NY AllianceBernstein

BC-NY-AllianceBernstein

To: BUSINESS EDITORS

Contact: Jennifer DeLong, Senior Marketing Director, Defined Contribution

Investments, +1-212-969-6689, [email protected]; or John

Meyers, Media, +1-212-969-2301, [email protected]

NEW YORK, Feb. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- In early April 2010,

AllianceBernstein will add a new Volatility Management component to its

Retirement Strategies target-date mutual funds. The Volatility Management

component is designed to reduce the market risk of the funds during periods of

extreme volatility.

According to Seth J. Masters, Chief Investment Officer of Blend Strategies

and Defined Contribution at AllianceBernstein, "This important enhancement is

the result of a multiyear firmwide research effort, which created new tools we

believe can be applied to 'smooth the ride' and improve retirement outcomes

for defined contribution plan participants. The project demonstrates our

ongoing work to deliver our best thinking on target-date design to plan

sponsors and investors."

AllianceBernstein's Volatility Management approach seeks to balance risk

and return, placing primary emphasis on controlling risk. This differs from

traditional tactical asset allocation which focuses primarily on predicting

asset-class returns and attempting to time the market to take advantage of

short-term opportunities to enhance returns.

"Target-date funds naturally reduce the volatility in a portfolio by

reducing the exposure to equities over time as an investor approaches and

moves through retirement. With Volatility Management, we can now more

explicitly manage risk in target-date portfolios," says Thomas J. Fontaine,

Head of Defined Contribution at AllianceBernstein. "We believe our new risk

management tools will allow us to adjust portfolios during extreme market

cycles such as the recent credit crunch, moderating short-term negative

performance -- but importantly, without sacrificing long-term return

potential."

AllianceBernstein will allocate up to 20% of the existing Retirement

Strategies target-date funds into the new Volatility Management component,

with the allocation varying by vintage. This Volatility Management component

will invest in a mix of equities and REITs in normal markets but will have the

ability to dynamically de-risk into bonds and cash when it's appropriate to

reduce overall portfolio risk. The Volatility Management component will

replace a portion of the equities and REITs so the long-term strategic

allocation does not change following the introduction of this component into

the Retirement Strategies funds.

An institutional implementation of Volatility Management will be available

in the second quarter of 2010 for use in customized target-date portfolios,

including AllianceBernstein's Customized Retirement Strategies(SM) service for

large-market defined contribution plans.

AllianceBernstein Defined Contribution Investments (ABDC) is a business

unit of AllianceBernstein that offers a full range of solutions to meet the

needs of defined contribution plan sponsors and participants. For more

information on ABDC, please go to http://www.abdc.com.

Cautions regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements provided by management in this news release are

"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities

Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are subject to

risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to

differ materially from future results expressed or implied by such

forward-looking statements. The most significant of these factors include, but

are not limited to, the following: the performance of financial markets, the

investment performance of sponsored investment products and separately managed

accounts, general economic conditions, industry trends, future acquisitions,

competitive conditions, and government regulations, including changes in tax

regulations and rates and the manner in which the earnings of publicly-traded

partnerships are taxed. We caution readers to carefully consider such factors.

Further, such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which

such statements are made; we undertake no obligation to update any

forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date

of such statements. For further information regarding these forward-looking

statements and the factors that could cause actual results to differ, see

"Risk Factors" and "Cautions Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" in our Form

10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009. Any or all of the forward-looking

statements that we make in this news release, Form 10-K, other documents we

file with or furnish to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and any

other public statements we issue, may turn out to be wrong. It is important to

remember that other factors besides those listed in "Risk Factors" and

"Cautions Regarding Forward-Looking Statements", and those listed above, could

also adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and

business prospects.

About AllianceBernstein

AllianceBernstein is a leading global investment-management firm that

offers high-quality research and diversified investment services to

institutional clients, individuals and private clients in major markets around

the world. AllianceBernstein employs more than 500 investment professionals

with expertise in growth equities, value equities, fixed-income securities,

blend strategies and alternative investments and, through its subsidiaries and

joint ventures, operates in more than 20 countries. AllianceBernstein's

research disciplines include fundamental research, quantitative research,

economic research and currency forecasting capabilities. Through its

integrated global platform, AllianceBernstein is well positioned to tailor

investment solutions for its clients. AllianceBernstein also offers

independent research, portfolio strategy and brokerage-related services to

institutional investors.

As of December 31, 2009, AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. ("Holding") (NYSE:

AB) owned approximately 36.5% of the issued and outstanding AllianceBernstein

Units and AXA, one of the largest global financial services organizations,

owned an approximate 62.1% economic interest in AllianceBernstein.

AllianceBernstein Defined Contribution Investments is a unit of

AllianceBernstein L.P. and AllianceBernstein Investments, Inc. is an affiliate

of AllianceBernstein L.P. and member of FINRA.

(C)2010 AllianceBernstein L.P.

SOURCE AllianceBernstein

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