COMPANIES

Prudential Financial

Office address: 751 Broad Street, Newark, NJ 07102
Website: prudential.com
Year established: 1875
Company type: financial services
Employees: 38,200+
Expertise: life insurance, annuities, retirement planning, investment management, mutual funds, ETFs, group insurance, wealth management, institutional asset management, financial advisory services
Parent company: N/A
Key people: Andrew Sullivan (CEO), Yanela Frias (CFO), Ann Kappler (general counsel), Vicki Walia (chief people officer), Scott Case (head of global technology and operations), Jacques Chappuis (PGIM CEO), Timothy Schmidt (chief investment officer)
Financing status: publicly traded corporation

Prudential Financial is a Newark-based financial services firm that operates across the US, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. The company provides life insurance, investment management, and retirement planning products. PGIM, its investment arm, manages $1.6 trillion in assets as of June 2025.

History of Prudential Financial

Prudential traces its roots to 1875 when John Dryden founded The Prudential Friendly Society in Newark, NJ. Dryden believed working-class families deserved access to life insurance and offered policies for just 3 cents a week.

"The Rock" debuted as the company's corporate symbol in 1896 to represent strength and stability. The firm issued its first group insurance policy in 1916 and provided the first group pension to Cleveland Public Library in 1928.

Growth and global ambitions

Prudential Financial continued to grow in the following decades and reached major milestones along the way. During World War II, the company donated its downtown Newark building to support government efforts.

The iconic "Get a Piece of the Rock" campaign launched in 1971 and helped Prudential become the largest insurer in the world by 1975. The Prudential Foundation was established in 1976, and the firm partnered with Sony in 1979 to enter the Japanese market.

Going global and going public

The late 1990s and early 2000s brought bold moves as Prudential Financial pursued worldwide expansion. In 1997, the company created Bowie Bonds, an innovative security tied to David Bowie's music royalties, and established Prudential of Brazil.

The firm went public on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in 2001. Despite the 2008 global financial crisis, Prudential remained stable and acquired Star and Edison in 2010 to strengthen its position.

Prudential Financial's leadership at 150

In 2016, PGIM (Prudential Global Investment Management) was introduced as the global brand for the company's investment management arm. The firm integrated AI into underwriting in 2022 and launched "Blueprints to Black Wealth," a financial inclusion program, in 2023.

In 2025, Prudential celebrated its 150th anniversary and expanded its partnership with LPL Financial to introduce an insurance overlay retirement income strategy for advisors.

Prudential Financial products and services

Prudential Financial offers investment products and services for individual and institutional clients:

Investment accounts

  • IRAs: traditional and Roth retirement savings accounts
  • 529 plans: tax-advantaged college savings accounts
  • 401(k) plans: employer-sponsored retirement savings options
  • brokerage accounts: access to stocks, bonds, and securities

Investment products

  • mutual funds: diversified portfolios managed by professionals
  • ETFs: exchange-traded funds for flexible investing

Annuities

  • fixed annuities: guaranteed income with limited growth potential
  • fixed indexed annuities: growth opportunity tied to index performance
  • registered index-linked annuities: index-based growth with downside protection
  • variable annuities: investments in professionally managed funds

PGIM investment management

  • public fixed income: bond and debt investment strategies
  • public equity: stock market investment solutions
  • real estate: debt and equity real estate investments
  • private credit: alternative lending and credit strategies
  • multi-asset solutions: diversified strategies across asset classes

Prudential provides digital tools like spend-vs-invest calculators and retirement planning resources for investors. PGIM serves institutional clients, including pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and central banks worldwide.

Culture and corporate values

According to Prudential Financial, employees shape the company's culture and drive innovation. The firm reports that respect and belonging are central to its workplace environment. Its core values are:

  • worthy of trust
  • customer focused
  • respect for each other
  • winning with integrity

Prudential reports that employee well-being is a company priority. The firm offers family-friendly policies and flexible benefits, including:

  • healthcare and insurance: medical, dental, vision, life, disability, and flexible spending accounts
  • financial wellness: retirement plans, stock purchase, mutual funds, and $5,000 student loan repayment
  • work-life and family: caregiving support, childcare, adoption reimbursement, and $1,600 yearly wellbeing stipend
  • community resources: PruCares volunteer programs, matching gifts, and personal volunteer days
  • additional benefits: education programs, legal insurance, commuter benefits, and identity protection

The company also supports diversity through Business Resource Groups, first launched in 1993. Prudential Financial now operates eight BRGs with nearly 6,000 members across the firm.

About CEO Andrew Sullivan and key people

Andrew Sullivan serves as CEO of Prudential Financial. Before this role, he led the firm's international businesses and joined Prudential in 2011 from CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield. Sullivan earned an executive MBA from the University of Delaware and a degree from the US Naval Academy.

