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1290 VT Small Cap Value Portfolio

1290 VT Small Cap Value Portfolio – Class IB and K Shares

Investment Objective:

Seeks to achieve long-term 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)

Shareholder Fees - 1290 VT Small Cap Value Portfolio - USD ($)	Class IB Shares	Class K Shares
Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment)

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

Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses - 1290 VT Small Cap Value Portfolio		Class IB Shares	Class K Shares
Management Fee		0.80%	0.80%
Distribution and/or Service Fees (12b-1 fees)		0.25%	none
Other Expenses		0.20%	0.20%
Total Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses		1.25%	1.00%
Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement	[1]	(0.10%)	(0.10%)
Total Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses After Fee Waiver and/or Expense Reimbursement		1.15%	0.90%

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, that your investment has a 5% return each year, that the Portfolio’s operating expenses remain the same, and that the Expense Limitation Arrangement is not renewed. 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, whether you redeem or hold your shares, your costs would be:

Expense Example - 1290 VT Small Cap Value Portfolio - USD ($)	1 Year	3 Years	5 Years	10 Years
Class IB Shares	117	387	677	1,502
Class K Shares	92	308	543	1,216

Expense Example, No Redemption - 1290 VT Small Cap Value Portfolio - USD ($)	1 Year	3 Years	5 Years	10 Years
Class IB Shares	117	387	677	1,502
Class K Shares	92	308	543	1,216

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 14% of the average value of the Portfolio.

INVESTMENTS, RISKS, AND PERFORMANCE Principal Investment Strategy:

Under normal circumstances, the Portfolio invests at least 80% of its net assets, plus borrowings for investment purposes, in securities of companies with small market capitalizations (or other financial instruments that derive their value from the securities of such companies). For purposes of this Portfolio, small market capitalization companies are those companies with market capitalizations within the range of companies in the Russell 2000^® Index (“Russell 2000”) at the time of investment (as of December 31, 2019, the market capitalization of the companies in the Russell 2000 was between $12.7 million and $8.3 billion). The size of companies in the Russell 2000 changes with market conditions, which can result in changes to the market capitalization range of companies in the index. The Portfolio intends to invest primarily in equity securities, but it may also invest in other securities that a Sub-Adviser believes provide opportunities for capital growth. The Portfolio may invest up to 20% of its assets in foreign securities, including securities of companies based in developing countries and depositary receipts of foreign-based companies. The Portfolio’s investments may include real estate investment trusts (“REITs”).

The Portfolio’s assets normally are allocated among two or more investment managers, each of which manages its portion of the Portfolio using a different but complementary investment strategy. One portion of the Portfolio is actively managed (“Active Allocated Portion”) and one portion of the Portfolio seeks to track the performance of a particular index (“Index Allocated Portion”). Under normal circumstances, the Active Allocated Portion consists of approximately 50% of the Portfolio’s net assets and the Index Allocated Portion consists of approximately 50% of the Portfolio’s net assets.

The Sub-Adviser to the Active Allocated Portion of the Portfolio believes that favorable investment opportunities are available through companies that exhibit a number of the following characteristics: are selling below their perceived intrinsic value, have limited or no institutional ownership, have had short-term earnings shortfalls, have had a recent initial public offering but have not attracted significant analyst coverage, are selling at or below book or replacement value, and have price to earnings ratios that are less than one half of their projected growth rate. The Sub-Adviser focuses on undervalued and special situation small capitalization equities (including common stocks, convertible securities, warrants and other equity securities having the characteristics of common stocks, such as depositary receipts) that the Sub-Adviser believes have the potential for rewarding long-term investment results. The Sub-Adviser also may invest in exchange traded funds (“ETFs”) and may invest in convertible and non-convertible debt securities rated below investment grade (also known as “junk bonds”) or unrated securities that the Sub-Adviser has determined to be of comparable quality. The Sub-Adviser selects securities from companies that are engaged in a number of industries, including the media, financial services, retailing, manufacturing and consumer products, and utilities industries. The Sub-Adviser considers a company’s fundamentals by reviewing its balance sheets, corporate revenues, earnings and dividends. The Sub-Adviser also looks at the amount of capital a company spends on research and development. Sell decisions are generally triggered by either adequate value being achieved, as determined by the Sub-Adviser, or by an adverse change in a company’s operating performance or a deterioration of the company’s business model. A sell trigger also may occur if the Sub-Adviser discovers a new investment opportunity that it believes is more compelling and represents a better risk reward profile than other investments held by the Active Allocated Portion.

