PRUDENTIAL FINANCIAL INC

6. FAIR VALUE OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES

Fair Value Measurement—Fair value represents the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. The authoritative fair value guidance establishes a framework for measuring fair value that includes a hierarchy used to classify the inputs used in measuring fair value. The level in the fair value hierarchy within which the fair value measurement falls is determined based on the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement. The levels of the fair value hierarchy are as follows:

Level 1—Fair value is based on unadjusted quoted prices in active markets that are accessible to the Company for identical assets or liabilities.

Level 2—Fair value is based on significant inputs, other than quoted prices included in Level 1, that are observable for the asset or liability, either directly or indirectly, for substantially the full term of the asset or liability through corroboration with observable market data. Level 2 inputs include quoted prices in active markets for similar assets and liabilities, quoted prices in markets that are not active for identical or similar assets or liabilities, and other market observable inputs.

Level 3—Fair value is based on at least one significant unobservable input for the asset or liability. The assets and liabilities in this category may require significant judgment or estimation in determining the fair value.

For a discussion of the Company’s valuation methodologies for assets and liabilities measured at fair value and the fair value hierarchy, see Note 6 to the Consolidated Financial Statements included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023.

Assets and Liabilities by Hierarchy Level—The tables below present the balances of assets and liabilities reported at fair value on a recurring basis, as of the dates indicated.

(1)“Netting” amounts represent cash collateral of $(8,244) million and $(9,815) million as of September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively, and the impact of offsetting asset and liability positions held with the same counterparty, subject to master netting agreements.

(2)Excludes notes with fair value of $14,137 million (carrying amount of $14,126 million) and $12,370 million (carrying amount of $12,370 million) as of September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively, which have been offset with the associated debt under a netting agreement.

(3)Includes credit-tranched securities collateralized by loan obligations, home equity loans, auto loans, education loans and other asset types.

(4)Equity securities excluded from the fair value hierarchy include a fund for which fair value is measured at net asset value (“NAV”) per share (or its equivalent) as a practical expedient. As of December 31, 2023, the fair value of this investment was $239 million.

(5)Other invested assets excluded from the fair value hierarchy include certain hedge funds, private equity funds and other funds for which fair value is measured at NAV per share (or its equivalent) as a practical expedient. As of September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, the fair value of such investments was $4,984 million and $4,125 million, respectively.

(6)Separate account assets included in the fair value hierarchy exclude investments in entities that calculate NAV per share (or its equivalent) as a practical expedient. Such investments excluded from the fair value hierarchy include investments in real estate, hedge funds and other invested assets. As of September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, the fair value of such investments was $26,396 million and $27,076 million, respectively.

(7)Separate account assets represent segregated funds that are invested for certain customers. Investment risks associated with market value changes are borne by the customers, except to the extent of minimum guarantees made by the Company with respect to certain accounts. Separate account liabilities are not included in the above table as they are reported at contract value and not fair value in the Company’s Unaudited Interim Consolidated Statements of Financial Position.

Quantitative Information Regarding Internally-Priced Level 3 Assets and Liabilities—The tables below present quantitative information regarding significant internally-priced Level 3 assets and liabilities.

(1)Conversely, the impact of a decrease in input would have the opposite impact on fair value as that presented in the table.

(2)Includes assets classified as fixed maturities, available-for-sale, assets supporting experience-rated contractholder liabilities and fixed maturities, trading.

(3)Excludes notes which have been offset with the associated debt under a netting agreement.

(4)Represents multiples of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (“EBITDA”), and are amounts used when the Company has determined that market participants would use such multiples when valuing the investments.

(5)For these investments, a range of discount rates is typically used (10% to 20%) and is therefore a more meaningful representation of the unobservable inputs used in the valuation rather than weighted average.

(6)Market risk benefits primarily represent fair value for all living benefit guarantees including accumulation, withdrawal and income benefits. Since the valuation methodology for these assets and liabilities uses a range of inputs that vary at the contract level over the cash flow projection period, presenting a range, rather than weighted average, is a more meaningful representation of the unobservable inputs used in the valuation.

