Exhibit 10(a)(i)

                            RESTATED
                  EQUITABLE OF IOWA COMPANIES
                KEY EMPLOYEE SEVERANCE PAY PLAN


 1.  The Chief Executive Officer of Equitable of Iowa Companies (the 
"Company") shall be an eligible employee.  In addition, such officers of the 
Company or any subsidiary of the Company as designated by the Chief Executive 
Officer and approved by the Equitable of Iowa Companies Board of Directors 
Compensation Committee shall also be eligible employees.  (These officers and 
the Chief Executive Officer shall be referred to as "Group 1".)  With respect 
to severance benefits in the event of a "change of control" under paragraph 5
below, eligible employees shall also include such other key employees as 
designated by the Chief Executive Officer and approved by the Compensation 
Committee each year.  (These key employees shall be referred to as "Group 2".)  
The Company and its subsidiaries are collectively referred to herein as the 
"Companies".

 2.  Each eligible employee whose employment is terminated shall be paid 
severance pay in the total amount of one year's base annual salary at the 
level in effect on the date of termination of employment, plus the average of 
the bonuses earned by the eligible employee for the most recent two full plan 
years under the Company's Key Employee Incentive Plan.  If the eligible 
employee has not been a participant in the Key Employee Incentive Plan for a 
full two years, then the amount added to the base annual salary with respect 
to the Key Employee Incentive Plan shall be the percentage of base annual
salary at the "target level" under each performance goal established under 
the Key Employee Incentive Plan for the year in which termination occurs.

 3.  Severance pay benefits will be paid to eligible employees whose employment 
is terminated by one of the Companies and will be paid in twenty-four semi-
monthly installments, with each payment equal to one-twenty-fourth of the 
amount determined under paragraph 2 above.  The first payment shall be made on 
the first payroll date of Equitable Life Insurance Company of Iowa following 
termination of employment that covers the first payroll period during which 
the eligible employee was not, at any time, an employee.  Each of the 
remaining twenty-three payments shall be made on each subsequent payroll date
thereafter.  Employee health insurance and group life insurance benefit plans 
will be continued during such payment period.  Except as provided in paragraph 
5 below, amounts received from other employment during this benefit period 
will be deducted from and reduce the severance pay benefits otherwise payable 
hereunder; provided, however, that if the amount the employee would have 
received under the regular severance pay plan for employees would have 
provided a higher amount of benefits than under this plan because of no 
requirement to offset other compensation in the regular employee severance 
plan, the participant under this plan shall receive the higher amount that 
would have been paid under the regular employee severance plan.

 4.  Except in the case of termination in the event of "change of control" as 
provided in paragraph 5 below, no severance payments will be due employees 
(i) terminated after age 65, (ii) terminated for Just Cause as defined below, 
(iii) receiving similar benefit under written employment contracts with any of 
the Companies, (iv) receiving disability or retirement benefits from Equitable 
of Iowa Companies or a subsidiary, or (v) who voluntarily resign.

 5.  Notwithstanding any other provisions, each eligible employee will be 
entitled to receive the benefit as provided herein below (without reduction 
for compensation from other employment) upon termination of employment for 
any reason (except voluntary termination) within one year following a "change 
of control" of the Company.  Voluntary termination in the event of a "change 
of control" shall not include circumstances where the Employee voluntarily
terminates employment with Good Reason as defined below.

 For purposes of this paragraph 5, Group 2 employees shall receive the 
benefits provided in paragraphs 2 and 3 above.  For purposes of this paragraph 
5, Group 1 employees shall receive the benefits provided in paragraphs 2 and 3 
above, as modified in the remainder of this paragraph.  With respect to Group 
1 employees, the amount of severance benefits provided under paragraph 2 above 
shall be equal to twice the amount otherwise determined under paragraph 2 
above, but in no event shall be less than twice the amount determined under
paragraph 2 above as if the date of termination of employment had been the 
date the "change of control" is deemed to have occurred.  The payment period 
during which payments are to be made and the period for which health and life 
insurance benefits are to be continued under paragraph 3 above shall be 
twenty-four months instead of twelve months and the number of payments to be 
made shall be forty-eight instead of twenty-four.

 6.  A "change of control" of the Company shall be deemed to have occurred if:  
(i) any change of control occurs of a nature that would be required to be 
disclosed in response to Item 6(e) of Regulation 14A of the Securities 
Exchange Act of 1934; (ii) any person or entity owns 25% or more of the 
combined voting power of  the Company's then outstanding securities; (iii) 
any person or entity acquires 50% or more of the combined voting power of the 
Company's then outstanding securities; or (iv) there shall have been a change 
in the composition of the Board of Directors of the Company such that any time 
a majority of the Board of Directors of the Company shall have been members of
the Board of Directors for less than 24 months, unless the election of each 
new director who was not a director at the beginning of the period was 
approved or recommended by at least two-thirds of the directors then still in 
office who were directors at the beginning of such period.  The Board of 
Directors of the Company as constituted prior to the "change of control" may, 
prior to the effective date of the "change of control" declare this paragraph 
inoperable as if a "change of control" had not occurred.

 7.  "Just Cause" shall mean (i) employee's conviction of any criminal 
violation involving dishonesty, fraud, or breach of trust; (ii) employee's 
willful engagement in any misconduct in the performance of his or her duty 
that materially injures Company; (iii) employee's performance of any act 
which, if known to the customers, policyholders, annuitants, insurance agents, 
clients or stockholders of Company would materially and adversely impact on 
the business of Company; or (iv) employee's willful and substantial 
nonperformance of assigned duties; provided that such nonperformance has 
continued more than ten days after Company has given written notice of such
nonperformance and of its intention to terminate employee's employment because 
of such nonperformance.

 8.  "Good Reason" shall exist if, without employee's express written consent 
(i) Company shall assign to employee duties of a substantially nonexecutive or 
nonmanagerial nature; (ii) Company shall reduce the salary of employee, or 
materially reduce the amount of paid vacations to which he or she is entitled, 
or materially reduce his or her fringe benefits and perquisites; (iii) 
Company shall require employee to relocate his or her principal business 
office or his or her principal place of residence outside the metropolitan 
area in which he or she currently has his or her principal business office or 
his or her principal place of residence, or assigns to employee duties that 
would reasonably require such relocation; (iv) Company shall require employee 
or assign duties to employee which would reasonably require him or her to 
spend more than 30 normal working days away from the metropolitan area 
described above during any consecutive 12 month period where his or her duties 
prior to the "change of control" did not require such absence; (v) Company 
shall fail to provide office facilities, secretarial services, and other 
administrative services to employee which are substantially equivalent to the 
facilities and services provided to employee prior to the "change of control"; 
or (v) Company shall terminate incentive and benefit plans or arrangements,
or reduce or limit employee's participation therein relative to the level of 
participation of other employees of similar rank, to such an extent as to 
materially reduce the aggregate value of employee's incentive compensation and 
benefits below their aggregate value in place prior to the "change of control".

 9.  In the event of the death of the eligible employee during the period he 
or she is receiving payments pursuant to paragraph 3 above, the eligible 
employee's designated beneficiary shall be entitled to receive the balance of 
the payments; or in the event of no designated beneficiary, the remaining 
payments shall be made to the eligible employee's estate.

 10.  All compensation payable to an employee shall be charged to the company 
employing the eligible employee on the date of termination.

 11.  Participants may elect to reduce benefits otherwise payable in the event 
total benefits payable would result in additional taxes to the Companies, or 
any one of them, or an eligible employee under Internal Revenue Code of 1986 
Section 280G.

                                     As amended through February 12, 1997.