Hybrid Portfolio (e.g., in connection withasset allocation rebalancing transactions, reorganization trans-actions and separate account substitution transactions), or as aresult of appreciation or depreciation of its holdings. FMG LLCrebalances each portion of a Hybrid Portfolio as it deems appro-priate. To the extent that a Hybrid Portfolio is being rebalanced,experiences large inflows or outflows, or takes a temporary de-fensive position, it may not be pursuing its investment objectiveor executing its principal investment strategy.

Active Management Strategies

With respect to Portfolios that utilize active management strategies, aSub-Adviser has complete discretion to select portfolio securities forits portion of a Portfolio’s assets, subject to the Portfolio’s investmentobjectives, restrictions and policies and other parameters that may bedeveloped from time to time by the Adviser. In selecting investments,the Sub-Advisers use their proprietary investment strategies, whichare summarized above in the section “Investments, Risks andPerformance” for each Portfolio. The following is an additional gen-eral description of certain common types of active management strat-egies that may be used by the Sub-Advisers to the Portfolios.

Growth investing generally focuses on companies that, due to theirstrong earnings and revenue potential, offer above-average prospectsfor capital growth, with less emphasis on dividend income. Earningspredictability and confidence in earnings forecasts are an importantpart of the selection process. A Sub-Adviser using this approach gen-erally seeks out companies experiencing some or all of the following:high sales growth, high unit growth, high or improving returns on as-sets and equity, and a strong balance sheet. Such a Sub-Adviser alsogenerally prefers companies with a competitive advantage such asunique management, marketing or research and development.

Value investing attempts to identify strong companies selling at adiscount from their perceived true worth. A Sub-Adviser using thisapproach generally selects stocks at prices that, in its view, are tem-porarily low relative to the company’s earnings, assets, cash flow anddividends. Value investing generally emphasizes companies that,considering their assets and earnings history, are attractively pricedand may provide dividend income.

Core investing is an investment style that includes both the strategiesused when seeking either growth companies (those with strongearnings growth) or value companies (those that may be temporarilyout of favor or have earnings or assets not fully reflected in theirstock price).

Fundamental analysis generally involves the analysis of the balancesheet and income statements of a company in order to forecast itsfuture stock price movements. Fundamental analysis considers pastrecords of assets, earnings, sales, products, management and mar-kets in predicting future trends in these indicators of a company’ssuccess or failure. By appraising a company’s prospects, analysts us-ing such an approach assess whether a particular stock or group ofstocks is undervalued or overvalued at its current market price.

Additional Information about the InvestmentStrategies

The following provides additional information regarding the principalinvestment strategies discussed in the “About the Investment Portfo-lios — Investments, Risks, and Performance — Principal InvestmentStrategy” section for each Portfolio, and additional investment strat-egies that a Portfolio may employ in pursuing its investment ob-jective. The Portfolios also may make other types of investments tothe extent permitted by applicable law. For further information aboutinvestment strategies, please see the Portfolios’ Statement of Addi-tional Information (“SAI”).

Bank Loans. A Portfolio may invest in bank loans. A bank loanrepresents an interest in a loan or other direct indebtedness that en-titles the acquirer of such interest to payments of interest, principaland/or other amounts due under the structure of the loan. A Portfoliomay acquire a bank loan through a participation interest, which givesthe Portfolio the right to receive payments of principal, interest and/or

22 More information on strategies, risks and benchmarks EQ Advisors Trust

other amounts only from the lender selling the participation interestand only when the lender receives the payments from the borrower, orthrough an assignment in which a Portfolio succeeds to the rights ofthe assigning lender and becomes a lender under the loan agreement.Bank loans are typically borrowers’ senior debt obligations and, assuch, are considered to hold a senior position in the borrower’s capitalstructure. The senior capital structure position generally gives theholders of bank loans a priority claim on some or all of the borrower’sassets in the event of a default. In many situations, the assets or cashflow of the borrowing corporation, partnership or other business entitymay serve as collateral for the bank loan. Bank loans may be issued inconnection with acquisitions, refinancings and recapitalizations.

Cash and Short-Term Investments. A Portfolio may hold cash orinvest in short-term paper and other short-term investments asdeemed appropriate by the investment manager. Short-term papergenerally includes any note, draft bill of exchange or banker’sacceptance payable on demand or having a maturity at the time ofissuance that does not exceed nine months or any renewal thereofpayable on demand or having a maturity that is likewise limited.

A Portfolio may invest its uninvested cash in high-quality, short-termdebt securities, including repurchase agreements and high-qualitymoney market instruments, and also may invest uninvested cash inmoney market funds, including money market funds managed by theAdviser. To the extent a Portfolio invests in a money market fund, itgenerally is not subject to the limits placed on investments in otherinvestment companies, as discussed in “Additional Strategies —Securities of Other Investment Companies.”

On a day-to-day basis, each of the ATM Portfolios typically will hold asignificant portion of its assets in shares of the EQ/Money Market Port-folio or other money market funds, U.S. government securities, short-term, high-quality fixed income securities, money market instruments,overnight and fixed-term repurchase agreements, cash, and other cashequivalents with maturities of one year or less to collateralize its futuresand other positions, to earn income for the Portfolio and to managethe Portfolio’s overall exposure to debt or equity securities.

Generally, these securities offer less potential for gains than othertypes of securities.

Convertible Securities. Certain Portfolios may invest in convertiblesecurities, including both convertible debt and convertible preferredstock. A convertible security is generally a bond, preferred stock orother security that may be converted within a specified period of timeand at a pre-stated price or formula into the common stock of thesame or a different issuer. A convertible security entitles the holder toreceive interest paid or accrued on debt or the dividend paid on pre-ferred stock until the convertible security matures or is redeemed,converted or exchanged. The value of a convertible security is influ-enced by changes in interest rates, with investment value declining asinterest rates increase and increasing as interest rates decline. Thecredit standing of the issuer and other factors also may have an effect

on the convertible security’s investment value. Convertible securitiesare subordinate in rank to any senior debt obligations of the sameissuer and, therefore, an issuer’s convertible securities entail more riskthan its senior debt obligations. Convertible securities have uniqueinvestment characteristics in that they generally: (1) have higher yieldsthan common stocks, but lower yields than comparable non-convertible securities; (2) are less subject to fluctuation in value thanthe underlying stock because they have fixed income characteristics;and (3) provide the potential for capital appreciation if the marketprice of the underlying common stock increases.

Currency. A Portfolio may enter into foreign currency transactionsfor hedging and non-hedging purposes on a spot (i.e., cash) basis orthrough the use of derivatives. Forward foreign currency exchangecontracts (“forward contract”) are a type of derivative that may beutilized by a Portfolio. A forward contract involves an obligation topurchase or sell a specific currency at a future date, which may beany fixed number of days from the date of the contract agreed uponby the parties, at a price set at the time of the contract. These con-tracts are principally traded in the interbank market conducted di-rectly between currency traders (usually large, commercial banks) andtheir customers. A forward contract generally has no margin depositrequirement and no commissions are charged at any stage for trades.Investments in foreign currencies are subject to the risk that thosecurrencies will decline in value relative to the U.S. dollar.

Derivatives. A Portfolio may use “derivative” instruments to hedgeits portfolio against market, economic, currency, issuer and otherrisks, to gain or manage exposure to the markets, sectors and secu-rities in which the Portfolio may invest and to other economic factorsthat affect the Portfolio’s performance (such as interest ratemovements), to increase total return or income, to reduce transactioncosts, to manage cash, and for other portfolio management pur-poses. In general terms, a derivative instrument is an investmentcontract, the value of which is linked to (or is derived from), in wholeor in part, the value of an underlying asset, reference rate or index(e.g., stocks, bonds, commodities, currencies, interest rates and mar-ket indexes). Certain derivative securities may have the effect ofcreating financial leverage by multiplying a change in the value of theasset underlying the derivative to produce a greater change in thevalue of the derivative security. This creates an opportunity for in-creased return but, at the same time, creates the possibility forgreater loss (including the likelihood of greater volatility in the netasset value of the shares of a Portfolio). Futures and options con-tracts (including futures and options on individual securities andequity and bond market indexes and options on futures contracts),swaps (including interest rate swaps, total return swaps, currencyswaps, credit default swaps and contracts for difference) and forwardcontracts, and structured securities, including forward currency con-tracts, are examples of derivatives in which a Portfolio may invest. APortfolio that engages in derivatives transactions may maintain asignificant percentage of its assets in cash and cash equivalent


instruments, which may serve as margin or collateral for the Portfo-lio’s obligations under derivative transactions.

Equity Securities. Certain Portfolios, including certain Portfoliosthat invest primarily in debt securities, may invest in equity securities.Equity securities may be bought on stock exchanges or in the over-the-counter market. Equity securities generally include commonstock, preferred stock, warrants, securities convertible into commonstock, securities of other investment companies and securities of realestate investment trusts.

Exchange-Traded Funds (“ETFs”). A Portfolio may invest in ETFs.ETFs are investment companies or other investment vehicles whoseshares are listed and traded on U.S. stock exchanges or otherwisetraded in the over-the-counter market and may be purchased and soldthroughout the trading day based on their market price. Generally, anETF seeks to track a securities index or a basket of securities that an“index provider” (such as Standard & Poor’s, Dow Jones, Russell orMorgan Stanley Capital International) selects as representative of amarket, market segment, industry sector, country or geographic region.An index-based ETF generally holds the same stocks or bonds as theindex it tracks (or it may hold a representative sample of suchsecurities). Accordingly, an index-based ETF is designed so that its per-formance, before fees and expenses, will correspond closely with thatof the index it tracks. ETFs also may be actively managed. By investingin a Portfolio that invests in ETFs, you will indirectly bear fees and ex-penses charged by the ETFs in which the Portfolio invests in addition tothe Portfolio’s direct fees and expenses.

Generally, a Portfolio’s investments in other investment companies aresubject to statutory limitations in the Investment Company Act of1940, as amended (“1940 Act”), including in certain circumstances aprohibition against acquiring shares of another investment company if,immediately after such acquisition, the Portfolio and its affiliated per-sons (i) would hold more than 3% of such other investment company’stotal outstanding shares, (ii) would have invested more than 5% of itstotal assets in such other investment company, or (iii) would have in-vested more than 10% of its total assets in investment companies.However, many ETFs have obtained exemptive relief from the SEC topermit other investment companies (such as the Portfolios) to invest intheir shares beyond the statutory limits, subject to certain conditionsand pursuant to contractual arrangements between the ETFs and theinvesting funds. A Portfolio may rely on these exemptive orders ininvesting in ETFs.

Fixed Income Securities. A Portfolio may invest in short- andlong-term fixed income securities in pursuing its investment objectiveand for other portfolio management purposes, such as to managecash. Fixed income securities are debt securities such as bonds,notes, debentures and commercial paper. Domestic and foreign gov-ernments, banks and companies raise cash by issuing or selling debtsecurities to investors. Most debt securities pay fixed or adjustable

rates of interest at regular intervals until they mature, at which pointinvestors receive their principal back.

Foreign Securities. Certain Portfolios may invest in foreign securities,including securities of companies in emerging markets. Generally, for-eign securities are issued by companies organized outside the U.S. or byforeign governments or international organizations, are traded primarilyin markets outside the U.S., and are denominated in a foreign currency.Foreign securities may include securities of issuers in developingcountries or emerging markets, which generally involve greater risk be-cause the economic structures of these countries and markets are lessdeveloped and their political systems are less stable. In addition, foreignsecurities may include depositary receipts of foreign companies. Ameri-can Depositary Receipts are receipts typically issued by an Americanbank or trust company that evidence underlying securities issued by aforeign corporation. European Depositary Receipts (issued in Europe)and Global Depositary Receipts (issued throughout the world) each evi-dence a similar ownership arrangement. Depositary receipts also maybe convertible into securities of foreign issuers. These securities may notnecessarily be denominated in the same currency as the securities intowhich they may be converted.

Futures. A Portfolio may purchase or sell futures contracts on in-dividual securities or securities indexes. In purchasing a futures contract,the buyer agrees to purchase a specified underlying instrument at aspecified future date. In selling a futures contract, the seller agrees tosell a specified underlying instrument at a specified future date. Theprice at which the purchase and sale will take place is fixed when thebuyer and seller enter into the contract. Futures can be held until theirdelivery dates, or can be closed out before then if a liquid market isavailable. The value of a futures contract tends to increase and decreasein tandem with the value of its underlying instrument. Therefore, pur-chasing futures contracts will tend to increase a fund’s exposure to pos-itive and negative price fluctuations in the underlying instrument, muchas if it had purchased the underlying instrument directly. When a fundsells a futures contract, by contrast, the value of its futures position willtend to move in a direction contrary to the market. Selling futures con-tracts, therefore, will tend to offset both positive and negative marketprice changes, much as if the underlying instrument had been sold. Fu-tures contracts in which the Portfolio will invest are highly standardizedcontracts that typically trade on futures exchanges.

There is no assurance that a liquid market will exist for any particularfutures contract at any particular time. Exchanges may establish dailyprice fluctuation limits for futures contracts, and may halt trading if acontract’s price moves upward or downward more than the limit in agiven day. On volatile trading days when the price fluctuation limit isreached or a trading halt is imposed, it may be impossible to enterinto new positions or close out existing positions. If the market for acontract is not liquid because of price fluctuation limits or other mar-ket conditions, it could prevent prompt liquidation of unfavorablepositions, and potentially could require a fund to continue to hold a


position until delivery or expiration regardless of changes in its value.As a result, a Portfolio’s access to other assets held to cover its fu-tures positions could also be impaired.

The use of futures contracts and similar instruments may be deemed toinvolve the use of leverage because the Portfolio is not required to in-vest the full market value of the futures contract upon entering into thecontract. Instead, the Portfolio, upon entering into a futures contract(and to maintain its open position in a futures contract), is required topost collateral for the contract, known as “initial margin” and“variation margin,” the amount of which may vary but which generallyequals a relatively small percentage (e.g., less than 5%) of the value ofthe contract being traded.

Illiquid Securities. Each Portfolio may invest up to 15% of its netassets in illiquid securities, except the EQ/Money Market Portfolio,which may invest up to 5% of its net assets in illiquid securities. Illi-quid securities are securities that have no ready market.

Index Options. Certain Portfolios may purchase exchange-traded orover-the-counter put and call options on securities indices and putand call options on ETFs tracking certain securities indices. A secu-rities index option and an ETF option are option contracts whosevalues are based on the value of a securities index at some futurepoint in time. A securities index fluctuates with changes in the mar-ket values of the securities included in the index. A Portfolio also maywrite (or sell) put and call options on securities indices. When writing(selling) call and put options, a Portfolio will “cover” these positionsby purchasing a call or put option on the same index. The effective-ness of purchasing or writing securities index options will dependupon the extent to which price movements in the Portfolio’s invest-ment portfolio correlate with price movements of the securities index.By writing (selling) a call option, the Portfolio forgoes, in exchangefor the premium less the commission, the opportunity to profit duringthe option period from an increase in the market value of an indexabove the exercise price. By writing (selling) a put option, the Portfo-lio, in exchange for the net premium received, accepts the risk of adecline in the market value of the index below the exercise price.

Inflation-Indexed Bonds. A Portfolio may invest in inflation-indexed bonds. Inflation-indexed bonds (other than municipalinflation-indexed bonds and certain corporate inflation-indexedbonds, which are more fully described below) are fixed income secu-rities whose principal value is periodically adjusted according to therate of inflation. The U.S. Treasury uses the Consumer Price Index forUrban Consumers as the inflation measure for Treasury inflation-indexed bonds. Inflation-indexed bonds issued by a foreign govern-ment are generally adjusted to reflect a comparable inflation index,calculated by that government. If the index measuring inflation falls,the principal value of inflation-indexed bonds (other than municipalinflation-indexed bonds and certain corporate inflation-indexedbonds) will be adjusted downward, and consequently the interest

payable on these securities (calculated with respect to a smaller prin-cipal amount) will be reduced. Repayment of the original bondprincipal upon maturity (as adjusted for inflation) is guaranteed inthe case of U.S. Treasury inflation-indexed bonds. For bonds that donot provide a similar guarantee, the adjusted principal value of thebond repaid at maturity may be less than the original principal.

With regard to municipal inflation-indexed bonds and certain corpo-rate inflation-indexed bonds, the inflation adjustment is reflected inthe semi-annual coupon payment. As a result, the principal value ofmunicipal inflation-indexed bonds and such corporate inflation-indexed bonds does not adjust according to the rate of inflation. Thevalue of inflation-indexed bonds is expected to change in response tochanges in real interest rates. Real interest rates are tied to the rela-tionship between nominal interest rates and the rate of inflation. Ifnominal interest rates increase at a faster rate than inflation, real in-terest rates may rise, leading to a decrease in value of inflation-indexed bonds. Any increase in the principal amount of an inflation-indexed bond is taxable as ordinary income in the taxable year of theincrease to an investing Portfolio, which generally must distribute theamount of that income for federal income tax purposes, even thoughit does not receive cash representing the increase until the bond’smaturity.

Because market convention for bonds is to use nominal yields tomeasure duration, duration for real return bonds, which are based onreal yields, are converted to nominal durations through a conversionfactor. The resulting nominal duration typically can range from 20%and 90% of the respective real duration. All security holdings will bemeasured in effective (nominal) duration terms. Similarly, the effec-tive duration of the relevant index (e.g., the Bloomberg BarclaysWorld Government Inflation-Linked Index (hedged)) will be calcu-lated using the same conversion factors.

Initial Public Offerings (“IPOs”). Each of the Portfolios that mayinvest in equity securities may participate in the IPO market, and asignificant portion of those Portfolios’ returns may be attributable totheir investment in IPOs, which have a magnified impact on portfo-lios with small asset bases. An IPO is generally the first sale of stockby a company to the public. Companies offering an IPO are some-times new, young companies or sometimes companies which havebeen around for many years but are deciding to go public. Prior to anIPO, there is generally no public market for an issuer’s common stockand there can be no assurance that an active trading market willdevelop or be sustained following the IPO. Therefore, the marketprice for the securities may be subject to significant fluctuations anda Portfolio may be affected by such fluctuations.

Insured Bank Obligations. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corpo-ration (“FDIC”) insures the deposits of federally insured banks andsavings and loan associations (collectively referred to as “banks”) upto $250,000. The Portfolios may purchase bank obligations which


are fully insured as to principal by the FDIC. Currently, to remain fullyinsured as to principal, these investments must be limited to$250,000 per bank; if the principal amount and accrued interesttogether exceed $250,000, the excess accrued interest will not beinsured. Insured bank obligations may have limited marketability.Unless the Board of Trustees determines that a readily availablemarket exists for such obligations, a Portfolio will treat such obliga-tions as subject to the limit for illiquid investments for each Portfoliounless such obligations are payable at principal amount plus accruedinterest on demand or within seven days after demand.

Inverse Floaters. Certain Portfolios may invest in inverse floaters.Inverse floaters are fixed income securities that have coupon ratesthat vary inversely at a multiple of a designated floating rate, such asLondon Inter-Bank Offered Rate. Any rise in the reference rate of aninverse floater (as a consequence of an increase in interest rates)causes a drop in the coupon rate while any drop in the reference rateof an inverse floater causes an increase in the coupon rate. Inversefloaters may exhibit substantially greater price volatility than fixedrate obligations having similar credit quality, redemption provisionsand maturity, and inverse floater collateralized mortgage obligations(“CMOs”) exhibit greater price volatility than the majority ofmortgage-related securities.

Investment Grade Securities. A Portfolio may invest in invest-ment grade debt securities. Investment grade securities are rated inone of the four highest rating categories by Moody’s or S&P, com-parably rated by another rating agency or, if unrated, determined bythe applicable Sub-Adviser to be of comparable quality. Securitieswith lower investment grade ratings, while normally exhibiting ad-equate protection parameters, may possess certain speculative char-acteristics as well. This means that changes in economic conditionsor other circumstances are more likely to lead to a weakened ca-pacity to make principal and interest payments than is the case forhigher rated debt securities.

Large-Cap Companies. A Portfolio may invest in the securities oflarge-cap companies. These companies may be unable to respondquickly to new competitive challenges such as changes in technologyand consumer tastes.

Loan Participations and Assignments. Certain Portfolios mayinvest in loan participations and assignments. These investments aretypically secured or unsecured fixed or floating rate loans arrangedthrough private negotiations between a borrowing corporation, gov-ernment or other entity and one or more financial institutions, andmay be in the form of participations in loans or assignments of all ora portion of loans from third parties.

Mid-Cap, Small-Cap and Micro-Cap Companies. Each Portfolio(other than the EQ/Money Market Portfolio) may invest in the securitiesof mid-, small- and micro-cap companies. These companies are morelikely than larger companies to have limited product lines, markets or

financial resources or to depend on a small, inexperienced manage-ment group. Generally, they are more vulnerable than larger compa-nies to adverse business or economic developments and their securitiesmay be less well-known, trade less frequently and in more limited vol-ume than the securities of larger more established companies.

Mortgage- and Asset-Backed Securities. A Portfolio may investin mortgage- and asset-backed securities. A mortgage-backed secu-rity may be an obligation of the issuer backed by a mortgage or poolof mortgages or a direct interest in an underlying pool of mortgages.Some mortgage-backed securities make payments of both principaland interest at a variety of intervals; others make semiannual interestpayments at a predetermined rate and repay principal at maturity(like a typical bond). Mortgage-backed securities are based ondifferent types of mortgages including those on commercial real es-tate or residential properties.

Asset-backed securities have structural characteristics similar tomortgage-backed securities. However, the underlying assets are notfirst-lien mortgage loans or interests therein but include assets suchas motor vehicle installment sales contracts, other installment salescontracts, home equity loans, leases of various types of real and per-sonal property and receivables from revolving credit (credit card)agreements. Such assets are securitized through the use of trusts orspecial purpose corporations. Payments or distributions of principaland interest may be guaranteed up to a certain amount and for acertain time period by a letter of credit or pool insurance policy is-sued by a financial institution unaffiliated with the issuer, or othercredit enhancements may be present.

Non-Investment Grade Securities. Certain Portfolios, includingPortfolios that invest primarily in equity securities, may invest in belowinvestment grade debt securities. Securities rated below investmentgrade (i.e., BB or lower by S&P or Fitch, Inc. (“Fitch”), Ba or lower byMoody’s or determined by the applicable Sub-Adviser to be of com-parable quality) are speculative in nature, involve greater risk of defaultby the issuing entity and may be subject to greater market fluctuationsthan higher rated fixed income securities. Non-investment grade debtsecurities, sometimes referred to as “junk bonds,” are usually issued bycompanies without long track records of sales and earnings or by thosecompanies with questionable credit strength. The retail secondarymarket for these “junk bonds” may be less liquid than that of higherrated securities and adverse conditions could make it difficult at timesto sell certain securities or could result in lower prices than those usedin calculating the Portfolio’s net asset value.

Options. A Portfolio may write and purchase put and call options,including exchange-traded or over-the-counter put and call optionson securities indices and put and call options on ETFs tracking certainsecurities indices, for hedging and non-hedging purposes and for thepurpose of achieving its objective. In general, options give the pur-chaser the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell in the future an


asset at a predetermined price during the term of the option. A secu-rities index option and an ETF option are option contracts whosevalues are based on the value of a securities index at some futurepoint in time. A securities index fluctuates with changes in the mar-ket values of the securities included in the index. The effectiveness ofpurchasing or writing securities index options will depend upon theextent to which price movements in the Portfolio’s investmentportfolio correlate with price movements of the securities index. Bywriting (selling) a call option, the Portfolio forgoes, in exchange forthe premium less the commission, the opportunity to profit duringthe option period from an increase in the market value of an indexabove the exercise price. By writing (selling) a put option, the Portfo-lio, in exchange for the net premium received, accepts the risk of adecline in the market value of the index below the exercise price.

Portfolio Turnover. The Portfolios do not restrict the frequency oftrading to limit expenses. A Portfolio may engage in active and fre-quent trading of portfolio securities to achieve its investment ob-jectives. Frequent trading can result in a portfolio turnover in excessof 100% (high portfolio turnover).

Preferred Stocks. A Portfolio may invest in preferred stock. Al-though preferred stocks represent a partial ownership interest in acompany, preferred stocks generally do not carry voting rights andhave economic characteristics similar to fixed-income securities. Pre-ferred stocks generally are issued with a fixed par value and paydividends based on a percentage of that par value at a fixed orvariable rate. Preferred stocks often have a liquidation value thatgenerally equals the original purchase price of the preferred stock atthe date of issuance.

Real Estate Investment Trusts (“REITs”). Certain Portfolios mayinvest in REITs, which are pooled vehicles that invest primarily inincome-producing real estate or loans related to real estate and aredefined by the federal tax law. A REIT is not subject to federal corpo-rate income tax, provided it complies with a number of Internal Rev-enue Code requirements, including distributing a significant portionof its net income to its shareholders. Various other countries havealso adopted REIT-like structures that receive comparable tax treat-ment, provided certain requirements are met.

Securities of Other Investment Companies. Certain Portfoliosmay invest in the securities of other investment companies, includingETFs, to the extent permitted by applicable law. Generally, a Portfo-lio’s investments in other investment companies are subject to stat-utory limitations in the 1940 Act, which prohibit the acquisition ofshares of other investment companies in excess of certain limits.However, there are statutory and regulatory exemptions from theserestrictions under the 1940 Act on which the Portfolios may rely toinvest in other investment companies in excess of these limits, sub-ject to certain conditions. In addition, many ETFs have obtained ex-emptive relief from the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”)

to permit unaffiliated funds (such as the Portfolios) to invest in theirshares beyond the statutory limits, subject to certain conditions andpursuant to contractual arrangements between the ETFs and the in-vesting funds. A Portfolio may rely on these exemptive orders ininvesting in ETFs. A Portfolio that invests in other investmentcompanies indirectly bears the fees and expenses of those investmentcompanies.

