AXA Premier VIP Trust

497 1 d497.htm AXA PREMIER VIP TRUST AXA Premier VIP Trust

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PROSPECTUS MAY 1, 2004

AXA PREMIER VIP TRUST

AXA Premier VIP High Yield Portfolio

The Securities and Exchange Commission has not approved any portfolio’s shares or determined whether this Prospectus is accurate or complete. Anyone who tells you otherwise is committing a crime.

Version #10 Part 1

INTRODUCTION

AXA Premier VIP Trust (“Trust”) is comprised of sixteen (16) distinct mutual funds, each with its own investment strategy and risk/reward profile. This prospectus describes Class A shares of one (1) of the Trust’s portfolios. The AXA Premier VIP High Yield Portfolio is a diversified portfolio. Information on the portfolio, including investment objectives, investment strategies and investment risks, can be found on the pages following this introduction. The investment objective of a portfolio is not a fundamental policy and may be changed without a shareholder vote. The portfolio has a policy to invest at least 80% of its net assets (plus borrowings for investment purposes) in the type of investment suggested by its name. These policies may not be changed without providing sixty (60) days’ written notice to shareholders of the portfolio.

The Trust’s shares are currently sold only to insurance company separate accounts in connection with variable life insurance contracts and variable annuity certificates and contracts (“Contracts”) issued or to be issued by The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States* (“Equitable”) or other affiliated or unaffiliated insurance companies. Shares also may be sold to tax-qualified retirement plans. The Prospectus is designed to help you make informed decisions about the portfolio that is available under your Contract or under your retirement plan. You will find information about your Contract and how it works in the accompanying prospectus for the Contracts if you are a Contract owner or participant under a Contract. Not all of the portfolios may be available under your Contract or under your retirement plan. You should consult your Contract prospectus or retirement plan documents to see which portfolios are available.

The investment manager to the portfolio is Equitable. The day-to-day management of the portfolio is provided by one or more investment sub-advisers. Information regarding Equitable and the sub-advisers is included under “Management Team” in this prospectus. Equitable may allocate a portfolio’s assets to additional sub-advisers subject to approval of the Trust’s board of trustees. In addition, Equitable may, subject to the approval of the Trust’s board of trustees, appoint, dismiss and replace sub-advisers and amend sub-advisory agreements without obtaining shareholder approval. In such circumstances, shareholders would receive notice of such action. However, Equitable may not enter into a sub-advisory agreement with an “affiliated person” of Equitable (as that term is defined in Section 2(a)(3) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (“1940 Act”)) (“Affiliated Adviser”), such as Alliance Capital Management L.P., unless the sub-advisory agreement with the Affiliated Adviser, including compensation, is approved by the portfolio’s shareholders.

The co-distributors for the portfolio are AXA Advisors, LLC and AXA Distributors, LLC.

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. Because you could lose money by investing in the portfolio, be sure to read all risk disclosures carefully before investing.

Effective on or about September 7, 2004, subject to regulatory approval, the name “The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States” is anticipated to be changed to “AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company.” When the name change becomes effective, all references in any current prospectus or prospectus supplement to “The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States,” “Equitable Life,” or “Equitable” will become references to “AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company.”

Table of

CONTENTS


Goals, Strategies & Risks
AXA Premier VIP High Yield Portfolio		1

Portfolio Fees & Expenses		4

More About Investment Strategies & Risks

More About Investment Strategies & Risks		5

Management Team

The Manager and the Sub-advisers		7

Portfolio Services

Buying and Selling Shares		11
Restrictions on Buying and Selling Shares		11
How Portfolio Shares are Priced		12
Dividends and Other Distributions		13
Tax Consequences		13

Glossary of Terms		14

Description of Benchmark		15

Financial Highlights		16

AXA PREMIER VIP HIGH YIELD PORTFOLIO


Manager:		Equitable

Sub-adviser:		Alliance Capital Management L.P. Pacific Investment Management Company LLC

Key Term

•	Below Investment Grade Bonds — Bonds rated BB or lower by ratings agencies and pay a higher yield to compensate for its greater risk.

Investment Goal

High total return through a combination of current income and capital appreciation.

Principal Investment Strategies

Under normal circumstances, the portfolio intends to invest at least 80% of its net assets, plus borrowings for investment purposes, in a diversified mix of bonds that are rated below investment grade (so called “junk bonds”), which generally involve greater volatility of price and risk of principal and income than high quality fixed income securities. For purposes of this investment policy, a debt security is considered a “bond.” Debt securities represent an issuer’s obligation to repay a loan of money that generally pays interest to the holder. Bonds, notes and debentures are examples of debt securities. Junk bonds generally have a higher current yield but are rated Ba or lower by Moody’s or BB or lower by S&P or, if unrated, are of comparable quality.

The portfolio’s sub-advisers evaluate several sectors of the bond market and individual securities within these sectors. The sub-advisers select bonds from several sectors including: commercial and residential mortgage-backed securities, asset-backed securities, corporate bonds and bonds of foreign issuers. The portfolio will attempt to maximize current income by taking advantage of market developments, yield disparities and variations in the creditworthiness of issuers. Substantially all of the portfolio’s investments will be income producing.

The portfolio’s sub-advisers may, when consistent with the portfolio’s investment objective, use derivative securities. Derivative securities include futures and options contracts, options on futures contracts, foreign currencies, securities and bond indices, structured notes, swaps (including long and short credit default swaps and interest rate swaps) and indexed securities. The portfolio will typically use derivatives as a substitute for taking a position in the underlying asset and/or in an attempt to reduce risk to the portfolio as a whole (hedge), but they may also be used to maintain liquidity, commit cash pending investment or for speculation to increase returns. The portfolio may also invest in participations and assignments of loans originally made by institutional lenders or lending syndicates. The portfolio’s sub-adviser’s may also make use of various other investment strategies, including investments in common stocks and other equity-type securities (such as convertible debt securities) and secured loans of its portfolio securities in order to enhance its current return and to reduce fluctuations in net asset value.

In the event that any securities held by the portfolio fall below those ratings, the portfolio will not be obligated to dispose of such securities and may continue to hold such securities if the sub-adviser believes that such investments are considered appropriate under the circumstances.

