Canadian Halal Investor.

NYSE Shariah screener · October 2026

Is Equitable Holdings, Inc. (EQH) Halal?

FAIL

Equitable Holdings, Inc. · NYSE: EQH · Financials

The short answer

No -- Equitable Holdings, Inc. (EQH) fails this Shariah stock screen at the business-activity gate and the non-compliant income gate. Per its own FY2025 10-K, Equitable's core business includes underwriting conventional insurance through its three franchises -- Equitable (annuities, individual life insurance, employee benefits group insurance), AllianceBernstein and Equitable Advisors -- and conventional insurance is a non-compliant business activity under the AAOIFI-style business screen (the same basis as the Aflac, Progressive and Chubb fails in October 2026). Its disclosed net investment income of $5,234M for FY2025 is about 44.87% of its $11,665M in total revenue, above the 5% non-compliant income ceiling. Its debt screen passes: $3,860M of total borrowings is about 26.50% of its ~$14.56B market cap ($51.95, latest close retrieved October 2, 2026), below the ~33% ceiling. All three third-party screeners agree: Zoya flags EQH not Shariah-compliant, Musaffa rates it not halal (October 2026), and ShariaPortfolio calls it not Shariah Compliant -- honestly reported, not invented. This is a factual screen, not a religious ruling -- consult a qualified scholar for personal rulings.

Gate 1 — Business activity: FAIL

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: EQH), based in New York, describes itself in its FY2025 10-K as a holding company for three franchises: Equitable (an insurer providing retirement, income and protection strategies), AllianceBernstein (a global active asset manager) and Equitable Advisors (a wealth management platform). Its three reportable segments are Retirement (individual and group annuities, retirement savings plans, institutional savings products, and a spread-lending program selling funding agreements that pay a specific rate of return), Asset Management (AB investment management) and Wealth Management (advisory accounts, financial planning, and the sale of life insurance and annuity products). It also operates individual life insurance (variable, indexed and universal life; $120.5B of in-force face amount, net of reinsurance) and an employee benefits group-insurance business (group life, disability, dental, vision, supplemental health). Business screen (factual, from the filing): Equitable's core business includes underwriting conventional insurance -- annuities, life insurance and group insurance -- and per the AAOIFI-style business screen applied on this site, conventional insurance is a non-compliant business activity, the same basis on which Aflac, Progressive and Chubb failed Gate 1 in earlier October 2026 screens. Gate 1 fails. Facts only.

Gate 2 — Debt and cash: PASS

Per Equitable Holdings' FY2025 10-K (fiscal year ended December 31, 2025), interest-bearing debt was $3,860M of total borrowings per Note 14 -- $25M of short-term CLO debt plus $3,835M of long-term debt (7.00% senior debentures, 4.35% and 5.59% senior notes, 5.00% senior notes due 2048, and junior subordinated debt due 2055). Operating lease commitments are reported separately and are not counted as debt; insurance policy liabilities (including $133,433M of policyholders' account balances) are insurance operating liabilities and are not counted as debt. Against a market cap of about $14.56B ($51.95 latest close retrieved October 2, 2026; 280,347,841 shares outstanding per the 10-K cover), debt divided by market cap is about 26.50%, below the ~33% ceiling. Cash and cash equivalents of $12,462M are about 85.57% of market cap, with another $499M of cash and securities segregated. Gate 2 passes. Facts only.

Gate 3 — Non-compliant income: FAIL

Equitable Holdings' FY2025 10-K income statement reports net investment income of $5,234M against total revenues of $11,665M -- about 44.87% of revenue, nearly nine times the 5% non-compliant income ceiling. For an insurer, net investment income (interest and dividends on the investment portfolio backing its policies and annuities, broken out by asset category in the filing's notes) is the separately disclosed interest-type income line. Gate 3 fails. Facts only.

Key figures used

Frequently asked questions

What does Equitable Holdings do?