Short Sales. A Portfolio may engage in short sales and may enterinto derivative contracts that have a similar economic effect (e.g.,taking a short position in a futures contract). A “short sale” is thesale by a portfolio of a security that has been borrowed from a thirdparty on the expectation that the market price will drop. If the priceof the security drops, the Portfolio will make a profit by purchasingthe security in the open market at a lower price than at which it soldthe security. If the price of the security rises, the Portfolio may haveto cover short positions at a higher price than the short sale price,resulting in a loss. In addition, because a Portfolio’s potential loss ona short sale arises from increases in the value of the security soldshort, the extent of such loss, like the price of the security sold short,is theoretically unlimited.

Swaps. A Portfolio may engage in swap transactions. Swap con-tracts are derivatives in the form of a contract or other similarinstrument that is an agreement to exchange the return generated byone instrument for the return generated by another instrument. Thepayment streams are calculated by reference to a specified security orindex and agreed upon notional amount. The term “specified index”includes, but is not limited to, currencies, fixed interest rates, pricesand total return on interest rate indices, fixed income indices, totalreturn on equity securities, stock indices and commodity indices (aswell as amounts derived from arithmetic operations on these indices).

Temporary Defensive Investments. For temporary defensivepurposes in response to adverse market, economic, political or otherconditions, each Portfolio (except the Portfolios that seek to track theperformance (before fees and expenses) of a particular securities mar-ket index) may invest, without limit, in cash, money market instrumentsor high quality short-term debt securities, including repurchase agree-ments. To the extent a Portfolio is invested in these instruments, thePortfolio will not be pursuing its investment objective. In addition, eachHybrid Portfolio may vary from its asset allocation targets and targetinvestment percentages for defensive purposes.

U.S. Government Securities. A Portfolio may invest in U.S.government securities, which include direct obligations of the U.S.Treasury (such as Treasury bills, notes or bonds) and obligations is-sued or guaranteed as to principal and interest (but not as to marketvalue) by the U.S. government, its agencies or its instrumentalities.U.S. government securities include mortgage-backed securities issuedor guaranteed by government agencies or government-sponsoredenterprises. Other U.S. government securities may be backed by the


full faith and credit of the U.S. government or supported primarily orsolely by the creditworthiness of the government-related issuer or, inthe case of mortgage-backed securities, by pools of assets.

When-Issued Securities, Delayed Delivery Securities andForward Commitments. A Portfolio may purchase or sell securitiesthat it is entitled to receive on a when issued basis. A Portfolio mayalso purchase or sell securities on a delayed delivery basis or througha forward commitment (including on a “TBA” (to be announced)basis). These transactions involve the purchase or sale of securities bya Portfolio at an established price with payment and delivery takingplace in the future. The Portfolio enters into these transactions toobtain what is considered an advantageous price to the Portfolio atthe time of entering into the transaction.

Zero Coupon and Pay-in-Kind Securities. Zero coupon securitiesare debt securities that do not pay regular interest at regular inter-vals, but are issued at a discount from face value. The discount ap-proximates the total amount of interest the security will accrue fromthe date of issuance to maturity. Pay-in-kind securities normally givethe issuer an option to pay cash at a coupon payment date or to givethe holder of the security a similar security with the same couponrate and a face value equal to the amount of the coupon paymentthat would have been made. Convertible securities, corporate debtsecurities, mortgage- and asset-backed securities, U.S. governmentsecurities, foreign securities and other types of debt instruments maybe structured as zero coupon or pay-in-kind securities.

Risks

Risk is the chance that you will lose money on your investment or thatit will not earn as much as you expect. In general, the greater the risk,the more money your investment can earn for you and the more youcan lose. Like other investment companies, the value of each Portfo-lio’s shares may be affected by the Portfolio’s investment objective(s),principal investment strategies and particular risk factors. Each Portfo-lio follows a distinct set of Investment strategies. Consequently, eachPortfolio may be subject to different risks. Some of the risks of inves-ting in the Portfolios are discussed below, including the principal risksof the Portfolios as discussed in “About the Investment Portfolios —Investments, Risks, and Performance — Principal Risks.” However,other factors may also affect a Portfolio’s investment results. There isno guarantee that a Portfolio will achieve its investment objective(s) orthat it will not lose value.

General Investment Risks: Each Portfolio is subject to the follow-ing risks:

Asset Class Risk: A Portfolio is subject to the risk that thereturns from the asset classes, or types of securities in which aPortfolio invests will underperform the general securities mar-kets or different asset classes. Different asset classes tend to gothrough cycles of outperformance and underperformance incomparison to each other and to the general securities markets.

Cybersecurity and Operational Risk: A Portfolio, its serviceproviders, and third-party fund distribution platforms, and yourability to transact with a Portfolio, may be negatively impacteddue to operational risks arising from, among other problems,human errors, systems and technology disruptions or failures,or cybersecurity incidents. Cybersecurity incidents may allow anunauthorized party to gain access to fund assets, customerdata, or proprietary information, or cause a Portfolio or its serv-ice providers, as well as the securities trading venues and theirservice providers, to suffer data corruption or lose operationalfunctionality. A cybersecurity incident could, among otherthings, result in the loss or theft of customer data or funds, cus-tomers or employees being unable to access electronic systems(“denial of services”), loss or theft of proprietary information orcorporate data, physical damage to a computer or network sys-tem, or remediation costs associated with system repairs. Anyof these results could have a substantial adverse impact on aPortfolio and its shareholders.

The occurrence of any of these problems could result in a lossof information, regulatory scrutiny, reputational damage andother consequences, any of which could have a material ad-verse effect on a Portfolio or its shareholders. The Adviser,through its monitoring and oversight of Portfolio service pro-viders, endeavors to determine that service providers take ap-propriate precautions to avoid and mitigate risks that couldlead to such problems. However, it is not possible for the Ad-viser, Portfolio service providers, or third-party fund distributionplatforms to identify all of the cybersecurity or other operationalrisks that may affect a Portfolio or to develop processes andcontrols to completely eliminate or mitigate their occurrence oreffects. Most issuers in which a Portfolio invests are heavilydependent on computers for data storage and operations andrequire ready access to the internet to conduct their businesses.Thus, cybersecurity incidents could also affect issuers of secu-rities in which a Portfolio invests, leading to significant loss ofvalue.

Insurance Fund Risk: The Portfolios are available throughContracts offered by insurance company affiliates of the Ad-viser, and the Portfolios may be used to fund all or a portionof certain benefits and guarantees available under the Con-tracts. To the extent the assets in a Portfolio are insufficientto fund those benefits and guarantees, the Adviser’s in-surance company affiliates might otherwise be obligated tofulfill them out of their own resources. The Adviser is subjectto conflicts of interest in connection with providing advice to,or developing strategies and models used to manage, a Port-folio (e.g., with respect to the allocation of assets betweenpassively and actively managed portions of a Portfolio and thedevelopment and implementation of the models used to


manage a Portfolio). The performance of a Portfolio may im-pact the obligations and financial exposure of the Adviser’sinsurance company affiliates under any death benefit, incomebenefit and other guarantees provided through Contracts thatoffer the Portfolio as an investment option and the ability ofan insurance company affiliate to manage (e.g., through theuse of various hedging techniques) the risks associated withthese benefits and guarantees. The Adviser’s investment deci-sions and the design of the Portfolios may be influenced bythese factors. For example, the Portfolios or models andstrategies may be managed or designed in a manner (e.g.,using more conservative or less volatile investment styles, in-cluding volatility management strategies) that could reducepotential losses and/or mitigate financial risks to insurancecompany affiliates that provide the benefits and guaranteesand offer the Portfolios as investment options in their prod-ucts, and also could facilitate such an insurance company’sability to provide benefits and guarantees under its Contracts,including by making more predictable the costs of the bene-fits and guarantees and by reducing the regulatory capitalneeded to provide them. The financial benefits to the Ad-viser’s insurance company affiliates may be material. The per-formance of a Portfolio also may adversely impact the valueof Contracts that offer the Portfolio as an investment optionand could suppress the value of the benefits and guaranteesoffered under a Contract. Please refer to your Contract pro-spectus for more information about any benefits and guaran-tees offered under the Contract. Consistent with its fiduciaryduties, the Adviser seeks to implement each Portfolio’sinvestment program in a manner that is in the best interestsof the Portfolio and that is consistent with the Portfolio’s in-vestment objective, policies and strategies described in detailin this Prospectus.

Issuer-Specific Risk: The value of an individual security orparticular type of security can be more volatile than the marketas a whole and can perform differently from the market as awhole. The value of a security may decline for a number of rea-sons which directly relate to the issuer, such as managementperformance, financial leverage and reduced demand for theissuer’s goods or services, as well as the historical and pro-spective earnings of the issuer and the value of its assets. Achange in the financial condition of a single issuer may affectsecurities markets as a whole. Certain unanticipated events,such as natural disasters, can have a dramatic adverse effect onthe value of an issuer’s securities.

Large Shareholder Risk: A significant percentage of a Portfo-lio’s shares may be owned or controlled by the Adviser and itsaffiliates, other Portfolios advised by the Adviser (including fundsof funds), or other large shareholders, including primarily

insurance company separate accounts and qualified plans. Ac-cordingly, a Portfolio is subject to the potential for large-scale in-flows and outflows as a result of purchases and redemptions ofits shares by such shareholders, including in connection withsubstitution and other transactions by affiliates of the Ad-viser. These inflows and outflows may be frequent andcould negatively affect a Portfolio’s net asset value and perform-ance and could cause a Portfolio to purchase or sell securities ata time when it would not normally do so. It would be particularlydisadvantageous for a Portfolio if it experiences outflows andneeds to sell securities at a time of volatility in the markets, whenvalues could be falling. These inflows and outflows alsocould negatively affect a Portfolio’s ability to meet shareholderredemption requests or could limit a Portfolio’s ability to pay re-demption proceeds within the time period stated in its pro-spectus because of unusual market conditions, an unusually highvolume of redemption requests, or other reasons. During periodsof declining or illiquid markets, the Adviser or its affiliates alsomay be subject to conflicts of interest in selecting shares of Port-folios for redemption and in deciding whether and when to re-deem such shares. In addition, these inflows and outflows couldincrease a Portfolio’s brokerage or other transaction costs, andlarge-scale outflows could cause a Portfolio’s actual expenses toincrease, or could result in a Portfolio’s current expenses beingallocated over a smaller asset base, which, depending on anyapplicable expense caps, could lead to an increase in the Portfo-lio’s expense ratio.

Market Risk: A Portfolio is subject to the risk that the secu-rities markets will move down, sometimes rapidly and un-predictably based on overall economic conditions and otherfactors. The value of a security may decline due to generalmarket conditions which are not specifically related to a partic-ular company, such as real or perceived adverse economic con-ditions, changes in the general outlook for corporate earnings,changes in interest or currency rates or adverse investment sen-timent generally. Changes in the financial condition of a singleissuer can impact a market as a whole. The value of a securitymay also decline due to factors which affect a particular in-dustry or industries, such as labor shortages or increased pro-duction costs and competitive conditions within an industry.During a general downturn in the securities markets, multipleasset classes may decline in value simultaneously. The increas-ing interconnectedness of markets around the world may resultin many markets being affected by events in a single country orevents affecting a single or small number of issuers. Geo-political risks, including terrorism, tensions or open conflictbetween nations, or political or economic dysfunction withinsome nations that are major players on the world stage, maylead to overall instability in world economies and markets gen-erally and have led, and may in the future lead, to increased


market volatility and may have adverse long-term effects. Inaddition, markets and market-participants are increasingly reli-ant upon both publicly available and proprietary informationdata systems. Data imprecision, software or other technologymalfunctions, programming inaccuracies, unauthorized use oraccess, and similar circumstances may impair the performanceof these systems and may have an adverse impact upon a sin-gle issuer, a group of issuers, or the market at-large. In certaincases, an exchange or market may close or issue trading haltson either specific securities or even the entire market, whichmay result in a Portfolio being, among other things, unable tobuy or sell certain securities or financial instruments or accu-rately price its investments.

Portfolio Management Risk: A Portfolio is subject to therisk that strategies used by the investment manager(s) and theirsecurities selections fail to produce the intended results.

Recent Market Conditions Risk: The financial crisis thatbegan in 2008 was followed in many Western countries by along period of growth that was slower than the historicalaverage, the disappearance of some traditional industries andjobs, and an uneven distribution of economic opportunities. Thisin turn has spurred some countries, including the U.S., to adoptor consider adopting more protectionist trade policies, to adoptmore business-friendly regulatory regimes and to enact a reducedcorporate income tax rate (as the U.S. recently did) or to considerreducing corporate income tax rates. The U.S. is also said to beconsidering significant new investments in infrastructure andnational defense which, coupled with lower federal income taxes,could lead to sharply increased government borrowing andhigher interest rates. The exact shape of these policies is stillbeing worked out through the political process, but the equityand debt markets may react strongly to expectations, whichcould increase volatility, especially if the market’s expectations forchanges in government policies are not borne out. Changes inmarket conditions will not have the same impact on all types ofsecurities.

High public debt in the U.S. and other countries creates on-going systemic and market risks and policymaking uncertainty.Interest rates have been unusually low in recent years in theU.S. and abroad. The Federal Reserve has begun to raise inter-est rates which, if it continues, may heighten interest rate riskand redemption risk, among other risks, for a Portfolio. Be-cause there is little precedent for this situation, it is difficult topredict the impact on various markets of a significant rate in-crease or other significant policy changes, whether broughtabout by U.S. policy makers or by dislocations in world mar-kets. For example, because investors may buy equity securitiesor other investments with borrowed money, a significant in-crease in interest rates may cause a decline in the markets for

those investments. Also, regulators have expressed concernthat rate increases may cause investors to sell fixed incomesecurities faster than the market can absorb them, contributingto price volatility.

In addition, global economies and financial markets are increas-ingly interconnected, which increases the possibilities that con-ditions in one country or region might adversely impact issuersin a different country or region. For example, official statisticsindicate a recent growth rate in China that is significantly lowerthan that in the early part of the decade. This has adversely af-fected worldwide commodity prices and the economies of manycountries, especially those that depend heavily on commodityproduction and/or trade with China. A rise in protectionist tradepolicies, and the possibility of changes to some internationaltrade agreements, could affect the economies of many nationsin ways that cannot necessarily be foreseen at the present time.

The precise details and the resulting impact of the United King-dom’s vote to leave the European Union (the “EU”), commonlyreferred to as “Brexit,” are impossible to know for sure at thispoint. On March 29, 2017, Prime Minister Theresa May pro-vided the European Council formal notification of the UnitedKingdom’s intention to withdraw from the EU pursuant to Ar-ticle 50 of the Treaty of Lisbon. This formal notification begins atwo-year period of negotiations about the terms of the UnitedKingdom’s exit from the EU. The effect on the United King-dom’s economy will likely depend on the nature of trade rela-tions with the EU and other major economies following its exit,which are matters to be negotiated. The outcomes may causeincreased volatility and have a significant adverse impact onworld financial markets, other international trade agreements,and the United Kingdom and European economies, as well asthe broader global economy for some time.

In some countries where economic conditions are still recoveringfrom the 2008 crisis, they are nevertheless perceived as still frag-ile. The crisis caused strains among countries in the euro-zonethat have not been fully resolved, and it is not yet clear whatmeasures, if any, EU or individual country officials may take inresponse. Withdrawal of government support, failure of efforts inresponse to the strains, or investor perception that such effortsare not succeeding could adversely impact the value and liquidityof certain securities and currencies.

Regulatory changes adopted in response to the 2008 crisishave caused some financial services companies to exit long-standing lines of business, resulting in dislocations for othermarket participants. Reduced access to borrowing may neg-atively affect many issuers worldwide.

Because the impact of these events on the markets has beenwidespread, it may be difficult to identify both risks and oppor-tunities using past models of the interplay of market forces, or


to predict the duration of these market conditions. Unexpectedpolitical and diplomatic events within the U.S. and abroad mayaffect investor and consumer confidence and may adverselyimpact financial markets and the broader economy, perhapssuddenly and to a significant degree.

Regulatory Risk: Each Portfolio is subject to a variety of laws andregulations which govern its operations. Each Portfolio is subject toregulation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), andcertain Portfolios are subject to regulation by the Commodity FuturesTrading Commission (“CFTC”). Similarly, the businesses and otherissuers of the securities and other instruments in which a Portfolioinvests are also subject to considerable regulation. These laws andregulations are subject to change. A change in laws or regulationsmay materially impact a Portfolio, a security, business, sector or mar-ket. For example, a change in laws or regulations made by the gov-ernment or a regulatory body may impact the ability of a Portfolio toachieve its investment objective, or may impact the Portfolio’sinvestment policies or strategies, or may reduce the attractiveness ofan investment. A Portfolio also may incur additional costs to complywith any new requirements as well as to monitor for compliance withany new requirements going forward. The Adviser is registered withthe SEC as an investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Actof 1940, as amended. The Adviser also is registered with the CFTC asa commodity pool operator (“CPO”) under the Commodity ExchangeAct, as amended, and, with respect to Portfolios that employ de-rivative investments to a greater extent, serves as a CPO. Being sub-ject to dual regulation by the SEC and the CFTC may increasecompliance costs, which may be borne by a Portfolio and may affectthe Portfolio’s returns.

Risk Management: The Adviser and Sub-Advisers undertake cer-tain analyses with the intention of identifying particular types of risksand reducing a Portfolio’s exposure to them. However, risk is an es-sential part of investing, and the degree of return an investor mightexpect is often tied to the degree of risk the investor is willing to ac-cept. By its very nature, risk involves exposure to the possibility ofadverse events. Accordingly, no risk management program caneliminate a Portfolio’s exposure to such events; at best, it can onlyreduce the possibility that the Portfolio will be affected by adverseevents, and especially those risks that are not intrinsic to the Portfo-lio’s investment program. While the prospectus describes materialrisk factors associated with a Portfolio’s investment program, there isno assurance that as a particular situation unfolds in the markets, theAdviser or Sub-Advisers will identify all of the risks that might affectthe Portfolio, rate their probability or potential magnitude correctly,or be able to take appropriate measures to reduce the Portfolio’sexposure to them. Measures taken with the intention of decreasingexposure to identified risks might have the unintended effect of in-creasing exposure to other risks.

Sub-Adviser Selection Risk: A Portfolio is subject to the risk thatthe Adviser’s process for selecting or replacing a Sub-Adviser and itsdecision to select or replace a Sub-Adviser does not produce the in-tended results.

In addition, the Adviser is subject to certain conflicts of interest in con-nection with recommending the appointment and continued service ofSub-Advisers. The Adviser is affiliated with certain Sub-Advisers and,therefore, the Adviser will benefit not only from the net managementfee the Adviser retains, but also from the advisory fees paid by the Ad-viser to an Affiliated Sub-Adviser. Since the Adviser pays fees to theSub-Advisers from the management fees that it earns from the Portfo-lios, any increase or decrease in the advisory fees negotiated with pro-posed or current Sub-Advisers will result in a corresponding decreaseor increase, respectively, in the amount of the management fee re-tained by the Adviser. The Adviser or its affiliates also have distributionrelationships with certain Sub-Advisers or their affiliates under whichthe Sub-Advisers or their affiliates distribute or support the distributionof investment products issued or sold by the Adviser or its affiliates(including those in which the Portfolios serve as investment options),which could financially benefit the Adviser and its affiliates or providean incentive to the Adviser in selecting one Sub-Adviser over another.When recommending the appointment or continued service of a Sub-Adviser, consistent with its fiduciary duties, the Adviser relies primarilyon the qualitative and quantitative factors described in detail in theProspectus.

Valuation Risk: The price at which a Portfolio sells any particular in-vestment may differ from the Portfolio’s valuation of the investment.Such differences could be significant, particularly for illiquid securitiesand securities that trade in relatively thin markets and/or markets thatexperience extreme volatility. If market or other conditions make itdifficult to value some investments, SEC rules and applicable account-ing protocols may require a Portfolio to value these investments usingmore subjective methods, known as fair value methodologies. Usingfair value methodologies to price investments may result in a value thatis different from an investment’s most recent closing price and from theprices used by other mutual funds to calculate their NAVs. Investorswho purchase or redeem Portfolio shares on days when the Portfolio isholding fair-valued securities may receive fewer or more shares, orlower or higher redemption proceeds, than they would have received ifthe Portfolio had not held fair-valued the securities or had used adifferent valuation methodology. The value of foreign securities, certainfutures and fixed income securities, and currencies, as applicable, maybe materially affected by events after the close of the markets on whichthey are traded but before a Portfolio determines its net asset value. APortfolio’s ability to value its investments in an accurate and timelymanner may be impacted by technological issues and/or errors by thirdparty service providers, such as pricing services or accounting agents.

As indicated in “About the Investment Portfolios — Investments,Risks, and Performance — Principal Risks,” a particular Portfolio


may be subject to the following as principal risks. In addition, to theextent a Portfolio invests in a particular type of investment, it will besubject to the risks of such investment as described below:

Banking Industry Sector Risk: To the extent a Portfolio invests inthe banking industry, it is exposed to the risks generally associatedwith such industry, including interest rate risk, credit risk and the riskthat regulatory developments relating to the banking industry mayaffect its investment. The value of a Portfolio’s shares could experi-ence significantly greater volatility than the value of shares of portfo-lios investing more broadly.

Cash Management Risk: Upon entering into certain derivativescontracts, such as futures contracts, and to maintain open positionsin certain derivatives contracts, a Portfolio may be required to postcollateral for the contract, the amount of which may vary. In addi-tion, a Portfolio may maintain cash and cash equivalent positions aspart of the Portfolio’s strategy in order to take advantage of invest-ment opportunities as they arise, to manage the Portfolio’s marketexposure and for other portfolio management purposes. As such, thePortfolio may maintain cash balances, including foreign currencybalances, which may be significant, with counterparties such as theTrust’s custodian or its affiliates. Maintaining larger cash and cashequivalent positions could negatively affect a Portfolio’s performancedue to missed investment opportunities and may also subject a Port-folio to additional risks and costs, such as increased counterparty andcredit risk with respect to the custodian bank holding the assets andany fees imposed for large cash balances.

Collateralized Debt Obligations Risk: The risks of an investmentin a collateralized debt obligation (“CDO”) depend largely on thequality and type of the collateral and the class or “tranche” of theCDO in which the Portfolio invests. Normally, collateralized bondobligations, collateralized loan obligations, and other CDOs are pri-vately offered and sold, and thus are not registered under the secu-rities laws. As a result, investments in CDOs may be characterized bythe Portfolio as illiquid securities; however, an active dealer market,or other relevant measures of liquidity, may exist for CDOs allowing aCDO potentially to be deemed liquid under the Portfolio’s liquiditypolicies approved by the Board of Trustees. In addition to the risksassociated with debt instruments (e.g., interest rate risk and creditrisk), CDOs carry risks including, but not limited to: (a) the possibilitythat distributions from collateral securities will not be adequate tomake interest or other payments; (b) the risk that the quality of thecollateral may decline in value or default; (c) the possibility that thePortfolio may invest in CDOs that are subordinate to other classes;and (d) the risk that the complex structure of the security may not befully understood at the time of investment and may produce disputeswith the issuer or unexpected investment results.

Convertible Securities Risk: A convertible security is a form of hy-brid security; that is, a security with both debt and equity character-istics. The value of a convertible security fluctuates in relation to

changes in interest rates and the credit quality of the issuer and, inaddition, fluctuates in relation to the underlying common stock. Aconvertible security tends to perform more like a stock when theunderlying stock price is high relative to the conversion price (becausemore of the security’s value resides in the option to convert) and morelike a debt security when the underlying stock price is low relative tothe conversion price (because the option to convert is less valuable).Because its value can be influenced by many different factors, a con-vertible security generally is not as sensitive to interest rate changes asa similar non-convertible debt security, and generally has less potentialfor gain or loss than the underlying stock. A convertible security may besubject to redemption at the option of the issuer at a price establishedin the convertible security’s governing instrument, which may be lessthan the current market price of the security. If a convertible securityheld by a Portfolio is called for redemption, the Portfolio will be re-quired to permit the issuer to redeem the security, convert it intounderlying common stock or sell it to a third party. Investments by thePortfolio in convertible debt securities may not be subject to any ratingsrestrictions, but a Portfolio’s investment manager will consider ratings,and any changes to ratings, in its determination of whether the Portfo-lio should invest in and/or continue to hold the securities. Convertiblesecurities are subject to equity risk, interest rate risk, and credit risk andare often lower-quality securities. Lower quality may lead to greatervolatility in the price of a security and may negatively affect a security’sliquidity. Since it derives a portion of its value from the common stockinto which it may be converted, a convertible security is also subject tothe same types of market and issuer-specific risks that apply to theunderlying common stock. In addition, because companies that issueconvertible securities are often small- or mid-cap companies, to theextent a Portfolio invests in convertible securities, it will be subject tothe risks of investing in these companies. The securities of small- andmid-cap companies are often more volatile and less liquid than thesecurities of larger companies. Convertible securities are normally“junior” securities, which means an issuer usually must pay interest onits non-convertible debt securities before it can make payments on itsconvertible securities. If an issuer stops making interest or principalpayments, these securities may become worthless and the Portfoliocould lose its entire investment. In the event of a liquidation of theissuing company, holders of convertible securities may be paid beforethe company’s common stock holders but after holders of any seniordebt obligations of the company. To the extent a Portfolio invests insecurities that may be considered “enhanced” convertible securities,some or all of these risks may be more pronounced.

Counterparty Risk: A Portfolio may sustain a loss as a result of the in-solvency or bankruptcy of, or other non-compliance or non-performanceby, another party to a transaction.

Credit Risk: A Portfolio is subject to the risk that the issuer or theguarantor (or other obligor, such as a party providing insurance orother credit enhancement) of a fixed income security, or the counter-party to a derivatives contract, repurchase agreement, loan of portfolio


securities or other transaction, is unable or unwilling, or is perceived(whether by market participants, ratings agencies, pricing services orotherwise) as unable or unwilling, to make timely principal and/orinterest payments, or otherwise honor its obligations. Securities aresubject to varying degrees of credit risk, which are often reflected intheir credit ratings. However, rating agencies may fail to make timelychanges to credit ratings in response to subsequent events and a creditrating may become stale in that it fails to reflect changes in an issuer’sfinancial condition. Credit ratings also may be influenced by conflicts ofinterest. Credit ratings represent a rating agency’s opinion regardingthe quality of a security and are not a guaranty of quality. The down-grade of the credit rating of a security may decrease its value. Lowercredit quality also may lead to greater volatility in the price of a securityand may negatively affect a security’s liquidity. When a fixed incomesecurity is not rated, an investment manager may have to assess therisk of the security itself. In addition, proposed legislation and regu-lations to reform rating agencies could adversely impact a Portfolio’sinvestments or investment process.

