497K 1 d497k.htm EQ/BLACKROCK INTERNATIONAL VALUE EQ/BlackRock International Value

EQ Advisors TrustSM

 

EQ/BlackRock International Value Portfolio – Class IA and IB Shares

 

Summary Prospectus dated May 1, 2010

 

 

Before you invest, you may want to review the Portfolio’s Prospectus, which contains more information about the Portfolio and its risks. The Portfolio’s current Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”), dated May 1, 2010, and the Portfolio’s audited financial statements included in its annual report to shareholders dated December 31, 2009, are incorporated by reference into this Summary Prospectus. You can find the Portfolio’s Prospectus, SAI and other information about the Portfolio online at www.axa-equitablefunds.com/allportfolios.aspx. You can also get this information at no cost by calling 1-877-222-2144 or by sending an e-mail request to service@axa-equitable.com. This Summary Prospectus is intended for use in connection with a variable contract as defined in Section 817(d) of the Internal Revenue Code (“Contracts”) and certain other eligible investors and is not intended for use by other investors.

 

Investment Objective: Seeks to provide current income and long-term growth of income, accompanied by growth of capital.

 

FEES AND EXPENSES OF THE PORTFOLIO

 

The following table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Portfolio. The table below does not reflect any fees and expenses associated with variable life insurance contracts and variable annuity certificates and contracts (“Contracts”), which would increase overall fees and expenses. See the 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 of
your investment)
EQ/BlackRock International Value Portfolio   Class IA
Shares
  Class IB
Shares

Management Fee

  0.83%   0.83%

Distribution and/or Service Fees (12b-1 fees)

  None   0.25%

Other Expenses

  0.19%   0.19%

Total Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses

  1.02%   1.27%

 

Example

 

This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Portfolio with the cost of investing in other portfolios. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Portfolio for the periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of these periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the Portfolio’s operating expenses remain the same. This Example does not reflect any Contract-related fees and expenses including redemption fees (if any) at the Contract level. If such fees and expenses were reflected, the total expenses would be higher. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

 

     1 Year   3 Years   5 Years   10 Years

Class IA Shares

  $ 104   $ 325   $ 563   $ 1,248

Class IB Shares

  $ 129   $ 403   $ 697   $ 1,534

 

PORTFOLIO TURNOVER

 

The Portfolio pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Portfolio’s performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the Portfolio’s portfolio turnover rate was 189% of the average value of the Portfolio.

 

INVESTMENTS, RISKS, AND PERFORMANCE

 

Principal Investment Strategy: The Portfolio invests primarily in securities of companies located in the developed foreign markets. The Portfolio invests in at least ten foreign markets to seek to ensure diversification. Under normal circumstances, the Portfolio invests at least 80% of its net assets, plus borrowings for investment purposes, in stocks that pay dividends. However, income producing stocks that meet the Portfolio’s investment criteria may not be widely available and/or may be concentrated in only a few markets, which may limit the Portfolio’s ability to purchase such stocks. Such equity securities normally include common stocks, preferred stocks, depositary receipts securities convertible into common or preferred stocks and warrants. The countries in which the Portfolio may invest include emerging market countries.

 

The Portfolio considers the following to be issuers of securities located in a country other than the U.S.:

 

 

companies organized under the laws of a country other than the U.S. with a principal office outside the U.S.;

 

 

companies that earn 50% or more of their total revenues from business outside the U.S.;

 

 

companies with 50% or more of their assets located in a country outside of the U.S.; and

 

 

companies whose securities are principally traded in foreign markets.

