Corebridge Financial, Equitable Holdings Merge Into $1.5T AUM, AUA Behemoth

Corebridge Financial Inc. announced Thursday a definitive agreement with Equitable Holdings Inc. in an all-stock merger. The combined company is valued at $22 billion, based on the closing stock prices of each company as of March 25.

Under the agreement, which has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors at both Corebridge and Equitable, the newly formed parent company will operate under the Equitable name. It will have 12 million customers and $1.5 trillion in assets under management and administration across retirement, group retirement, asset management, wealth management, life insurance and institutional markets.

Marc Costantini, Corebridge’s president and CEO, will serve as president and CEO of the combined company, and Robin Raju, Equitable’s chief financial officer, will serve as the combined company’s chief financial officer.

The new company is expected to transfer more than $100 billion of Corebridge’s general and separate account assets to Equitable’s majority-owned subsidiary strategic partner, AllianceBernstein. It is also expected to deliver more than $5 billion in operating earnings and generate more than $4 billion in cash on a pro-forma basis.

According to the announcement, the transaction is expected to increase the combined company’s earnings per share and cash generation by more than 10% by the end of 2028. The new company also expects an adjusted return on equity of more than 15% by the end of 2027, according to the announcement.

Following the closing of the transaction, Corebridge shareholders will own approximately 51% of the combined company, and Equitable shareholders will own approximately 49%.

The combined company will have a 14-member board of directors—seven directors designated by Corebridge and seven designated by Equitable, including Costantini. Current Equitable President and CEO Mark Pearson will serve as executive chair of the combined company, and Alan Colberg—the current chair of the Corebridge board—will serve as lead independent director of the combined company’s board of directors.

The transaction is expected to close by year-end 2026. Following the close of the transaction, the combined company will be headquartered in Houston, where Corebridge is currently based.

Corebridge Financial is a provider of retirement solutions and insurance products that had more than $385 billion in assets under management and administration as of December 31, 2025.

Equitable Holdings, a financial services holdings company comprised of Equitable, AllianceBernstein and Equitable Advisors, acquired Stifel Independent Advisors, a $9 billion registered investment adviser, in October 2025. Equitable Holdings had $1.1 trillion in assets under management and administration and more than 5 million global client relationships as of December 31, 2025.