The Index Allocated Portion of the Portfolio seeks to track the performance (before fees and expenses) of the Russell 2000^® Value Index with minimal tracking error. This strategy is commonly referred to as an indexing strategy. The Index Allocated Portion may use a full replication technique or a sampling approach in pursuing its indexing strategy.

The Portfolio may hold a significant portion of its assets in cash or cash equivalents as part of its investment strategy.

The Portfolio also may lend its portfolio securities to earn additional income.

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. The value of your investment may fall, sometimes sharply, and you could lose money by investing in the Portfolio. There can be no assurance that the Portfolio will achieve its investment objective.

The following risks can negatively affect the Portfolio’s performance. The most significant risks are listed first, followed by additional risks in alphabetical order.

Index Strategy Risk: The Portfolio (or a portion thereof) employs an index strategy and generally will not modify its index strategy to respond to changes in market trends or the economy, which means that the Portfolio may be particularly susceptible to a general decline in the market segment relating to the relevant index. In addition, although the index strategy attempts to closely track the relevant index, the Portfolio may not invest in all of the securities in the index. Therefore, there can be no assurance that the performance of the index strategy will match that of the relevant index. To the extent the Portfolio utilizes a representative sampling approach, it may experience tracking error to a greater extent than if the Portfolio sought to replicate the index.

Small-Cap Company Risk: Small-cap companies carry additional risks because the operating histories of these companies tend to be more limited, their earnings and revenues less predictable (and some companies may be experiencing significant losses), and their share prices more volatile than those of larger, more established companies. The shares of smaller companies tend to trade less frequently than those of larger, more established companies, which can adversely affect the pricing of these securities and the Portfolio’s ability to purchase or sell these securities.

Energy Sector Risk: The energy sector is cyclical and highly dependent 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 volatility, energy supply and demand, changes in exchange rates and interest 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 and energy conservation efforts, technological developments, tax treatment and labor relations. Companies in this sector are subject to substantial government regulation and contractual fixed pricing, which may increase the cost of business and limit these companies’ earnings, and a significant portion of their revenues depends on a relatively small number of customers, including governmental entities and utilities. Energy companies may also operate in or engage in transactions involving countries with less developed regulatory regimes or a history of expropriation, nationalization or other adverse policies. Energy companies also face a significant risk of liability from accidents resulting in injury or loss of life or property, pollution or other environmental mishaps, equipment malfunctions or mishandling of materials and a risk of loss from terrorism, political strife and natural disasters. Any of these factors could result in a material adverse impact on the Portfolio’s securities and the performance of the Portfolio.

Investment Style Risk: The Portfolio may use a particular style or set of styles — in this case a “value” style — to select investments. A particular style may be out of favor or may not produce the best results over short or longer time periods. Value stocks are subject to the risks that, notwithstanding that a stock is selling at a discount to its perceived true worth, the stock’s intrinsic 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 stock judged to be undervalued may actually have been appropriately priced at the time of investment.

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

Liquidity Risk: From time to time, there may be little or no active trading market for a particular investment in which the Portfolio may invest or is invested. In such a market, the value of such an investment and the Portfolio’s share price may fall dramatically. Illiquid investments may be difficult or impossible to sell or purchase at an advantageous time or price or in sufficient amounts to achieve the Portfolio’s desired level of exposure. To meet redemption requests during periods of illiquidity, the Portfolio may be forced to dispose of investments at unfavorable times or prices and/or under unfavorable conditions, which may result in a loss or may be costly to the Portfolio. Investments that are illiquid or that trade in lower volumes may be more difficult to value. The Portfolio also may not receive its proceeds from the sale of certain investments for an extended period of time. Certain investments that were liquid when purchased may later become illiquid, sometimes abruptly, particularly in times of overall economic distress or adverse investor perception. An inability to sell a portfolio position can adversely affect the Portfolio’s value or prevent the Portfolio from being able to take advantage of other investment opportunities. During periods of market stress, an investment or even an entire market segment may become illiquid, sometimes abruptly, which can adversely affect the Portfolio’s ability to limit losses. In addition, a reduction in the ability or willingness of dealers and other institutional investors to make a market in certain securities may result in decreased liquidity in certain markets.