(7)Policyholders’ account balances primarily represent general account liabilities for the index-linked interest credited on certain of the Company’s life and annuity products that are accounted for as embedded derivatives. Since the valuation methodology for these liabilities uses a range of inputs that vary at the contract level over the cash flow projection period, presenting a range, rather than a weighted average, is a more meaningful representation of the unobservable inputs used in the valuation.

(8)Lapse rates for contracts with living benefit guarantees are adjusted at the contract level based on the in-the-moneyness of the living benefit and reflect other factors, such as the applicability of any surrender charges. Lapse rates are reduced when contracts are more in-the-money. Lapse rates for contracts with index-linked crediting guarantees may be adjusted at the contract level based on the applicability of any surrender charges, product type, and market related factors such as interest rates. Lapse rates are also generally assumed to be lower for the period where surrender charges apply. For any given contract, lapse rates vary throughout the period over which cash flows are projected for the purposes of valuing these balances.

(9)The spread over the secured overnight financing rate (“SOFR”) swap curve represents the premium added to the proxy for the risk-free rate (SOFR) to reflect the Company’s estimates of rates that a market participant would use to value the living benefits in both the accumulation and payout phases and index-linked interest crediting guarantees as of September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively. This spread includes an estimate of non-performance risk (“NPR”), which is the risk that the obligation will not be fulfilled by the Company. NPR is primarily estimated by utilizing the credit spreads associated with issuing funding agreements, adjusted for any illiquidity risk premium. In order to reflect the financial strength ratings of the Company, credit spreads associated with funding agreements, as opposed to credit spread associated with debt, are utilized in developing this estimate because funding agreements are insurance liabilities and are therefore senior to debt. Effective April 2023, the Company entered into an agreement with The Ohio National Life Insurance Company, now known as AuguStar Life Insurance Company (“AuguStar”), an affiliate of Constellation Insurance Holdings, Inc., to reinsure approximately $10 billion of account values of PDI traditional variable annuity contracts with guaranteed living benefits. See Note 12 for additional information regarding this transaction. As a result of this transaction, a ceded MRB asset balance was established to fair value the reinsurance reimbursements to the Company. The establishment of the fair value also required an estimate of NPR for AuguStar, which may differ from the Company’s; however, the NPR spreads for AuguStar were developed using a methodology similar to that of the Company.

(10)The utilization rate assumption estimates the percentage of contracts that will utilize the benefit during the contract duration, and begin lifetime withdrawals at various time intervals from contract inception. The remaining contractholders are assumed to either begin lifetime withdrawals immediately or never utilize the benefit. Utilization assumptions may vary by product type, tax status and age. The impact of changes in these assumptions is highly dependent on the product type, the age of the contractholder at the time of the sale, and the timing of the first lifetime income withdrawal. Range reflects the utilization rate for the vast majority of business with living benefits.

(11)The withdrawal rate assumption estimates the magnitude of annual contractholder withdrawals relative to the maximum allowable amount under the contract. These assumptions vary based on the age of the contractholder, the tax status of the contract and the duration since the contractholder began lifetime withdrawals. As of September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, the minimum withdrawal rate assumption is 78% and 81%, respectively. As of September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023 the maximum withdrawal rate assumption may be greater than 100%. The fair value of the liability will generally increase the closer the withdrawal rate is to 100% and decrease as the withdrawal rate moves further away from 100%.

(12)The range reflects the mortality rates for the vast majority of business with living benefits and other contracts, with policyholders ranging from 50 to 90 years old. While the majority of living benefits have a minimum age requirement, certain other contracts do not have an age restriction. This results in contractholders with mortality rates approaching 0% for certain benefits. Mortality rates may vary by product, age and duration. A mortality improvement assumption is also incorporated into the overall mortality table.

(13)Option budget estimates the expected long-term cost of options used to hedge exposures associated with equity price and interest rate changes. The level of option budget determines future costs of the options, which impacts the growth in account value and the valuation of embedded derivatives.