The portfolio may also invest in fixed income securities that are providing high current yields because of risks other than credit, such as prepayment risks, in the case of mortgage-backed securities, or currency risks, in the case of non-U.S. dollar denominated foreign securities.

Utilizing a due diligence process covering a number of key factors, Equitable selects sub-advisers to manage the portfolio’s assets. It is anticipated that Equitable will allocate the portfolio’s assets to two or more sub-advisers. Equitable monitors the sub-advisers and may dismiss, replace or add sub-advisers, subject to the approval of the Trust’s board of trustees.

For temporary defensive purposes, the portfolio may invest, without limit, in cash, money market instruments or high quality short-term debt securities, including repurchase agreements. To the extent that the portfolio is invested in these instruments, the portfolio will not be pursuing its investment goal.

Principal Investment Risks

An investment in the portfolio is not guaranteed; you may lose money by investing in the portfolio. When you sell your shares of the portfolio, they could be worth more or less than what you paid for them.

The principal risks presented by the portfolio are:

•	Credit/Default Risk — The risk that an issuer of a security or the counter-party to a contract will default or otherwise become unable to honor a financial obligation. Securities rated below

investment grade may involve a substantial risk of default. For more information, see “Credit Quality Risk” in “More About Investment Strategies and Risks.”

•	Currency Risk — The risk that fluctuations in the exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and foreign currencies may negatively affect an investment.

•	Derivatives Risk — A portfolio’s investment in derivatives may rise or fall more rapidly than other investments. For more information, see “Derivatives Risk” in “More About Investment Strategies & Risks.”

•

Foreign Investing and Emerging Markets Risk — The value of the portfolio’s investments in foreign securities may fall due to adverse political, social and economic developments abroad and decreases in foreign currency values relative to the U.S. dollar. These risks are greater generally for investments in emerging market issuers than for issuers in more developed countries.

•	Interest Rate Risk — The risk of market losses attributable to changes in interest rates. In general, the prices of fixed-income securities rise when interest rates fall, and fall when interest rates rise.

•	Issuer-Specific Risk — The value of an individual security or particular type of security can be more volatile than the market as a whole and can perform differently from the value of the market as a whole. The portfolio could lose all of its investment in a company’s securities.

•	Liquidity Risk — The risk that certain securities may be difficult to sell at the time and the price that the seller would like. This may result in a loss or may be more costly to the portfolio.

•

Lower-Rated Securities Risk— Bonds rated below investment grade (i.e., BB by S&P or Ba by Moody’s) are speculative in nature, involve greater risk of default by the issuing entity and may be subject to greater market fluctuations than higher rated fixed income securities. For more information, see “Lower-Rated Securities Risk” in “More About Investment Strategies & Risks.”

•	Loan Participation Risk — The portfolio’s investments in loan participations and assignments are subject to the risk that the financial institution acting as agent for all interests in a loan might fail financially. It is also possible that the portfolio could be held liable as a co-lender.

•

Mortgage-Backed and Asset-Backed Securities Risk — The risk that the principal on mortgage- or asset-backed securities may be prepaid at any time which will reduce the yield and market value. If interest rates fall, the rate of prepayments tends to increase as borrowers are motivated to pay off debt and refinance at new lower rates. Rising interest rates tend to extend the duration of mortgage-related securities, making them more sensitive to changes in interest rates. As a result, in a period of rising interest rates, a portfolio that holds mortgage-related securities may exhibit additional volatility.

•	Portfolio Management Risk — The risk that the strategies used by a portfolio’s sub-advisers and their securities selections fail to produce the intended result.

More information about the risks of an investment in the portfolio is provided below in “More About Investment Strategies & Risks.”

PORTFOLIO PERFORMANCE

The portfolio’s performance shown below is principally the performance of its predecessor registered investment company. On August 15, 2003, the portfolio merged with EQ/High Yield Portfolio, a series of EQ Advisors Trust, which is a separate trust managed by Equitable, and assumed its operating history and performance record, which, in turn, assumed the operating history and performance record of its predecessor, HRT Alliance High Yield Portfolio, which transferred its assets to the EQ/High Yield Portfolio on October 19, 1999. The performance included in the bar chart and table below for the periods commencing on or after October 19, 1999 is that of EQ/High Yield Portfolio and the performance shown for periods prior to that date is that of HRT Alliance High Yield Portfolio, whose inception date is January 2, 1987. The performance results of these portfolios have been linked for purposes of this presentation.

The following information gives some indication of the risks of an investment in the portfolio by showing yearly changes in the portfolio’s performance and by comparing the portfolio’s performance with a broad measure of market performance. Both the bar chart and table below assume reinvestment of dividends and other distributions. The performance results presented below do not reflect any insurance and Contract-related fees and expenses, which would reduce the performance results. Since Equitable may add to, dismiss or replace the sub-advisers in a portfolio, the portfolio’s historical performance may cover periods when portions of the portfolio were advised by different sub-advisers. Past performance is not an indication of future performance. This may be particularly true for this portfolio because the portfolio’s predecessor was advised by one investment sub-adviser until July 15, 2002. After that date, the predecessor portfolio employed multiple investment sub-advisers.

The following bar chart illustrates the annual total returns for the portfolio’s Class A shares for each of the last ten calendar years of operations.

Calendar Year Annual Total Returns

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Best quarter (% and time period)		Worst quarter (% and time period)

8.05% (1997 2nd Quarter)		–11.04% (1998 3rd Quarter)

The table below shows how the average annual total returns for the portfolio’s Class A shares for the one-year, five-year and ten-year periods ended December 31, 2003 compare to those of a broad-based index.



Average Annual Total Returns


	One Year	Five Years	Ten Years

AXA Premier VIP High Yield Portfolio	22.97%	1.26%	5.54%

Credit Suisse First Boston Global High Yield Index*	27.94%	6.44%	7.30%

For more information on this index, see “Description of Benchmarks.”

PORTFOLIO FEES & EXPENSES

The following tables describe the fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold Class A shares of the portfolio. The table below does not reflect any Contract-related fees and expenses, which would increase overall fees and expenses. See the Contract prospectus for a description of those fees and expenses. There are no fees or charges to buy or sell shares of the portfolio, reinvest dividends or exchange into other portfolios.

