Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:EQH) Q3 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Mark Pearson: At this time, the SEC has been focused on implementation of Reg BI and interpretations of that regulation. That’s been the major push. We’ll have to come back to you on any specific variable annuity.

Michael Ward: Okay, no worries. And then just a second on some of the good guys in the net flow metrics. I think some areas like private credit, have been pretty strong and helping you guys strategically. You dug into this at the Investor Day. What I’m wondering is how the outlook for these asset classes might change, if and when we get to a point of declining interest rates? And how do you guys’ sort of think through that?

Onur Erzan: I might guide again, Onur from AB. Yes, we feel pretty good about the outlook for our private alternatives platform, we have roughly $14 billion in dry powder there. So, we can definitely deploy capital across all of our strategies ranging from real estate debt to corporate lending, and CarVal. In terms of the declining rates, first of all, it’s hard to predict when that’s going to happen. I think the base case seems to suggest is more high for longer. But even in a relatively lower rate scenario. The attractiveness of private credit remains strong because we have a lot of floating rate exposures, but also, we have the ability to go with fixed. And we have seen this through the market cycle because if you think about history, we had these strategies, depending on the strategy except CarVal, going back to 2012, 2014.

And we have generated consistent net flows regardless of the interest rate environment. So, it’s pretty rate agnostic. So, we believe the momentum will continue.

Michael Ward: Thanks, guys.

Operator: This concludes today’s conference call. Thank you for your participation. And you may now disconnect.