SHARE-BASED AND OTHER COMPENSATION PROGRAMS (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Share-based Payment Arrangement [Abstract]

Compensation costs for 2019, 2018 and 2017 for share-based payment arrangements as further described herein are as follows:



	Years Ended December 31,
	2019		2018		2017
	(in millions)
Performance Shares	$	10	$	12	$	18
Stock Options	3		2		1
AXA Shareplan	—		—		9
Restricted Stock Unit Awards	15		16		2
Other Compensation Plans (1)	—		—		—
Total Compensation Expenses	$	28	$	30	$	30

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(1) Includes stock appreciation rights and employee stock purchase plans.

Summary of stock option activity

A summary of activity in the AXA and Holdings option plans during 2019 follows:



	Options Outstanding
	EQH Shares			AXA Ordinary Shares			AXA ADRs (2)
	Number Outstanding (In 000’s)	Weighted Average Exercise Price		Number Outstanding (In 000’s)	Weighted Average Exercise Price		Number Outstanding (In 000’s)	Weighted Average Exercise Price
Options Outstanding at January 1, 2019	835	$	21.34	2,609	€	18.20	15	$	15.37
Options granted	1,251	$	18.74	156	€	21.60	—	$	—
Options exercised	23	$	21.34	856	€	16.40	15	$	15.37
Options forfeited, net	133	$	20.29	182	€	19.72	—	$	—
Options expired	—	$	—	—	€	—	—	$	—
Options Outstanding at December 31, 2019	1,930	$	19.73	1,727	€	20.09	—	$	—
Aggregate Intrinsic Value (1)		$	9,755		€	8,661		$	—
Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Term (in years)	8.85			5.20			—
Options Exercisable at December 31, 2019	250	$	21.34	1,527	€	19.74	—	$	—
Aggregate Intrinsic Value (1)		$	859		€	8,207		$	—
Weighted Average Remaining Contractual Term (in years)	8.43			4.85			—

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(1)	Aggregate intrinsic value, presented in thousands, is calculated as the excess of the closing market price on December 31, 2019 of the respective underlying shares over the strike prices of the option awards. For awards with strike prices higher then market prices, intrinsic value is shown as zero.

(2)

AXA ordinary shares will be delivered to participants in lieu of AXA ADRs at exercise or maturity. For the purpose of estimating the fair value of Holdings and AXA stock option awards, the Black-Scholes is used. A Monte-Carlo simulation approach was used to model the fair value of the conditional vesting feature of the awards of options to purchase Holdings and AXA ordinary shares. Shown below are the relevant input assumptions used to derive the fair values of options awarded in 2019, 2018 and 2017.



	EQH Shares (1)						AXA Ordinary Shares (2)
	2019			2018			2019	2018	2017
Dividend yield	2.77		%	2.44		%	NA	NA	6.49		%
Expected volatility	25.70		%	25.40		%	NA	NA	26.6		%
Risk-free interest rates	2.49		%	2.83		%	NA	NA	0.33		%
Expected life in years	5.8			9.7			NA	NA	8.1
Weighted average fair value per option at grant date	$	3.82		$	4.61		NA	NA	$	2.06

Schedule of share-based payment award, valuation assumptions



	EQH Shares (1)						AXA Ordinary Shares (2)
	2019			2018			2019	2018	2017
Dividend yield	2.77		%	2.44		%	NA	NA	6.49		%
Expected volatility	25.70		%	25.40		%	NA	NA	26.6		%
Risk-free interest rates	2.49		%	2.83		%	NA	NA	0.33		%
Expected life in years	5.8			9.7			NA	NA	8.1
Weighted average fair value per option at grant date	$	3.82		$	4.61		NA	NA	$	2.06

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(1)	The expected volatility is based on historical selected peer data, the weighted average expected term is determined by using the simplified method due to lack of sufficient historical data, the expected dividend yield based on Holdings’ expected annualized dividend, and the risk-free interest rate is based on the U.S. Treasury bond yield for the appropriate expected term.

(2)

The expected AXA dividend yield is based on market consensus. AXA share price volatility is estimated on the basis of implied volatility, which is checked against an analysis of historical volatility to ensure consistency. The risk-free interest rate is based on the Euro Swap Rate curve for the appropriate term. The effect of expected early exercise is taken into account through the use of an expected life assumption based on historical data.

Schedule of share-based compensation, restricted stock units award activity

Following table summarizes Holdings restricted share units and AXA ordinary share unit activity for 2019.



	Shares of Holdings Restricted Stock	Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value		Shares of AXA Restricted Stock	Weighted Average Grant Date Fair Value
Unvested as of January 1, 2019	1,259,059	$	21.00	48,334	$	20.38
Granted	1,007,057	$	18.22	—	$	—
Forfeited	125,915	$	19.74	—	$	—
Vested	334,900	$	20.51	29,054	$	21.35
Unvested as of December 31, 2019	1,805,301	$	19.35	19,280	$	19.20

Schedule of share-based compensation, performance award activity

The following table summarizes Holdings and AXA performance awards activity for 2019.



	Shares of Holdings Performance Awards	Weighted-Average Grant Date Fair Value		Shares of AXA Performance Awards	Weighted-Average Grant Date Fair Value
Unvested as of January 1, 2019	166,552	$	23.17	3,159,577	$	20.10
Granted	243,041	$	19.67	149,757	$	20.70
Forfeited	25,952	$	21.77	210,329	$	20.20
Vested	—	$	—	944,945	$	20.23
Unvested as of December 31, 2019	383,641	$	21.05	2,154,059	$	20.08