Derivatives Risk: A derivative instrument is an investment contract,the value of which is linked to (or is derived from), in whole or inpart, the value of an underlying asset, reference rate, index or event(e.g., stocks, bonds, commodities, currencies, interest rates and mar-ket indexes). Derivatives include options, swaps, futures, options onfutures, forward contracts and structured securities. Investing in de-rivatives involves investment techniques and risks different from, andin some respects greater than, those associated with traditionalsecurities and may involve increased transaction costs. The successfuluse of derivatives will usually depend on the Adviser’s or a Sub-Adviser’s ability to accurately forecast movements in the marketrelating to the underlying asset, reference rate, index or event. If theAdviser or a Sub-Adviser does not predict correctly the direction ofasset prices, interest rates and other economic factors, a Portfolio’sderivatives position could lose value. A Portfolio’s investments in de-rivatives may rise or fall in value more rapidly than other investmentsand may reduce the Portfolio’s returns. Changes in the value of a de-rivative may not correlate perfectly, or at all, with the underlying as-set, reference rate or index, and a Portfolio could lose more than theprincipal amount invested. Derivatives also may be subject to certainother risks such as leveraging risk, liquidity risk, interest rate risk,market risk, credit risk, the risk that a counterparty may be unable orunwilling to honor its obligations, management risk and the risk ofmispricing or improper valuation. Derivatives also may not behave asanticipated by a Portfolio, especially in abnormal market conditions.The use of derivatives may increase the volatility of a Portfolio’s netasset value. Derivatives may be leveraged such that a small invest-ment can have a significant impact on a Portfolio’s exposure to stockmarket values, interest rates, currency exchange rates or otherinvestments. As a result, a relatively small price movement in a de-rivatives contract may cause an immediate and substantial loss orgain. It may be difficult or impossible for a Portfolio to purchase or

sell certain derivatives in sufficient amounts to achieve the desiredlevel of exposure, which may result in a loss or may be costly to thePortfolio. In addition, the possible lack of a liquid secondary marketfor certain derivatives, and the resulting inability of a Portfolio to sellor otherwise close out a derivatives position, could expose thePortfolio to losses and could make such derivatives more difficult forthe Portfolio to value accurately. Assets segregated to cover thesetransactions may decline in value, may become illiquid, and are notavailable to meet redemptions. The need to segregate assets couldlimit a Portfolio’s ability to pursue other opportunities as they arise.Some derivatives are more sensitive to market price fluctuations andto interest rate changes than other investments. A Portfolio alsocould suffer unlimited losses related to its derivatives positions as aresult of unanticipated market movements if, for example, the posi-tion is on the short (sell) side of a futures transaction or the Portfoliois acting as the grantor of an option. A Portfolio also may be exposedto losses if the counterparty in the transaction does not fulfill its con-tractual obligation. In addition, derivatives traded over-the-counterthat are uncleared do not benefit from the protections provided byexchanges and central counterparties (derivatives clearing orga-nizations and clearing corporations) in the event that a counterpartyis unable to fulfill its contractual obligation. Such uncleared over-the-counter derivatives therefore involve greater counterparty and creditrisk and may be more difficult to value than exchange-traded de-rivatives that are cleared by a central counterparty. When a derivativeis used as a hedge against a position that a Portfolio holds, any lossgenerated by the derivative should generally be offset by gains onthe hedged instrument, and vice versa. While hedging can reduce oreliminate losses, it also can reduce or eliminate gains. Hedges aresometimes subject to imperfect matching between the derivative andthe hedged investment, and there can be no assurance that a Portfo-lio’s hedging transactions will be effective. Also, suitable derivativetransactions may not be available in all circumstances. There can beno assurance that a Portfolio will engage in derivative transactions toreduce exposure to other risks when that might be beneficial.

The federal income tax treatment of a derivative may not be as favorableas a direct investment in an underlying asset and may adversely affectthe timing, character and amount of income a Portfolio realizes from itsinvestments. In addition, certain derivatives are subject to mark-to-market or straddle provisions of the Internal Revenue Code. The federalincome tax treatment of certain derivatives, such as swaps, is unsettledand may be subject to future legislation, regulation or administrativepronouncements issued by the Internal Revenue Service. There havebeen numerous recent legislative and regulatory initiatives to implementa new regulatory framework for the derivatives markets. The Dodd-FrankWall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank Act”)substantially increased regulation of the over-the-counter derivativesmarket and participants in that market, imposing various requirementson transactions involving instruments that fall within the Dodd-FrankAct’s definition of “swap” and “security-based swap.” In particular, the


Dodd-Frank Act may limit the availability of certain derivatives, maymake the use of derivatives by a Portfolio more costly, and may other-wise adversely impact the performance and value of derivatives. Underthe Dodd-Frank Act, a Portfolio also may be subject to additionalrecordkeeping and reporting requirements. Other future regulatorydevelopments may also impact a Portfolio’s ability to invest, or remaininvested, in certain derivatives. For example, future regulations may re-quire a Portfolio to comply with specific exposure or position limitationsand may impose additional requirements on the assets used to cover thePortfolio’s derivatives transactions. The Adviser or a Sub-Adviser mayalso make trading decisions for other portfolios and clients that may re-strict the amount of trading it may engage in on behalf of a Portfolio.Legislation or regulation may also change the way in which a Portfolioitself is regulated. There can be no assurance that any new governmentalregulation will not adversely affect a Portfolio’s ability to achieve its in-vestment objective.

Distressed Companies Risk: A Portfolio may invest in distresseddebt securities, including loans, bonds and notes, many of which arenot publicly traded and may involve a substantial degree of risk. Debtobligations of distressed companies typically are unrated, lower-ratedor close to default. Distressed debt securities include securities ofcompanies that are in financial distress and that may be in or about toenter bankruptcy. In certain periods, there may be little or no liquidityin the markets for these securities. In addition, the prices of suchsecurities may be subject to periods of abrupt and erratic marketmovements and above-average price volatility. It may be difficult toobtain financial information regarding the financial condition of aborrower or issuer, and its financial condition may change rapidly. Itmay be more difficult to value such securities and the spread betweenthe bid and asked prices of such securities may be greater than ex-pected. A Portfolio may lose a substantial portion or all of its invest-ment or it may be required to accept cash or securities with a valueless than the Portfolio’s original investment in such securities. Thepurchase of defaulted debt securities involves risks such as the possi-bility of complete loss of the investment where the issuer does notrestructure to enable it to resume principal and interest payments. Ifthe issuer of a security held by a Portfolio defaults, the Portfolio mayexperience a significant or complete loss on the security. Securitiestend to lose much of their value before the issuer defaults. The Portfo-lio may incur additional expenses to the extent it is required to seekrecovery upon a default in the payment of principal or interest on itsportfolio holdings.

Dividend Risk: Dividends received on common stocks are not fixedbut are declared at the discretion of an issuer’s board of directors.There is no guarantee that the companies in which a Portfolio investswill declare dividends in the future or that dividends, if declared, willremain at current levels or increase over time.

Energy Sector Risk: The energy sector is cyclical and highlydependent on commodities prices. The market values of companies in

the energy sector could be adversely affected by, among other factors,the levels and volatility of global energy prices, commodity price vola-tility, energy supply and demand, changes in exchange rates andinterest rates, imposition of import controls, increased competition,capital expenditures on and the success of exploration and production,depletion of resources, development of alternative energy sources andenergy conservation efforts, technological developments, tax treatmentand labor relations. Companies in this sector are subject to substantialgovernment regulation and contractual fixed pricing, which may in-crease the cost of business and limit these companies’ earnings, and asignificant portion of their revenues depends on a relatively smallnumber of customers, including governmental entities and utilities. Asa result, governmental budget constraints may have a material adverseeffect on the stock prices of companies in this industry. Energy compa-nies may also operate in or engage in transactions involving countrieswith less developed regulatory regimes or a history of expropriation,nationalization or other adverse policies. Energy companies also face asignificant risk of civil liability from accidents resulting in injury or lossof life or property, pollution or other environmental mishaps, equip-ment malfunctions or mishandling of materials and a risk of loss fromterrorism, political strife and natural disasters. Any such event couldhave serious consequences for the general population of the area af-fected and result in a material adverse impact to a Portfolio’s holdingsand the performance of a Portfolio. The value of a Portfolio’s sharescould experience significantly greater volatility than the value of sharesof portfolios investing more broadly.

Equity Risk: In general, stocks and other equity security values fluc-tuate, and sometimes widely fluctuate, in response to changes in acompany’s financial condition as well as general market, economicand political conditions and other factors. Equity securities generallyhave greater price volatility than fixed-income securities.

Exchange-Traded Funds Risk: A Portfolio’s shareholders will in-directly bear fees and expenses paid by the ETFs in which it invests, inaddition to the Portfolio’s direct fees and expenses. The cost of inves-ting in a Portfolio, therefore, may be higher than the cost of investingin a mutual fund that invests directly in individual stocks and bonds. Inaddition, a Portfolio’s net asset value will be subject to fluctuations inthe market values of the ETFs in which it invests. A Portfolio is alsosubject to the risks associated with the securities or other investmentsin which the ETFs invest and the ability of the Portfolio to meet its in-vestment objective will directly depend on the ability of the ETFs tomeet their investment objectives. The extent to which the investmentperformance and risks associated with a Portfolio correlate to those ofa particular ETF will depend upon the extent to which the Portfolio’sassets are allocated from time to time for investment in the ETF, whichwill vary. ETFs may change their investment objectives or policieswithout the approval of the Portfolio. If that were to occur, the Portfo-lio might be forced to sell its investment in an ETF at a time and pricethat is unfavorable to the Portfolio.


In addition, many ETFs invest in securities included in, or repre-sentative of, underlying indexes regardless of investment merit ormarket trends and, therefore, these ETFs do not change their in-vestment strategies to respond to changes in the economy, whichmeans that such an ETF may be particularly susceptible to a gen-eral decline in the market segment relating to the relevant index.Imperfect correlation between an ETF’s securities and those in theindex it seeks to track, rounding of prices, changes to the indicesand regulatory policies may cause an ETF’s performance not tomatch the performance of its index. An ETF’s use of a representa-tive sampling approach will result in it holding a smaller numberof securities than are in the index it seeks to track. As a result, anadverse development respecting an issuer of securities held bythe ETF could result in a greater decline in net asset value thanwould be the case if the ETF held all of the securities in the index.To the extent the assets in the ETF are smaller, these risks will begreater. No ETF fully replicates its index and an ETF may holdsecurities not included in its index. Therefore, there is a risk thatthe investment strategy of the ETF manager may not produce theintended results.

Moreover, there is the risk that an ETF may value certain securities ata price higher than the price at which it can sell them. Secondarymarket trading in shares of ETFs may be halted by a national secu-rities exchange because of market conditions or for other reasons. Inaddition, trading in these shares is subject to trading halts caused byextraordinary market volatility pursuant to “circuit breaker” rules.There can be no assurance that the requirements necessary to main-tain the listing of the shares will continue to be met or will remainunchanged. In addition, although ETFs are listed for trading on na-tional securities exchanges, certain foreign exchanges and in over-the-counter markets, there can be no assurance that an activetrading market for such shares will develop or be maintained, inwhich case the liquidity and value of a Portfolio’s investment in theETFs could be substantially and adversely affected. In addition, be-cause ETFs are traded on these exchanges and in these markets, thepurchase and sale of their shares involve transaction fees and com-missions. The market price of an ETF may be different from the netasset value of such ETF (i.e., an ETF may trade at a discount or pre-mium to its net asset value). The performance of a Portfolio that in-vests in such an ETF could be adversely impacted.

Financial Services Sector Risk: To the extent a Portfolio invests inthe financial services sector, the value of the Portfolio’s shares maybe particularly vulnerable to factors affecting that sector, such as theavailability and cost of capital funds, changes in interest rates, therate of corporate and consumer debt defaults, extensive governmentregulation and price competition. The value of a Portfolio’s sharescould experience significantly greater volatility than the value ofshares of portfolios investing more broadly.

Focused Portfolio Risk: A Portfolio that employs a strategy of in-vesting in the securities of a limited number of companies, some ofwhich may be in the same industry, sector or geographic region, in-cluding a Portfolio that is classified as “non-diversified,” may incurmore risk because changes in the value of a single security may havea more significant effect, either positive or negative, on the Portfo-lio’s NAV. To the extent that a Portfolio concentrates, or invests ahigher percentage of its assets, in the securities of a particular issueror issuers in a particular country, group of countries, region, market,industry, group of industries, sector or asset class, the Portfolio maybe adversely affected by the performance of those securities, andmay be more susceptible to adverse economic, market, political orregulatory occurrences affecting that issuer or issuers, country, groupof countries, region, market, industry, group of industries, sector orasset class. A Portfolio using such a focused or concentrated invest-ment strategy may experience greater performance volatility than aPortfolio that is more broadly invested.

Foreign Securities Risk: Investments in foreign securities, includingdepositary receipts, involve risks not associated with, or more prevalentthan those that may be associated with, investments in U.S. securities.The economies of certain foreign markets may not compare favorablywith the economy of the United States with respect to such issues asgrowth of gross national product, reinvestment of capital, resourcesand balance of payments position. Over a given period of time, foreignsecurities may underperform U.S. securities — sometimes for years. APortfolio could also underperform if it invests in countries or regionswhose economic performance falls short. Foreign markets may be lessliquid, more volatile and subject to less government supervision andregulation than U.S. markets. Security values also may be negativelyaffected by changes in the exchange rates between the U.S. dollar andforeign currencies. Differences between U.S. and foreign legal, politicaland economic systems, regulatory regimes and market practices alsomay impact security values, and it may take more time to clear andsettle trades involving foreign securities. Foreign securities are alsosubject to the risks associated with the potential imposition ofeconomic or other sanctions against a particular foreign country, itsnationals, businesses or industries. In addition, securities issued by U.S.entities with substantial foreign operations or holdings can involve risksrelating to conditions in foreign countries.

Currency Risk: Investments in foreign currencies and in secu-rities that trade in, or receive revenues in, or in derivatives thatprovide exposure to foreign currencies are subject to the riskthat those currencies will decline in value relative to the U.S.dollar. Any such decline may erode or reverse any potentialgains from an investment in securities denominated in foreigncurrency or may widen existing loss. In the case of hedgingpositions, there is the risk that the U.S. dollar will decline invalue relative to the currency being hedged. Currency rates mayfluctuate significantly over short periods of time for a number of


reasons, including changes in interest rates, intervention (or thefailure to intervene) by U.S. or foreign governments, centralbanks or supranational entities, or by the imposition of currencycontrols or other political developments in the U.S. or abroad.

Depositary Receipts Risk: Investments in depositary receipts(including American Depositary Receipts, European Depositary Re-ceipts and Global Depositary Receipts) are generally subject to thesame risks of investing directly in the foreign securities that they evi-dence or into which they may be converted. In addition, issuers un-derlying unsponsored depositary receipts may not provide as muchinformation as U.S. issuers and issuers underlying sponsored deposi-tary receipts. Unsponsored depositary receipts also may not carry thesame voting privileges as sponsored depositary receipts.

Emerging Markets Risk: Emerging market countries generallyare located in Asia, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Central andSouth America and Africa. There are greater risks involved ininvesting in emerging market countries and/or their securities mar-kets, and investments in these countries and/or markets are moresusceptible to loss than investments in developed countries and/ormarkets. Investments in these countries and/or markets may pres-ent market, credit, currency, liquidity, legal, political, technical andother risks different from, or greater than, the risks of investing indeveloped countries. For instance, these countries may be morelikely than developed countries to experience rapid and significantadverse developments in their political or economic structures.Some emerging market countries restrict foreign investments, im-pose high withholding or other taxes on foreign investments, im-pose restrictive exchange control regulations, or may nationalize orexpropriate the assets of private companies. Therefore, a Portfoliomay be limited in its ability to make direct or additional invest-ments in an emerging markets country or could lose the entirevalue of its investment in the affected market. Such restrictionsalso may have negative impacts on transaction costs, market price,investment returns and the legal rights and remedies of a Portfolio.In addition, the securities markets of emerging markets countriesgenerally are smaller, less liquid and more volatile than those ofdeveloped countries. Emerging market countries often have lessuniformity in accounting and reporting requirements and less reli-able clearance and settlement, registration and custodial proce-dures, which could result in ownership registration beingcompletely lost. There are generally higher commission rates onforeign portfolio transactions, transfer taxes, and higher custodialcosts. A Portfolio may not know the identity of trading counter-parties, which may increase the possibility of the Portfolio not re-ceiving payment or delivery of securities in a transaction. Emergingmarket countries also may be subject to high inflation and rapidcurrency devaluations, and currency-hedging techniques may beunavailable in certain emerging market countries. In addition,some emerging market countries may be heavily dependent on

international trade, which can materially affect their securities mar-kets. The risks associated with investing in a narrowly definedgeographic area also are generally more pronounced with respectto investments in emerging market countries. Investments in fron-tier markets may be subject to greater levels of these risks thaninvestments in more developed and traditional emerging markets.

European Economic Risk: The European Union’s (the “EU”)Economic and Monetary Union (the “EMU”) requires membercountries to comply with restrictions on interest rates, deficits,debt levels, and inflation rates, and other factors, each of whichmay significantly impact every European country and their eco-nomic partners. The economies of EU member countries and theirtrading partners may be adversely affected by changes in theexchange rate of the euro (the common currency of the EU),changes in EU or governmental regulations on trade and otherareas, and the threat of default or an actual default by an EUmember country on its sovereign debt, which could negativelyimpact a Portfolio’s investments and cause it to lose money. Inrecent years, the European financial markets have been neg-atively impacted by concerns relating to rising government debtlevels and national unemployment; possible default on or re-structuring of sovereign debt in several European countries; andeconomic downturns. Responses to financial problems by Euro-pean governments, central banks and others, including austeritymeasures and reforms, may not produce the desired results, mayresult in social unrest and may limit future growth and economicrecovery or have other unintended consequences. A Europeancountry’s default or debt restructuring would adversely affect theholders of the country’s debt and sellers of credit default swapslinked to the country’s creditworthiness and could negativelyimpact global markets more generally. Recent events in Europemay adversely affect the euro’s exchange rate and value and maycontinue to impact the economies of every European country andtheir economic partners. In June 2016, the United Kingdom (the“UK”) voted to withdraw from the EU, commonly referred to as“Brexit.” The impact of Brexit is so far uncertain. The negativeimpact on not only the UK and European economies but also thebroader global economy could be significant, potentially resultingin increased volatility and illiquidity and lower economic growthfor companies that rely significantly on Europe for their businessactivities and revenues, which could adversely affect the value ofthe Portfolio’s investments. Any further withdrawals from the EU(or the possibility of such withdrawals) could cause additionalmarket disruption globally.

Geographic Concentration Risk: A Portfolio that invests asignificant portion of its assets in securities of companies domiciled,or exercising the predominant part of their economic activity, in onecountry or geographic region assumes the risk that economic,political, social and environmental conditions in that particular


country or region will have a significant impact on the Portfolio’sinvestment performance and that the Portfolio’s performance will bemore volatile than the performance of more geographically diversi-fied funds. The economies and financial markets of certain regionscan be highly interdependent and may decline all at the same time.In addition, certain areas are prone to natural disasters such asearthquakes, volcanoes, droughts or tsunamis and are economicallysensitive to environmental events.

International Fair Value Pricing Risk: A Portfolio that in-vests in foreign securities is subject to the risk that its shareprice may be exposed to arbitrage attempts by investors seek-ing to capitalize on differences in the values of foreign secu-rities trading on foreign exchanges that may close before thetime the Portfolio’s net asset value is determined. If such arbi-trage attempts are successful, the Portfolio’s net asset valuemight be diluted. A Portfolio’s use of fair value pricing in cer-tain circumstances (by adjusting the closing market prices offoreign securities to reflect what the Board of Trustees believesto be their fair value) may help deter such arbitrage activities.The effect of such fair value pricing is that foreign securitiesmay not be priced on the basis of quotations from the primaryforeign securities market in which they are traded, but rathermay be priced by another method that the Board of Trusteesbelieves reflects fair value. As such, fair value pricing is basedon subjective judgment and it is possible that fair value maydiffer materially from the value realized on a sale of a foreignsecurity. It is also possible that use of fair value pricing will limitan investment sub-adviser’s ability to implement a Portfolio’sinvestment strategy (e.g., reducing the volatility of the Portfo-lio’s share price) or achieve its investment objective.

Political/Economic Risk: Changes in economic and tax poli-cies, government instability, war or other political or economicactions or factors may have an adverse effect on a Portfolio’sforeign investments.

Regulatory Risk: Less information may be available aboutforeign companies. In general, foreign companies are not sub-ject to uniform accounting, auditing and financial reportingstandards or to other regulatory practices and requirements asare U.S. companies. Many foreign governments do not super-vise and regulate stock exchanges, brokers and the sale ofsecurities to the same extent as does the United States andmay not have laws to protect investors that are comparable toU.S. securities laws. In addition, some countries may have legalsystems that may make it difficult for a Portfolio to vote proxies,exercise shareholder rights, and pursue legal remedies withrespect to its foreign investments.

Settlement Risk: Settlement and clearance procedures in cer-tain foreign markets differ significantly from those in the UnitedStates. Foreign settlement and clearance procedures and trade

regulations also may involve certain risks (such as delays inpayment for or delivery of securities) not typically associatedwith the settlement of U.S. investments. At times, settlementsin certain foreign countries have not kept pace with the numberof securities transactions. These problems may make it difficultfor a Portfolio to carry out transactions. If a Portfolio cannotsettle or is delayed in settling a purchase of securities, it maymiss attractive investment opportunities and certain of its as-sets may be uninvested with no return earned thereon for someperiod. If a Portfolio cannot settle or is delayed in settling a saleof securities, it may lose money if the value of the security thendeclines or, if it has contracted to sell the security to anotherparty, the Portfolio could be liable for any losses incurred.

Transaction Costs Risk: The costs of buying and selling for-eign securities, including taxes, brokerage and custody costs,generally are higher than those involving domestic transactions.

Futures Contract Risk: The primary risks associated with the useof futures contracts are (a) the imperfect correlation between thechange in market value of the instruments held by a Portfolio and theprice of the futures contract; (b) liquidity risks, including the possibleabsence of a liquid secondary market for a futures contract and theresulting inability to close a futures contract when desired; (c) losses(potentially unlimited) caused by unanticipated market movements;(d) an investment manager’s inability to predict correctly the directionof securities prices, interest rates, currency exchange rates and othereconomic factors; (e) the possibility that a counterparty, clearingmember or clearinghouse will default in the performance of itsobligations; (f) if a Portfolio has insufficient cash, it may have to sellsecurities from its portfolio to meet daily variation margin require-ments, and the Portfolio may have to sell securities at a time when itmay be disadvantageous to do so; and (g) transaction costs asso-ciated with investments in futures contracts may be significant, whichcould cause or increase losses or reduce gains. Futures contracts arealso subject to the same risks as the underlying investments to whichthey provide exposure. In addition, futures contracts may subject thePortfolio to leveraging risk.

Index Strategy Risk: A Portfolio that employs an index strategygenerally invests in the securities included in its index or arepresentative sample of such securities, regardless of market trends,to track the performance of an unmanaged index of securities,whereas an actively managed Portfolio typically seeks to outperforma benchmark index. Such a Portfolio generally will not modify its in-dex strategy to respond to changes in the economy, which meansthat it may be particularly susceptible to a general decline in themarket segment relating to the relevant index. In addition, althoughthe index strategy attempts to closely track its benchmark index, thePortfolio may not invest in all of the securities in the index. Also, thePortfolio’s fees and expenses will reduce the Portfolio’s returns, un-like those of the benchmark index. Cash flow into and out of a


Portfolio, portfolio transaction costs, changes in the securities thatcomprise the index, and the Portfolio’s valuation procedures alsomay affect the Portfolio’s performance. Therefore, there can be noassurance that the performance of the index strategy will match thatof the benchmark index.

Inflation-Indexed Bonds Risk: Inflation-indexed bonds are fixedincome securities whose principal value is periodically adjusted accord-ing to inflation. The value of inflation-indexed bonds is expected tochange in response to changes in real interest rates. Real interest ratesare tied to the relationship between nominal interest rates and the rateof inflation. In general, inflation-indexed bonds, including Treasuryinflation-indexed securities, decline in value when real interest ratesrise. In certain interest rate environments, such as when real interestrates are rising faster than nominal interest rates, inflation-indexedbonds may experience greater losses than other fixed income securitieswith similar durations. Interest payments on inflation-linked debt secu-rities may be difficult to predict and may vary as the principal and/orinterest is adjusted for inflation. In periods of deflation, a Portfolio mayhave no income at all from such investments.

Initial Public Offering (“IPO”) Risk: Securities issued in IPOs aresubject to many of the same risks as investing in companies withsmaller market capitalizations. Securities issued in IPOs have no tradinghistory, and information about the companies may be available for verylimited periods. In addition, the prices of securities sold in IPOs may behighly volatile. Therefore, a Portfolio may hold IPO shares for a veryshort period of time. At times, a Portfolio may not be able to invest insecurities issued in IPOs, or invest to the extent desired, if, for example,only a small portion of the securities being offered in an IPO are madeavailable to the Portfolio. In addition, under certain market conditions,a relatively small number of companies may issue securities in IPOs.Similarly, as the number of Portfolios to which IPO securities are allo-cated increases, the number of securities allocated to any one Portfoliomay decrease. To the extent a Portfolio with a small asset base investsin IPOs, a significant portion of its returns may be attributable to itsinvestments in IPOs, which have a magnified impact on Portfolios withsmall asset bases. The impact of IPOs on such a Portfolio’s perform-ance will likely decrease as the Portfolio’s asset size increases, whichcould reduce the Portfolio’s returns. There is no guarantee that as sucha Portfolio’s assets grow it will continue to experience substantiallysimilar performance by investing in profitable IPOs.

