PRUDENTIAL FINANCIAL INC

As a global financial services company, market interest rates are a key driver of our liquidity and capital positions, cash flows, results of operations and financial position. Changes in interest rates can affect these in several ways, including favorable or adverse impacts to:

•investment-related activity, including: investment income returns, net investment spread results, new money rates, mortgage loan prepayments and bond redemptions;

•the valuation of fixed income investments and derivative instruments;

•collateral posting requirements, hedging costs and other risk mitigation activities;

•customer account values and assets under management, including their impacts on fee-related income;

•insurance reserve levels, including market risk benefits (“MRBs”), and market experience true-ups;

•policyholder behavior, including surrender or withdrawal activity;

•product offerings, design features, crediting rates and sales mix; and

•the fair value of, and possible impairments on, intangible assets such as goodwill.

In order to manage the impacts that changes in interest rates have on our net investment spread, we employ a proactive asset/liability management program, which includes strategic asset allocation and hedging strategies within a disciplined risk management framework. These strategies seek to match the liability characteristics of our products and to closely approximate the interest rate sensitivity of assets with that of product liabilities. We also manage duration gaps, currency and other risks between assets and liabilities through the use of derivatives, and adjust these strategies as products, customer behavior, and market conditions evolve. Our interest rate exposure is also mitigated by our business mix, which includes lines of business where fee-based and insurance underwriting earnings play a more prominent role in product profitability. We also regularly examine our product offerings and may reprice or discontinue sales of certain products that do not meet our profit expectations. Additionally, in our Japanese operations, our diverse product portfolio in terms of currency mix and premium payment structure allows us to further manage any impacts from changes in the interest rate environment. For additional information regarding sales within our Japanese operations, see “—International Businesses—Sales Results,” below.

For additional information regarding interest rate risks, see “Item 1A. Risk Factors—Market Risk” and “Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosure About Market Risk.”