 

The Portfolio may invest in any type of company and may invest in companies of any size. In investing the Portfolio’s assets, the Adviser follows a value investing style, focusing on the stocks that the Adviser believes are currently undervalued by the market and thus have a lower price than their true worth. Typical value characteristics include a low price- to-earnings ratio relative to the market and other intrinsic characteristics, a high yield relative to the market and a low price-to-book ratio relative to the market. Stocks may be “undervalued” because they are part of an industry that is out of favor with investors generally. Stocks may also be undervalued because investors fail to research the company’s assets or business prospects in sufficient detail. Even in those industries, individual

 

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companies may have high rates of earnings growth and be financially sound. At the same time, the price of their common stock may be depressed because investors associate the companies with their industries. The Adviser may sell a security for a variety of reasons, including to invest in a company believed to offer superior investment opportunities.

 

Principal Risks: An investment in the Portfolio is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. You may lose money by investing in the Portfolio.

 

Performance may be affected by one or more of the following risks, which are described in detail in the section of the Portfolio’s Prospectus “More Information on Strategies, Risks and Benchmarks:”

 

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

 

Foreign Securities Risk: Investments in foreign securities, including depositary receipts, involve risks not associated with investing in U.S. securities. Foreign markets, particularly emerging markets, may be less liquid, more volatile and subject to less government supervision than domestic markets. Security values also may be negatively affected by changes in the exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and foreign currencies. Differences between U.S. and foreign legal, political and economic systems, regulatory regimes and market practices also may impact security values and it may take more time to clear and settle trades involving foreign securities.

 

Currency Risk: Investments in foreign currencies and in securities that trade in, or receive revenues in, foreign currencies are subject to the risk that those currencies will decline in value relative to the U.S. dollar. Any such decline may erode or reverse any potential gains from an investment in securities denominated in foreign currency or may widen existing loss. Currency rates may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time for a number of reasons, including changes in interest rates, intervention by governments, central banks or supranational entities, or by the imposition of currency controls or other political developments in the U.S. or abroad.

 

Depositary Receipts Risk: Investments in depositary receipts (including American Depositary Receipts, European Depositary Receipts and Global Depositary Receipts) are generally subject to the same risks of investing in the foreign securities that they evidence or into which they may be converted. In addition, issuers underlying unsponsored depositary receipts may not provide as much information as U.S. issuers and issuers underlying sponsored depositary receipts. Unsponsored depositary receipts also may not carry the same voting privileges as sponsored depositary receipts.

 

Emerging Markets Risk: There are greater risks involved in investing in emerging market countries and/or their securities markets. Investments in these countries and/or markets may present market, credit, currency, liquidity, legal, political, technical and other risks different from, or greater than, the risks of investing in developed countries. In addition, the risks associated with investing in a narrowly defined geographic area are generally more pronounced with respect to investments in emerging market countries.

 

Investment Style Risk: An Adviser may use a particular style or set of styles, for example, growth, value, momentum or quantitative investing styles, to select investments. Those styles may be out of favor or may not produce the best results over short or longer time periods. They may also increase the volatility of the Portfolio’s share price.

 

Large-Cap Company Risk: Larger more established companies may be unable to respond quickly to new competitive challenges such as changes in technology and consumer tastes. Many larger companies also may not be able to attain the high growth rate of successful smaller companies, especially during extended periods of economic expansion.

 

Mid Cap and Small-Cap Company Risk: A Portfolio’s investments in mid- and small-cap companies may involve greater risks than investments in larger, more established issuers because they generally are more vulnerable than larger companies to adverse business or economic developments. Such companies generally have narrower product lines, more limited financial resources and more limited markets for their stock as compared with larger companies. As a result, the value of such securities may be more volatile than the securities of larger companies, and the Portfolio may experience difficulty in purchasing or selling such securities at the desired time and price. In general, these risks are greater for small-capitalization companies than for mid-capitalization companies.

 

Risk/Return Bar Chart and Table

 

The bar chart and table below provide some indication of the risks of investing in the Portfolio by showing changes in the Portfolio’s performance from year to year and by showing how the Portfolio’s average annual total returns for the past one, five and ten years through December 31, 2009 compare to the returns of a broad-based market index. Past performance is not necessarily an indication of future performance.