Annual Portfolio Operating Expenses

(expenses that are deducted from portfolio assets, as a percentage of average daily net assets)



		AXA Premier VIP High Yield Portfolio

Management fee		0.59%
Distribution and/or service (12b-1) fees		0.00%
Other expenses		0.16%

Total operating expenses		0.75%

Example

This Example is intended to help you compare the direct and indirect cost of investing in the portfolio with the cost of investing in other investment options.

The Example assumes that:

•	You invest $10,000 in the portfolio for the time periods indicated;

•	Your investment has a 5% return each year;

•	The portfolio’s operating expenses remain the same; and

•	The expense limitation currently in place is not renewed.

This Example should not be considered a representation of past or future expenses of the portfolios. Actual expenses may be higher or lower than those shown. The costs in this Example would be the same whether or not you redeemed all of your shares at the end of these periods. This Example does not reflect any Contract-related fees and expenses, which would increase overall fees and expenses. Similarly, the annual rate of return assumed in the Example is not an estimate or guarantee of future investment performance. Based on these assumptions your costs would be:




	AXA Premier VIP High Yield Portfolio

1 year	$	77
3 years	$	240
5 years	$	417
10 years	$	930

MORE ABOUT INVESTMENT STRATEGIES & RISKS

Additional Risks

The portfolio has principal investment strategies that come with inherent risks. The portfolio’s principal risks are described in its principal risks section. The following is a list of additional risks to which the portfolio may be subject by investing in various types of securities or engaging in various practices.

Currency Risk. The risk that fluctuations in the exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and foreign currencies may negatively affect an investment.

Derivatives Risk. A portfolio’s investment in derivatives may rise or fall more rapidly than other investments. These transactions are subject to changes in the underlying security on which such transactions are based. Even a small investment in derivative securities can have a significant impact on a portfolio’s exposure to stock market values, interest rates or currency exchange rates. Derivatives are subject to a number of risks such as liquidity risk, interest rate risk, market risk, credit risk and portfolio management risk. They also involve the risk of mispricing or improper valuation and the risk that changes in the value of a derivative may not correlate well with the underlying asset, rate or index. These types of transactions will be used primarily as a substitute for taking a position in the underlying asset and/or for hedging purposes. When a derivative security (a security whose value is based on another security or index) is used as a hedge against an offsetting position that a portfolio also holds, any loss generated by the derivative security should be substantially offset by gains on the hedged instrument, and vice versa. To the extent that a portfolio uses a derivative security for purposes other than as a hedge, that portfolio is directly exposed to the risks of that derivative security and any loss generated by the derivative security will not be offset by a gain.

Foreign Investing and Emerging Markets Risks. The value of a portfolio’s investments in foreign securities may fall due to adverse political, social and economic developments abroad and due to decreases in foreign currency values relative to the U.S. dollar. These risks are greater generally for investments in emerging market issuers than for issuers in more developed countries.

Information Risk. The risk that key information about a security is inaccurate or unavailable.

Interest Rate Risk. When interest rates decline, the value of a portfolio’s debt securities generally rises. Conversely, when interest rates rise, the value of a portfolio’s debt securities generally declines. The magnitude of the decline will often be greater for longer-term debt securities than shorter-term debt securities.

Leverage Risk. The risk associated with securities or practices (e.g. borrowing) that multiply small price movements into large changes in value.

Liquidity Risk. The risk that certain securities may be difficult or impossible to sell at the time and the price that the seller would like.

This may result in a loss or may be costly to a portfolio.

Credit Quality Risk. It is possible that the issuer of a security will not be able to make interest and principal payments when due. Lower rated bonds involve greater risks of default or downgrade and are more volatile than investment-grade securities. Lower rated bonds involve a greater risk of price declines than investment-grade securities due to actual or perceived changes to an issuer’s creditworthiness. In addition, issuers of lower rated bonds may be more susceptible than other issuers to economic downturns. Lower rated bonds are especially subject to the risk that the issuer may not be able to pay interest and ultimately to repay principal upon maturity. Discontinuation of these payments could adversely affect the price of the bond. The High Yield Portfolio currently is permitted to invest more than 5% of their assets in lower rated bonds.

Lower-Rated Securities Risk. Bonds rated below investment grade (i.e., BB by S&P or Ba by Moody’s) are speculative in nature, involve greater risk of default by the issuing entity and may be subject to greater market fluctuations than higher rated fixed income securities. They are usually issued by companies without long track records of sales and earnings, or by those companies with questionable credit strength. The retail secondary market for these “junk bonds” may be less liquid than that of higher rated securities and adverse conditions could make it difficult at times to sell certain securities or could result in lower prices than those used in calculating the portfolio’s net asset value. A portfolio investing in “junk bonds” may also be subject to greater credit risk because it may invest in debt securities issued in connection with corporate restructuring by highly leveraged issuers or in debt securities not current in the payment of interest or principal or in default.

Market Risk. The risk that the value of a security may move up and down, sometimes rapidly and unpredictably based upon change in a company’s financial condition as well as overall market and economic conditions.

Multiple Sub-Adviser Risk. The portfolio employs multiple sub-advisers. Each sub-adviser independently chooses and maintains a portfolio of securities for the portfolio and each is responsible for investing a specific allocated portion of the portfolio’s assets. Because each sub-adviser will be managing its allocated portion of the portfolio independently from the other sub-adviser(s), the same security may be held in different portions of the portfolio, or may be acquired for one portion of the portfolio at a time when a sub-adviser to another portion deems it appropriate to dispose of the

MORE ABOUT INVESTMENT STRATEGIES & RISKS (cont’d)

security from that other portion. Similarly, under some market conditions, one sub-adviser may believe that temporary, defensive investments in short-term instruments or cash are appropriate when the other sub-adviser(s) believes continued exposure to the equity or debt markets is appropriate for its allocated portion of the portfolio. Because each sub-adviser directs the trading for its own portion of the portfolio, and does not aggregate its transactions with those of the other sub-advisers, the portfolio may incur higher brokerage costs than would be the case if a single sub-adviser were managing the entire portfolio.