Interrelationships Between Unobservable Inputs—In addition to the sensitivities of fair value measurements to changes in each unobservable input in isolation, as reflected in the table above, interrelationships between these inputs may also exist, such that a change in one unobservable input may give rise to a change in another or multiple inputs. Examples of such interrelationships for significant internally-priced Level 3 assets and liabilities are as follows:

Corporate Securities—The rate used to discount future cash flows reflects current risk-free rates plus credit and liquidity spread requirements that market participants would use to value an asset. The discount rate may be influenced by many factors, including market cycles, expectations of default, collateral, term and asset complexity. Each of these factors can influence discount rates, either in isolation, or in response to other factors. During weaker economic cycles, as the expectations of default increase, credit spreads widen, which results in a decrease in fair value.

Commercial Mortgage-backed Securities—Interrelationships may exist between the prepayment rate, the default rate and/or loss severity, depending on specific market conditions. In stronger economic cycles, prepayment rates are generally driven by underlying property appreciation and subsequent cash-out refinances, while default rates and loss severity may be lower. During weaker economic cycles, prepayment rates may decline, while default rates and loss severity increase. Generally, a change in the assumption used for the probability of default would be accompanied by a directionally similar change in the assumption used for the loss severity and a directionally opposite change in the assumption used for prepayment rates. The impact of these factors on average life and economics varies with the deal structure and tranche subordination.

Market Risk Benefits—The Company expects efficient benefit utilization and withdrawal rates to generally be correlated with lapse rates. However, behavior is generally highly dependent on the facts and circumstances surrounding the individual contractholder, such as their liquidity needs or tax situation, which could drive lapse behavior independent of other contractholder behavior assumptions. To the extent more efficient contractholder behavior results in greater in-the-moneyness at the contract level, lapse rates may decline for those contracts. Similarly, to the extent that increases in equity volatility are correlated with overall declines in the capital markets, lapse rates may decline as contracts become more in-the-money.

Changes in Level 3 Assets and Liabilities—The following tables describe changes in fair values of Level 3 assets and liabilities as of the dates indicated, as well as the portion of gains or losses included in income attributable to unrealized gains or losses related to those assets and liabilities still held at the end of their respective periods (excluding MRBs disclosed in Note 11). When a determination is made to classify assets and liabilities within Level 3, the determination is based on significance of the unobservable inputs in the overall fair value measurement. All transfers are based on changes in the observability of the valuation inputs, including the availability of pricing service information that the Company can validate. Transfers into Level 3 are generally the result of unobservable inputs utilized within valuation methodologies and the use of indicative broker quotes for assets that were previously valued using observable inputs. Transfers out of Level 3 are generally due to the use of observable inputs in valuation methodologies as well as the availability of pricing service information for certain assets that the Company can validate.

(1)“Other” includes additional activity not allocated to the specific categories within the rollforward of Level 3 Assets and Liabilities.

(2)Unrealized gains or losses related to assets still held at the end of the period do not include amortization or accretion of premiums and discounts.

(3)Includes U.S. corporate public, U.S. corporate private, foreign corporate public and foreign corporate private securities.

(4)Includes asset-backed, commercial mortgage-backed and residential mortgage-backed securities.

(5)Issuances and settlements for Policyholders’ account balances are presented net in the rollforward.

(6)Excludes MRB assets of $2,134 million and $2,200 million and MRB liabilities of $5,178 million and $4,660 million for the periods ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, respectively. See Note 11 for additional information.

(7)Prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform to current period presentation.

(8)Transfers into or out of Level 3 are generally reported at the value as of the beginning of the quarter in which the transfers occur for any such positions still held at the end of the quarter.

Derivative Fair Value Information

The following tables present the balances of certain derivative assets and liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis, as of the dates indicated, by the primary underlying risks they are used to manage. These tables include NPR and exclude embedded derivatives. The derivative assets and liabilities shown below are included in “Other invested assets” or “Other liabilities” in the tables contained within the sections “—Assets and Liabilities by Hierarchy Level” and “—Changes in Level 3 Assets and Liabilities,” above.