Cash Management Risk: The Portfolio may maintain cash and cash equivalent positions as part of the Portfolio’s strategy in order to take advantage of investment opportunities as they arise, to manage the Portfolio’s market exposure, and for other portfolio management purposes. As such, the Portfolio may maintain cash balances, which may be significant, with counterparties such as the Trust’s custodian or its affiliates. Maintaining larger cash and cash equivalent positions could negatively affect the Portfolio’s performance due to missed investment opportunities and may also subject the Portfolio to additional risks, such as increased credit risk with respect to the custodian bank holding the assets and the risk that a counterparty may be unable or unwilling to honor its obligations.

Convertible Securities Risk: A convertible security is a form of hybrid security; that is, a security with both debt and equity characteristics. The value of a convertible security fluctuates in relation to changes in interest rates and the credit quality of the issuer and also fluctuates in relation to changes in the price of the underlying common stock. A convertible security may be subject to redemption at the option of the issuer at a price established in the convertible security’s governing instrument, which may be less than the current market price of the security. If a convertible security held by the Portfolio is called for redemption, the Portfolio will be required to permit the issuer to redeem the security, convert it into underlying common stock or sell it to a third party. Convertible securities are subject to equity risk, interest rate risk, and credit risk and are often lower-quality securities. Lower quality may lead to greater volatility in the price of a security and may negatively affect a security’s liquidity. Since it derives a portion of its value from the common stock into which it may be converted, a convertible security is also subject to the same types of market and issuer-specific risks that apply to the underlying common stock.

ETFs Risk: The Portfolio’s shareholders will indirectly bear fees and expenses paid by the ETFs in which it invests, in addition to the Portfolio’s direct fees and expenses. The cost of investing in the Portfolio, therefore, may be higher than the cost of investing in a mutual fund that invests directly in individual stocks and bonds. In addition, the Portfolio’s net asset value will be subject to fluctuations in the market values of the ETFs in which it invests. The Portfolio is also subject to the risks associated with the securities or other investments in which the ETFs invest, and the ability of the Portfolio to meet its investment objective will directly depend on the ability of the ETFs to meet their investment objectives. An index-based ETF’s performance may not match that of the index it seeks to track. An actively managed ETF’s performance will reflect its adviser’s ability to make investment decisions that are suited to achieving the ETF’s investment objective. It is also possible that an active trading market for an ETF may not develop or be maintained, in which case the liquidity and value of the Portfolio’s investment in the ETF could be substantially and adversely affected. The extent to which the investment performance and risks associated with the Portfolio correlate to those of a particular ETF will depend upon the extent to which the Portfolio’s assets are allocated from time to time for investment in the ETF, which will vary.

Foreign Securities Risk: Investments in foreign securities, including depositary receipts, involve risks in addition to those associated with investments in U.S. securities. Foreign markets may be less liquid, more volatile and subject to less government supervision and regulation than U.S. markets, and it may take more time to clear and settle trades involving foreign securities, which could negatively impact the Portfolio’s investments and cause it to lose money. 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, as well as trade barriers and other protectionist trade policies (including those of the U.S.), governmental instability, or other political or economic actions, also may adversely impact security values. World markets, or those in a particular region, may all react in similar fashion to important economic or political developments. Events and evolving conditions in certain economies or markets may alter the risks associated with investments tied to countries or regions that historically were perceived as comparatively stable and make such investments riskier and more volatile. Regardless of where a company is organized or its stock is traded, its performance may be significantly affected by events in regions from which it derives its profits or in which it conducts significant operations.

Currency Risk: Investments that are denominated in or that provide exposure to 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. In the case of hedging positions, there is the risk that the U.S. dollar will decline in value relative to the currency being hedged. Currency rates may fluctuate significantly over short periods of time.

