Prudential life insurance

Overview

Prudential Financial, Inc. is a publicly traded insurance and investment company headquartered in Newark, New Jersey, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange as PRU. Its U.S. life policies are issued by The Prudential Insurance Company of America (PICA) and Pruco Life Insurance Company, with Pruco Life Insurance Company of New Jersey issuing policies in New York. The group ranked #4 among U.S. life insurance groups by 2024 individual life direct premiums written, according to NAIC market share data, with $7.99 billion, a 5.11% share.

Unlike the three mutuals ranked above it, Prudential is owned by shareholders and does not sell participating whole life to new buyers. Its Individual Life segment focuses on term, universal and variable life for middle-income to affluent households, according to its 2025 annual report on Form 10-K. It is also a large group insurer: its Group Insurance segment sells employer life and disability coverage and holds the federal Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance contract (see Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance). The company reported about $1.6 trillion in assets under management, including its PGIM investment arm, as of June 30, 2026. Andrew F. Sullivan is president and CEO.

History

Prudential traces its roots to 1875, when John F. Dryden started the business in Newark, New Jersey, as the Widows and Orphans Friendly Society; it soon became The Prudential Insurance Company of America and grew by selling small weekly-premium policies to working families.

For most of its history Prudential was a mutual. On December 18, 2001, PICA demutualized, converting to a stock company owned by the newly public Prudential Financial. Older participating policies were placed in a closed block that is still run separately to pay their dividends.

Several transactions matter if you hold an older policy. In 2013 Prudential acquired The Hartford's individual life insurance business, so many former Hartford life policies are now Prudential's. In 2022 it sold its legacy variable annuity company, now Fortitude Life Insurance & Annuity Company, to Fortitude Re, which keeps PICA as administrator. In 2024 it reinsured a large part of its guaranteed universal life block with Somerset Re and Wilton Re, and decided to exit Assurance IQ, the online insurance marketplace it bought in 2019. On October 5, 2026 it agreed to reinsure about $5 billion of reserves on U.S.-dollar Japanese whole life policies with Prismic Life, a Bermuda reinsurer it sponsors with Warburg Pincus; that deal covers policies sold in Japan, not U.S. policies. See when your life insurance policy is sold to another company for what such deals mean for policyholders.

Life insurance products

Prudential sells only term and universal-life-type coverage to individuals, through several term lines:

• EssentialTerm Value and EssentialTerm Plus, for $100,000 to $65 million over 10, 15, 20 or 30 years, convertible to any Prudential permanent policy (Plus allows conversion for the whole term or to age 70) with a conversion credit in years 2 to 7. Applicants under 60 may not need a medical exam.
• Term Essential, 10 to 30 years, with an optional Living Needs Benefit.
• PruTerm One, one-year renewable coverage aimed at short-term needs such as a business loan.
• SimplyTerm, bought online in minutes with no medical exam or lab work, for $25,000 to $1 million over 5 to 20 years.

Permanent coverage includes PruLife Essential UL, a universal life policy with a no-lapse guarantee if enough premium is paid; indexed universal life including Prudential Momentum IUL and PruLife Survivorship Index UL; variable universal life; and FlexGuard Life, an indexed variable universal life policy sold by prospectus. Available riders include the Living Needs Benefit, the BenefitAccess Rider (which can pay up to the full death benefit early for chronic or terminal illness), enhanced disability benefits and an accidental death benefit.

Other products

Prudential sells fixed, indexed (including FlexGuard registered index-linked) and income annuities, employer group life, disability and supplemental health coverage, and pension risk transfer. PGIM is its global asset manager.

Buying and service

Most policies are sold through financial professionals: Prudential Advisors, the company's own advice organization (whose advisors are registered with LPL Enterprise under a marketing agreement), and third-party brokers, banks, general agencies and producer groups. SimplyTerm can be bought directly online, and since October 21, 2026 it has also been sold inside the SoFi app to eligible SoFi members (issued by Pruco Life; not available in all states). SoFi is not a Prudential affiliate. Policy owners can log in to manage policies, make premium or loan payments without logging in, and use a virtual chat assistant. The individual life service line is 800-778-2255, weekdays 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern, and the company says it releases policy information by phone only to the policy owner.

Claims

Beneficiaries can file a death claim online 24 hours a day through Prudential's claims site, or by phone. Before starting, have the date of death and at least one of the insured's full name and date of birth, Social Security number or policy number; Prudential also offers a downloadable claims checklist. Individual life claims go to 800-778-2255, except policies whose numbers begin with "FE," which use 833-626-1865 (weekdays 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern). Employer group life claims go to 800-524-0542. The general steps are in how to file a life insurance claim.

Ratings and reputation

As of August 4, 2026, Prudential's investor site lists these financial strength ratings for both PICA and Pruco Life: AM Best A+ (Superior), S&P Global AA- (Very Strong), Moody's Aa3 and Fitch AA- (Very Strong). Pruco Life of New Jersey carries the same AM Best, S&P and Fitch ratings. These are strong but a step below the top mutuals such as Northwestern Mutual. On May 6, 2026, Fitch placed all of Prudential Financial's ratings, including the AA- insurer financial strength ratings of its main U.S. life insurers, on Rating Watch Negative because of the sales suspension and misconduct at its Japanese unit (described below); Fitch said resolving the watch could take more than six months and would depend on sales resuming with limited damage to earnings and the franchise. As of October 24, 2026 no resolution of the watch had been reported.

Prudential's biggest recent regulatory problem is outside the United States. In January 2026 its Japanese unit, The Prudential Life Insurance Company, disclosed that 107 current and former employees had defrauded about 500 customers of roughly ¥3.1 billion (about $20 million) between 1991 and 2025. On October 9, 2026, Japan's Financial Services Agency ordered that company to stop selling new policies from October 13, 2026 through January 31, 2027, partly suspended sales by Gibraltar Life's employed sales force, and issued a business improvement order to Prudential Holdings of Japan. Prudential said both Japanese insurers remain financially sound. The orders apply to the Japanese companies, not to U.S. policies issued by PICA or Pruco Life.

In the J.D. Power 2026 U.S. Individual Life Insurance Study, released in October 2026, Prudential ranked 5th of 23 brands with 672 points, above the 649 study average and up from 12th in 2025.

Who it suits

Prudential suits buyers who want a large or convertible term policy, a guaranteed or indexed universal life policy, or a small term policy bought online without an exam, and who are comfortable with a shareholder-owned company. It is not the place for new participating whole life or dividends. Its history of buying, selling and reinsuring blocks means some policyholders find their policy administered by Prudential even though they bought it elsewhere, or reinsured to another company.

• Strengths: Wide term menu, from one-year to 30-year terms and up to $65 million; online no-exam SimplyTerm; generous conversion options with conversion credits; strong ratings (A+ from AM Best, AA- from S&P and Fitch, as of August 2026, though Fitch's are on Rating Watch Negative); 5th of 23 in J.D. Power's 2026 life insurance satisfaction study.
• Weaknesses: No whole life or dividends for new buyers; ratings below the top mutuals, with Fitch's on Rating Watch Negative since May 2026 over misconduct at its Japanese unit; large blocks of older business sold or reinsured since 2022.

How to contact Prudential