Opportunity Risk. The risk of missing out on an investment opportunity because the assets necessary to take advantage of it are tied up in less profitable investments.

Political Risk. The risk of losses directly attributable to government or political actions.

Portfolio Turnover Risk. High portfolio turnover may result in increased transaction costs to a portfolio, which would reduce investment returns.

Valuation Risk. The risk that a portfolio has valued certain securities at a higher price than it can sell them for.

Securities Lending Risk. For purposes of realizing additional income, the portfolio may lend securities to broker-dealers approved by the Board of Trustees. Generally, any such loan of portfolio securities will be continuously secured by collateral at least equal to the value of the security loaned. Such collateral will be in the form of cash, marketable securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government or its agencies, or a standby letter of credit issued by qualified banks. The risks in lending portfolio securities, as with other extensions of secured credit, consist of possible delay in receiving additional collateral or in the recovery of the securities or possible loss of rights in the collateral should the borrower fail financially. Loans will only be made to firms deemed by the Manager to be of good standing and will not be made unless, in the judgment of the Manager, the consideration to be earned from such loans would justify the risk.

Additional Investment Strategies

The following is a list of additional investment strategies. For further information about investment strategies, see the portfolio’s Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”).

Derivatives. The portfolio can use “derivative” instruments to seek enhanced returns or to try to hedge investment risks, although it is not anticipated that it will do so to a significant degree. In general terms, a derivative instrument is an investment contract whose value depends on (or is derived from) the value of an underlying asset, interest rate or index. Options, futures contracts and forward contracts are examples of “derivatives.”

Foreign Investing. The portfolio may invest in foreign securities, including depositary receipts of foreign based companies, including companies based in developing countries.

Portfolio Turnover. The portfolio does not restrict the frequency of trading. The portfolio may engage in active and frequent trading of portfolio securities to achieve its principal investment strategies. Frequent trading can result in a portfolio turnover in excess of 100% (high portfolio turnover).

MANAGEMENT TEAM

The Manager and the Sub-advisers

The Manager

Equitable, through its AXA Funds Management Group unit, 1290 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10104, serves as the manager of the portfolio. Equitable is an investment adviser registered under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended, and a wholly owned subsidiary of AXA Financial, Inc., a subsidiary of AXA, a French insurance holding company.

As manager, Equitable has a variety of responsibilities for the general management and administration of the Trust and the portfolios, including the selection of sub-advisers. Equitable plays an active role in monitoring the portfolio and sub-adviser and uses systems to strengthen its evaluation of performance, style, risk levels, diversification and other criteria. Equitable also monitors each sub-adviser’s portfolio management team to ensure that investment activities remain consistent with the portfolios’ investment style and objectives.

Beyond performance analysis, Equitable monitors significant changes that may impact the sub-adviser’s overall business. Equitable monitors continuity in the sub-adviser’s operations and changes in investment personnel and senior management. Equitable also performs annual due diligence reviews with each sub-adviser.

In its capacity as manager, Equitable obtains detailed, comprehensive information concerning portfolio and sub-adviser performance and portfolio operations that is used to supervise and monitor the sub-advisers and the portfolio operations. A team is responsible for conducting ongoing investment reviews with each sub-adviser and for developing the criteria by which portfolio performance is measured.

Equitable selects sub-advisers from a pool of candidates, including its affiliates, to manage the portfolio. Equitable may add to, dismiss or substitute for the sub-advisers responsible for managing a portfolio’s assets subject to the approval of the Trust’s board of trustees. Equitable also has discretion to allocate the portfolio’s assets among the portfolio’s sub-advisers. Equitable recommends sub-advisers for the portfolio to the board of trustees based upon its continuing quantitative and qualitative evaluation of each sub-adviser’s skills in managing assets pursuant to specific investment styles and strategies. Unlike many other mutual funds, the portfolio is not associated with any one portfolio manager, and benefit from specialists selected from the investment management industry. Short-term investment performance, by itself, is not a significant factor in selecting or terminating a sub-adviser, and Equitable does not expect to recommend frequent changes of sub-advisers. Equitable has received an exemptive order from the SEC to permit it and the board of trustees to select and replace the portfolio’s sub-advisers and to amend the sub-advisory agreements between Equitable and the sub-advisers without obtaining shareholder approval. Accordingly, Equitable is able, subject to the approval of the board of trustees, to appoint and replace sub-advisers and to amend sub-advisory agreements without obtaining shareholder approval. When a new sub-adviser is retained for the portfolio, shareholders would receive notice of such action. However, Equitable may not enter into a sub-advisory agreement with an Affiliated Adviser unless the sub-advisory agreement with the Affiliated Adviser, including compensation, is also approved by the portfolio’s shareholders. Alliance Capital Management L.P. one of the current sub-advisers, is an affiliate of Equitable.

The Sub-advisers

The portfolio’s investments are selected by two or more sub-advisers, which act independently of one another. The following describes the portfolio’s sub-advisers, portfolio manager(s) and the portfolio manager’s business experience.

Alliance Capital Management L.P. (“Alliance Capital”) serves as a Sub-adviser to AXA Premier VIP High Yield Portfolio. As of December 31, 2003, Alliance Capital had approximately $475 billion in assets under management.

Pacific Investment Management Company LLC (“PIMCO”) serves as a Sub-adviser to AXA Premier VIP High Yield Portfolio. PIMCO, a Delaware limited liability company, is a majority owned subsidiary of Allianz Dresdner Asset Management of America L.P., (“ADAM LP”). Allianz AG (“Allianz”) is the indirect majority owner of ADAM LP. Allianz is a European-based, multinational insurance and financial services holding company. Pacific Life Insurance Company holds an indirect minority interest in ADAM LP. As of December 31, 2003, PIMCO had approximately $373.8 billion in assets under management.

MANAGEMENT TEAM

The Manager and the Sub-advisers (cont’d)



Portfolio	Sub-Advisers and Portfolio Manager(s)	Business Experience


AXA Premier VIP High Yield Portfolio	Alliance Capital Management L.P. 1345 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10105 Portfolio Manager Michael Snyder	Mr. Snyder joined Alliance Capital in 2001 as a member of the High Yield Portfolio Management team and is a Senior Vice President of Alliance Capital. Prior to joining Alliance Capital, Mr. Snyder was a Managing Director at Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette and Bear Stearns & Co., where he founded and directed the high yield asset management group.