Interest Rate Risk: Changes in interest rates may affect the yield,liquidity and value of investments in income producing or debt secu-rities. Changes in interest rates also may affect the value of othersecurities. When interest rates rise, the value of the Portfolio’s debtsecurities generally declines. Conversely, when interest rates decline,the value of the Portfolio’s debt securities generally rises. Typically,the longer the maturity or duration of a debt security, the greater theeffect a change in interest rates could have on the security’s priceThus, the sensitivity of a Portfolio’s debt securities to interest rate risk

will increase with any increase in the duration of those securities. In-terest rate changes can be sudden and unpredictable, and are influ-enced by a number of factors, including government policy, monetarypolicy, inflation expectations, perceptions of risk, and supply anddemand of bonds. Changes in government monetary policy, includ-ing changes in federal tax policy or changes in a central bank’s im-plementation of specific policy goals, may have a substantial impacton interest rates. However, there can be no guarantee that anyparticular government or central bank policy will be continued, dis-continued or changed, or that any such policy will have the desiredeffect on interest rates.

As of the date of this Prospectus, interest rates in the United Statesare low relative to historic levels, but may rise significantly and rap-idly, potentially resulting in losses to a Portfolio. During periods ofvery low or negative interest rates, a Portfolio may be unable tomaintain positive returns. Changing interest rates, including fallingrates, may have unpredictable effects on markets, may result inheightened market volatility and may detract from Portfolio perform-ance to the extent a Portfolio is exposed to such interest rates.

Inverse Floaters Risk: Inverse floaters, are fixed income securitieswith a floating or variable rate of interest (i.e., the rate of interest var-ies with changes in specified market rates or indices, such as theprime rate, or at specified intervals). Inverse floaters have interestrates that tend to move in the opposite direction as the specifiedmarket rates or indices and may exhibit substantially greater pricevolatility than fixed rate obligations having similar credit quality, re-demption provisions and maturity. Any rise in the reference rate of aninverse floater (as a consequence of an increase in interest rates)causes a drop in the coupon rate, while any drop in the reference rateof an inverse floater causes an increase in the coupon rate. Inversefloater collateralized mortgage obligations (“CMOs”) exhibit greaterprice volatility than the majority of mortgage-related securities. Inaddition, some inverse floater CMOs exhibit extreme sensitivity tochanges in prepayments. As a result, the yield to maturity of an in-verse floater CMO is sensitive not only to changes in interest rates butalso to changes in prepayment rates on the related underlying mort-gage assets.

Investment Grade Securities Risk: Debt securities generally arerated by national bond ratings agencies. A Portfolio considers secu-rities to be investment grade if they are rated BBB or higher by S&Por Fitch, or Baa or higher by Moody’s or, if unrated, determined bythe investment manager to be of comparable quality. Securities ratedin the lower investment grade rating categories (e.g., BBB or Baa)are considered investment grade securities, but are somewhat riskierthan higher rated obligations because they are regarded as havingonly an adequate capacity to pay principal and interest, are consid-ered to lack outstanding investment characteristics and may possesscertain speculative characteristics.

Investment Style Risk: A Portfolio may use a particular style or set ofstyles, for example, growth, value, momentum or quantitative investing


styles, to select investments. Those styles may be out of favor or may notproduce the best results over short or longer time periods.

Growth investing generally focuses on companies that, due to theirstrong earnings and revenue potential, offer above-average prospectsfor capital growth, with less emphasis on dividend income. Earningspredictability and confidence in earnings forecasts are an importantpart of the selection process. As a result, the price of growth stocksmay be more sensitive to changes in current or expected earnings thanthe prices of other stocks. A Portfolio using this approach generallyseeks out companies experiencing some or all of the following: highsales growth, high unit growth, high or improving returns on assetsand equity, and a strong balance sheet. Such a Portfolio also preferscompanies with a competitive advantage such as unique management,marketing or research and development. Growth investing also is sub-ject to the risk that the stock price of one or more companies will fall orwill fail to appreciate as anticipated by the Portfolio, regardless ofmovements in the securities market. Growth stocks tend to be morevolatile than value stocks, so in a declining market their prices maydecrease more than value stocks in general. Growth stocks also mayincrease the volatility of the Portfolio’s share price.

Value investing attempts to identify strong companies selling at adiscount from their perceived true worth. A Portfolio using this ap-proach generally selects stocks at prices that, in its view, aretemporarily low relative to the company’s earnings, assets, cash flowand dividends. Value investing is subject to the risk that a stock’s in-trinsic value may never be fully recognized or realized by the market,or its price may go down. In addition, there is the risk that a stockjudged to be undervalued may actually have been appropriatelypriced at the time of investment. Value investing generally empha-sizes companies that, considering their assets and earnings history,are attractively priced and may provide dividend income.

Large-Cap Company Risk: Larger more established companiesmay be unable to respond quickly to new competitive challengessuch as changes in technology and consumer tastes. Many largercompanies also may not be able to attain the high growth rate ofsuccessful smaller companies, especially during extended periods ofeconomic expansion. Investing more heavily in one market capital-ization category (large, medium or small) carries the risk that due tomarket conditions that category may be out of favor with investors.

Leveraging Risk: When a Portfolio leverages its holdings, the valueof an investment in that Portfolio will be more volatile and all otherrisks will tend to be compounded. For example, a Portfolio may takeon leveraging risk when it takes a short position, engages in de-rivatives transactions, invests collateral from securities loans or bor-rows money. Leveraged holdings generally require correspondingholdings of cash and cash equivalents, which may impair the Portfo-lio’s ability to pursue its objectives.

A Portfolio may experience leveraging risk in connection with invest-ments in derivatives because its investments in derivatives may be

small relative to the investment exposure assumed, leaving moreassets to be invested in other investments. Such investments mayhave the effect of leveraging a Portfolio because the Portfolio mayexperience gains or losses not only on its investments in derivatives,but also on the investments purchased with the remainder of theassets. If the value of a Portfolio’s investments in derivatives is in-creasing, this could be offset by declining values of the Portfolio’sother investments. Conversely, it is possible that a rise in the value ofa Portfolio’s non-derivative investments could be offset by a declinein the value of the Portfolio’s investments in derivatives. In eitherscenario, a Portfolio may experience losses. In a market where thevalue of a Portfolio’s investments in derivatives is declining and thevalue of its other investments is declining, the Portfolio may experi-ence substantial losses. The use of leverage may cause a Portfolio toliquidate portfolio positions when it may not be advantageous to doso to satisfy its obligations or to meet any required asset segregationrequirements.

Liquidity Risk: A Portfolio is subject to the risk that certain invest-ments may be difficult or impossible for a Portfolio to purchase or sellat an advantageous time or price or in sufficient amounts to achievethe desired level of exposure, which may require a Portfolio to dis-pose of other investments at unfavorable times or prices to satisfyobligations and may result in a loss or may be costly to the Portfolio.Judgment plays a greater role in valuing illiquid investments than itdoes in pricing investments having more active markets, and there isa greater risk that the investments may not be sold for the price atwhich a Portfolio is carrying them. A Portfolio also may not receive itsproceeds from the sale of certain securities for an extended period oftime. Certain securities that were liquid when purchased may laterbecome illiquid, particularly in times of overall economic distress.There has generally been less liquidity in the markets worldwide sincethe financial crisis that began several years ago. In October 2016, theSEC adopted Rule 22e-4 under the Investment Company Act, whichmandates certain liquidity risk management practices for open-endfunds, including the Portfolios, by 2018. The precise impact the rulewill have on Portfolios and on the open-end fund industry has not yetbeen determined, but any related changes may negatively affect aPortfolio’s expenses, yield and return potential.

Loan Risk: Loan interests are subject to liquidity risk, prepaymentrisk (the risk that when interest rates fall, debt securities may be re-paid more quickly than expected and a Portfolio may be required toreinvest in securities with a lower yield), extension risk (the risk thatwhen interest rates rise, debt securities may be repaid more slowlythan expected and the value of a Portfolio’s holdings may decrease),the risk of subordination to other creditors, restrictions on resale, andthe lack of a regular trading market and publicly available in-formation. Loan interests may be difficult to value and may have ex-tended trade settlement periods. Accordingly, the proceeds from thesale of a loan may not be available to make additional investments


or to meet redemption obligations until potentially a substantialperiod after the sale of the loan. The extended trade settlement peri-ods could force a Portfolio to liquidate other securities to meet re-demptions and may present a risk that the Portfolio may incur lossesin order to timely honor redemptions.

A Portfolio’s investments in loans are subject to the risk that the Portfo-lio will not receive payment of interest, principal and other amountsdue in connection with these investments and will depend primarily onthe financial condition of the borrower. Fully secured loans offer aPortfolio more protection than unsecured loans in the event ofnonpayment of scheduled interest or principal, although there is noassurance that the liquidation of a secured loan’s collateral could sat-isfy the borrower’s obligation or that the collateral would be readilyliquidated. In addition, a Portfolio’s access to collateral may be limitedby bankruptcy or other insolvency laws. In the event of a default, aPortfolio may not recover its principal, may experience a substantialdelay in recovering its investment and may not receive interest duringthe delay. Unsecured loans are subject to a greater risk of default thansecured loans, especially during periods of deteriorating economicconditions. Unsecured loans also have a greater risk of nonpayment inthe event of a default than secured loans since there is no recourse forthe lender to collateral. Loans in which a Portfolio may invest may bemade to finance highly leveraged corporate transactions. The highlyleveraged capital structure of the borrowers in such transactions maymake such loans especially vulnerable to adverse changes in economicor market conditions. In addition, loan interests may be unrated, and aPortfolio’s Sub-Adviser may be required to rely exclusively on its analy-sis of the borrower in determining whether to acquire, or to continueto hold, a loan. Loans may not be considered “securities,” and pur-chasers, such as a Portfolio, therefore may not have the benefit of theanti-fraud protections of the federal securities laws. To the extent thata Portfolio invests in loan participations and assignments, it is subjectto the risk that the financial institution acting as agent for all interestsin a loan might fail financially. It is also possible that a Portfolio couldbe held liable, or may be called upon to fulfill other obligations, as aco-lender.

Mid-Cap, Small-Cap and Micro-Cap Company Risk: A Portfo-lio’s investments in mid-, small- and micro-cap companies may in-volve greater risks than investments in larger, more establishedissuers because they generally are more vulnerable than larger com-panies to adverse business or economic developments. Such compa-nies generally have narrower product lines, more limited financialand management resources and more limited markets for their secu-rities as compared with larger companies. Their securities may be lesswell-known and trade less frequently and in limited volume com-pared with the securities of larger, more established companies. As aresult, the value of such securities may be more volatile than thevalue of securities of larger companies, and the Portfolio may experi-ence difficulty in purchasing or selling such securities at the desired

time and price or in the desired amount. Mid-, small- and micro-capcompanies also are typically subject to greater changes in earningsand business prospects than larger companies. Consequently, theprices of mid-, small-and micro-cap company securities tend to riseand fall in value more frequently than the prices of securities of largercompanies. Although investing in mid-, small- and micro-capcompanies offers potential for above-average returns, the companiesmay not succeed and the value of their securities could decline sig-nificantly. In general, these risks are greater for small-and micro-capcompanies than for mid-cap companies. Investing more heavily inone market capitalization category (large, medium or small) carriesthe risk that due to market conditions that category may be out offavor with investors.

Money Market Risk: Although a money market fund is designedto be a relatively low risk investment, it is not free of risk. Despite theshort maturities and high credit quality of a money market fund’sinvestments, increases in interest rates and deteriorations in thecredit quality of the instruments the money market fund has pur-chased may reduce the money market fund’s yield and can cause theprice of a money market security to decrease. In addition, a moneymarket fund is subject to the risk that the value of an investment maybe eroded over time by inflation. Extensive changes to the rules thatgovern money market funds became effective in October 2016.These changes affect the manner in which money market funds arestructured and operated and may impact a money market fund’sexpenses, returns and liquidity. The full impact of the changes maynot be known for some time.

Mortgage-Related and Other Asset Backed Securities Risk:Investments in mortgage-related and other asset-backed securitiesare subject to interest rate risk, prepayment and extension risk, creditrisk, liquidity risk, and the risk of default, sometimes to a greater ex-tent than various other types of fixed income investments. Mortgage-related and other asset-backed securities typically provide the issuerwith the right to prepay the security prior to maturity. During periodsof falling interest rates, the rate of prepayments tends to increasebecause borrowers are more likely to pay off debt and refinance atthe lower interest rates then available. Unscheduled prepaymentsshorten the average lives of mortgage-related and other asset-backed securities and may result in the Portfolio’s having to reinvestthe proceeds of the prepayments at lower interest rates. Un-scheduled prepayments also would limit the potential for capital ap-preciation on these securities and may make them less effective thanother fixed income securities as a means of “locking in” long-terminterest rates, thereby reducing the Portfolio’s income. During periodsof rising interest rates, the rate of prepayments tends to decreasebecause borrowers are less likely to prepay debt. Slower than ex-pected payments can extend the average lives of mortgage-relatedand other asset-backed securities, and this may lock in a below mar-ket interest rate, increase the security’s duration and interest rate


sensitivity, and reduce the value of the security. Prepayment rates aredifficult to predict, and the potential impact of prepayments on thevalue of a mortgage-related or other asset-backed security dependson the terms of the instrument and can result in significant volatility.Mortgage-backed securities issued in the form of collateralizedmortgage obligations (“CMOs”) are collateralized by mortgage loansor mortgage pass-through securities. In periods of supply and de-mand imbalances in the market for CMOs or in periods of sharpinterest rate movements, the prices of CMOs may fluctuate to agreater extent than would be expected from interest rate movementsalone. CMOs and other mortgage-backed securities may be struc-tured similarly to collateralized debt obligations (“CDOs”) and maybe subject to similar risks.

Moreover, declines in the credit quality of and defaults by the issuersof mortgage-related and other asset-backed securities may affect thevalue and liquidity of such securities, which could result in losses tothe Portfolio. If a Portfolio purchases mortgage-related or otherasset-backed securities that are “subordinated” to other interests inthe same pool, the Portfolio, as a holder of those securities, may re-ceive payments only after the pool’s obligations to other investorshave been satisfied. For example, an unexpectedly high rate of de-faults on the mortgages held by a mortgage pool may limit sub-stantially the pool’s ability to make payments of principal or interestto the Portfolio as a holder of such subordinated securities, reducingthe values of those securities or in some cases rendering them worth-less. Certain mortgage-related and other asset-backed securities mayinclude securities backed by pools of loans made to “subprime” bor-rowers or borrowers with blemished credit histories; the risk of de-faults is generally higher in the case of mortgage pools that includesuch subprime mortgages. The underwriting standards for subprimeloans are more flexible than the standards generally used by banksfor borrowers with non-blemished credit histories with regard to theborrowers’ credit standing and repayment ability. Borrowers whoqualify generally have impaired credit histories, which may include arecord of major derogatory credit items such as outstanding judg-ments or prior bankruptcies. In addition, they may not have the doc-umentation required to qualify for a standard loan. As a result, theloans in the pool are likely to experience rates of delinquency, fore-closure, and bankruptcy that are higher, and that may be sub-stantially higher, than those experienced by loans underwritten in amore traditional manner. In addition, changes in the values of theassets underlying the loans (if any), as well as changes in interestrates, may have a greater effect on the delinquency, foreclosure,bankruptcy, and loss experience of the loans in the pool than onloans originated in a more traditional manner. Moreover, instabilityin the markets for mortgage-related and other asset-backed secu-rities may affect the liquidity of such securities, which means that aPortfolio may be unable to sell such securities at an advantageoustime and price. As a result, the value of such securities may decreaseand a Portfolio may incur greater losses on the sale of such securities

than under more stable market conditions. Furthermore, instabilityand illiquidity in the market for lower-rated mortgage-related andother asset-backed securities may affect the overall market for suchsecurities, thereby impacting the liquidity and value of higher-ratedsecurities.

Multiple Sub-Adviser Risk: The Adviser may allocate a Portfolio’sassets among multiple Sub-Advisers, each of which is responsible forinvesting its allocated portion of the Portfolio’s assets. To a sig-nificant extent, a Portfolio’s performance will depend on the successof the Adviser in allocating the Portfolio’s assets to Sub-Advisers andits selection and oversight of the Sub-Advisers. The Sub-Advisers’investment strategies may not work together as planned, whichcould adversely affect a Portfolio’s performance. In addition, becauseeach Sub-Adviser manages its allocated portion of the Portfolio in-dependently from another Sub-Adviser, the same security may beheld in different portions of the Portfolio, or may be acquired for oneportion of the Portfolio at a time when a Sub-Adviser to another por-tion deems it appropriate to dispose of the security from that otherportion, resulting in higher expenses without accomplishing any netresult in the Portfolio’s holdings. Similarly, under some market con-ditions, one Sub-Adviser may believe that temporary, defensiveinvestments in short-term instruments or cash are appropriate for itsallocated portion of the Portfolio when another Sub-Adviser believescontinued exposure to the equity or debt markets is appropriate forits allocated portion of the Portfolio. Because each Sub-Adviser di-rects the trading for its own portion of the Portfolio, and does notaggregate its transactions with those of the other Sub-Adviser, thePortfolio may incur higher brokerage costs than would be the case ifa single Sub-Adviser were managing the entire Portfolio. In addition,while the Adviser seeks to allocate a Portfolio’s assets among thePortfolio’s Sub-Advisers in a manner that it believes is consistent withachieving the Portfolio’s investment objective(s), the Adviser is sub-ject to conflicts of interest in allocating the Portfolio’s assets amongSub-Advisers, including affiliated Sub-Advisers, because the Adviserpays different fees to the Sub-Advisers and due to other factors thatcould impact the Adviser’s revenues and profits.

Natural Resources Sector Risk: The profitability of companies inthe natural resources sector can be adversely affected by worldwideenergy prices and other world events, limits on and the success ofexploration projects, and production spending. Companies in thenatural resources sector also could be adversely affected by commod-ity price volatility, changes in exchange rates, interest rates or in-flation rates and/or investor expectations concerning such rates,changes in the supply of, or the demand for, natural resources, im-position of import controls, government regulation and intervention,civil conflict, economic conditions, increased competition, techno-logical developments, and labor relations. In addition, companies inthe natural resources sector may be subject to the risks generallyassociated with extraction of natural resources, such as the risks of


mining and oil drilling, and the risks of the hazards associated withnatural resources, such as natural or man-made disasters, fire,drought, liability for environmental damage claims, and increasedregulatory and environmental costs. Prices of precious metals and ofprecious metal related securities have historically been very volatiledue to various economic, financial, social and political factors andmay adversely affect the financial condition of companies involvedwith precious metals. The value of a Portfolio’s shares could experi-ence significantly greater volatility than the value of shares of portfo-lios investing more broadly.

New Portfolio Risk: Certain Portfolios may be relatively new andsmall with limited operating history. A new Portfolio’s performancemay not represent how the Portfolio is expected to or may perform inthe long-term and a Portfolio may not be successful in implementingits respective investment strategies. Portfolio performance may belower or higher during this “ramp-up” period, and may also be morevolatile, than would be the case after the Portfolio is fully invested. Inaddition, investment positions may have a disproportionate impact(negative or positive) on performance in new Portfolios. There can beno assurance that such Portfolios will grow to or maintain an eco-nomically viable size, which could result in a Portfolio, including aPortfolio offered by this Prospectus, being liquidated at any timewithout shareholder approval and at a time that may not be favor-able for all shareholders.

Non-Investment Grade Securities Risk: Bonds rated below in-vestment grade (i.e., BB or lower by S&P or Fitch, or Ba or lower byMoody’s or, if unrated, determined by the investment manager to be ofcomparable quality) are speculative in nature, involve greater risk ofdefault by the issuing entity and may be subject to greater market fluc-tuations than higher rated fixed income securities. Non-investmentgrade bonds, sometimes referred to as “junk bonds,” are usually is-sued by companies without long track records of sales and earnings, orby those companies with questionable credit strength. Thecreditworthiness of issuers of non-investment grade debt securities maybe more complex to analyze than that of issuers of investment gradedebt securities, and the reliance on credit ratings may present addi-tional risks. The retail secondary market for these “junk bonds” may beless liquid than that of higher rated securities and adverse conditionscould make it difficult at times to sell certain securities or could result inlower prices than those used in calculating a Portfolio’s net asset value.A Portfolio investing in “junk bonds” may also be subject to greatercredit risk because it may invest in debt securities issued in connectionwith corporate restructuring by highly leveraged issuers or in debtsecurities not current in the payment of interest or principal or in de-fault. If the issuer of a security is in default with respect to interest orprincipal payments, a Portfolio may lose its entire investment. Thecredit rating of a below investment grade security does not necessarilyaddress its market value risk and may not reflect its actual credit risk.Ratings and market value may change from time to time, positively or

negatively, to reflect new developments regarding the issuer. Becauseof the risks involved in investing below investment grade securities, aninvestment in a Portfolio that invests substantially in such securitiesshould be considered speculative.

Oil and Gas Sector Risk: The profitability of companies in the oiland gas sector is related to worldwide energy prices, explorationcosts, and production spending. Companies in the oil and gas sectormay be at risk for environmental damage claims and other types oflitigation, as well as negative publicity and perception. Companies inthe oil and gas sector may be adversely affected by natural disastersor other catastrophes, changes in exchange rates, interest rates,changes in prices for competitive energy services, economic con-ditions, tax treatment, government regulation and intervention, andunfavorable events in the regions where companies operate (e.g.,expropriation, nationalization, confiscation of assets and property orimposition of restrictions on foreign investments and repatriation ofcapital, military coups, social unrest, violence or labor unrest). As aresult, the value of these companies may fluctuate widely. Compa-nies in the oil and gas sector may have significant capital investmentsin, or engage in transactions involving, emerging market countries,which may heighten these risks. The value of a Portfolio’s sharescould experience significantly greater volatility than the value ofshares of portfolios investing more broadly.

Portfolio Turnover Risk: High portfolio turnover (generally, turn-over in excess of 100% in any given fiscal year) may result in in-creased transaction costs to a Portfolio, which may result in higherfund expenses and lower total return.

Preferred Stock Risk: Preferred stock is subject to many of therisks associated with debt securities, including interest rate risk. Un-like interest payments on debt securities, dividends on preferredstock are generally payable at the discretion of the issuer’s board ofdirectors. Preferred shareholders may have certain rights if dividendsare not paid but generally have no legal recourse against the issuer.Shareholders may suffer a loss of value if dividends are not paid. Incertain situations an issuer may call or redeem its preferred stock orconvert it to common stock. The market prices of preferred stocks aregenerally more sensitive to actual or perceived changes in the issuer’sfinancial condition or prospects than are the prices of debt securities.Preferred stock also may be less liquid than common stock. To theextent that a Portfolio invests a substantial portion of its assets inconvertible preferred stocks, declining common stock values may alsocause the value of the Portfolio’s investments to decline.

Prepayment Risk and Extension Risk: Prepayment risk is the riskthat the principal on securities held by a Portfolio may be paid off bythe issuer more quickly than originally anticipated, and the Portfoliomay have to reinvest the proceeds in an investment offering a loweryield, may not benefit from any increase in value that might other-wise result from declining interest rates and may lose any premium it


paid to acquire the security. If interest rates fall, the rate of prepay-ments tends to increase as borrowers are motivated to pay off debtand refinance at new lower rates. Extension risk is the risk that theprincipal on securities held by a Portfolio may be paid off by the is-suer more slowly than originally anticipated. Rising interest ratesgenerally result in slower payoffs, which effectively increase the dura-tion of certain debt securities, heighten interest rate risk, and in-crease the magnitude of any resulting price declines.

Privately Placed and Other Restricted Securities Risk: Re-stricted securities, which include privately placed securities, aresecurities that cannot be offered for public resale unless registeredunder the applicable securities laws or that have a contractual re-striction that prohibits or limits their resale. Before they are regis-tered, such securities may be sold only in a privately negotiatedtransaction or pursuant to an exemption from registration. Diffi-culty in selling securities may result in a loss or be costly to aPortfolio. The SEC has adopted Rule 144A, which is designed tofacilitate efficient trading among institutional investors by permit-ting the sale of certain unregistered securities to qualified institu-tional buyers. To the extent restricted securities held by a Portfolioqualify under Rule 144A and an institutional market develops forthose securities, the Portfolio likely will be able to dispose of thesecurities without registering them. To the extent that institutionalbuyers become, for a time, uninterested in purchasing these secu-rities, investing in Rule 144A securities could increase the level of aPortfolio’s illiquidity. The Adviser or Sub-Adviser may determinethat certain securities qualified for trading under Rule 144A areliquid. Where registration of a security is required, a Portfolio maybe obligated to pay all or part of the registration expenses, and aconsiderable period may elapse between the time the Portfolio de-sires to sell (and therefore decides to seek registration of) the secu-rity, and the time the Portfolio may be permitted to sell the securityunder an effective registration statement. If, during such a period,adverse market conditions were to develop, a Portfolio might ob-tain a less favorable price than prevailed when it desired to sell.The risk that securities may not be sold for the price at which aPortfolio is carrying them is greater with respect to restricted secu-rities than it is with respect to registered securities. The illiquidity ofthe market, as well as the lack of publicly available informationregarding these securities, also may make it difficult to determine afair value for certain securities for purposes of computing a Portfo-lio’s net asset value.

Quantitative Investing Risk: A portfolio of securities selected us-ing quantitative analysis may underperform the market as a whole ora portfolio of securities selected using a different investment ap-proach, such as fundamental analysis. The factors used in quantita-tive analysis and the weight placed on those factors may not bepredictive of a security’s value. In addition, factors that affect asecurity’s value can change over time and these changes may not be

reflected in the quantitative model. Data for some companies, partic-ularly for non-U.S. companies, may be less available and/or less cur-rent than data for other companies. There may also be errors in thecomputer code for the quantitative model or issues relating to thecomputer systems used to screen securities. The Portfolio’s securitiesselection can be adversely affected if it relies on erroneous or out-dated data or flawed models or computer systems. As a result, thePortfolio may have a lower return than if the Portfolio were managedusing a fundamental analysis or an index based strategy that did notincorporate quantitative analysis.

