Prudential Financial

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This article is about the American company. For the British company, see Prudential plc. For places named after the company, see Prudential.
Prudential Financial, Inc.
Type Public (NYSE: PRU)
Founded Newark, New Jersey, 1875
Headquarters Newark, New Jersey
Key people John Strangfeld, Chairman and CEO
Products Financial Services
Employees 39,422
Website www.prudential.com

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU) is a Fortune Global 500 and Fortune 500 company whose subsidiaries provide insurance, investment management, and other financial products and services to both retail and institutional customers throughout the United States and in over 30 other countries. Principal products and services provided include life insurance, annuities, mutual funds, pension- and retirement-related investments, administration and asset management, securities brokerage services, and commercial and residential real estate in many states of the U.S. It provides these products and services to individual and institutional customers through distribution networks in the financial services industry. In 1981, the company acquired Bache & Co., a stock brokerage service now operating as a wholly owned subsidiary. Prudential has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe and Latin America and has organized its principal operations into the Financial Services Businesses and the Closed Block Business.

Prudential is composed of hundreds of subsidiaries and holds more than $2 trillion dollars of life insurance[1]. Its logo is the Rock of Gibraltar.

Newark skyline, with the Prudential Financial headquarters.
Newark skyline, with the Prudential Financial headquarters.

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[edit] History

Started in Newark, New Jersey in 1875, Prudential Financial, Inc. as it is known today, was originally called the "Prudential Friendly Society" and was founded by John F. Dryden, who later became a U.S. Senator. It sold one product in the beginning, burial insurance. John F. Dryden was president of Prudential until 1912. He was succeeded by his son Forrest F. Dryden, who was the president until 1922.

Homeland Security secured the headquarters building in August, 2004.
Homeland Security secured the headquarters building in August, 2004.

A history of The Prudential Insurance Company of America up to about 1975 is the topic of the book Three Cents A Week, referring to the premium paid by early policyholders.

Prudential's logo, The Rock of Gibraltar, is one of the most recognized corporate symbols in the world.[2] The use of the rock began after an advertising agent passed Laurel Hill, a volcanic neck, in Secaucus, New Jersey on a train in the 1890's.[3] The slogans "Get a Piece of the Rock" and "Strength of Gibraltar" are also still quite widely associated with Prudential, though current advertising uses neither of these.

Laurel Hill, the inspiration for the Rock of Gibraltar logo
Laurel Hill, the inspiration for the Rock of Gibraltar logo

In 1999, Prudential sold its healthcare division, Prudential HealthCare, to Aetna for $1 billion.

Prudential has evolved from a mutual insurance company (owned by its policyholders) to a joint stock company. It is now traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol PRU. The Prudential Stock was issued and started trading on the New York Stock Exchange on December 13, 2001. On that day, a share of Prudential Financial was about $27.00 a share, as of trading on 11/2/2007, Prudential Financial is averaging $95.00-$100.00 a share. On October 16, 2007 the Fox Business Channel picked Prudential as part of its Fox50 Index.

On May 1, 2003, Prudential formalized the acquisition of American Skandia, the largest distributor of variable annuities through independent financial professionals in the United States. The combination of American Skandia variable annuities and Prudential fixed annuities created a major new force in financial services. This acquisition highlighted Prudential’s strategy to acquire complementary businesses that help meet retirement goals.

In April 2004, the company acquired the retirement business of CIGNA Corporation.

On August 1, 2004, the Office of Homeland Security announced the discovery of terrorist threats against the Prudential Financial headquarters in Newark, New Jersey, prompting large-scale security measures such as concrete barriers and internal security changes such as X-ray machines.

On August 28, 2006, federal and state securities regulators and the Department of Justice announced parallel settlements and a total of $600 million in monetary sanctions against Prudential Securities, Inc. (now known as Prudential Equity Group ) for misconduct relating to improper market timing.[4]

On November 28, 2007, Prudential Financial board of directors elected a new CEO

"The board of directors of Prudential Financial Inc. has elected a new chief executive officer. Vice chairman John R. Strangfeld will take the reins of the Newark-based insurance and financial services company on Jan. 1. Strangfeld, 53, currently runs all of Prudential's U.S. businesses. He succeeds Arthur F. Ryan, who is retiring as CEO at the end of 2007. Strangfeld also will become chairman after Ryan retires from that job in May 2008."[5]

[edit] Ratings and Awards

Prudential has received a 100% rating on the Corporate Equality Index released by the Human Rights Campaign every year since 2003, the second year of the report. In addition, the company was named one of the "100 Best Companies for Working Mothers" in 2004 by Working Mothers magazine.


[edit] References

  • Scannell’s New Jersey’s First Citizens 1917-1918, Page 138

[edit] External links