	Pacific Investment Management Company 840 Newport Center Drive Suite 300 Newport Beach, CA 92660 Portfolio Management Team	The Portfolio Management Team develops and implements investment strategy for the portion of the portfolio allocated to PIMCO. Raymond Kennedy heads the Portfolio Management Team. Mr. Kennedy, a Managing Director of PIMCO, joined PIMCO in 1996 as a portfolio manager.

Management Fees

The portfolio pays a fee to Equitable for management services. The High Yield Portfolio pays a management fee at an annual rate of 0.60% of the average daily net assets of the portfolio.

The sub-advisers are paid by Equitable. Changes to the sub-advisory fees may be negotiated, which could result in an increase or decrease in the amount of the management fee retained by Equitable, without shareholder approval.

Equitable also currently serves as the Administrator of the Trust. The administrative services provided to the Trust by Equitable include, among others, coordination of the Trust’s audit, financial statements and tax returns; expense management and budgeting; legal administrative services and compliance monitoring; portfolio accounting services, including daily net asset value accounting; operational risk management; and oversight of the Trust’s proxy voting policies and procedures and anti-money laundering program.

For these administrative services, in addition to the management fee, the portfolio pays Equitable a fee at an annual rate of 0.15% of the portfolio’s total average net assets plus $35,000 per portfolio and an additional $35,000 for each portion of the portfolio for which separate administrative services are provided (e.g., portions of a portfolio allocated to separate sub-advisers and/or managed in a discrete style).

Legal Proceedings

Alliance Capital Management L.P.

Alliance Capital reached terms with the NYAG and the staff of the SEC for the resolution of regulatory claims with respect to market timing in some of its mutual funds. The agreement with the SEC is reflected in an Order of the Commission. The agreement with the NYAG is subject to final, definitive documentation.

Among the key provisions of the agreements are the following:

•

Under both the SEC and NYAG agreements, Alliance Capital will establish a $250 million fund to compensate fund shareholders for the adverse effects of market timing in some of its mutual funds. Of the $250 million fund, the agreements characterize $150 million as disgorgement and $100 million as a penalty.

•	The agreement with the NYAG includes a weighted average reduction in fees of 20% on Alliance Capital’s U.S. long-term open-end retail funds, commencing January 1, 2004, for a minimum of 5 years.

MANAGEMENT TEAM

The Manager and the Sub-advisers (cont’d)

Under both agreements, Alliance Capital’s Mutual Funds Boards, which have already moved to elect independent chairmen from among their independent directors, will also have independent directors that comprise at least 75% of each Board, and will retain an independent compliance officer who will assist the Boards in their oversight of compliance, fiduciary issues and conflicts of interest.

The terms and conditions of the agreements also include, among others:

•	Formation of a Code of Ethics Oversight Committee, composed of senior executives of Alliance Capital’s operating businesses, to oversee all matters relating to issues arising under the Alliance Capital Code of Ethics;

•

Establishment of an Internal Compliance Controls Committee, chaired by Alliance Capital’s Chief Compliance Officer, to review compliance issues throughout Alliance Capital, endeavor to develop solutions to those issues as they may arise from time to time, and oversee implementation of those solutions;

•	Establishment of a company ombudsman to whom Alliance Capital employees may convey concerns about Alliance Capital business matters that they believe involve matters of ethics or questionable practices;

•

Engagement of an Independent Compliance Consultant to conduct a comprehensive review of Alliance Capital’s supervisory, compliance, and other policies and procedures designed to prevent and detect conflicts of interest, breaches of fiduciary duty, breaches of the Alliance Capital Code of Ethics and federal securities law violations by Alliance Capital and its employees; and

•	Commencing in 2005, and at least once every other year thereafter, Alliance Capital shall undergo a compliance review by an independent third party.

On October 2, 2003, a putative class action complaint entitled Hindo et al. v. AllianceBernstein Growth & Income Fund et al. (the “Hindo Complaint”) was filed against Alliance Capital; Alliance Capital Management Holding L.P.; Alliance Capital Management Corporation; AXA Financial, Inc.; certain of the AllianceBernstein Mutual Funds, including the AllianceBernstein Growth Funds; Gerald Malone; Charles Schaffran (collectively, the “Alliance Capital defendants”); and certain other defendants not affiliated with Alliance Capital. The Hindo Complaint was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York by alleged shareholders of two of the AllianceBernstein Mutual Funds. The Hindo Complaint alleges that certain of the Alliance Capital defendants failed to disclose that they improperly allowed certain hedge funds and other unidentified parties to engage in late trading and market timing of AllianceBernstein Mutual Fund securities, violating Sections 11 and 15 of the Securities Act of 1933, Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Sections 206 and 215 of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. Plantiffs seek an unspecified amount of compensatory damages and rescission of their contracts with Alliance Capital, including recovery of all fees paid to Alliance Capital pursuant to such contracts.

Since October 2, 2003, approximately 40 additional lawsuits making factual allegations similar to those in the Hindo Complaint were filed against Alliance Capital and certain other defendants, some of which name the AllianceBernstein Growth Funds as defendants. All of these lawsuits seek an unspecified amount of damages.

Pacific Investment Management Company LLC

On February 17, 2004, the Attorney General of New Jersey filed a complaint against PIMCO, which serves as subadviser to certain portfolios of the Trust (the “portfolios”) and certain of PIMCO’s affiliates. The complaint alleges, among other things, that inappropriate trading by shareholders engaged in market timing activities took place in certain series of the PIMCO Funds: Pacific Investment Management Series (“PIMS Funds”), for which PIMCO serves as investment adviser and the PIMCO Funds: Multi-Manager Series (“MMS Funds”). In addition, PIMCO and certain of its affiliates have been named as defendants in several putative class action lawsuits, relating to alleged facts similar to those iterated in the New Jersey Attorney General’s complaint. These class action lawsuits seek unspecified compensatory damages.