Real Estate Investing Risk: Real estate-related investments maydecline in value as a result of factors affecting the overall real estateindustry. Real estate is a cyclical business, highly sensitive to supply anddemand, general and local economic developments and characterizedby intense competition and periodic overbuilding. Real estate incomeand values also may be greatly affected by demographic trends, such aspopulation shifts or changing tastes and values. Losses may occur fromcasualty or condemnation and government actions, such as tax lawchanges, zoning law changes, regulatory limitations on rents, orenvironmental regulations, also may have a major impact on real estate.The availability of mortgages and changes in interest rates may also af-fect real estate values. Changing interest rates and credit qualityrequirements also will affect the cash flow of real estate companies andtheir ability to meet capital needs. Real estate investment trusts (REITs)generally invest directly in real estate (equity REITs), in mortgages se-cured by interests in real estate (mortgage REITs) or in some combina-tion of the two (hybrid REITs). Investing in REITs exposes investors tothe risks of owning real estate directly, as well as to risks that relatespecifically to the way in which REITs are organized and operated.Equity REITs may be affected by changes in the value of the underlyingproperty owned by the REIT, while mortgage REITs may be affected bythe quality of any credit extended. Equity and mortgage REITs are alsosubject to heavy cash flow dependency, defaults by borrowers, and self-liquidations. The risk of defaults is generally higher in the case of mort-gage pools that include subprime mortgages involving borrowers withblemished credit histories. Operating REITs requires specializedmanagement skills, and a Portfolio that invests in REITs indirectly bearsREIT management and administration expenses along with the directexpenses of the Portfolio. Individual REITs may own a limited number ofproperties and may concentrate in a particular region or property type.Domestic REITs also must satisfy specific Internal Revenue Coderequirements in order to qualify for the tax-free pass through of net in-vestment income and net realized gains distributed to shareholders.Failure to meet these requirements may have adverse consequences onan investing Portfolio. Similar treatment may also apply to REIT-likeentities under the laws of the countries in which they were formed. Inaddition, even the larger REITs in the industry tend to be small- tomedium-sized companies in relation to the equity markets as a whole.Moreover, shares of REITs may trade less frequently and, therefore, aresubject to more erratic price movements than securities of larger issuers.


Redemption Risk: A Portfolio may experience periods of heavyredemptions that could cause the Portfolio to sell assets at in-opportune times or at a loss or depressed value. Redemption risk isheightened during periods of declining or illiquid markets. Heavyredemptions could hurt a Portfolio’s performance.

Market developments and other factors, including a general rise ininterest rates, have the potential to cause investors to move out offixed income securities on a large scale, which may increase re-demptions from mutual funds that hold large amounts of fixed in-come securities. The market-making capacity of dealers has beenreduced in recent years, in part as a result of structural changes, suchas fewer proprietary trading desks at broker-dealers and increasedregulatory capital requirements. Increased redemptions from mutualfunds that hold large amounts of fixed income securities, coupledwith a reduction in the ability or willingness of dealers and other in-stitutional investors to buy or hold fixed income securities, may resultin decreased liquidity and increased volatility in the fixed incomemarkets.

Repurchase Agreements Risk: Repurchase agreements carry cer-tain risks, including risks that are not associated with direct invest-ments in securities. If a seller under a repurchase agreement were todefault on the agreement and be unable to repurchase the securitysubject to the repurchase agreement, a Portfolio would look to thecollateral underlying the seller’s repurchase agreement, including thesecurities or other obligations subject to the repurchase agreement,for satisfaction of the seller’s obligation to the Portfolio. A Portfolio’sright to liquidate the securities or other obligations subject to therepurchase agreement in the event of a default by the seller couldinvolve certain costs and delays and, to the extent that proceedsfrom any sale upon a default of the obligation to repurchase are lessthan the repurchase price (e.g., due to transactions costs or a declinein the value of the collateral), the Portfolio could suffer a loss. Inaddition, if bankruptcy proceedings are commenced with respect tothe seller, realization of the collateral may be delayed or limited anda loss may be incurred.

Responsible Investing Risk: Consideration of environmental, so-cial and governance (“ESG”) factors in the investment process maylimit the types and number of investment opportunities available to aPortfolio, and therefore carries the risk that, under certain marketconditions, the Portfolio may underperform funds that do notconsider ESG factors. The integration of ESG considerations may af-fect the Portfolio’s exposure to certain sectors or types of investmentsand may impact the Portfolio’s relative investment performance de-pending on whether such sectors or investments are in or out of fa-vor in the market. A company’s ESG performance or the Sub-Adviser’s assessment of a company’s ESG performance may changeover time, which could cause the Portfolio to temporarily hold secu-rities that do not comply with the Portfolio’s responsible investmentprinciples. In evaluating a company, the Sub-Adviser is dependent

upon information and data that may be incomplete, inaccurate orunavailable, which could cause the Sub-Adviser to incorrectly assessa company’s ESG performance. Successful application of a Portfolio’sESG considerations will depend on the Sub-Adviser’s skill in properlyidentifying and analyzing material ESG issues.

Risks of Investing in Other Investment Companies: A Portfo-lio that invests in other investment companies will indirectly bear feesand expenses paid by those investment companies, in addition to thePortfolio’s direct fees and expenses. The cost of investing in the Port-folio, therefore, may be higher than the cost of investing in a mutualfund that invests directly in individual stocks and bonds. In addition,the Portfolio’s net asset value is subject to fluctuations in the netasset values of the other investment companies in which it invests.The Portfolio is also subject to the risks associated with the securitiesor other investments in which the other investment companies invest,and the ability of the Portfolio to meet its investment objective willdepend, to a significant degree, on the ability of the other investmentcompanies to meet their objectives. The extent to which the invest-ment performance and risks associated with the Portfolio correlate tothose of a particular investment company will depend upon the ex-tent to which the Portfolio’s assets are allocated from time to timefor investment in the investment company, which will vary. The otherinvestment companies may change their investment objectives orpolicies without the approval of the Portfolio. If that were to occur,the Portfolio might be forced to withdraw its investment from theinvestment company at a time that is unfavorable to the Portfolio.

Sector Risk: To the extent a Portfolio invests more heavily in onesector, industry, or sub-sector of the market, its performance will beespecially sensitive to developments that significantly affect that sec-tor, industry, or sub-sector. An individual sector, industry, or sub-sector of the market may be more volatile, and may performdifferently, than the broader market. The industries that constitute asector may all react in the same way to economic, political or regu-latory events. A Portfolio’s performance could also be affected if thesector, industry, or sub-sector does not perform as expected. Alter-natively, the lack of exposure to one or more sectors or industriesmay adversely affect performance.

Securities Lending Risk: A Portfolio may lend its portfolio secu-rities to broker-dealers approved by the Board of Trustees to seekincome. Generally, any such loan of portfolio securities will be con-tinuously secured by collateral at least equal to the value of the secu-rity loaned. Such collateral will be in the form of cash, marketablesecurities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or its agen-cies, or a standby letter of credit issued by qualified banks. The risksof lending portfolio securities, as with other extensions of securedcredit, consist of possible delay in receiving additional collateral or inthe recovery of the securities or possible loss of rights in the collateralshould the borrower fail financially. Loans will be made only to firmsdeemed by the Adviser to be of good standing and will not be made


unless, in the judgment of the Sub-Adviser, the consideration to beearned from such loans would justify the risk.

Securities Selection Risk: The securities selected for a Portfoliomay not perform as well as other securities that were not selected fora Portfolio. As a result, a Portfolio may underperform the markets, itsbenchmark index(es) or other funds with the same objective or in thesame asset class.

Short Position Risk: A Portfolio may engage in short sales andmay enter into derivative contracts that have a similar economic ef-fect (e.g., taking a short position in a futures contract). A Portfoliowill incur a loss as a result of a short position if the price of the assetsold short increases between the date of the short position sale andthe date on which an offsetting position is purchased. Short positionsmay be considered speculative transactions and involve special risksthat could cause or increase losses or reduce gains. Short sales in-volve greater reliance on an investment adviser’s ability to accuratelyanticipate the future value of a security or instrument, potentiallyhigher transaction costs, and imperfect correlation between the ac-tual and desired level of exposure. Because a Portfolio’s potentialloss on a short position arises from increases in the value of the assetsold short, the extent of such loss, like the price of the asset soldshort, is theoretically unlimited. By investing the proceeds receivedfrom selling securities short, a Portfolio could be deemed to be em-ploying a form of leverage, which creates special risks. A Portfolio’slong positions could decline in value at the same time that the valueof the short positions increase, thereby increasing the Portfolio’soverall potential for loss more than it would be without the use ofleverage. Market factors may prevent a Portfolio from closing out ashort position at the most desirable time or at a favorable price. Inaddition, a lender of securities may request, or market conditionsmay dictate, that securities sold short be returned to the lender onshort notice. If this happens, the Portfolio may have to buy the secu-rities sold short at an unfavorable price. When a Portfolio is sellingstocks short, it must maintain a segregated account of cash or high-grade securities equal to the margin requirement. As a result, a Port-folio may maintain high levels of cash or liquid assets (such as U.S.Treasury bills, money market accounts, repurchase agreements,certificates of deposit, high quality commercial paper and long equitypositions) or may utilize borrowings or the collateral obtained fromsecurities lending for this cash. The need to maintain cash or otherliquid assets in segregated accounts could limit a Portfolio’s ability topursue other opportunities as they arise.

Special Situations Risk: A Portfolio may seek to benefit from“special situations,” such as acquisitions, mergers, consolidations,bankruptcies, liquidations, reorganizations, restructurings, tender orexchange offers or other unusual events expected to affect a partic-ular issuer. In general, securities of companies which are the subjectof a tender or exchange offer or an acquisition, merger, con-solidation, bankruptcy, liquidation, reorganization or restructuring

proposal sell at a premium to their historic market price immediatelyprior to the announcement of the transaction. However, it is possiblethat the value of securities of a company involved in such a trans-action will not rise and in fact may fall, in which case a Portfoliowould lose money. It is also possible that a Sub-Adviser’s assessmentthat a particular company is likely to be acquired or acquired during aspecific time frame may be incorrect, in which case a Portfolio maynot realize any premium on its investment and could lose money ifthe value of the securities declines during the Portfolio’s holdingperiod. A Portfolio’s return also could be adversely impacted to theextent that a Sub-Adviser’s strategies fail to identify companies forinvestment by the Portfolio that become the subject of a merger orsimilar transaction that results in an increase in the value of thesecurities of those companies. Moreover, publicly announced mergersand similar types of transactions may be renegotiated or terminated,in which case a Portfolio may lose money. In addition, if a transactiontakes longer time to close than a Sub-Adviser originally anticipated, aPortfolio may realize a lower-than-expected rate of return. In somecircumstances, the securities purchased may be illiquid making itdifficult for the Portfolio to dispose of them at an advantageousprice.

Structured Securities Risk: Because structured securities of thetype in which the Portfolio may invest typically involve no credit en-hancement, their credit risk generally will be equivalent to that of theunderlying instruments. A Portfolio may invest in a class of structuredsecurities that is either subordinated or unsubordinated to the rightof payment of another class. Subordinated structured securities typi-cally have higher yields and present greater risks than un-subordinated structured securities. Structured securities are typicallysold in private placement transactions, and there currently is no ac-tive trading market for structured securities. Certain issuers of suchstructured securities may be deemed to be “investment companies”as defined in the 1940 Act. As a result, the Portfolio’s investment insuch securities may be limited by certain investment restrictions con-tained in the 1940 Act.

Tax Risk: A Portfolio is subject to the risk that the tax treatment ofswap agreements and other derivative instruments, such ascommodity-linked derivative instruments, including commodity index-linked notes and commodity options, futures, and options on futures,may be affected by future regulatory or legislative changes that couldaffect whether income from such investments is “qualifying income”under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code, or otherwise af-fect the character, timing and/or amount of a Portfolio’s taxable in-come or gains and distributions.

Technology Sector Risk: The value of the shares of a Portfoliothat invests primarily in technology companies is particularly vulner-able to factors affecting the technology sector, such as dependencyon consumer and business acceptance as new technology evolves,large and rapid price movements resulting from competition, rapid


obsolescence of products and services and short product cycles.Many technology companies are small and at an earlier stage of de-velopment and, therefore, may be subject to risks such as those aris-ing out of limited product lines, markets and financial andmanagerial resources. The value of a Portfolio’s shares could experi-ence significantly greater volatility than the value of shares of portfo-lios investing more broadly.

U.S. Government Securities Risk: Securities issued or guaranteedby the U.S. government or its agencies and instrumentalities (such assecurities issued by the Government National Mortgage Association(Ginnie Mae), the Federal National Mortgage Association (FannieMae), or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FreddieMac)), are subject to market risk, interest rate risk and credit risk.Securities, such as those issued or guaranteed by Ginnie Mae or theU.S. Treasury, that are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S.government are guaranteed as to the timely payment of interest andrepayment of principal when held to maturity. Notwithstanding thatthese securities are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S.government, circumstances could arise that would prevent the pay-ment of interest or principal. This would result in losses to a Portfolio.Securities issued or guaranteed by U.S. government related orga-nizations, such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, are not backed bythe full faith and credit of the U.S. government and no assurance canbe given that the U.S. government will provide financial support.Therefore, U.S. government related organizations may not have thefunds to meet their payment obligations in the future. Further, anygovernment guarantees on U.S. government securities that a Portfo-lio owns extend only to the timely payment of interest and repaymentof principal on the securities themselves and do not extend to themarket value of the securities or to shares of the Portfolio.

Unrated Debt Securities Risk: Unrated debt securities determinedby the investment manager to be of comparable quality to ratedsecurities may be subject to a greater risk of illiquidity or pricechanges. Less public information is typically available about unratedsecurities or issuers.

Unseasoned Companies Risk: Unseasoned companies arecompanies that have been in operation for less than three years, in-cluding operations of any predecessors. These securities may havelimited liquidity and their prices may be very volatile.

Utilities Sector Risk: The utilities sector in general is subject tosignificant governmental regulation and review, which may result inlimitations or delays with regard to changes in the rates that compa-nies in this sector charge their customers. Other risk factors that mayaffect utility companies include the risk of increases in fuel and otheroperating costs; the high cost of borrowing to finance capital con-struction during inflationary periods; restrictions on operations andincreased costs and delays associated with compliance withenvironmental and safety regulations; difficulties in obtaining natural

gas or other key inputs; risks related to the construction and oper-ation of power plants; the effects of energy conservation and the ef-fects of regulatory changes. Any of these factors could result in amaterial adverse impact on a Portfolio’s securities and the perform-ance of the Portfolio. The value of a Portfolio’s shares could experi-ence significantly greater volatility than the value of shares ofportfolios investing more broadly.

Variable and Floating Rate Securities Risk: The market pricesof securities with variable and floating interest rates are generallyless sensitive to interest rate changes than are the market prices ofsecurities with fixed interest rates. Variable and floating rate secu-rities may decline in value if market interest rates or interest ratespaid by such securities do not move as expected. Conversely, variableand floating rate securities will not generally rise in value if marketinterest rates decline. Certain types of floating rate securities, such asinterests in bank loans, may be subject to greater liquidity risk thanother debt securities.

Certain variable and floating rate securities have an interest rate floorfeature, which prevents the interest rate payable by the security fromdropping below a specified level as compared to a reference interestrate (the “reference rate”), such as LIBOR. Such a floor protects aPortfolio from losses resulting from a decrease in the reference ratebelow the specified level. However, if the reference rate is below thefloor, there will be a lag between a rise in the reference rate and arise in the interest rate payable by the security, and a Portfolio maynot benefit from increasing interest rates for a significant period oftime. Rates on certain variable rate securities typically reset onlyperiodically. As a result, changes in prevailing interest rates, partic-ularly sudden and significant changes, can cause some fluctuations ina Portfolio’s value to the extent that it invests in variable ratesecurities.

Volatility Management Risk: The Adviser (or a Sub-Adviser, asthe case may be) from time to time employs various volatilitymanagement techniques (such as using futures and options to man-age equity exposure or making short-term adjustments to a Portfo-lio’s asset mix) in managing certain Portfolios. Although theseactions are intended to reduce the overall risk of investing in aPortfolio, they may not work as intended and may result in losses bya Portfolio or periods of underperformance, particularly during peri-ods when market values are increasing but market volatility is high orwhen a Portfolio has reduced its equity exposure but market changesdo not impact equity returns adversely to the extent predicted by theAdviser (or a Sub-Adviser). Volatility is a statistical measure of themagnitude of changes in a portfolio’s returns, without regard to thedirection of those changes. Higher volatility generally indicates higherrisk and is often reflected by frequent and sometimes significantmovements up and down in value. The success of a Portfolio’s vola-tility management strategy will be subject to the Adviser’s (or a Sub-Adviser’s) ability to correctly assess the degree of correlation between


the performance of the relevant market index and the metrics usedby the Adviser (or a Sub-Adviser) to measure market volatility. Sincethe characteristics of many securities change as markets change ortime passes, the success of a Portfolio’s volatility management strat-egy also will be subject to the Adviser’s (or a Sub-Adviser’s) ability tocontinually recalculate, readjust, and execute volatility managementtechniques in an efficient manner. In addition, market conditionschange, sometimes rapidly and unpredictably, and the Adviser (or aSub-Adviser) may be unable to execute the volatility managementstrategy in a timely manner or at all. Moreover, volatility manage-ment strategies may increase portfolio transaction costs, which couldcause or increase losses or reduce gains. For a variety of reasons, theAdviser (or a Sub-Adviser) may not seek to establish a perfectcorrelation between the relevant market index and the metrics thatthe Adviser (or the Sub-Adviser) uses to measure market volatility. Inaddition, it is not possible to manage volatility fully or perfectly. Fu-tures contracts and other instruments used in connection with thevolatility management strategy are not necessarily held by a Portfolioto hedge the value of the Portfolio’s other investments and, as a re-sult, these futures contracts and other instruments may decline invalue at the same time as the Portfolio’s other investments. Any oneor more of these factors may prevent a Portfolio from achieving theintended volatility management or could cause a Portfolio to under-perform or experience losses (some of which may be sudden) or vola-tility for any particular period that may be higher or lower. Inaddition, the use of volatility management techniques may not pro-tect against market declines and may limit a Portfolio’s participationin market gains, even during periods when the market is rising. Vola-tility management techniques, when implemented effectively to re-duce the overall risk of investing in a Portfolio, may result inunderperformance by a Portfolio. For example, if a Portfolio has re-duced its overall exposure to equities to avoid losses in certain mar-ket environments, the Portfolio may forgo some of the returns thatcan be associated with periods of rising equity values. A Portfolio’sperformance may be lower than the performance of similar fundswhere volatility management techniques are not used. In addition,the Adviser and its insurance company affiliates manage or adviseother funds and accounts that engage in and compete for trans-actions in the same types of securities and instruments (such as fu-tures contracts) as a Portfolio. Such transactions could affect theprices and availability of the securities and instruments in which aPortfolio invests, directly or indirectly, and could have an adverseimpact on a Portfolio’s performance. Consistent with its fiduciary du-ties, the Adviser seeks to implement each Portfolio’s investment pro-gram in a manner that is in the best interests of the Portfolio andthat is consistent with the Portfolio’s investment objective, policiesand strategies.

When-Issued and Delayed Delivery Securities and ForwardCommitments Risk: When-issued and delayed delivery securitiesand forward commitments involve the risk that the security thePortfolio buys will lose value prior to its delivery. There also is the risk

that the security will not be issued or that the other party to thetransaction will not meet its obligation. If this occurs, the Portfoliomay lose both the investment opportunity for the assets it set asideto pay for the security and any gain in the security’s price.

Zero Coupon and Pay-in-Kind Securities Risk: A zero couponor pay-in-kind security pays no interest in cash to its holder during itslife. Accordingly, zero coupon securities usually trade at a deep dis-count from their face or par value and, together with pay-in-kindsecurities, will be subject to greater fluctuations in market value inresponse to changing interest rates than debt obligations of com-parable maturities that make current distribution of interest in cash.


Benchmarks and other Indexes

The performance of each of the Trust’s Portfolios as shown in thesection “About the Investment Portfolios” is compared to that of abroad-based securities market index, an index of funds with similarinvestment objectives and/or a blended index. Each of the Portfolios’annualized rates of return is net of: (i) its investment managementfees; and (ii) its other expenses. These rates are not the same as theactual return you would receive under your Contract.

Broad-based securities market indexes are unmanaged and are notsubject to fees and expenses typically associated with managed in-vestment company portfolios. Broad-based securities market indexesare also not subject to contract and insurance-related expenses andcharges. Investments cannot be made directly in a broad-based secu-rities market index. Comparisons with these benchmarks, therefore,are of limited use. They are included because they are widely knownand may help you to understand the universe of securities fromwhich each Portfolio is likely to select its holdings.

The Adviser has created one or more custom benchmarks (identifiedbelow with an asterisk) to show how a Portfolio’s performance com-pares with the returns of a volatility managed index or indexes.

In addition, as discussed in this Prospectus, certain Portfolios (or portionsthereof) seek to track the total return performance (before fees and ex-penses) of a particular index. The following provides additional in-formation about these indexes, as well.

ICE BofAML 3-Month U.S. Treasury Bill Index measures the re-turns of negotiable debt obligations issued by the U.S. government andbacked by its full faith and credit, having a maturity of three months.

International Proxy Index is a hypothetical combination of un-managed indexes. The composite or “blended” index combines thetotal return of the DJ EuroSTOXX 50® Index at a weighting of 40%,the FTSE 100 Index at a weighting of 25%, the TOPIX Index at aweighting of 25% and the S&P/ASX 200 Index at a weighting of 10%.

Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) EAFE® Index(Europe, Australasia, Far East) is a free float-adjusted market capital-ization index that is designed to measure the equity market perform-ance of developed markets, excluding the U.S. and Canada. Theindex consists of the following 21 developed market country indexes:Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany,Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zea-land, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, andthe United Kingdom.

Russell 3000® Growth Index measures the performance of thoseRussell 3000® Index companies with higher price-to-book ratios andhigher forecasted growth values. It is market-capitalization weighted.

Russell 3000® Index measures the performance of the 3,000largest U.S. companies based on total market capitalization, whichrepresents approximately 98% of the investable U.S. equity market.It is market-capitalization weighted.

“Blended” performance numbers assume a static mix of the indexes.The Adviser believes that these indexes reflect more closely the mar-ket sectors in which the Portfolio invests.


4. Management of the Trust

This section gives you information on the Trust, the Adviser and theSub-Advisers for the Portfolios.

The Trust

The Trust is organized as a Delaware statutory trust and is registeredwith the SEC as an open-end management investment company. TheTrust’s Board of Trustees is responsible for the overall managementof the Trust and the Portfolios. The Trust issues shares of beneficialinterest that are currently divided among eighty-five (85) Portfolios.This Prospectus describes the Class IA and Class IB shares of four (4)Portfolios. Each Portfolio has its own investment objective, invest-ment strategies and risks, which have been previously described inthis Prospectus.

The Trust’s Board of Trustees oversees generally the operations of thePortfolios. The Trust enters into contractual arrangements with vari-ous parties, including among others, the Adviser, Sub-Advisers, cus-todian, and accountants, who provide services to the Portfolios.Shareholders are not parties to any such contractual arrangementsand those contractual arrangements are not intended to create inany shareholder any right to enforce them directly against the serviceproviders or to seek any remedy under them directly against the serv-ice providers.

This Prospectus provides information concerning the Portfolios thatyou should consider in determining whether to purchase Portfolioshares. Neither this Prospectus nor the Statement of Additional In-formation is intended, or should be read, to be or create an agree-ment or contract between the Trust or a Portfolio and anyshareholder, or to create any right in any shareholder or other personother than any rights under federal or state law that may not bewaived.

The Adviser

FMG LLC, 1290 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York10104, is the Adviser to each Portfolio. FMG LLC is registered withthe SEC as an investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Actof 1940, as amended. FMG LLC also is registered withthe Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) as a commod-ity pool operator (“CPO”) under the Commodity Exchange Act, asamended, and serves as a CPO with respect to the AXA/FranklinSmall Cap Value Managed Volatility Portfolio, AXA/Franklin BalancedManaged Volatility Portfolio, AXA Global Equity Managed VolatilityPortfolio, AXA/Goldman Sachs Strategic Allocation Portfolio, AXAInternational Core Managed Volatility Portfolio, AXA InternationalValue Managed Volatility Portfolio, AXA/Invesco Strategic AllocationPortfolio, AXA Large Cap Core Managed Volatility Portfolio, AXALarge Cap Growth Managed Volatility Portfolio, AXA Large CapValue Managed Volatility Portfolio, AXA Mid Cap Value ManagedVolatility Portfolio, AXA/Mutual Large Cap Equity Managed Volatility

Portfolio, AXA/Templeton Global Equity Managed Volatility Portfolio,AXA 500 Managed Volatility Portfolio, ATM Large Cap ManagedVolatility Portfolio, AXA 400 Managed Volatility Portfolio, ATM MidCap Managed Volatility Portfolio, AXA 2000 Managed VolatilityPortfolio, ATM Small Cap Managed Volatility Portfolio, AXA Interna-tional Managed Volatility Portfolio, and ATM International ManagedVolatility Portfolio. FMG LLC currently claims an exclusion (under CFTCRule 4.5) from registration as a CPO with respect to each of the otherPortfolios offered by this Prospectus. Being subject to dual regulationby the SEC and the CFTC may increase compliance costs and may af-fect Portfolio returns. FMG LLC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of AXAEquitable. AXA Equitable is a wholly-owned subsidiary of AXA Finan-cial, Inc., a subsidiary of AXA, a French insurance holding company.FMG LLC serves as the investment adviser to mutual funds and otherpooled investment vehicles, and had approximately $110.5 billion inassets under management as of December 31, 2017.