Emerging Markets Risk: Investments in emerging market countries are more susceptible to loss than investments in more developed foreign countries and may present market, credit, currency, liquidity, legal, political, technical and other risks different from, or greater than, the risks of investing in more developed foreign countries. Emerging market countries may be more likely to experience rapid and significant adverse developments in their political or economic structures, restrict foreign investments, impose high withholding or other taxes on foreign investments, impose restrictive exchange control regulations, or nationalize or expropriate the assets of private companies, which may have negative impacts on transaction costs, market price, investment returns and the legal rights and remedies of the Portfolio. In addition, the securities markets of emerging market countries generally are smaller, less liquid and more volatile than those of more developed foreign countries, and emerging market countries often have less uniformity in accounting, auditing and financial reporting requirements and less reliable clearance and settlement, registration and custodial procedures. Securities of issuers traded on foreign exchanges may be suspended. The likelihood of such suspensions may be higher for securities of issuers in emerging market countries than in countries with more developed markets.

Market Risk: The Portfolio is subject to the risk that the securities markets will move down, sometimes rapidly and unpredictably, based on overall economic conditions and other factors, which may negatively affect Portfolio performance. Securities markets also may experience long periods of decline in value. Changes in the financial condition of a single issuer can impact a market as a whole. Geo-political risks, including terrorism, tensions or open conflict between nations, or political or economic dysfunction within some nations that are major players on the world stage, may lead to instability in world economies and markets, may lead to increased market volatility, and may have adverse long-term effects. Events such as natural disasters or pandemics, and governments’ reactions to such events, could cause uncertainty in the markets and may adversely affect the performance of the global economy. In addition, markets and market-participants are increasingly reliant on information data systems. Inaccurate data, software or other technology malfunctions, programming inaccuracies, unauthorized use or access, and similar circumstances may impair the performance of these systems and may have an adverse impact upon a single issuer, a group of issuers, or the market at-large.

Portfolio Management Risk: The Portfolio is subject to the risk that strategies used by an investment manager and its securities selections fail to produce the intended results. An investment manager’s judgments or decisions about the quality, relative yield or value of, or market trends affecting, a particular security or issuer, industry, sector, region or market segment, or about the economy or interest rates, may be incorrect or otherwise may not produce the intended results, which may result in losses to the Portfolio. In addition, many processes used in Portfolio management, including security selection, rely, in whole or in part, on the use of various technologies. The Portfolio may suffer losses if there are imperfections, errors or limitations in the quantitative, analytic or other tools, resources, information and data used, or the analyses employed or relied on, by an investment manager, or if such tools, resources, information or data are used incorrectly, fail to produce the desired results, or otherwise do not work as intended. There can be no assurance that the use of these technologies will result in effective investment decisions for the Portfolio.

Real Estate Investing Risk: Real estate-related investments may decline in value as a result of factors affecting the overall real estate industry. Real estate is a cyclical business, highly sensitive to supply and demand, general and local economic developments and characterized by intense competition and periodic overbuilding. Real estate income and values also may be greatly affected by demographic trends, such as population shifts or changing tastes and values. Losses may occur from casualty or condemnation, and government actions, such as tax law changes, zoning law changes, regulatory limitations on rents, or environmental regulations, also may have a major impact on real estate. The availability of mortgages and changes in interest rates may also affect real estate values. Changing interest rates and credit quality requirements also will affect the cash flow of real estate companies and their ability to meet capital needs. In addition, global climate change may have an adverse effect on property and security values.

Real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) generally invest directly in real estate (equity REITs), in mortgages secured by interests in real estate (mortgage REITs) or in some combination of the two (hybrid REITs). Investing in REITs exposes investors to the risks of owning real estate directly, as well as to risks that relate specifically to the way in which REITs are organized and operated. Equity REITs may be affected by changes in the value of the underlying property owned by the REIT, while mortgage REITs may be affected by the quality of any credit extended. Equity and mortgage REITs are also subject to heavy cash flow dependency, defaults by borrowers, and self-liquidations. The risk of defaults is generally higher in the case of mortgage pools that include subprime mortgages involving borrowers with blemished credit histories. Operating REITs requires specialized management skills, and a portfolio that invests in REITs indirectly bears REIT management and administration expenses along with the direct expenses of the portfolio. Individual REITs may own a limited number of properties and may concentrate in a particular region or property type. Domestic REITs also must satisfy specific Internal Revenue Code requirements to qualify for the tax-free pass-through of net investment income and net realized gains distributed to shareholders. Failure to meet these requirements may have adverse consequences on the Portfolio. In addition, even the larger REITs in the industry tend to be small- to medium-sized companies in relation to the equity markets as a whole. Moreover, shares of REITs may trade less frequently and, therefore, are subject to more erratic price movements than securities of larger issuers.