In November 2003, the SEC settled an enforcement action against a broker-dealer not affiliated with PIMCO, relating to the undisclosed receipt of fees from certain mutual fund companies in return for preferred marketing of their funds and announced that it would be investigating mutual funds and their distributors generally with respect to compensation arrangements relating to the sale of mutual fund shares. Pursuant to that announcement, PIMCO and certain of its affiliates are under investigation by the SEC relating to directed brokerage and revenue-sharing arrangements. PIMCO and certain of its affiliates also have been named as defendants in a putative class action lawsuit that challenges the brokerage and distribution arrangements, including revenue sharing arrangements, of the MMS Funds and PIMS Funds. The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court, District of Connecticut, on February 17, 2004, on behalf of certain shareholders of the PIMS Funds and MMS Funds, generally alleges that the respective investment adviser to the funds inappropriately used fund assets to pay brokers to promote the funds by directing fund brokerage transactions to such brokers, and did not fully disclose such arrangements to shareholders.

MANAGEMENT TEAM

The Manager and the Sub-advisers (cont’d)

The lawsuit seeks unspecified compensatory damages. In addition, the Attorney General of the State of California has publicly announced an investigation into the matters referenced above.

PIMCO believes that other similar lawsuits may be filed in federal or state courts naming PIMCO and certain of its affiliates as defendants. These suits may be commenced as putative class actions or individual actions on behalf of investors who purchased, held or redeemed shares of certain MMS Funds and PIMS Funds during specified periods, or as derivative actions on behalf of these funds.

None of the allegations concerning PIMCO or its affiliates relate to the portfolio. It is possible that these matters and/or other developments resulting from these matters could result in increased portfolio redemptions or other adverse consequences to the portfolio. However, PIMCO believes that these matters will not have a material adverse effect on the portfolio or on PIMCO’s ability to perform its investment advisory services to the portfolio.

While additional litigation or regulatory actions in connection with the matters discussed above may be brought against PIMCO or its affiliates in the future, the foregoing disclosure of litigation and regulatory matters will be updated only if those developments are material.

PORTFOLIO SERVICES

Buying and Selling Shares

The portfolio offers Class A and Class B shares. All shares are purchased and sold at their net asset value without any sales load. These portfolios are not designed for market-timers, see the section entitled “Purchase Restrictions on Market-Timers and Active Traders.”

The price at which a purchase or sale is effected is based on the next calculation of net asset value after an order is placed by an insurance company or qualified retirement plan investing in or redeeming from the Trust. All redemption requests will be processed and payment with respect thereto will normally be made within seven days after tender.

Restrictions on Buying and Selling Shares

Purchase Restrictions

The portfolio reserves the right to suspend or change the terms of purchasing or selling shares.

Purchase Restrictions on Market-Timers and Active Traders

The portfolio and the Co-distributors reserve the right to refuse or limit any purchase order by a particular purchaser (or group of related purchasers) if the transaction is deemed harmful to the portfolio’s other shareholders or would disrupt the management of the portfolio.

Frequent transfers, including market timing and other program trading strategies, may be disruptive to the portfolio. Disruptive transfer activity may hurt the long term performance of a portfolio by, for example, requiring it to maintain larger amounts of cash or to liquidate portfolio holdings at a disadvantageous time or price. We currently use the procedures described below to discourage disruptive transfer activity. You should understand, however, that these procedures are subject to the following limitations:

•	They do not eliminate the possibility that disruptive transfer activity, including market timing, will occur or that portfolio performance will be affected by such activity.

•	The design of such procedures involves inherently subjective judgments, which we and the Trust seek to make in a fair and reasonable manner consistent with interests of all Contract owners.

If we determine that your transfer patterns among the Trust’s portfolios are disruptive to the Trust’s portfolios, we may, among other things, restrict the availability of personal telephone requests, facsimile transmissions, automated telephone services, internet services or any electronic transfer services. We may also refuse to act on transfer instructions of an agent acting under a power of attorney who is acting on behalf of more than one owner. In making these determinations, we may consider the combined transfer activity of Contracts that we believe are under common ownership, control or direction.

We currently consider transfers into and out of (or vice versa) a portfolio within a five business day period as potentially disruptive transfer activity. In order to reduce disruptive activity, we monitor the frequency of transfers, including the size of transfers in relation to portfolio assets, in the portfolio. When a potentially disruptive transfer into or out of a portfolio occurs on a day when the portfolio’s aggregate deposits or aggregate redemptions exceed our threshold, we may take the actions described above to restrict availability of voice, fax and automated transaction services. We also currently provide a letter to Contract owners who have engaged in disruptive transfer activity of our intention to restrict access to communication services. However, we may not continue to provide such letters. Consistent with seeking to discourage potentially disruptive transfer activity, we may also, in our sole discretion and without further notice, change what we consider potentially disruptive transfer activity and our monitoring procedures and thresholds, as well as change our procedures to restrict this activity. You should consult the Contract prospectus that accompanies this prospectus for information on other specific limitations on the transfer privilege.

Notwithstanding our efforts, we may be unable to detect or deter market timing activity by certain persons, which can lead to disruption of management of, and excess costs to, the particular portfolio.

PORTFOLIO SERVICES

Selling Restrictions

The table below describes restrictions placed on selling shares of the portfolio described in this Prospectus.



Restriction		Situation

The portfolio may suspend the right of redemption or postpone payment for more than 7 days:		• When the New York Stock Exchange is closed (other than a weekend/holiday). • During an emergency. • Any other period permitted by the SEC.

A portfolio may pay the redemption price in whole or part by a distribution in kind of readily marketable securities in lieu of cash or may take up to 7 days to pay a redemption request in order to raise capital:		• When it is detrimental for a portfolio to make cash payments as determined in the sole discretion of Equitable.

How Portfolio Shares are Priced

“Net asset value” is the price of one share of a portfolio without a sales charge, and is calculated each business day using the following formula:


Net Asset Value	=	Total market value of securities + Cash and other assets – Liabilities
Net Asset Value	=	Number of outstanding shares

The net asset value of portfolio shares is determined according to this schedule:

•	A share’s net asset value is determined as of the close of regular trading on the New York Stock Exchange (“Exchange”) on the days the Exchange is open for trading. This is normally 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

•	The price you pay for purchasing or redeeming a share will be based upon the net asset value next calculated after your order is placed by an insurance company or qualified retirement plan.