Equitable Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: EQH), based in New York, describes itself in its FY2025 10-K as a holding company for three franchises: Equitable (an insurer providing retirement, income and protection strategies to individuals, families, institutions and small businesses), AllianceBernstein (a global active asset manager) and Equitable Advisors (a wealth management platform with about 4,600 financial advisors). Its FY2025 reportable segments are Retirement, Asset Management and Wealth Management. The Retirement segment's primary offerings are individual and group annuities (including registered index-linked annuities, traditional variable annuities and group variable annuities), retirement savings plans, institutional savings products and a spread-lending program; Wealth Management offers life insurance and annuity products; and the company also operates individual life insurance (variable, indexed and universal life; $120.5 billion of in-force face amount, net of reinsurance, at December 31, 2025) and an employee benefits group-insurance business (group life, disability, dental, vision and supplemental health).

Why does Equitable Holdings fail this Shariah stock screen?

Equitable Holdings fails this screen at the first gate -- the business-activity gate -- and again at the non-compliant income gate. Per its own FY2025 10-K, Equitable is a conventional insurer whose core businesses include underwriting annuities and life insurance; under the AAOIFI-style business screen applied on this site, conventional insurance is a non-compliant business activity -- the same basis on which Aflac, Progressive (NYSE: PGR) and Chubb (NYSE: CB) failed Gate 1 in earlier October 2026 screens. Its financial picture also trips Gate 3: net investment income of $5,234M against total revenues of $11,665M for FY2025 is about 44.87% of revenue, far above the 5% non-compliant income ceiling. This is a factual screen, not a religious ruling -- consult a qualified scholar for personal rulings.

What is Equitable Holdings' interest-bearing debt ratio?

Per Equitable Holdings' FY2025 10-K (fiscal year ended December 31, 2025), interest-bearing debt was $3,860M of total borrowings per Note 14 -- $25M of short-term CLO debt plus $3,835M of long-term debt (senior debentures, senior notes and junior subordinated debt securities). Operating lease commitments are reported separately and are not counted as debt, and insurance policy liabilities (including $133,433M of policyholders' account balances) are insurance operating liabilities and are not counted as debt. Against a market cap of about $14.56B ($51.95 latest close retrieved October 2, 2026; 280,347,841 shares outstanding per the 10-K cover), debt divided by market cap is about 26.50% -- below the ~33% ceiling. Cash and cash equivalents of $12,462M are about 85.57% of market cap, with another $499M of cash and securities segregated.

What is Equitable Holdings' non-compliant income ratio?

Equitable Holdings' FY2025 10-K income statement reports net investment income of $5,234M against total revenues of $11,665M -- about 44.87% of revenue, nearly nine times the 5% non-compliant income ceiling. For an insurer, net investment income (interest and dividends earned on the investment portfolio that backs its policies and annuities) is the disclosed interest-type income line, and it is separately stated in the filing (with a by-asset-category breakdown in the notes). Gate 3 fails.

Do Zoya, Musaffa, or ShariaPortfolio cover Equitable Holdings?

Zoya covers EQH and flags it as not Shariah-compliant (zoya.finance/stocks/eqh; the page's displayed assessment date was blank when accessed in October 2026) -- it does not rate Equitable Holdings halal. Musaffa covers EQH and classifies it as "not halal" as of October 2026 under its AAOIFI methodology (musaffa.com/stock/EQH/). ShariaPortfolio has an EQH screener page stating Equitable Holdings, Inc. "is not Shariah Compliant because of its involvement in Diversified Investment Services and related activities." All three coverage statements are consistent with this page's own FAIL outcome. This page applies the screen directly from Equitable Holdings' own filings and reports these positions honestly.

Sources

Screened 2026-10-02 from published company figures and market data. Figures change; this page is educational, not financial advice and not a religious ruling.

Screened with our two-gate Shariah screening methodology (business-activity gate, then AAOIFI-style financial ratios).