 

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

 

Calendar Year Annual Total Returns — Class IB

 

LOGO

 

Best quarter: (% and time period)      Worst quarter: (% and time period)
26.15% (2009 2nd Quarter)      –20.57% (2002 3rd Quarter)

 

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For periods prior to the date Class IA Shares commenced operations (March 25, 2002), Class IA Share performance information shown below is the performance of Class IB Shares which reflects the effect of 12b-1 fees paid by Class IB Shares. Class IA Shares do not pay 12b-1 fees.

 

Average Annual Total Returns                  
      One
Year
   Five
Years
   Ten
Years

EQ/BlackRock International Value Portfolio –
Class IA Shares

   30.86%    2.90%    0.37%

EQ/BlackRock International Value Portfolio –
Class IB Shares

   30.64%    2.65%    0.18%

MSCI EAFE Index

   31.78%    3.54%    1.17%

 

WHO MANAGES THE PORTFOLIO

 

Investment Manager: AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company (“AXA Equitable”).

 

AXA Equitable is responsible for overseeing the Adviser listed below, which is responsible for the day-to-day management of the Portfolio’s assets. AXA Equitable has been granted relief by the Securities and Exchange Commission to appoint, dismiss and replace Advisers and amend advisory agreements subject to the approval of the Board of Trustees and without obtaining shareholder approval. However, AXA Equitable may not enter into an advisory agreement with an “affiliated person” of AXA Equitable unless the advisory agreement is approved by the Portfolio’s shareholders.

 

Adviser: BlackRock International Limited

 

Portfolio Managers: The members of the team that are jointly and primarily responsible for the management of the Portfolio are:

 

Name    Title    Date Began
Managing
the Portfolio

James A. Macmillan

   Managing Director
and Portfolio Manager of BlackRock, Inc.
   December 2003

Alex H. McDougall

   Director and Assistant Portfolio Manager of BlackRock, Inc.    May 2010

Robert Weatherston

   Director and Portfolio Manager of BlackRock, Inc.    December 2003

 

PURCHASE AND REDEMPTION OF PORTFOLIO SHARES

 

The Portfolio’s shares are currently sold only to insurance company separate accounts in connection with Contracts issued by AXA Equitable, AXA Life and Annuity Company, other affiliated or unaffiliated insurance companies and to The AXA Equitable 401(k) Plan (“AXA Equitable Plan”). Shares also may be sold to other tax-qualified retirement plans, to other portfolios managed by AXA Equitable that currently sell their shares to such accounts and plans and other eligible investors.

 

The Portfolio does not have minimum initial or subsequent investment requirements. Shares of the Portfolio are redeemable on any business day upon receipt of a request. All redemption requests will be processed and payment with respect thereto will normally be made within seven days after tender. Please refer to your Contract prospectus for more information on purchasing and redeeming Portfolio shares.

 

TAX INFORMATION

 

The Portfolio currently only sells its shares to insurance company separate accounts, qualified plans and other eligible investors. Accordingly, distributions the Portfolio makes of its net investment income and net realized gains — most or all of which it intends to distribute annually — and redemptions or exchanges of Portfolio shares generally will not be taxable to its shareholders (or to the holders of underlying Contracts or plan participants or beneficiaries). See the prospectus for your Contract for further tax information.

 

PAYMENTS TO BROKER-DEALERS AND OTHER FINANCIAL INTERMEDIARIES

 

This Portfolio is not sold directly to the general public but instead is offered as an underlying investment option for Contracts, retirement plans and other eligible investments. The Portfolio and its related companies may make payments to a sponsoring insurance company (or its affiliates) or other financial intermediary for distribution and/or other services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing the insurance company or other financial intermediary and your financial adviser to recommend the Portfolio over another investment or by influencing an insurance company to include the Portfolio as an underlying investment option in the Contract. The prospectus (or other offering document) for your Contract may contain additional information about these payments.

 

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