•	A portfolio heavily invested in foreign securities may have net asset value changes on days when you cannot buy or sell its shares.

Generally, portfolio securities are valued as follows:

•	Equity securities — most recent sales price or official closing price or if there is no sale or official closing price, latest available bid price.

•	Debt securities (other than short-term obligations) — based upon pricing service valuations.

•	Short-term obligations (with maturities of 60 days or less) — amortized cost (which approximates market value).

•

Securities traded on foreign exchanges — most recent sales or bid price on the foreign exchange or market, unless a significant event or circumstance occurs after the close of that market or exchange will materially affect its value. In that case, fair value as determined by or under the direction of the board of trustees at the close of regular trading on the Exchange. Foreign currency is converted into U.S. dollar equivalent daily at current exchange rates.

•	Options — last sales price or, if not available, previous day’s sales price. Options not traded on an exchange or actively traded are valued according to fair value methods.

•	Futures — last sales price or, if there is no sale, latest available bid price.

•	Other Securities — other securities and assets for which market quotations are not readily available or for which valuation cannot be provided are valued at their fair value under the direction of the Trust’s board of trustees.

Events or circumstances affecting the values of portfolio securities that occur between the closing of the principal markets on which they trade and the time the net asset value of portfolio shares is determined may be reflected in the Trust’s calculation of net asset values for

PORTFOLIO SERVICES

each applicable portfolio when the Trust deems that the particular event or circumstance would materially affect such portfolio’s net asset value.

The effect of fair value pricing as described above is that securities may not be priced on the basis of quotations from the primary market in which they are traded, but rather may be priced by another method that the Trust’s board of trustees believes reflects fair value. This policy is intended to assure that the portfolio’s net asset value fairly reflects security values as of the time of pricing.

Dividends and Other Distributions

The portfolio generally distributes most or all of its net investment income and its net realized gains, if any, annually. Dividends and other distributions are automatically reinvested at net asset value in shares of the portfolios.

Tax Consequences

The portfolio is treated as a separate entity, and intends to qualify to be treated as a regulated investment company, for federal income tax purposes. Regulated investment companies are usually not taxed at the entity (portfolio) level. They pass through their income and gains to their shareholders by paying dividends. A portfolio will be treated as a regulated investment company if it meets specified federal income tax rules, including types of investments, limits on investments, types of income, and dividend payment requirements. Although the Trust intends that it and the portfolio will be operated to have no federal tax liability, if they have any federal tax liability, it could hurt the investment performance of the portfolio. Also, any portfolio investing in foreign securities or holding foreign currencies could be subject to foreign taxes, which could reduce the investment performance of the portfolio.

It is important for the portfolio to maintain its regulated investment company status because the shareholders of the portfolio that are insurance company separate accounts will then be able to use a favorable investment diversification testing rule in determining whether the Contracts indirectly funded by the portfolio meet tax qualification rules for variable insurance contracts. If the portfolio fails to meet specified investment diversification requirements, owners of non-pension plan Contracts funded through the Trust could be taxed immediately on the accumulated investment earnings under their Contracts and could lose any benefit of tax deferral. Equitable, in its capacity as Manager and as the administrator for the Trust, therefore carefully monitors compliance with all of the regulated investment company rules and variable insurance contract investment diversification rules.

Contract owners seeking to understand the tax consequences of their investment should consult with their tax advisers or the insurance company that issued their variable product or refer to their Contract prospectus.

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Bid price — The price a prospective buyer is ready to pay. This term is used by traders who maintain firm bid and offer prices in a given security by standing ready to buy or sell security units at publicly quoted prices.

Capital gain distributions — Payments to a portfolio’s shareholders of profits earned from selling securities in that portfolio. Capital gain distributions are usually paid once a year.

Core investing — An investment style that includes both the strategies used when seeking either growth companies (those with strong earnings growth) or value companies (those that may be temporarily out of favor or have earnings or assets not fully reflected in their stock price).

Derivative — A financial instrument whose value and performance are based on the value and performance of another security or financial instrument.

Diversification — The strategy of investing in a wide range of companies to reduce the risk if an individual company suffers losses.

Duration — A measure of how much a bond’s price fluctuates with changes in comparable interest rates.

Earnings growth — A pattern of increasing rate of growth in earnings per share from one period to another, which usually causes a stock’s price to rise.

Fundamental analysis — An analysis of the balance sheet and income statements of a company in order to forecast its future stock price movements. Fundamental analysis considers past records of assets, earnings, sales, products, management and markets in predicting future trends in these indicators of a company’s success or failure. By appraising a company’s prospects, analysts using such an approach assess whether a particular stock or group of stocks is undervalued or overvalued at its current market price.

Growth investing — An investment style that emphasizes companies with strong earnings growth. Growth investing is generally considered more aggressive than “value” investing.

Interest rate — Rate of interest charged for the use of money, usually expressed as an annual rate.

Market capitalization — Market price of a company’s shares multiplied by number of shares outstanding. A common measure of the relative size of a company.

Net asset value (NAV) — The market value of one share of a portfolio on any given day without taking into account any front-end sales charge or CDSC. It is determined by dividing a portfolio’s total net assets by the number of shares outstanding.

Price-to-book value ratio — Current market price of a stock divided by its book value, or net asset value.

Price-to-earnings ratio — Current market price of a stock divided by its earnings per share. Also known as the “multiple,” the price-to-earnings ratio gives investors an idea of how much they are paying for a company’s earning power and is a useful tool for evaluating the costs of different securities.

Value investing — An investment style that focuses on companies that may be temporarily out of favor or have earnings or assets not fully reflected in their stock prices.

Volatility — The general variability of a portfolio’s value resulting from price fluctuations of its investments. In most cases, the more diversified a portfolio is, the less volatile it will be.

Yield — The rate at which a portfolio earns income, expressed as a percentage. Mutual fund yield calculations are standardized, based upon a formula developed by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

DESCRIPTION OF BENCHMARKS

The portfolio’s performance is compared to that of a broad-based securities market index.