Prudential Financial's executive officers guide the company's strategy and operations:

  • Ann Kappler serves as EVP, general counsel, and head of corporate affairs, overseeing law and compliance
  • Scott Case is EVP and head of global technology and operations, joining from Truist in 2024
  • Timothy Schmidt works as SVP and chief investment officer, managing global investment strategy
  • Vicki Walia serves as EVP and chief people officer, leading global talent and culture
  • Yanela Frias is EVP and CFO, overseeing financial reporting and treasury
  • Jacques Chappuis works as president and CEO of PGIM, formerly at Morgan Stanley

The leadership team at Prudential has decades of experience in financial services and investment management. Together, they guide Prudential's strategy to deliver value for clients and communities.

The future at Prudential Financial

Prudential Financial's group insurance CMO Christina Pihos recently sat down with InvestmentNews to discuss new research on employee benefits. The study found that 85 percent of employers believe they offer modern benefits, while only 59 percent of employees agree. Prudential uses these insights to help employers turn benefits into a strategic tool for talent retention and attraction.

Prudential Financial also released its 2025 Global Retirement Pulse Survey, which polled 4,200 mass affluent adults across the US, Mexico, Brazil, and Japan. The study showed that 89 percent of US respondents feel confident about covering retirement costs, yet only one-third have a written plan.

Advised clients showed 94 percent confidence as well, compared to 83 percent without an advisor. The firm sees this gap as a sign of growing demand for retirement guidance.

The latest Prudential Financial news

Displaying 422 results
Pimco Total Return managers reverse course set by Bill Gross
FIXED INCOME APR 01, 2015
Pimco Total Return managers reverse course set by Bill Gross

Scott Mather and team buying government-backed bonds, boosting mortgage allocation to 30% from 20% before Bond King's exit.

FIXED INCOME MAR 08, 2015
BlackRock takes Pimco assets with No. 1 total return fund

At a recent BlackRock event, fund manager Rick Rieder told about 100 advisers that he expects interest rates to remain low. The talk was enough to persuade at least one adviser to shift even more client money from Pimco to BlackRock.

No end in sight to increasing cost of long-term care insurance
No end in sight to increasing cost of long-term care insurance

The high price of elder care, longer life spans of retirees and persistently low interest rates are wreaking havoc in this corner of the insurance business.

Genworth Financial struggling under the weight of long-term care costs

Insurance giant stung by cost of elder care, longer life spans of retirees and persistently low interest rates.

MetLife plans to sue to overturn Dodd-Frank systemic-risk label
MetLife plans to sue to overturn Dodd-Frank systemic-risk label

The insurer will be the first non-bank to argue that its failure would not pose a threat to the financial system.

Prudential and MassMutual in $2.5 billion pension risk transfer deal with Kimberly-Clark
Prudential and MassMutual in $2.5 billion pension risk transfer deal with Kimberly-Clark

21,000 retirees of the hygiene products maker will now be receiving their pension checks from Prudential

Lifetime income to reach defined-contribution retirement plans, but not anytime soon

Existing products don't fit within the broad regulatory guidelines governing a lifetime income option that contains a deferred annuity offered within a target date fund.

Utility, consumer stocks can play defense when market volatility spikes
EQUITIES JAN 13, 2015
Utility, consumer stocks can play defense when market volatility spikes

Barbell approach can help advisers manage through the volatile first quarter earnings season without ditching stocks altogether.

EQUITIES DEC 30, 2014
Stocks and the economy are hooked on the Fed's punch bowl

Policy critics charge the markets are 'artificial,' but some strategists say the central bank can manage continued stimulus pullback.

EQUITIES DEC 22, 2014
Advisers and analysts scramble to make sense of a wild market ride

Giving the Fed credit and blame for pushing markets past fundamentals.

MUTUAL FUNDS NOV 17, 2014
Pimco Total Return suffers $27.5 billion asset drop in October after Gross exit

Redemptions top the $23.5 billion that left Pimco in September as investors continue to pull money in the wake of Bill Gross' exit.

MUTUAL FUNDS NOV 09, 2014
Fixed-income firms scramble to capture funds unleashed by Pimco turmoil

With interest rates near historic lows and signs pointing to a new Fed tightening cycle, the movement of money sparked by Bill Gross' exit from Pimco might be the start of a major bond transition. <b><i>(Plus: <a href=&quot;http://www.investmentnews.com/section/specialreport/20141109/BONDKINGS&quot;>See our full report on the new bond kings</a>)</b></i>

EQUITIES NOV 05, 2014
U.S. stock-index futures decline with S&P 500 near record

Investors weighed prospects for economic growth and corporate earnings to help gauge the pace of the recovery.

MUTUAL FUNDS NOV 01, 2014
BlackRock, Loomis Sayles replace Pimco at $6B Prudential fund

Move comes on heels of record withdrawals from Pimco Total Return after Gross exit