(1)“Netting” amounts represent cash collateral and the impact of offsetting asset and liability positions held with the same counterparty, subject to master netting agreements.

Changes in Level 3 Derivative Assets and Liabilities—The following tables provide a summary of the changes in fair value of Level 3 derivative assets and liabilities as of the dates indicated, as well as the portion of gains or losses included in income, attributable to unrealized gains or losses related to those assets and liabilities still held at the end of their respective periods.

(1)Total realized and unrealized gains (losses) as well as unrealized gains (losses) for assets still held at the end of the period are recorded in “Realized investment gains (losses), net.”

(2)Transfers into or out of Level 3 are generally reported at the value as of the beginning of the quarter in which the transfers occur for any such positions still held at the end of the quarter.

Nonrecurring Fair Value Measurements—The following tables represent information for assets measured at fair value on a nonrecurring basis. The fair value measurement is nonrecurring as these assets are measured at fair value only when there is a triggering event (e.g., an evidence of impairment). Assets included in the table are those that were impaired during the respective reporting periods and that are still held as of the reporting date. The estimated fair values for these amounts were determined using significant unobservable inputs (Level 3).

(1)Commercial mortgage loans are valued based on discounted cash flows utilizing market rates or the fair value of the underlying real estate collateral.

(2)Reported carrying values for 2024 include values as of the measurement periods of March 31, 2024 for “Investment in JV/LP and Other” and September 30, 2024 for “Investment real estate.” Reported carrying values for 2023 include values as of the measurement periods of June 30, 2023 for “Investment real estate” and June 30, 2023 and December 31, 2023 for “Investment in JV/LP and Other.”

Fair Value Option

The fair value option allows the Company to elect fair value as an alternative measurement for selected financial assets and financial liabilities not otherwise reported at fair value. Such elections have been made by the Company to help mitigate volatility in earnings that result from different measurement attributes. Electing the fair value option also allows the Company to achieve consistent accounting for certain assets and liabilities. Changes in fair value are reflected in “Realized investment gains (losses), net” for commercial mortgage and other loans and “Other income (loss)” for other assets and notes issued by consolidated VIEs. Changes in fair value due to instrument-specific credit risk are estimated using changes in credit spreads and quality ratings for the period reported. Interest income on commercial mortgage and other loans is included in “Net investment income.” Interest income on these loans is recorded based on the effective interest rate as determined at the closing of the loan.

The following tables present information regarding assets and liabilities where the fair value option has been elected.

(1)As of September 30, 2024, for loans for which the fair value option has been elected, none of the loans were 90 days or more past due.

Fair Value of Financial Instruments

The tables below present the carrying amount and fair value by fair value hierarchy level of certain financial instruments that are not reported at fair value. The financial instruments presented below are reported at carrying value on the Company’s Unaudited Interim Consolidated Statements of Financial Position. In some cases, as described below, the carrying amount equals or approximates fair value.

(1)Carrying values presented herein differ from those in the Company’s Unaudited Interim Consolidated Statements of Financial Position because certain items within the respective financial statement captions are not considered financial instruments or are out of scope under authoritative guidance relating to disclosures of the fair value of financial instruments.

(2)Includes contracts reinsured through coinsurance with funds withheld agreement with Prismic Re with a fair value of $7,902 million (carrying amount of $7,902 million) and $8,036 million (carrying amount of $8,036 million), a portion of which relates to insurance contracts as of September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively. See Note 12 for additional information regarding the reinsurance arrangement with Prismic Re.

(3)Excludes debt with fair value of $1,750 million (carrying amount of $1,750 million) and $2,000 million (carrying amount of $2,000 million) as of September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively, which have been offset with the associated notes under a netting agreement.

(4)Excludes debt with fair value of $12,387 million (carrying amount of $12,376 million) and $10,370 million (carrying amount of $10,370 million) as of September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively, which have been offset with the associated notes under a netting agreement.