Broad-based securities indices are unmanaged and are not subject to fees and expenses typically associated with managed investment company portfolios. Investments cannot be made directly in a broad-based securities index.

Credit Suisse First Boston Global High Yield Index

Is an unmanaged trader priced index that mirrors the public high-yield debt market.

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

The financial highlights table is intended to help you understand the financial performance of the Trust’s Class A and Class B shares. The financial information in the table below is for the fiscal periods ended December 31, 2002 and December 31, 2003. The information below has been derived from the financial statements of the Trust, which have been audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, independent public accountants. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP’s report on the Trust’s financial statements as of December 31, 2003 appears in the Trust’s Annual Report. Certain information reflects financial results for a single portfolio share. The total returns in the tables represent the rate that a shareholder would have earned (or lost) on an investment in the portfolio (assuming reinvestment of all dividends and disbursements). The total return figures shown below do not reflect any separate account or Contract fees and charges. The total return figures would be lower if they did reflect such fees and charges. The information should be read in conjunction with the financial statements contained in the Trust’s Annual Report which are incorporated by reference into the Trust’s Statement of Additional Information (SAI) and available upon request.

AXA Premier VIP High Yield Portfolio(b)(c)


	Class A															Class B
	Year Ended December 31,															Year Ended December 31,
	2003(a)			2002(a)			2001(a)			2000(a)			1999(a)			2003(a)			2002(a)			2001(a)			2000(a)			1999(a)
Net asset value, beginning of year	$	4.82		$	5.46		$	6.00		$	7.43		$	8.71		$	4.79		$	5.43		$	5.97		$	7.40		$	8.69

Income from investment operations:
Net investment income		0.42			0.48			0.63			0.76			0.90			0.40			0.47			0.58			0.74			0.87
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss) on investments and foreign currency transactions		0.69			(0.63	)		(0.58	)		(1.40	)		(1.19	)		0.68			(0.63	)		(0.54	)		(1.40	)		(1.18	)

Total from investment operations		1.11			(0.15	)		0.05			(0.64	)		(0.29	)		1.08			(0.16	)		0.04			(0.66	)		(0.31	)

Less distributions:
Dividends from net investment income		(0.30	)		(0.49	)		(0.59	)		(0.79	)		(0.96	)		(0.28	)		(0.48	)		(0.58	)		(0.77	)		(0.95	)
Distributions from net realized gains		—			—			—			—			(0.01	)		—			—			—			—			(0.01	)
Tax return of capital distributions		—			—			—			—			(0.02	)		—			—			—			—			(0.02	)

Total dividends and distributions		(0.30	)		(0.49	)		(0.59	)		(0.79	)		(0.99	)		(0.28	)		(0.48	)		(0.58	)		(0.77	)		(0.98	)

Net asset value, end of year	$	5.63		$	4.82		$	5.46		$	6.00		$	7.43		$	5.59		$	4.79		$	5.43		$	5.97		$	7.40

Total return		22.97	%		(2.72	)%		0.89	%		(8.65	)%		(3.35	)%		22.54	%		(2.96	)%		0.66	%		(8.90	)%		(3.58	)%

Ratios/Supplemental Data:
Net assets, end of year (000’s)	$	784,005		$	234,361		$	254,910		$	263,012		$	336,292		$	823,114		$	330,804		$	285,484		$	230,916		$	230,290
Ratio of expenses to average net assets		0.75	%		0.69	%		0.67	%		0.67	%		0.63	%		1.00	%		0.94	%		0.92	%		0.92	%		0.88	%
Ratio of net investment income to average net assets		7.67	%		9.21	%		10.15	%		10.54	%		10.53	%		7.42	%		8.96	%		9.97	%		10.28	%		10.25	%
Portfolio turnover rate		66	%		141	%		88	%		87	%		178	%		66	%		141	%		88	%		87	%		178	%

(a)	Net investment income and capital changes are based on monthly average shares outstanding.

(b)

On October 18, 1999, this Portfolio received, through a substitution transaction, the assets and liabilities of the Hudson River Trust Portfolio that followed the same investment objectives as this Portfolio. The information from January 1, 1999 through October 17, 1999 is that of the predecessor Hudson River Trust Portfolio. Information for the year ended December 31, 1999 includes the results of operations of the predecessor Hudson River Trust Portfolio from January 1, 1999 through October 17, 1999.

(c)

On August 15, 2003, this Portfolio received, through a merger, the assets and liabilities of the EQ/High Yield Portfolio that followed the same investment objectives of this Portfolio. The information from January 1, 1999 through August 14, 2003 is that of the predecessor EQ/High Yield Portfolio. Information for the year ended December 31, 2003 includes the results of the operations of the predecessor EQ/High Yield Portfolio from January 1, 2003 through August 14, 2003.

If you would like more information about the portfolios, the following documents are available free upon request.

Annual and Semi-Annual Reports — Includes more information about the portfolios’ performance. The reports usually include performance information, a discussion of market conditions and the investment strategies that affected the portfolios’ performance during the last fiscal year.

Statement of Additional Information (SAI) — Provides more detailed information about the portfolios, has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and is incorporated into this Prospectus by reference.

To order a free copy of a portfolio’s SAI and/or Annual and Semi-Annual Report, contact

your financial professional, or the portfolios at:

AXA Premier VIP Trust

1290 Avenue of the Americas

New York, New York 10104

Telephone: 866-231-8585

Your financial professional or AXA Premier VIP Trust will also be happy to answer your questions or to provide any additional information that you may require.

Information about the portfolios (including the SAI) can be reviewed and copied at the SEC’s Public Reference Room in Washington, D.C. Information on the operation of the Public Reference Room may be obtained by calling the SEC at 1-202-942-8090. Reports and other information about the portfolios are available on the EDGAR database on the SEC’s Internet site at:

http://www.sec.gov.

Investors may also obtain this information, after paying a duplicating fee, by electronic request at the following E-mail address:

publicinfo@sec.gov or by writing the SEC’s

Public Reference Section,

Washington, D.C. 20549-0102.

AXA Premier VIP Trust

AXA Premier VIP High Yield Portfolio

(Investment Company Act File No. 811-10509)