The Adviser provides or oversees the provision of all investment advi-sory, portfolio management and administrative services to the Portfo-lios. The Adviser has supervisory responsibility for the managementand investment of each Portfolio’s assets and develops the invest-ment objectives and investment policies for the Portfolios. The Ad-viser also has full discretion to make all determinations with respectto the investment of a Portfolio’s assets. As further discussed below,the Adviser’s management responsibilities include the selection andmonitoring of Sub-Advisers. In addition, the Adviser is responsible forthe management of certain Portfolios’ investments in ETFs.

With respect to the ATM and Hybrid Portfolios, in addition to itsmanagerial responsibilities, the Adviser is responsible for determiningthe allocation of assets between actively and passively managed por-tions of the Portfolios, developing and overseeing the proprietaryresearch model used to manage the portions of the Portfolios, andensuring that asset allocations are consistent with the guidelines thathave been approved by the Trust’s Board of Trustees. With respect tothe ATM Portfolios and certain of the Hybrid Portfolios, the Adviseralso is responsible for developing and overseeing the proprietary re-search model used to manage the equity exposure of the Portfolios.With respect to certain of the Hybrid Portfolios, the Adviser also isresponsible for advising the ETF Allocated Portions of the Portfolios(including selecting Underlying ETFs in which the Portfolios invest).

The Adviser is responsible for overseeing Sub-Advisers and recom-mending their hiring, termination and replacement to the Board ofTrustees.

The Adviser selects Sub-Advisers to manage a Portfolio’s assets byutilizing a due diligence process covering a number of key factorswhich include, but are not limited to, the Sub-Adviser’s reputation,organizational stability, investment personnel, long-term perform-ance, investment philosophy and style and correlation with otherSub-Advisers retained for other allocated portions of the Portfolio.

EQ Advisors Trust Management of the Trust 49

The Adviser plays an active role in monitoring each Portfolio (or por-tion thereof) and Sub-Adviser and uses portfolio analytics systems tostrengthen its evaluation of performance, style, risk levels,diversification and other criteria. The Adviser also monitors each Sub-Adviser’s portfolio management team to determine whether itsinvestment activities remain consistent with the Portfolios’ or portionthereof’s investment style and objectives.

Beyond performance analysis, the Adviser monitors significantchanges that may impact the Sub-Adviser’s overall business. TheAdviser monitors continuity in the Sub-Adviser’s operations andchanges in investment personnel and senior management. The Ad-viser performs due diligence reviews with each Sub-Adviser no lessfrequently than annually.

The Adviser obtains detailed, comprehensive information concerningPortfolio (or portion thereof) and Sub-Adviser performance and Port-folio (or portion thereof) operations that is used to supervise andmonitor the Sub-Advisers and the Portfolio (or portion thereof) oper-ations. The Adviser has a dedicated team responsible for conductingongoing investment reviews with each Sub-Adviser and for develop-ing the criteria by which Portfolio (or portion thereof) performance ismeasured.

The Adviser selects Sub-Advisers from a pool of candidates, includingits affiliates, to manage the Portfolios (or portions thereof). The Ad-viser may hire, terminate and replace Sub-Advisers and amend sub-advisory agreements subject to the approval of the Trust’s Board ofTrustees. The Adviser also may allocate a Portfolio’s assets to addi-tional Sub-Advisers subject to the approval of the Trust’s Board ofTrustees and has discretion to allocate each Portfolio’s assets amonga Portfolio’s current Sub-Advisers. The Adviser recommends Sub-Advisers for each Portfolio to the Trust’s Board of Trustees basedupon its continuing quantitative and qualitative evaluation of eachSub-Adviser’s skills in managing assets pursuant to specific invest-ment styles and strategies. Short-term investment performance, byitself, is not a significant factor in selecting or terminating a Sub-Adviser, and the Adviser does not expect to recommend frequentchanges of Sub-Advisers.

If the Adviser hires, terminates or replaces a Sub-Adviser to a Portfo-lio or adjusts the asset allocation among Sub-Advisers in a Portfoliothe affected Portfolio may experience a period of transition duringwhich the securities held in the Portfolio may be repositioned in con-nection with the change in Sub-Adviser(s). A Portfolio may not pur-sue its principal investment strategies during such a transition periodand may incur increased brokerage commissions and other trans-action costs in connection with the change(s). Generally, transitionsmay be implemented before or after the effective date of the newSub-Adviser’s appointment as a sub-adviser to the Portfolio, and maybe completed in several days to several weeks, depending on theparticular circumstances of the transition. In addition, as described in

“Investments, Risks and Performance” above for each Portfolio, thepast performance of a Portfolio is not necessarily an indication offuture performance. This may be particularly true for any Portfoliothat has undergone Sub-Adviser changes and/or changes to the in-vestment objective or policies of the Portfolio.

A committee of FMG LLC investment personnel is primarily respon-sible for (i) selecting, monitoring and overseeing each Portfolio’s Sub-Adviser(s); (ii) determining the allocation of assets between theactively and passively managed portions of and developing andoverseeing the proprietary research model used to manage the por-tions of the AXA Global Equity Managed Volatility Portfolio, AXA In-ternational Core Managed Volatility Portfolio, AXA InternationalValue Managed Volatility Portfolio, AXA Large Cap Core ManagedVolatility Portfolio, AXA Large Cap Growth Managed VolatilityPortfolio, AXA Large Cap Value Managed Volatility Portfolio, AXAMid Cap Value Managed Volatility Portfolio, AXA/Franklin BalancedManaged Volatility Portfolio, AXA/Franklin Small Cap Value Man-aged Volatility Portfolio, AXA/Morgan Stanley Small Cap GrowthPortfolio, AXA/Mutual Large Cap Equity Managed Volatility Portfolio,AXA/Templeton Global Equity Managed Volatility Portfolio, AXA/ABSmall Cap Growth Portfolio, EQ/Emerging Markets Equity PLUS Port-folio, EQ/Global Bond PLUS Portfolio, EQ/Quality Bond PLUS Portfo-lio, Multimanager Aggressive Equity Portfolio, Multimanager CoreBond Portfolio, Multimanager Mid Cap Growth Portfolio, Multi-manager Mid Cap Value Portfolio, Multimanager Technology Portfo-lio, AXA 500 Managed Volatility Portfolio, ATM Large Cap ManagedVolatility Portfolio, AXA 400 Managed Volatility Portfolio, ATM MidCap Managed Volatility Portfolio, AXA 2000 Managed VolatilityPortfolio, ATM Small Cap Managed Volatility Portfolio, AXA Interna-tional Managed Volatility Portfolio, and ATM International ManagedVolatility Portfolio, and ensuring that asset allocations are consistentwith the guidelines that have been approved by the Trust’s Board ofTrustees; (iii) developing and overseeing the proprietary researchmodel used to manage the equity exposure of the AXA Global EquityManaged Volatility Portfolio, AXA International Core Managed Vola-tility Portfolio, AXA International Value Managed Volatility Portfolio,AXA Large Cap Core Managed Volatility Portfolio, AXA Large CapGrowth Managed Volatility Portfolio, AXA Large Cap Value ManagedVolatility Portfolio, AXA Mid Cap Value Managed Volatility Portfolio,AXA/Franklin Balanced Managed Volatility Portfolio, AXA/FranklinSmall Cap Value Managed Volatility Portfolio, AXA/Mutual LargeCap Equity Managed Volatility Portfolio, AXA/Templeton GlobalEquity Managed Volatility Portfolio, AXA 500 Managed VolatilityPortfolio, ATM Large Cap Managed Volatility Portfolio, AXA 400Managed Volatility Portfolio, ATM Mid Cap Managed Volatility Port-folio, AXA 2000 Managed Volatility Portfolio, ATM Small Cap Man-aged Volatility Portfolio, AXA International Managed VolatilityPortfolio, and ATM International Managed Volatility Portfolio; and(iv) managing the ETF Allocated Portion of and the models used tomanage the ETF Allocated Portion of each of the AXA International

50 Management of the Trust EQ Advisors Trust

Core Managed Volatility Portfolio, AXA International Value ManagedVolatility Portfolio, AXA Large Cap Core Managed Volatility Portfolio,AXA Large Cap Growth Managed Volatility Portfolio, AXA Large CapValue Managed Volatility Portfolio, AXA Mid Cap Value ManagedVolatility Portfolio, EQ/Global Bond PLUS Portfolio, and Multi-manager Technology Portfolio.

Kenneth T. Kozlowski, CFP®, ChFC, CLU has served asExecutive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer of FMG LLCsince June 2012 and as Managing Director of AXA Equitablesince September 2011. He was Senior Vice President of FMG LLCfrom May 2011 to June 2012 and a Vice President of AXA Equi-table from February 2001 to August 2011. He has served as VicePresident of the Trust from June 2010 to present. Since 2003,Mr. Kozlowski has had primary responsibility for the asset alloca-tion, fund selection and rebalancing of the funds of funds cur-rently managed by FMG LLC and for the ETF Allocated Portionssince May 25, 2007. Mr. Kozlowski served as Chief FinancialOfficer and Treasurer of the Trust from 2002 to 2007.

Alwi Chan, CFA® has served as Senior Vice President andDeputy Chief Investment Officer of FMG LLC since June 2012and as Lead Director of AXA Equitable since February 2007.He served as Vice President of FMG LLC from May 2011 toJune 2012. Prior to that, he served as an Assistant Vice Presi-dent (2005-2007) and Senior Investment Analyst (2002-2005) of AXA Equitable. He also has served as a VicePresident of the Trust since 2007.

Xavier Poutas, CFA® has served as an Assistant Portfolio Man-ager of FMG LLC since May 2011 and as Director of AXA Equitablesince November 2008. He joined AXA Equitable’s FundsManagement Group in October 2004 as a Fund Administrator andwas involved in the implementation of the asset allocation strategyfor the funds of funds currently managed by FMG LLC.

Miao Hu, CFA® has served as an Assistant Portfolio Managerof FMG LLC since May 2016. She has served as a Director ofPortfolio Analytics of FMG LLC since December 2014. Shejoined AXA Equitable as a Lead Manager in November 2013.Prior to joining FMG LLC, she was an Associate ContentManager at Factset from January 2012 to November 2013.

Information about each portfolio manager’s compensation, otheraccounts he or she manages, and his or her ownership of securitiesof the Portfolios is available in the Portfolios’ SAI.

The Adviser has received an exemptive order from the SEC to permit itand the Trust’s Board of Trustees to hire, terminate and replace Sub-Advisers and to amend the sub-advisory agreements between the Ad-viser and the Sub-Advisers without obtaining shareholder approval.Accordingly, the Adviser is able, subject to the approval of the Trust’sBoard of Trustees, to hire, terminate and replace Sub-Advisers and toamend sub-advisory agreements without obtaining shareholder

approval. If a new Sub-Adviser is retained for a Portfolio, shareholderswill receive notice of such action. However, the Adviser may not enterinto a sub- advisory agreement with an “affiliated person” of the Ad-viser (as that term is defined in the 1940 Act) (“Affiliated Sub-Adviser”), such as AllianceBernstein L.P., AXA Investment Managers,Inc., and AXA Rosenberg Investment Management LLC, unless thesub-advisory agreement with the Affiliated Sub-Adviser, includingcompensation, is also approved by the affected Portfolio’sshareholders.

The Sub-Advisers

Each Portfolio’s investments are selected by one or more Sub-Advisers, which act independently of one another. The following de-scribes each Portfolio’s Sub-Advisers and portfolio managers andeach portfolio manager’s business experience. Information about theportfolio managers’ compensation, other accounts they manage andtheir ownership of securities of the Portfolio is available in the SAI.

AllianceBernstein L.P. (“AllianceBernstein”), 1345 Avenue of theAmericas, New York, NY 10105. AllianceBernstein serves as Sub-Adviser to the EQ/Common Stock Index Portfolio and the EQ/International Equity Index Portfolio. AllianceBernstein also serves asSub-Adviser to the Index Allocated Portion of each of the Multi-manager Aggressive Equity Portfolio. AllianceBernstein manages in-vestments for investment companies, endowment funds, insurancecompanies, foreign entities, qualified and non-tax qualified corporatefunds, public and private pension and profit-sharing plans, founda-tions and tax-exempt organizations. As of December 31, 2017, Alli-anceBernstein had approximately $554 billion in assets undermanagement.

AllianceBernstein’s Passive Equity Investment Team, which is respon-sible for the management of all of AllianceBernstein’s Passive Equityaccounts, manages and makes investment decisions for the EQ/International Equity Index Portfolio. The Passive Equity InvestmentTeam relies heavily on quantitative tools. The team also is respon-sible for the investment decisions for the Index Allocated Portion ofthe Multimanager Aggressive Equity Portfolio.

Judith DeVivo, a Senior Vice President and PortfolioManager, joined AllianceBernstein in 1971, joined the PassiveManagement Group in 1984 and has had portfolio manage-ment responsibility since that time. Ms. DeVivo manages equityportfolios benchmarked to a variety of indexes including theS&P 500, S&P MidCap, S&P Small Cap, Russell 2000, FTSE100, TOPIX, DJ EuroSTOXX 50 and S&P/ASX 200 Indexes inaddition to several customized accounts.

ClearBridge Investments, LLC (ClearBridge), 620 Eighth Avenue,New York, NY 10018, serves as Sub-Adviser to an Active AllocatedPortion of the Multimanager Aggressive Equity Portfolio. ClearBridge,an investment adviser that manages U.S. and international equity


investment strategies for institutional and individual investors, is awholly-owned subsidiary of Legg Mason, Inc. ClearBridge has beencommitted to delivering long-term results through active manage-ment for more than 50 years, and bases its investment decisions onfundamental research and the insights of seasoned portfoliomanagement teams. As of December 31, 2017, ClearBridge’s totalassets under management were approximately $137 billion, includ-ing $48.5 billion for which ClearBridge provides investment modelsto managed account sponsors.

Richard Freeman and Evan Bauman are responsible for the in-vestment decisions for an Active Allocated Portion of the Multi-manager Aggressive Equity Portfolio.

Richard Freeman, Portfolio Manager and Managing Directorof ClearBridge since 1983, has more than 42 years of securitiesbusiness experience, 35 years of which have been with Clear-Bridge or its predecessors.

Evan Bauman, Portfolio Manager and Managing Director ofClearBridge, has been with ClearBridge or its predecessorssince 1996. He has more than 22 years of investment industryexperience.

The Dreyfus Corporation (“Dreyfus”), 200 Park Avenue,New York, NY 10166, is the Sub-Adviser to the EQ/Money MarketPortfolio. Dreyfus was founded in 1951 and currently managesapproximately 192 mutual fund portfolios. As of December 31, 2017,Dreyfus had approximately $267 billion in assets under management.

Scotia Institutional Asset Management US, Ltd. (“Scotia”),1 Adelaide Street East, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5C2V9, serves asSub-Adviser to an Active Allocated Portion of the Multimanager Ag-gressive Equity Portfolio. Scotia is an indirect wholly owned sub-sidiary of The Bank of Nova Scotia (“Scotiabank”). Scotiabank is afinancial services company which provides a broad range of financialproducts and services to individuals, institutions and corporationsthrough a number of operating subsidiaries. ScotiaBank is publiclytraded on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges under thesymbol BNS. As of December 31, 2017, Scotia had approximately$155 million in assets under management.

Noah Blackstein is primarily responsible for the day-to-daymanagement of an Active Allocated Portion of the Multi-manager Aggressive Equity Portfolio. Mr. Blackstein is a VicePresident of Scotia and joined Scotia in 1997 as a portfoliomanager. His investment experience dates from 1993.

T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. (“T. Rowe Price”), 100 East PrattStreet, Baltimore, MD 21202, is the Sub-Adviser to the MultimanagerAggressive Equity Portfolio. T. Rowe Price was founded in 1937 and,as of December 31, 2017, T. Rowe Price and its affiliates hadapproximately $991.1 billion in assets under management.

Taymour R. Tamaddon, CFA®, a vice president of T. RowePrice Group, Inc. and T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., has pri-mary responsibility for the security selection, research and trad-ing for a portion of the Active Allocated Portion ofMultimanager Aggressive Equity Portfolio. He is the leadportfolio manager and chairman of the Investment AdvisoryCommittee for the US Large-Cap Growth Equity Strategy.Mr. Tamaddon joined T. Rowe Price in 2004 and has served asan equity research analyst and as a portfolio manager(beginning in 2013).

Westfield Capital Management Company, L.P. (“Westfield”),One Financial Center, Boston, MA 02111, serves as Sub-Adviser toan Active Allocated Portion of the Multimanager Aggressive EquityPortfolio. Westfield is registered with the SEC as an investment ad-viser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. Westfield is ma-jority employee owned. As of December 31, 2017, Westfield hadapproximately $13.9 billion in assets under management.

Investment decisions for the Active Allocated Portion of the Multi-manager Aggressive Equity Portfolio allocated to Westfield are madeby consensus of the Investment Committee (the “Committee”), whichis chaired by William A. Muggia. Although the Committee collectivelyacts as portfolio manager, Westfield lists the following Committeemembers, based either on seniority or role within the Committee, ashaving day-to-day management responsibilities of the Fund.

William A. Muggia is President, Chief Executive Officer andChief Investment Officer. Mr. Muggia joined Westfield in 1994.He covers Healthcare and Energy, as well as provides overallmarket strategy.

Richard D. Lee, CFA® is a Managing Partner and DeputyChief Investment Officer. He joined Westfield in 2004, and hasbeen a member of Westfield’s Investment Committee sincethen. He covers Hardware and Semiconductors

Ethan J. Meyers, CFA®, is a Managing Partner and Directorof Research. Mr. Meyers joined Westfield in 1999. He coversConsumer, Financials and Business Services.

John M. Montgomery is a Managing Partner, PortfolioStrategist, and Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Montgomery joinedWestfield in 2006.

Conflicts of Interest

The Adviser currently serves as the investment adviser and admin-istrator for the Trust and two other investment companies that areregistered under the 1940 Act, and as the investment adviser for twoprivate investment trusts that are exempt from such registration. TheAdviser and its affiliates (including AXA Equitable, AXA Distributors,LLC, AXA Financial, Inc., AXA, AllianceBernstein, AXA InvestmentManagers, Inc., and AXA Rosenberg Investment Management LLC)


and their respective managers, partners, directors, trustees, officers,and employees (collectively, for purposes of this Conflicts of Interestdiscussion, “Affiliates”) are part of an international group of in-surance and related financial services companies engaged in life in-surance, property and casualty insurance and reinsurance activities,as well as asset management, investment banking, securities trading,brokerage, real estate and other financial services activities, provid-ing a broad range of services to a substantial and diverse client base.The broad range of activities, services, and interests of the Adviserand its Affiliates gives rise to actual, potential and/or perceived con-flicts of interest, and may introduce certain investment or transac-tional restrictions, that could disadvantage the Portfolios and theirshareholders.

Certain actual and potential conflicts of interest are discussed belowand elsewhere in this Prospectus, and a further discussion of conflictsof interest appears in the SAI. Investors should carefully review thesediscussions. These discussions are not, and are not intended to be, acomplete discussion of all of the actual and potential conflicts ofinterest that may arise. Additional or unanticipated conflicts of inter-est may arise from time to time in the ordinary course of the Ad-viser’s and its Affiliates’ various businesses.

The Adviser and the Trust have adopted practices, policies and proce-dures that are intended to identify, monitor, and mitigate conflicts ofinterest. These practices, policies and procedures include informationbarriers, codes of ethics, pre-clearance and reporting of securitiestransactions by certain persons, and the use of independent personsto review certain types of transactions. There is no assurance, how-ever, that these practices, policies and procedures will be effective,and these practices, policies and procedures also may limit thePortfolios’ investment activities and affect their performance.

Certain Conflicts Related to Fees and Compensation

The Adviser and certain of its Affiliates provide services including in-vestment management, investment advisory, administration, share-holder servicing, distribution, and transfer agency services to thePortfolios and earn fees from these relationships with the Portfolios.The Adviser and its Affiliates face conflicts of interest when thePortfolios select affiliated service providers because the Adviser andits Affiliates receive greater compensation when they are used. Al-though these fees are generally based on asset levels, the fees arenot directly contingent on Portfolio performance and the Adviser andits Affiliates would still receive significant compensation from thePortfolios even if shareholders lose money. In addition, the Adviserand certain of its Affiliates manage or advise funds or accounts, in-cluding the Portfolios, with different fee rates and/or fee structures.Differences in fee arrangements may create an incentive for the Ad-viser and/or its Affiliates to favor higher-fee funds or accounts.

Certain Conflicts Related to the Adviser and its Affiliates Acting inMultiple Commercial Capacities

The Adviser and/or one or more Affiliates act or may act in variouscommercial capacities, including as investment manager, investmentadviser, administrator, investor, commodity pool operator, under-writer, distributor, transfer agent, investment banker, research pro-vider, market maker, trader, lender, agent or principal, and may havedirect and indirect interests in securities, commodities, currencies,derivatives and other instruments in which the Portfolios may directlyor indirectly invest. Thus, it is likely that the Portfolios will have busi-ness relationships with and will invest in, engage in transactionswith, make voting decisions with respect to, or obtain services fromentities with which the Adviser and/or an Affiliate has developed or istrying to develop business relationships or in which the Adviser and/or an Affiliate has significant investments or other interests. Forexample, the Adviser may have an incentive to hire as a Sub-Adviseror other service provider an entity with which the Adviser or one ormore Affiliates have, or would like to have, significant or other busi-ness dealings or arrangements. In addition, when Affiliates act invarious commercial capacities in relation to the Portfolios, the Affili-ates may take commercial steps in their own interests, which mayhave an adverse effect on the Portfolios.

Certain Conflicts Related to the Use of Affiliated and UnaffiliatedSub-Advisers

The Adviser is subject to certain conflicts of interest in connectionwith recommending the appointment and continued service of Sub-Advisers. The Adviser is affiliated with certain Sub-Advisers and,therefore, the Adviser will benefit not only from the net managementfee the Adviser retains, but also from the advisory fees paid by theAdviser to an affiliated Sub-Adviser. Since the Adviser pays fees tothe Sub-Advisers from the management fees that it earns from thePortfolios, any increase or decrease in the advisory fees negotiatedwith proposed or current Sub-Advisers will result in a correspondingdecrease or increase, respectively, in the amount of the managementfee retained by the Adviser. The Adviser or its Affiliates also have dis-tribution relationships with certain Sub-Advisers or their affiliatesunder which the Sub-Advisers or their affiliates distribute or supportthe distribution of investment products issued or sold by the Adviseror its Affiliates (including those in which the Portfolios serve asinvestment options), which could financially benefit the Adviser andits Affiliates or provide an incentive to the Adviser in selecting oneSub-Adviser over another or a disincentive for the Adviser to recom-mend the termination of such Sub-Advisers. In addition, the Adviser’sand/or its Affiliates’ other existing or potential business relationships(e.g., distribution, sub-administration, or custody arrangements), in-cluding with Sub-Advisers and/or their affiliates, or other financial orpersonal relationships, could influence the Adviser’s selection andretention or termination of Sub-Advisers.


The Adviser may allocate a Portfolio’s assets among multiple Sub-Advisers. While the Adviser seeks to allocate a Portfolio’s assets amongthe Portfolio’s Sub-Advisers in a manner that it believes is consistentwith achieving the Portfolio’s investment objective(s), the Adviser issubject to conflicts of interest in allocating the Portfolio’s assets amongSub-Advisers, including affiliated Sub-Advisers, because the Adviserpays different fees to the Sub-Advisers and due to other factors thatcould impact the Adviser’s revenues and profits.

The aggregation of assets of multiple Portfolios or other funds oraccounts for purposes of calculating breakpoints in advisory fees maycreate an incentive for the Adviser to select Sub-Advisers where theselection may serve to lower an advisory fee and possibly increasethe management fee retained by the Adviser or may provide a dis-incentive for the Adviser to recommend the termination of a Sub-Adviser from a Portfolio if the termination may cause the advisory feepayable by the Adviser to increase on a Portfolio or other fund oraccount that aggregates its assets with the Portfolio.

The Adviser is a fiduciary for the shareholders of the Portfolios andmust put their interests ahead of its own interests (or the interests ofits Affiliates). When recommending the appointment or continuedservice of a Sub-Adviser, consistent with its fiduciary duties, the Ad-viser relies primarily on the qualitative and quantitative factors de-scribed in detail in this Prospectus.

Furthermore, the range of activities, services, and interests of a Sub-Adviser may give rise to actual, potential and/or perceived conflicts ofinterest that could disadvantage the Portfolio that it sub-advises and thePortfolio’s shareholders. In addition, a Sub-Adviser’s portfolio managersmay manage multiple funds and accounts for multiple clients. In additionto one or more Portfolios, these funds and accounts may include, forexample, other mutual funds, separate accounts, collective trusts, andoffshore funds. Managing multiple funds and accounts may give rise toactual or potential conflicts of interest, including, for example, conflictsamong investment strategies, conflicts in the allocation of limitedinvestment opportunities, and conflicts in the aggregation and allocationof securities trades. In addition, a Sub-Adviser’s portfolio managers maymanage or advise funds or accounts with different fee rates and/or feestructures, including performance-based fee arrangements. Differences infee arrangements may create an incentive for a portfolio manager tofavor higher-fee funds or accounts. Each Sub-Adviser has adoptedpractices, policies and procedures that are intended to identify, monitor,and mitigate conflicts of interest. There is no assurance, however, that aSub-Adviser’s practices, policies and procedures will be effective, and aSub-Adviser’s practices, policies and procedures also may limit theinvestment activities of the Portfolio that it sub-advises and affect thePortfolio’s performance. Please see the Portfolios’ Statement of Addi-tional Information for a further discussion of Sub-Adviser conflicts ofinterest.