Sector Risk: From time to time, based on market or economic conditions, the Portfolio may have significant positions in one or more sectors of the market. To the extent the Portfolio invests more heavily in particular sectors, its performance will be especially sensitive to developments that significantly affect those sectors. Individual sectors may be more volatile, and may perform differently, than the broader market. The industries that constitute a sector may all react in the same way to economic, political or regulatory events.

Securities Lending Risk: The Portfolio may lend its portfolio securities to seek income. There is a risk that a borrower may default on its obligations to return loaned securities. The Portfolio will be responsible for the risks associated with the investment of cash collateral and may lose money on its investment of cash collateral or may fail to earn sufficient income on its investment to meet obligations to the borrower. Securities lending may introduce leverage into the Portfolio. In addition, delays may occur in the recovery of loaned securities from borrowers, which could interfere with the Portfolio’s ability to vote proxies or to settle transactions.

Special Situations Risk: The Portfolio may seek to benefit from “special situations,” such as mergers, consolidations, bankruptcies, liquidations, reorganizations, restructurings, tender or exchange offers or other unusual events expected to affect a particular issuer. In general, securities of companies which are the subject of a tender or exchange offer or a merger, consolidation, bankruptcy, liquidation, reorganization or restructuring proposal sell at a premium to their historic market price immediately prior to the announcement of the transaction. However, it is possible that the value of securities of a company involved in such a transaction will not rise and in fact may fall, in which case the Portfolio would lose money. It is also possible that the transaction may not be completed as anticipated or may take an excessive amount of time to be completed, in which case the Portfolio may not realize any premium on its investment and could lose money if the value of the securities declines during the Portfolio’s holding period. In some circumstances, the securities purchased may be illiquid making it difficult for the Portfolio to dispose of them at an advantageous price.

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- and five-year and since inception periods through December 31, 2019 compared to the returns of a broad-based securities market index. Class IB shares were not operational for the period from April 14, 2015 through April 30, 2015. The returns of Class IB were calculated assuming the shares were in operation for the entire period. Past performance is not 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

Best quarter (% and time period)	Worst quarter (% and time period)
19.24% (2019 1st Quarter)	–24.35% (2018 4th Quarter)

Average Annual Total Returns

Average Annual Total Returns - 1290 VT Small Cap Value Portfolio	One Year	Five Years	Since Inception	Inception Date
Class IB Shares	25.84%	7.34%	6.55%	Apr. 21, 2014
Class K Shares	26.06%	7.58%	6.79%	Apr. 21, 2014
Russell 2000® Value Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes)	22.39%	6.99%	6.87%

[1] Pursuant to a contract, AXA Equitable Funds Management Group, LLC (the "Adviser") has agreed to make payments or waive its management, administrative and other fees to limit the expenses of the Portfolio through April 30, 2021 (unless the Board of Trustees consents to an earlier revision or termination of this arrangement) ("Expense Limitation Arrangement") so that the annual operating expenses of the Portfolio (exclusive of taxes, interest, brokerage commissions, dividend and interest expenses on securities sold short, capitalized expenses, acquired fund fees and expenses, and extraordinary expenses not incurred in the ordinary course of the Portfolio's business) do not exceed an annual rate of average daily net assets of 1.15% for Class IB shares and 0.90% for Class K shares of the Portfolio. The Expense Limitation Arrangement may be terminated by the Adviser at any time after April 30, 2021. The Adviser may be reimbursed the amount of any such payments or waivers in the future provided that the payments or waivers are reimbursed within three years of the payments or waivers being recorded and the Portfolio's expense ratio, after the reimbursement is taken into account, does not exceed the Portfolio's expense cap at the time of the waiver or the Portfolio's expense cap at the time of the reimbursement, whichever is lower.