EQ Advisors Trust^SM

1290 VT GAMCO Small Company Value Portfolio – Class IA, IB and K Shares

Summary Prospectus dated May 1, 2021

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, 2021, as may be amended or supplemented from time to time, and the Portfolio’s audited financial statements included in its annual report to shareholders dated December 31, 2020, are incorporated by reference into this Summary Prospectus. You can find the Portfolio’s Prospectus, SAI, reports to shareholders and other information about the Portfolio online at www.equitable-funds.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@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 maximize capital appreciation.

FEES AND EXPENSES OF THE PORTFOLIO

The following table describes the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy, hold, and sell 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)
1290 VT GAMCO Small Company Value Portfolio	Class IA Shares		Class IB Shares		Class K Shares
Management Fee		0.70%		0.70%		0.70%
Distribution and/or Service Fees (12b-1 fees)		0.25%		0.25%		0.00%
Other Expenses		0.12%		0.12%		0.12%
Total Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses		1.07%		1.07%		0.82%

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 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, whether you redeem or hold your shares, your costs would be:

	1 Year		3 Years		5 Years		10 Years
Class IA Shares	$	109	$	340	$	590	$	1,306
Class IB Shares	$	109	$	340	$	590	$	1,306
Class K Shares	$	84	$	262	$	455	$	1,014

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 5% of the average value of the Portfolio.

INVESTMENTS, RISKS, AND PERFORMANCE

Principal Investment Strategy: Under normal circumstances, the Portfolio intends to invest at least 80% of its net assets, plus borrowings for investment purposes, in stocks of small capitalization companies. For this Portfolio, small capitalization companies are companies with market capitalizations of $2.0 billion or less at the time of investment.

The Portfolio intends to invest primarily in common stocks, but it may also invest in other securities that the Sub-Adviser believes provide opportunities for capital growth, such as preferred stocks and warrants. The Portfolio also may invest in foreign securities.

The Sub-Adviser utilizes a value-oriented investment style that emphasizes companies deemed to be currently underpriced according to certain financial measurements, which may include price-to-earnings and price-to-book ratios. In choosing investments, the Sub-Adviser utilizes a process of fundamental analysis that involves researching and evaluating individual companies for potential investment by the Portfolio. The Sub-Adviser uses a proprietary research technique to determine which stocks have a market price that is less than the “private market value” or what an informed investor would pay for the company. This approach will often lead the

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Portfolio to focus on “strong companies” in out-of-favor sectors or out-of-favor companies exhibiting a catalyst for change. The Sub-Adviser may sell a security for a variety of reasons, such as because it becomes overvalued or shows deteriorating fundamentals, or to invest in a company believed to offer superior investment opportunities.

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 as of the date of this Prospectus are listed first, followed by additional risks in alphabetical order.

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, public health crises (such as epidemics and pandemics) and social unrest, and governments’ reactions to such events, could cause uncertainty in the markets and may adversely affect the performance of the global economy. Adverse market conditions may not have the same impact on all types of securities. 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.

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.

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.

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.

Mid-Cap Company Risk: Mid-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, all of which can negatively affect their value.

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.

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.

Foreign Securities Risk: Investments in foreign securities involve risks in addition to those associated with investments

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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, political or other 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.

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.

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 (or since inception) through December 31, 2020 compared to the returns of a broad-based securities market index. The return of the broad-based securities market index (and any additional comparative index) shown in the right hand column below 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. Class IA shares did not pay 12b-1 fees prior to January 1, 2012. 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)
26.68% (2020 4th Quarter)	–30.53% (2020 1st Quarter)

Average Annual Total Returns
	One Year		Five Years		Ten Years/ Since Inception
1290 VT GAMCO Small Company Value Portfolio – Class IA Shares		9.51%		10.29%		9.67%
1290 VT GAMCO Small Company Value Portfolio – Class IB Shares		9.51%		10.29%		9.64%
1290 VT GAMCO Small Company Value Portfolio – Class K Shares (Inception Date: August 26, 2011)		9.78%		10.57%		12.11%
Russell 2000® Value Index (reflects no deduction for fees, expenses, or taxes)		4.63%		9.65%		8.66%

WHO MANAGES THE PORTFOLIO

Investment Adviser: Equitable Investment Management Group, LLC (“EIM” or the “Adviser”)

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

Name	Title	Date Began Managing the Portfolio
Kenneth T. Kozlowski, CFP®, CLU, ChFC	Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer of EIM	May 2011
Alwi Chan, CFA®	Senior Vice President and Deputy Chief Investment Officer of EIM	May 2009

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Sub-Adviser: GAMCO Asset Management, Inc. (“GAMCO” or the “Sub-Adviser”)

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

Name	Title	Date Began Managing the Portfolio
Mario J. Gabelli	Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of Value Portfolios of GAMCO	June 1996

The Adviser has been granted relief by the Securities and Exchange Commission to hire, terminate and replace Sub-Advisers and amend sub-advisory agreements subject to the approval of the Board of Trustees and without obtaining shareholder approval. However, the Adviser may not enter into a sub-advisory agreement on behalf of the Portfolio with an “affiliated person” of the Adviser, such as AllianceBernstein L.P., unless the sub-advisory agreement is approved by the Portfolio’s shareholders. The Adviser is responsible for overseeing Sub-Advisers and recommending their hiring, termination and replacement to the Board of Trustees.

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 Equitable Financial Life Insurance Company (“Equitable Financial”) or other affiliated or unaffiliated insurance companies and to The Equitable 401(k) Plan. Shares also may be sold to other portfolios managed by EIM that currently sell their shares to such accounts and to other investors eligible under applicable federal income tax regulations. Class K shares of the Portfolio are sold only to other portfolios of the Trust, portfolios of EQ Premier VIP Trust and certain group annuity plans.

The Portfolio does not have minimum initial or subsequent investment requirements. Shares of the Portfolio are redeemable on any business day (which typically is any day the New York Stock Exchange is open) 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’s shareholders are (or may include) insurance company separate accounts and other investors eligible under applicable federal income tax regulations. Distributions made by the Portfolio to such an account, and exchanges and redemptions of Portfolio shares made by such an account, ordinarily do not cause the holders of underlying Contracts to recognize income or gain for federal income tax purposes at the time of the distributions, exchanges or redemptions; the holders generally are taxed only on amounts they withdraw from their Contract. 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 and to other eligible investors. The Portfolio and the Adviser and its affiliates may make payments to sponsoring insurance companies (and their affiliates) or other financial intermediaries for distribution and/or other services. These payments may create a conflict of interest by influencing an 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. Ask your financial adviser or visit your financial intermediary’s website for more information.

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