Certain Conflicts Related to the Adviser’s Insurance Company Affiliates

The Portfolios are available through Contracts offered by insurancecompany Affiliates of the Adviser. The performance of a Portfolio mayimpact the obligations and financial exposure of the Adviser’s insurancecompany Affiliates under any death benefit, income benefit and otherguarantees provided through Contracts that offer the Portfolio as aninvestment option, and the ability of an insurance company Affiliate tomanage (e.g., through the use of various hedging techniques) the risksassociated with these benefits and guarantees. The Adviser’s invest-ment decisions and the design of the Portfolios may be influenced bythese factors. For example, the Portfolios or models and strategies maybe managed or designed in a manner (e.g., using more conservative orless volatile investment styles, including volatility management strat-egies) that could reduce potential losses and/or mitigate financial risksto insurance company Affiliates that provide the benefits and guaran-tees and offer the Portfolios as investment options in their products, andalso could facilitate such an insurance company’s ability to providebenefits and guarantees under its Contracts, including by making morepredictable the costs of the benefits and guarantees and by reducingthe regulatory capital needed to provide them. The financial benefits tothe Adviser’s insurance company Affiliates may be material.

Although the Adviser’s volatility management techniques, including theuse of futures and options to manage equity exposure, are intended toreduce the overall risk of investing in a Portfolio, they may not work asintended and may result in losses by a Portfolio or periods of under-performance, particularly during periods when market values areincreasing but market volatility is high. The success of any volatilitymanagement strategy will be subject to the Adviser’s ability to correctlyassess the degree of correlation between the performance of the rele-vant market index and the metrics used by the Adviser to measuremarket volatility. Since the characteristics of many securities change asmarkets change or time passes, the success of any volatility manage-ment strategy also will be subject to the Adviser’s ability to continuallyrecalculate, readjust, and execute volatility management techniques inan efficient manner. Market conditions change, sometimes rapidly andunpredictably, and the Adviser may be unable to execute a volatilitymanagement strategy in a timely manner or at all. In addition, the Ad-viser and its insurance company Affiliates manage or advise other fundsand accounts that engage in and compete for transactions in the sametypes of securities and instruments (such as futures contracts) as a Port-folio. Such transactions could affect the prices and availability of thesecurities and instruments in which a Portfolio invests, directly or in-directly, and could have an adverse impact on a Portfolio’s performance.

A significant percentage of a Portfolio’s shares may be owned orcontrolled by the Adviser and/or its Affiliates, other Portfolios advisedby the Adviser (including funds of funds), or other large shareholders,including primarily insurance company separate accounts and quali-fied plans. Accordingly, a Portfolio is subject to the potential for


large-scale inflows and outflows as a result of purchases and re-demptions of its shares by such shareholders, including in connectionwith substitution and other transactions by Affiliates of the Adviser.These inflows and outflows could negatively affect a Portfolio’s netasset value, performance, and ability to meet shareholder re-demption requests and could cause a Portfolio to purchase or sellsecurities at a time when it would not normally do so. In addition,large-scale outflows could result in a Portfolio’s current expensesbeing allocated over a smaller asset base, which, depending on anyapplicable expense caps, could lead to an increase in the Portfolio’sexpense ratio. The Adviser or its Affiliates may be subject to potentialconflicts of interest in selecting shares of Portfolios for redemptionand in deciding whether and when to redeem such shares.

The Portfolios may be used as variable insurance trusts for unaffiliatedinsurance companies’ insurance products. These unaffiliated insurancecompanies have financial arrangements (which may include revenuesharing arrangements) with the Adviser’s insurance company Affiliates.These financial arrangements could create an incentive for the Adviser,in its selection process, to favor Sub-Advisers that are affiliated withthese unaffiliated insurance companies.

Consistent with its fiduciary duties, the Adviser seeks to implementeach Portfolio’s investment program in a manner that is in the bestinterests of the Portfolio and that is consistent with the Portfolio’sinvestment objective, policies and strategies described in detail in thisProspectus.

Sales Incentives and Certain Related Conflicts Arising from the Ad-viser’s and its Affiliates’ Financial and Other Relationships withFinancial Intermediaries are described in the sections entitled“Payments to Broker-Dealers and Other Financial Intermediaries”and “Compensation to Financial Intermediaries.”

Legal Proceedings

In July 2011, a lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court forthe District of New Jersey, entitled Mary Ann Sivolella v. AXA Equi-table Life Insurance Company and AXA Equitable Funds Manage-ment Group, LLC (“Sivolella Litigation”). The lawsuit was filedderivatively on behalf of eight Portfolios of the Trust: EQ/CommonStock Index Portfolio; EQ/Equity Growth PLUS Portfolio; EQ/Equity 500Index Portfolio; AXA Large Cap Value Managed Volatility Portfolio;AXA Global Equity Managed Volatility Portfolio; AXA Mid Cap ValueManaged Volatility Portfolio; EQ/Intermediate Government Bond IndexPortfolio; and EQ/GAMCO Small Company Value Portfolio (now called1290 VT GAMCO Small Company Value Portfolio) (the “SivolellaPortfolios”). Note, in June 2014, the EQ/Equity Growth PLUS Portfoliowas reorganized into the AXA Large Cap Growth Managed VolatilityPortfolio. The lawsuit seeks recovery under Section 36(b) of the 1940Act, for alleged excessive fees paid to FMG LLC and AXA Equitable (the“Defendants”) for investment management services. The Plaintiff seeks

recovery of the alleged overpayments, or alternatively, rescission of thecontracts and restitution of all fees paid, interest, costs, and fees. InOctober 2011, FMG LLC and AXA Equitable filed a motion to dismissthe complaint. In November 2011, the Plaintiff filed an AmendedComplaint seeking the same relief, but adding new claims under: (1)Section 26(f) of the 1940 Act alleging that the variable annuity con-tracts sold by the Defendants charged excessive management fees, andseeking restitution and rescission of those contracts under Section47(b) of the 1940 Act; and (2) a claim for unjust enrichment. The De-fendants filed a motion to dismiss the Amended Complaint in De-cember 2011. In May 2012, Plaintiff voluntarily dismissed the Section26(f) claim seeking restitution and rescission under Section 47(b). InSeptember 2012, the United States District Court for the District ofNew Jersey denied the motion to dismiss the Amended Complaint as itrelated to the Section 36(b) claim and granted the motion to as it re-lated to the unjust enrichment claim.

In January 2013, a second lawsuit against FMG LLC was filed in theUnited States District Court for the District of New Jersey by a groupof Plaintiffs asserting substantially similar claims under Section 36(b)and seeking substantially similar damages as in the Sivolella Liti-gation. The lawsuit, entitled Glenn D. Sanford, et al. v. AXA Equi-table Funds Management Group, LLC (“Sanford Litigation”), wasfiled derivatively on behalf of the EQ/PIMCO Ultra Short Bond Portfo-lio, the EQ/T. Rowe Price Growth Stock Portfolio, the EQ/Global BondPLUS Portfolio, and the EQ/Core Bond Index Portfolio, in addition tofour of the Sivolella Portfolios. In light of the similarities of theallegations in the Sivolella and Sanford Litigations, the court con-solidated the two lawsuits.

In April 2013, the Plaintiffs in the Sivolella and Sanford Litigationsamended the complaints to add additional claims under Section36(b) of the 1940 Act for recovery of alleged excessive fees paid toFMG LLC in its capacity as the Administrator to the Trust. The Plain-tiffs seek recovery of the alleged overpayments, or alternatively, re-scission of the contract and restitution of the excessive fees paid,interest, costs, and fees. In January 2015, Plaintiffs and Defendantsfiled motions for summary judgment and other pre-trial motions,which were denied by the Court in August 2015.

The non-jury trial commenced in January 2016 and testimony con-cluded in February 2016. Closing arguments occurred in June 2016following post-trial briefing. On August 25, 2016, the Court issued itsdecision in favor of FMG LLC and AXA Equitable, finding that thePlaintiffs had failed to meet their burden to demonstrate that FMGLLC and AXA Equitable breached their fiduciary duty in violation ofSection 36(b) or show any actual damages. In September 2016, thePlaintiffs filed a motion to amend the trial opinion and to amend ormake new findings of fact and/or conclusions of law, which wasdenied by the Court in December 2016. In December 2016, Plaintifffiled a notice to appeal the Court’s decision to the United States Courtof Appeals for the Third Circuit.


No liability for litigation relating to these matters has been accrued inthe financial statements of the Portfolios because any potentialdamages would be the responsibility of the Defendants.

In November 2010, the Trust, and several of its Portfolios, werenamed as defendants and putative members of the proposeddefendant class of contractholders in a lawsuit brought by The Offi-cial Committee of Unsecured Creditors of Tribune Company (the“Committee”) in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Districtof Delaware regarding Tribune Company’s Chapter 11 bankruptcyproceeding (In re Tribune Company). The lawsuit relates to amountspaid to the Trust,and several of its Portfolios, as holders of publicly-traded shares of Tribune Company, which were components of cer-tain broad-based securities market indices, for which there werepublic tender offers during 2007. The suit seeks return of the shareprice received by Tribune Company shareholders in the tender offersplus interest and attorneys’ fees and expenses.

In July 2011, retiree participants in certain Tribune-definedcompensation plans (the “Retirees”) initiated a lawsuit in the UnitedStates District Court for the Southern District of New York againstcertain Tribune Company shareholders who sold their shares as partof the 2007 public tender offers (the “Retiree Suit”). This Retiree Suitalso seeks return of the share price received by Tribune Companyshareholders in connection with the tender offers plus interest andattorneys’ fees and expenses.

In August 2011, the trustees of certain trusts that hold notes issuedby Tribune Company (the “Noteholders”) initiated a separate lawsuitin the United States District Court for the Southern District of NewYork against certain Tribune Company shareholders who sold theirshares as part of the 2007 public tender offers (the “NoteholderSuit”). The Noteholder Suit also seeks return of the share price re-ceived by Tribune Company shareholders in connection with the ten-der offers plus interest and attorneys’ fees and expenses.

The Committee’s Suit, the Retiree Suit, and the Noteholder Suit haveeach been consolidated with a number of related lawsuits filed bythe Noteholders and Retirees around the United States into a singlemulti-district litigation proceeding now pending in the United StatesDistrict Court for the Southern District of New York (In re: TribuneCompany Fraudulent Conveyance Litigation).

The EQ/Equity 500 Index Portfolio, the EQ/GAMCO Mergers andAcquisitions Portfolio (now called 1290 VT GAMCO Mergers & Ac-quisitions Portfolio) and the AXA Mid Cap Value Managed VolatilityPortfolio are named as defendants in the Noteholder Suit and theRetiree Suit. The EQ/Equity 500 Index Portfolio, the EQ/GAMCOMergers and Acquisitions Portfolio (now called 1290 VT GAMCOMergers & Acquisitions Portfolio), the AXA Mid Cap Value ManagedVolatility Portfolio, the AXA Large Cap Core Managed Volatility Port-folio, the Multimanager Large Cap Core Equity Portfolio (now calledAXA Large Cap Core Managed Volatility Portfolio), the EQ/ Small

Company Index II Portfolio (now called EQ/Small Company IndexPortfolio), the EQ/Common Stock Index II Portfolio (now called EQ/Common Stock Index Portfolio), and EQ Advisors Trust are all puta-tive members of the proposed defendant class of shareholders in theCommittee’s suit. The EQ/Equity 500 Index Portfolio, the EQ/GAMCOMergers and Acquisitions Portfolio (now called 1290 VT GAMCOMergers & Acquisitions Portfolio), the AXA Large Cap Core ManagedVolatility Portfolio, and EQ Advisors Trust are also named separatelyin the Committee’s suit, in the event it is not certified as class action.The Multimanager Large Cap Value Portfolio (now called AXA LargeCap Value Managed Volatility Portfolio) is named as a defendant inthe Noteholder Suit and is also named as a putative member of theproposed defendant class of shareholders in the Committee’s suit.The amounts paid to the above seven Portfolios in connection withthe public tender offers were approximately: (i) the EQ/Equity 500Index Portfolio — $1,740,800; (ii) the 1290 VT GAMCO Mergers &Acquisitions Portfolio — $1,122,000; (iii) the AXA Mid Cap ValueManaged Volatility Portfolio — $3,655,000; (iv) the AXA Large CapCore Managed Volatility Portfolio — $1,832,600; (v) the EQ/SmallCompany Index Portfolio — $61,200; (vi) the EQ/Common StockIndex Portfolio — $18,360; and (vii) the AXA Large Cap ValueManaged Volatility Portfolio — $3,359,200.

The lawsuits do not allege any misconduct by the Trust or its Portfo-lios. Certain of the Plaintiffs’ claims have been dismissed and inMarch 2016, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Cir-cuit (the “Second Circuit”) has affirmed the dismissal of those claims.In September 2016, Plaintiffs filed a petition for a writ of certiorariwith the United States Supreme Court, which is currently pending. InJanuary 2017, the United States District Court for the Southern Dis-trict of New York dismissed the remaining claims involving share-holders, such as the Trust and several of its Portfolios, who sold theirshares as part of the public tender offers. The Plaintiffs have re-quested permission from the court to appeal its decision to the Sec-ond Circuit. The Trust or its Portfolios cannot predict the outcome ofthese lawsuits. If the lawsuits were to be decided or settled in amanner adverse to the Portfolios, the payment of such judgments orsettlements could have an adverse effect on each Portfolio’s NAV.However, no liability for litigation relating to this matter has beenaccrued in the financial statements of the Portfolios, as the Managerbelieves a loss is not probable.


5. Fund distribution arrangements

AXA Distributors, LLC (“AXA Distributors” or the “Distributor”)serves as the distributor for the shares of the Trust. Each class ofshares is offered and redeemed at its net asset value without anysales load. AXA Distributors is an affiliate of FMG LLC. AXA Distrib-utors is registered as a broker-dealer under the Securities ExchangeAct of 1934, as amended, and is a member of the Financial IndustryRegulatory Authority (“FINRA”).

The Trust has adopted a Distribution Plan pursuant to Rule 12b-1under the 1940 Act for the Trust’s Class IA and Class IB shares. Un-der the Distribution Plan, the Class IA and Class IB shares of theTrust are charged a distribution and/or service (12b-1) fee tocompensate AXA Distributors for promoting, selling and servicingshares of the Portfolios. The distribution and/or service (12b-1) feemay be retained by AXA Distributors or used to pay financial inter-mediaries for similar services. The maximum distribution and/or serv-ice (12b-1) fee for a Portfolio’s Class IA and Class IB shares is equalto an annual rate of 0.25% of the average daily net assets attribut-able to Class IA and Class IB shares. Because these fees are paid outof the Portfolio’s assets on an ongoing basis, over time, these feesfor Class IA and IB shares will increase the cost of your investmentand may cost you more than paying other types of charges.

The Distributor also may receive payments from certain Sub-Advisersof the Portfolios or their affiliates to help defray expenses for salesmeetings, seminar sponsorships, and similar expenses that may re-late to the Contracts and/or the Sub-Advisers’ respective Portfolios.These sales meetings or seminar sponsorships may provide the Sub-Advisers with increased access to persons involved in the distributionof the Contracts. The Distributor also may receive other marketingsupport from the Sub-Advisers in connection with the distribution ofthe Contracts. These payments may provide an incentive to the Ad-viser in selecting one Sub-Adviser over another or a disincentive forthe Adviser to recommend the termination of such Sub-Advisers.

Compensation to Financial Intermediaries

In addition to the distribution and service fees paid by the Portfolios,the Distributor or the Adviser (or one of their affiliates) may makepayments out of its own resources to provide additional compensa-tion to selected affiliated and unaffiliated sponsoring insurance com-panies (or their affiliates) or other financial intermediaries(collectively, “financial intermediaries”). These payments may createan incentive for a financial intermediary or its representatives to rec-ommend or offer shares of the Portfolios or insurance products forwhich a Portfolio serves as an underlying investment. Such payments,which are sometimes referred to as “revenue sharing,” may becalculated by reference to the gross or net sales by such person, theaverage net assets of shares held by the customers of such person,the number of accounts of the Portfolios attributable to such person,on the basis of a flat fee or a negotiated lump sum payment for serv-ices provided, or otherwise.

The additional payments to such financial intermediaries are nego-tiated based on a number of factors including, but not limited to, qual-ity of service, reputation in the industry, ability to attract and retainassets, target markets, customer relationships, and relationship withthe Distributor or its affiliates. No one factor is determinative of thetype or amount of additional compensation to be provided. Theamount of these payments, as determined from time to time by theDistributor or the Adviser (or an affiliate) in its sole discretion, may bedifferent for different financial intermediaries. The compensation ar-rangements described in this section are not mutually exclusive, and asingle financial intermediary may receive multiple types of compensa-tion. These additional payments are made by the Adviser, the Distrib-utor or their respective affiliates and do not increase the amount paidby you or the Portfolios as shown under the heading “Fees and Ex-penses of the Portfolio” in the Portfolio summaries in this Prospectus.

Payments by the Distributor and/or the Adviser (and their affiliates) tofinancial intermediaries may include payments for providing record-keeping services with respect to certain groups of investors in thePortfolios, including Contract owners that allocate contract value in-directly to one or more Portfolios (collectively referred to as“subaccounting” services, and Contract owners and other investorsas “investors”). The subaccounting services typically include: (i)maintenance of master accounts with the Portfolios (e.g., record-keeping for insurance company separate accounts investing in thePortfolios); (ii) tracking, recording and transmitting net purchase andredemption orders for Portfolio shares; (iii) establishing andmaintaining investor accounts and records; (iv) recording investoraccount balances and changes thereto; (v) distributing redemptionproceeds and transmitting net purchase payments and arranging forthe wiring of funds; (vi) reconciling purchase and redemption activityand dividend and distribution payments between a master accountand the Portfolios; (vii) maintaining and preserving records related tothe purchase, redemption and other account activity of investors;(viii) providing statements to investors; (ix) furnishing proxy materials,periodic fund reports, prospectuses and other communications toinvestors as required; (x) assisting with proxy solicitations on behalfof the Portfolios, including soliciting and compiling voting in-structions from Contract owners; (xi) responding to inquiries frominvestors about the Portfolios and (xii) providing information in orderto assist the Portfolios in their compliance with state securities laws.

Such payments also may be made to provide additional compensationto financial intermediaries for various marketing support services, in-cluding, without limitation, providing periodic and ongoing educationand training and support of financial intermediary personnel regardingthe Portfolios and the financial planning needs of investors who pur-chase through financial intermediaries; adding the Portfolios to the listof underlying investment options in an insurance company’s variableproducts; disseminating to financial intermediary personnel informationand product marketing materials regarding the Portfolios; explaining tofinancial intermediaries’ clients the features and characteristics of the

EQ Advisors Trust Fund distribution arrangements 57

Portfolios; conducting due diligence regarding the Portfolios; grantingaccess (in some cases on a preferential basis over other competitors) tosales meetings, sales representatives and management representativesof the financial intermediary; and providing business planning assis-tance, marketing support, advertising and other services. The Distrib-utor and its affiliates may make other payments or allow otherpromotional incentives to financial intermediaries to the extent permit-ted by SEC and FINRA rules and by other applicable laws andregulations.

The Distributor and its affiliates may make the payments describedabove in order to promote the sale of Portfolio shares and the re-tention of those investments by clients of insurance companies, andparticipants in retirement plans and other qualified investors. To theextent these financial intermediaries sell more shares of the Portfoliosor retain shares of the Portfolios in their customers’ accounts, theAdviser, the Distributor and their affiliates may directly or indirectlybenefit from the incremental management and other fees paid to theAdviser and the Distributor by the Portfolios with respect to thoseassets.

The Portfolios’ portfolio transactions are not used as a form of sales-related compensation to financial intermediaries that promote or sellshares of the Portfolios and the promotion or sale of such shares isnot considered as a factor in the selection of broker-dealers to ex-ecute the Portfolios’ portfolio transactions. The Adviser places, andeach Sub-Adviser is required to place, each Portfolio’s portfoliotransactions with broker-dealer firms based on the firm’s ability toprovide the best net results from the transaction to the Portfolio. Tothe extent that the Adviser or a Sub-Adviser determines that a finan-cial intermediary can provide a Portfolio with the best net results, theAdviser or the Sub-Adviser may place the Portfolio’s portfolio trans-actions with the financial intermediary even though it sells or hassold shares of the Portfolio.

You can find further information in the SAI about the payments madeby the Distributor, the Adviser, or their affiliates and the services pro-vided by your financial intermediary. You can also ask your financialintermediary about any payments it receives from the Distributor, theAdviser, or their affiliates (and any conflicts of interest that suchpayments may create) and any services your financial intermediaryprovides, as well as about fees and/or commissions it charges. Yourfinancial intermediary may charge you fees or commissions in addi-tion to those disclosed in this Prospectus. Financial intermediariesmay categorize and disclose these arrangements to their clients andto members of the public in a manner different from the disclosuresin this Prospectus and the SAI.

58 Fund distribution arrangements EQ Advisors Trust

6. Buying and selling shares

All shares are purchased and sold at their net asset value withoutany sales load. All redemption requests will be processed and pay-ment with respect thereto will normally be made within seven daysafter tender. The Portfolios typically expect to meet redemption re-quests by paying out available cash or proceeds from selling portfolioholdings, which may include cash equivalent portfolio holdings. Re-demption methods also may include redeeming in kind under appro-priate circumstances, such as in connection with transactionsinvolving the substitution of shares of one Portfolio (the replacementportfolio) for shares of another Portfolio (the replaced portfolio) heldby insurance company separate accounts to fund Contracts. ThePortfolios reserve the right to suspend or change the terms ofpurchasing shares.

The Trust may suspend the right of redemption for any period or post-pone payment for more than seven days when the New York StockExchange is closed (other than a weekend or holiday) or when trad-ing is restricted by the SEC or the SEC declares that an emergencyexists. Redemptions may also be suspended and payments may bepostponed for more than seven days during other periods permittedby the SEC. A Portfolio may pay the redemption price in whole orpart by a distribution in kind of readily marketable securities in lieu ofcash or may take up to seven days to pay a redemption request inorder to raise capital, when it is detrimental for a Portfolio to makecash payments as determined in the sole discretion of FMG LLC.

Frequent transfers or purchases and redemptions of Portfolio shares,including market timing and other program trading or short-termtrading strategies, may be disruptive to the Portfolios. Excessive pur-chases and redemptions of shares of the Portfolio may adversely af-fect Portfolio performance and the interests of long-term investors byrequiring the Portfolio to maintain larger amounts of cash or toliquidate portfolio holdings at a disadvantageous time or price. Forexample, when market timing occurs, a Portfolio may have to sell itsholdings to have the cash necessary to redeem the market timer’sshares. This can happen when it is not advantageous to sell anysecurities, so the Portfolio’s performance may be hurt. When largedollar amounts are involved, market timing can also make it difficultto use long-term investment strategies because a Portfolio cannotpredict how much cash it will have to invest. In addition, disruptivetransfers or purchases and redemptions of Portfolio shares may im-pede efficient portfolio management and impose increased trans-action costs, such as brokerage costs, by requiring the portfoliomanager to effect more frequent purchases and sales of portfoliosecurities. Similarly, a Portfolio may bear increased administrativecosts as a result of the asset level and investment volatility that ac-companies patterns of excessive or short-term trading. Portfolios (orunderlying ETFs in which a Portfolio invests) that invest a significantportion of their assets in foreign securities (e.g. EQ/InternationalEquity Index Portfolio, AXA International Value Managed VolatilityPortfolio, EQ/MFS International Growth Portfolio, AXA International

Core Managed Volatility Portfolio, EQ/Oppenheimer Global Portfolio,iShares MSCI Mexico Index Fund), in securities of small- and mid-capcompanies (e.g. EQ/AllianceBernstein Small Cap Growth Portfolio,AXA Mid Cap Value Managed Volatility Portfolio, iShares RussellMidcap® lndex Fund), or in high-yield securities (SPDR® BloombergBarclays Capital High Yield Bond ETF) tend to be subject to the risksassociated with market timing and short-term trading strategies to agreater extent than funds that do not. Securities trading in overseasmarkets present time zone arbitrage opportunities when events af-fecting portfolio securities values occur after the close of the overseasmarket but prior to the close of the U.S. market. Securities of small-and mid-cap companies and high-yield securities also present arbi-trage opportunities because the market for such securities may beless liquid than the market for the securities of larger companies andhigher quality bonds which could result in pricing inefficiencies.

The Trust’s Board of Trustees has adopted policies and proceduresregarding disruptive transfer activity. The Trust and the Portfoliosdiscourage frequent purchases and redemptions of Portfolio sharesby Contractholders and will not make special arrangements toaccommodate such transactions in Portfolio shares. As a generalmatter, each Portfolio and the Trust reserve the right to reject atransfer that they believe, in their sole discretion is disruptive (or po-tentially disruptive) to the management of the Portfolio.

The Trust’s policies and procedures seek to discourage what it consid-ers to be disruptive trading activity. The Trust seeks to apply its poli-cies and procedures to all Contractholders, including Contractholderswhose accounts are held through any omnibus accounts, uniformly.It should be recognized, however, that such policies and proceduresare subject to limitations:

• They do not eliminate the possibility that disruptive transfer activ-ity, including market timing, will occur or that Portfolio perform-ance will be affected by such activity.

• The design of such policies and procedures involves inherently sub-jective judgments, which FMG LLC and its affiliates, on behalf ofthe Trust, seek to make in a fair and reasonable manner con-sistent with the interests of all Contractholders.

• The limits on the ability to monitor certain potentially disruptivetransfer activity means that some Contractholders may be treateddifferently than others, resulting in the risk that some Con-tractholders may be able to engage in frequent transfer activitywhile others will bear the effect of that frequent transfer activity.

If FMG LLC, on behalf of the Trust, determines that a Con-tractholder’s transfer patterns among the Trust’s Portfolios are dis-ruptive to the Trust’s Portfolios, FMG LLC or an affiliate may, amongother things, restrict the availability of personal telephone requests,facsimile transmissions, automated telephone services, internet serv-ices or any electronic transfer services. FMG LLC or an affiliate mayalso refuse to act on transfer instructions of an agent acting under a

EQ Advisors Trust Buying and selling shares 59

power of attorney who is acting on behalf of more than one owner.In making these determinations, FMG LLC or an affiliate mayconsider the combined transfer activity of Contracts that it believesare under common ownership, control or direction.

The Trust currently considers transfers into and out of (or vice versa)the same Portfolio within a five-business day period as potentiallydisruptive transfer activity. In order to reduce disruptive activity, itmonitors the frequency of transfers, including the size of transfers inrelation to portfolio assets, in each Portfolio. The Trust aggregatesinflows and outflows for each Portfolio on a daily basis. When a po-tentially disruptive transfer into or out of a Portfolio occurs on a daywhen the Portfolio’s net inflows and outflows exceed an establishedmonitoring threshold, FMG LLC or an affiliate sends a letter to theContractholder explaining that there is a policy against disruptivetransfer activity and that if such activity continues, FMG LLC or an af-filiate may take the actions described above to restrict the availabilityof voice, fax and automated transaction services. If such Con-tractholder is identified a second time as engaging in potentially dis-ruptive transfer activity, FMG LLC or an affiliate currently will restrictthe availability of voice, fax and automated transaction services. FMGLLC or an affiliate currently will apply such action for the remaininglife of each affected Contract. Because FMG LLC or an affiliate ex-ercises discretion in determining whether or not to take the actionsdiscussed above, some Contractholders may be treated differentlythan others, resulting in the risk that some Contractholders may beable to engage in frequent transfer activity while others will bear theeffect of the frequent transfer activity. Although Contractholders whohave engaged in disruptive transfer activity currently receive lettersnotifying them of FMG LLC or an affiliate’s intention to restrict accessto communication services, such letters may not continue to be pro-vided in the future. Consistent with seeking to discourage potentiallydisruptive transfer activity, FMG LLC, or an affiliate thereof or theTrust also may in its sole discretion and without further notice,change what it considers potentially disruptive transfer activity andits monitoring procedures and thresholds, as well as change itsprocedures to restrict this activity. You should consult the Contractprospectus that accompanies this Prospectus for information onother specific limitations on the transfer privilege.

The above policies and procedures with respect to frequent transfersor purchases and redemptions of Portfolio shares also apply toretirement plan participants. The above policies and procedures donot apply to transfers, purchases and redemptions of shares ofPortfolios of the Trust by funds of funds managed by FMG LLC. Thesetransfers, purchases and redemptions are exempt from the abovepolicies and procedures because they are initiated pursuant to assetallocation strategies developed by FMG LLC and its affiliates and,therefore, are not intended to disadvantage the relevant Portfolios ortheir shareholders.

Notwithstanding our efforts, we may be unable to detect or determarket timing activity by certain persons, which can lead to dis-ruption of management of, and excess costs to, a particular Portfolio.

60 Buying and selling shares EQ Advisors Trust

7. How portfolio shares are priced

“Net asset value” is the price of one share of a Portfolio without asales charge, and is calculated each business day using the followingformula:

Net AssetValue =

Total market valueof securities +

Cash andother assets — Liabilities

Number of outstanding shares

The net asset value of Portfolio shares is determined according to thisschedule:• A share’s net asset value is normally determined on each day the

New York Stock Exchange (“Exchange”) is open for trading as of4:00 p.m. Eastern Time. In the event of an emergency or otherdisruption in trading on the Exchange, a share’s price would stillnormally be determined as of 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

• The price for purchasing or redeeming a share will be based uponthe net asset value next calculated after an order is received andaccepted by a Portfolio or its designated agent.

• A Portfolio heavily invested in foreign securities may have net as-set value changes on days when shares cannot be purchased orsold because foreign securities sometimes trade on days when aPortfolio’s shares are not priced.

Generally, Portfolio securities are valued as follows:• Equity securities (including securities issued by ETFs) —

most recent sales price or official closing price or if there is no saleor official closing price, latest available bid price.

• Debt securities — based upon pricing service valuations. Debtsecurities with original or remaining maturities of 60 days or lessmay be valued at amortized cost.

• Convertible bonds and unlisted convertible preferredstocks — valued at prices obtained from a pricing service forsuch instruments or, if a pricing service price is not available, atbid prices obtained from one or more of the major dealers in suchbonds or stocks. Where there is a discrepancy between dealers,values may be adjusted based on recent premium spreads to theunderlying common stocks. Convertible bonds may be matrix-priced based upon the conversion value to the underlying commonstocks and market premiums.

• Securities traded on foreign exchanges — most recent salesor bid price on the foreign exchange or market, unless a sig-nificant event or circumstance occurs after the close of that marketor exchange that will materially affect its value. In that case, thesecurity will be valued using the fair value procedures by or underthe direction of the Trust’s Board of Trustees at the close of regu-lar trading on the Exchange. Foreign currency is converted intoU.S. dollar equivalent daily at current exchange rates.

• Options — for exchange-traded options last sales price or, if notavailable, previous day’s sales price. If the bid price is higher or theasked price is lower than the last sale price, the higher bid or lowerasked price may be used. Options not traded on an exchange or ac-tively traded are valued according to fair value methods.

• Futures — last settlement price or, if there is no sale, latestavailable bid price.

• Investment company securities — shares of open-end mu-tual funds (other than ETFs) held by a Portfolio will be valued atthe net asset value of the shares of such funds as described inthese funds’ prospectuses.

• Repurchase agreements and reverse repurchase agree-ments — valued at original cost (par) plus accrued interest.Other pricing methods may be utilized such as amortized costdepending on the features of the instrument.

• Swaps — utilize prices provided by approved pricing services.

All securities held in the EQ/Money Market Portfolio are valued atamortized cost. The EQ/Money Market Portfolio seeks to maintain aconstant net asset value per share of $1.00, but there can be no as-surance that it will be able to do so.

Securities and assets for which market quotations are not readily avail-able, for which valuation cannot be provided or for which events orcircumstances occurring after the close of the relevant market or ex-change materially affect their value are valued pursuant to the fairvalue procedures in good faith by or under the direction of the Board ofTrustees of the Trust. For example, a security whose trading has beenhalted during the trading day may be fair valued based on the avail-able information at the time of the close of the trading market. Sim-ilarly, securities for which there is no ready market (e.g., securities ofcertain small capitalization issuers, high yield securities and securities ofcertain issuers located in emerging markets) also may be fair valued.Some methods for valuing these securities may include: fundamentalanalysis (earnings multiple, etc.), matrix pricing, discounts from marketprices of similar securities, or discounts applied due to the nature andduration of restrictions on the disposition of the securities.

Events or circumstances affecting the values of portfolio securitiesthat occur between the closing of their principal markets and thetime the net asset value is determined, such as foreign securitiestrading on foreign exchanges that close before the time the net assetvalue of Portfolio shares is determined, may be reflected in theTrust’s calculations of net asset values for each applicable Portfoliowhen the Trust deems that the particular event or circumstancewould materially affect such Portfolio’s net asset value. Such eventsor circumstances may be company specific, such as an earnings re-port, country or region specific, such as a natural disaster, or globalin nature. Such events or circumstances also may include pricemovements in the U.S. securities markets.

The effect of fair value pricing as described above is that securitiesmay not be priced on the basis of quotations from the primary mar-ket in which they are traded, but rather may be priced by anothermethod that the Trust’s Board of Trustees believes will reflect fairvalue. As such, fair value pricing is based on subjective judgmentsand it is possible that fair value may differ materially from the valuerealized on a sale. This policy is intended to assure that a Portfolio’snet asset value fairly reflects security values as of the time of pricing.Also, fair valuation of a Portfolio’s securities can serve to reduce arbi-trage opportunities available to short-term traders, but there is noassurance that fair value pricing policies will prevent dilution of aPortfolio’s net asset value by those traders.

EQ Advisors Trust How portfolio shares are priced 61

8. Dividends and other distributions and tax consequences

Dividends and Other Distributions

Each Portfolio (other than the EQ/Money Market Portfolio and Multi-manager Core Bond Portfolio) generally distributes most or all of its netinvestment income and net realized gains, if any, annually. The EQ/Money Market Portfolio normally declares and distributes dividendsfrom its net investment income daily, and distributes its net realizedgains, if any, annually. The Multimanager Core Bond Portfolio normallydistributes dividends from its net investment income monthly and dis-tributes its net realized gains, if any, annually. Dividends and other dis-tributions by a Portfolio are automatically reinvested at net asset valuein shares of the distributing class of that Portfolio.

Tax Consequences

Each Portfolio is treated as a separate corporation, and intends toqualify (in the case of a Portfolio that has not completed a taxableyear) or continue to qualify each taxable year to be treated as a regu-lated investment company (“RIC”), for federal income tax purposes.A Portfolio will be so treated if it meets specified federal income taxrequirements, including requirements regarding types of investments,diversification limits on investments, types of income, and dis-tributions. To comply with all these requirements may, from time totime, necessitate a Portfolio’s disposition of one or more investmentswhen it might not otherwise do so. A RIC that satisfies the federaltax requirements is not taxed at the entity (Portfolio) level to the ex-tent it passes through its net income and net realized gains to itsshareholders by making distributions. Although the Trust intends thateach Portfolio will be operated to have no federal tax liability, if anyPortfolio does have any federal tax liability, that would hurt itsinvestment performance. Also, to the extent that a Portfolio investsin foreign securities or holds foreign currencies, it could be subject toforeign taxes that would reduce its investment performance.

It is important for each Portfolio to achieve (in the case of a Portfoliothat has not completed a taxable year) or maintain its RIC status(and to satisfy certain other requirements), because the shareholdersof a Portfolio that are insurance company separate accounts will thenbe able to use a ”look-through” rule in determining whether thoseaccounts meet the investment diversification rules applicable tothem. If a Portfolio failed to meet those diversification rules, ownersof non-pension plan Contracts indirectly funded through that Portfo-lio would be taxed immediately on the accumulated investment earn-ings under their Contracts and would lose any benefit of tax deferral.FMG LLC, in its capacity as the Adviser and the administrator of theTrust, therefore carefully monitors each Portfolio’s compliance withall of the RIC requirements and separate account investmentdiversification rules.

Contractholders seeking to more fully understand the tax con-sequences of their investment should consult with their tax advisersor the insurance company that issued their Contract or refer to theirContract prospectus.

62 Dividends and other distributions and tax consequences EQ Advisors Trust

9. Glossary of Terms

Bid price — The price a prospective buyer is ready to pay. This term is used by traders who maintain firm bid and offer prices in a given securityby standing ready to buy or sell security units at publicly quoted prices.

Core investing — An investment style that includes both the strategies used when seeking either growth companies (those with strong earn-ings growth) or value companies (those that may be temporarily out of favor or have earnings or assets not fully reflected in their stock price).

Derivative — A financial instrument whose value and performance are based on the value and performance of an underlying asset, referencerate or index.

Diversification — The strategy of investing in a wide range of companies to reduce the risk if an individual company suffers losses.

Duration — A measure of how much a bond’s price fluctuates with changes in interest rates. As a general rule, for every 1% increase or de-crease in interest rates, a bond’s price will change approximately 1% in the opposite direction for every year of duration. For example, if a bondhas a duration of five years and interest rates increase by 1%, the bond’s price will decline by approximately 5%. Conversely, if a bond has aduration of five years and interest rates fall by 1%, the bond’s price will increase by approximately 5%. Other factors can influence a bond portfo-lio’s performance and share price. Accordingly, a bond portfolio’s actual performance will likely differ from the example.

Earnings growth — A pattern of increasing rate of growth in earnings per share from one period to another, which usually causes a stock’sprice to rise.

Fundamental analysis — An analysis of the balance sheet and income statements of a company in order to forecast its future stock pricemovements. Fundamental analysis considers past records of assets, earnings, sales, products, management and markets in predicting futuretrends in these indicators of a company’s success or failure. By appraising a company’s prospects, analysts using such an approach assesswhether a particular stock or group of stocks is undervalued or overvalued at its current market price.

Growth investing — An investment style that emphasizes companies with strong earnings growth. Growth investing is generally consideredmore aggressive than “value” investing.

Interest rate — Rate of interest charged for the use of money, usually expressed as an annual rate.

Market capitalization — Market price of a company’s shares multiplied by number of shares outstanding. A common measure of the relativesize of a company.

Net asset value (NAV) — The market value of one share of a Portfolio on any given day without taking into account any sales charges. It isdetermined by dividing a Portfolio’s total net assets by the number of shares outstanding.

Value investing — An investment style that focuses on companies that may be temporarily out of favor or have earnings or assets not fully re-flected in their stock prices.

Volatility — The general variability of a Portfolio’s value resulting from price fluctuations of its investments. In most cases, the more diversifieda Portfolio is, the less volatile it will be.

Yield — The rate at which a Portfolio earns income, expressed as a percentage. Mutual fund yield calculations are standardized, based upon aformula developed by the SEC.

EQ Advisors Trust Glossary of Terms 63

10. Financial Highlights

The financial highlights table is intended to help you understand the financial performance for each Portfolio’s Class IA and Class IB shares, asapplicable. The financial information in the table below is for the past five (5) years (or, if shorter, the period of the Portfolio’s operations). Thefinancial information below for the Class IA and Class IB shares, as applicable, of each Portfolio has been derived from the financial statements ofeach Portfolio, which have been audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP an independent registered public accounting firm. Pricewaterhou-seCoopers LLP’s report on each Portfolio’s financial statements as of December 31, 2017 and the financial statements themselves appear in theTrust’s Annual Report.

Certain information reflects financial results for a single Portfolio share. The total returns in the tables represent the rate that a shareholder wouldhave earned (or lost) on an investment in a Portfolio (assuming reinvestment of all dividends and other distributions). The total return figuresshown below do not reflect any separate account or Contract fees and charges. The total return figures would be lower if they did reflect suchfees and charges. The information should be read in conjunction with the financial statements contained in the Trust’s Annual Report which areincorporated by reference into the Trust’s SAI and available upon request.

EQ/Common Stock Index Portfolio

Class IA Class IB

Year Ended December 31, Year Ended December 31,

2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013

Net asset value, beginning ofyear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 28.47 $ 25.88 $ 26.27 $ 23.73 $ 18.13 $ 28.31 $ 25.73 $ 26.13 $ 23.61 $ 18.04

Income (loss) frominvestmentoperations:

Net investment income(loss) (e) . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.40 0.36 0.36 0.31 0.27 0.40 0.36 0.36 0.31 0.27

Net realized and unrealizedgain (loss) . . . . . . . . . . 5.43 2.66 (0.38) 2.55 5.61 5.40 2.65 (0.38) 2.53 5.58

Total from investmentoperations . . . . . . . . . . 5.83 3.02 (0.02) 2.86 5.88 5.80 3.01 (0.02) 2.84 5.85

Less distributions:

Dividends from netinvestment income . . . . (0.42) (0.43) (0.37) (0.32) (0.28) (0.42) (0.43) (0.38) (0.32) (0.28)

Net asset value, end ofyear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 33.88 $ 28.47 $ 25.88 $ 26.27 $ 23.73 $ 33.69 $ 28.31 $ 25.73 $ 26.13 $ 23.61

Total return . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20.49% 11.66% (0.03)%(aa) 12.05% 32.49% 20.50% 11.69% (0.07)%(bb) 12.03% 32.48%

Ratios/Supplemental Data:

Net assets, end of year(000’s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $4,418,531 $4,016,297 $3,937,549 $4,292,750 $4,204,128 $1,549,446 $1,391,888 $1,355,527 $1,472,926 $1,462,407

Ratio of expenses to averagenet assets (f) . . . . . . . . . . . 0.70% 0.71% 0.71% 0.72% 0.72% 0.70% 0.71% 0.71% 0.72% 0.72%

Ratio of net investmentincome (loss) to averagenet assets (f) . . . . . . . . . . . 1.28% 1.35% 1.37% 1.25% 1.30% 1.28% 1.35% 1.37% 1.25% 1.30%

Portfolio turnover rate^ . . . . 3% 3% 4% 4% 4% 3% 3% 4% 4% 4%

^ Portfolio turnover rate excludes derivatives, if any.(e) Net investment income (loss) per share is based on average shares outstanding.(f) Expenses do not include the expenses of the underlying funds (“indirect expenses”), if applicable.(aa) Includes a gain incurred resulting from a litigation payment. Without this gain, the total return would have been (0.15)%.(bb) Includes a gain incurred resulting from a litigation payment. Without this gain, the total return would have been (0.18)%.

64 Financial Highlights EQ Advisors Trust

Financial Highlights (cont’d)

EQ/International Equity Index Portfolio

Class IA Class IB


2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013

Net asset value, beginning of year . . . . . . . . . $ 8.37 $ 8.42 $ 8.82 $ 9.79 $ 8.24 $ 8.24 $ 8.29 $ 8.69 $ 9.64 $ 8.11

Income (loss) from investmentoperations:

Net investment income (loss) (e) . . . . . . . . . 0.22 0.22 0.22 0.30 0.20## 0.22 0.21 0.21 0.29 0.19##Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) . . . . 1.72 (0.04) (0.40) (0.97) 1.56 1.70 (0.03) (0.40) (0.95) 1.54

Total from investment operations . . . . . . . . 1.94 0.18 (0.18) (0.67) 1.76 1.92 0.18 (0.19) (0.66) 1.73

Less distributions:

Dividends from net investment income . . . . (0.26) (0.23) (0.22) (0.30) (0.21) (0.26) (0.23) (0.21) (0.29) (0.20)

Net asset value, end of year . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $ 10.05 $ 8.37 $ 8.42 $ 8.82 $ 9.79 $ 9.90 $ 8.24 $ 8.29 $ 8.69 $ 9.64

Total return . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23.16% 2.16% (2.05)% (6.90)% 21.43% 23.29% 2.15% (2.12)% (6.85)% 21.48%

Ratios/Supplemental Data:Net assets, end of year (000’s) . . . . . . . . . . . . $691,902 $584,652 $609,682 $655,835 $750,077 $923,965 $773,661 $815,348 $803,688 $879,975Ratio of expenses to average net assets (f) . . . 0.79% 0.79% 0.78% 0.79% 0.79% 0.79% 0.79% 0.78% 0.79% 0.79%Ratio of net investment income (loss) to

average net assets (f) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.35% 2.63% 2.39% 3.05% 2.18%(aa) 2.34% 2.63% 2.38% 3.04% 2.15%(bb)Portfolio turnover rate^ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6% 8% 6% 8% 9% 6% 8% 6% 8% 9%

## Includes income resulting from a special dividend. Without this dividend, the per share income amounts would be $0.16, $0.15 and $0.18 for Class IA and Class IB respectively.^ Portfolio turnover rate excludes derivatives, if any.(e) Net investment income (loss) per share is based on average shares outstanding.(f) Expenses do not include the expenses of the underlying funds (“indirect expenses”), if applicable.(aa) Includes income resulting from a special dividend. Without this dividend, the ratios for Class IA would be 1.75% for income.(bb) Includes income resulting from a special dividend. Without this dividend, the ratios for Class IB would be 1.72% for income.

EQ Advisors Trust Financial Highlights 65


Multimanager Aggressive Equity Portfolio

Class IA Class IB


2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013

Net asset value, beginning of year . . . . . . $ 47.22 $ 45.89 $ 44.20 $ 39.98 $ 29.17 $ 46.36 $ 45.06 $ 43.40 $ 39.25 $ 28.65


Net investment income (loss) (e) . . . . . . 0.09 0.23 0.07 0.05 0.03 0.08 0.23 0.07 0.05 0.03Net realized and unrealized gain

(loss) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.24 1.35 1.70 4.21 10.82 13.99 1.32 1.66 4.14 10.61

Total from investment operations . . . . . 14.33 1.58 1.77 4.26 10.85 14.07 1.55 1.73 4.19 10.64

Less distributions:Dividends from net investment

income . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (0.09) (0.25) (0.08) (0.04) (0.04) (0.09) (0.25) (0.07) (0.04) (0.04)

Net asset value, end of year . . . . . . . . . . . $ 61.46 $ 47.22 $ 45.89 $ 44.20 $ 39.98 $ 60.34 $ 46.36 $ 45.06 $ 43.40 $ 39.25

Total return . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30.34%(dd) 3.44% 4.00%(aa) 10.66% 37.21% 30.35%(ee) 3.43% 4.00%(bb) 10.68% 37.14%

Ratios/Supplemental Data:Net assets, end of year (000’s) . . . . . . . . . $1,085,470 $914,837 $977,594 $1,029,733 $1,029,123 $88,662 $74,656 $81,898 $84,253 $85,890Ratio of expenses to average net assets:

After waivers (f) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.99% 1.00% 0.98% 1.03% 1.03% 0.99% 1.00% 0.98% 1.03% 1.03%After waivers and fees paid

indirectly (f) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.99% 1.00% 0.98% 1.03% 1.03% 0.99% 1.00% 0.98% 1.03% 1.03%Before waivers and fees paid

indirectly (f) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.99% 1.00% 0.98% 1.03% 1.03% 0.99% 1.00% 0.98% 1.03% 1.03%Ratio of net investment income (loss) to

average net assets:After waivers (f) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.16% 0.52% 0.16% 0.12% 0.09% 0.16% 0.51% 0.16% 0.12% 0.10%After waivers and fees paid

indirectly (f) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.16% 0.52% 0.16% 0.12% 0.09% 0.16% 0.51% 0.16% 0.12% 0.11%Before waivers and fees paid

indirectly (f) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.16% 0.52% 0.16% 0.12% 0.09% 0.16% 0.51% 0.16% 0.12% 0.10%Portfolio turnover rate^ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47% 63% 65% 54% 72% 47% 63% 65% 54% 72%

^ Portfolio turnover rate excludes derivatives, if any.(e) Net investment income (loss) per share is based on average shares outstanding.(f) Expenses do not include the expenses of the underlying funds (“indirect expenses”), if applicable.(aa) Includes a gain incurred resulting from a litigation payment. Without this gain, the total return would have been 3.82%.(bb) Includes a gain incurred resulting from a litigation payment. Without this gain, the total return would have been 3.81%.(dd) Includes a litigation payment. Without this payment, the total return would have been 29.90%.(ee) Includes a litigation payment. Without this payment, the total return would have been 29.89%.

66 Financial Highlights EQ Advisors Trust


EQ/Money Market Portfolio

Class IA Class IB


2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013

Net asset value, beginning of year . . . . . $ 1.00 $ 1.00 $ 1.00 $ 1.00 $ 1.00 $ 1.00 $ 1.00 $ 1.00 $ 1.00 $ 1.00


Net investment income (loss) (e) . . . . . —# —# — — —# —# —# — — —#Net realized and unrealized gain

(loss) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . —# —# —# —# —# —# —# —# —# —#

Total from investment operations . . . . —# —# —# —# —# —# —# —# —# —#

Less distributions:

Dividends from net investmentincome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . —# —# — —# — —# —# — —# —

Distributions from net realizedgains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . —# —# —# —# —# —# —# —# —# —#

Total dividends and distributions . . . . . —# —# —# —# —# —# —# —# —# —#

Net asset value, end of year . . . . . . . . . . $ 1.00 $ 1.00 $ 1.00 $ 1.00 $ 1.00 $ 1.00 $ 1.00 $ 1.00 $ 1.00 $ 1.00

Total return . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.40% 0.00%‡‡ 0.00% 0.00%‡‡ 0.00% 0.40% 0.00%‡‡ 0.00% 0.00%‡‡ 0.00%

Ratios/Supplemental Data:

Net assets, end of year (000’s) . . . . . . . . $296,707 $373,961 $379,177 $384,545 $408,127 $890,913 $1,011,864 $826,877 $775,134 $911,309Ratio of expenses to average net assets:

After waivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.46% 0.32% 0.14% 0.09% 0.11% 0.46% 0.32% 0.14% 0.09% 0.11%Before waivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.71% 0.72% 0.71% 0.72% 0.72% 0.71% 0.72% 0.71% 0.72% 0.72%

Ratio of net investment income (loss) toaverage net assets:After waivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.39% —%‡‡ —% —% —%‡‡ 0.40% —%‡‡ —% —% —%‡‡Before waivers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.14% (0.40)% (0.57)% (0.62)% (0.61)% 0.15% (0.40)% (0.57)% (0.62)% (0.61)%

# Per share amount is less than $0.005.‡‡ Amount is less than 0.005%.(e) Net investment income (loss) per share is based on average shares outstanding.

EQ Advisors Trust Financial Highlights 67

If you would like more information about the Portfolios, the following documents (including a copy of this Prospectus) are available atthe Trust’s website: www.axa-equitablefunds.com, free of charge.

Annual and Semi-Annual Reports — Include more information about the Portfolios’ investments and performance. The reportsusually include performance information, a discussion of market conditions and the investment strategies that significantly affected thePortfolios’ performance during the most recent fiscal period.

Statement of Additional Information (SAI) — Provides more detailed information about the Portfolios, has been filed with the SECand is incorporated into this Prospectus by reference.

Portfolio Holdings Disclosure — A description of the Portfolios’ policies and procedures with respect to the disclosure of theirportfolio securities holdings is available in the Portfolios’ SAI, which is available on the Portfolios’ website.

To order a free copy of a Portfolio’s SAI and/or Annual and Semi-Annual Report, request other information about aPortfolio, or make shareholder inquiries, contact your financial professional, or the Portfolios at:

EQ Advisors Trust1290 Avenue of the AmericasNew York, New York 10104Telephone: 1-877-222-2144

Your financial professional or EQ Advisors Trust will also be happy to answer your questions orto provide any additional information that you may require.

Information about the Portfolios (including the SAI) can be reviewed and copied at the SEC’s Public Reference Room in Washington, D.C.Information on the operation of the Public Reference Room may be obtained by calling the SEC at 1-202-551-8090. Reports and other

information about the Portfolios are available on the EDGAR database on the SEC’s Internet site at:

http://www.sec.gov.

Investors may also obtain copies of this information, after paying a duplicating fee, by electronic request at the followingE-mail address:

[email protected] or by writing the SEC’sPublic Reference Section,

Washington, D.C. 20549-1520.

Each business day, the Portfolios’ net asset values are transmitted electronically to insurance companies that use the Portfolios asunderlying investment options for Contracts.

EQ Advisors Trust

(Investment Company Act File No. 811-07953)

© 2018 EQ Advisors Trust

eq advisors trustsm · fmg llc and (ii) the investment subadvisory agreements between fmg llc and...

Documents