Prudential 2001 Annual Report Download - page 49

Prudential Financial, Inc.
U.S. Consumer Division
The U.S. Consumer division generates income from premiums, as well as fee-based revenues and spread income,
through the Individual Life Insurance, Retail Investments and Property and Casualty Insurance segments. Premiums
and investment income are received by the Individual Life Insurance and Property and Casualty Insurance segments on
insurance products and by the Retail Investments segment on some of its annuity products. Products and services that
generate fee-based revenue include mutual funds, variable annuities, variable life insurance and wrap-fee products. The
latter fee-based revenues consist primarily of asset management fees, account servicing fees and risk charges. The
Retail Investments segment receives fees and investment income from retail investment products. Additionally, the
securities brokerage operations that account for the major portion of revenues of the Private Client Group segment
generate revenues from client commissions, asset management and portfolio service fees, and net interest revenues
derived primarily from margin lending to customers, as well as sales credits related to transactions with retail
customers associated with equity and fixed income sales and trading operations. We also earn trading revenues from
our fixed income trading operations which are incidental to our retail operations. We include fee-based revenues in the
line captioned “Commissions and other income” or “Policy charges and fee income” in our consolidated statements of
operations. The Private Client Group segment also includes our consumer banking operations.
We seek to earn spread income in our general account on various products. Spread income is the difference between
our return on the investments supporting the products net of expenses and the amounts we credit to our
contractholders. Products that generate spread income primarily include the general account insurance products of
the Individual Life Insurance segment, and fixed annuities and the fixed-rate option of variable annuities of the
Retail Investments segment. We include revenues from these products, other than premiums received from
policyholders, primarily in the line captioned “Net investment income” in our consolidated statements of operations.
The Individual Life Insurance and Private Client Group segments pay the expenses of their own proprietary sales
forces for distribution of products. Additionally, the Retail Investments segment pays the Individual Life Insurance
and Private Client Group segments for distribution of its products by Prudential Agents and Financial Advisors. The
Individual Life Insurance, Retail Investments and Property and Casualty Insurance segments also pay our
Investment Management and Advisory Services segment for management of proprietary assets which include the
general account investments that support our Individual Life Insurance, Retail Investments and Property and
Casualty Insurance segments, as well as most of the assets supporting our separate account life insurance and
annuity products such as variable life insurance and annuities. These fees result in expenses to the segments of the
U.S. Consumer division and revenues to the Asset Management division. We reflect all of the intra-company asset
management services at rates that we determine with reference to market rates.
In recent years, sales in our individual life insurance business, as measured by both number of policies and
premiums, have generally declined or not grown significantly. This trend is due in part to a continuing decline in the
number of Prudential Agents. We believe that the decline in Prudential Agents results, in part, from our
implementation of higher productivity standards associated with measures we have taken to reduce the cost structure
of our proprietary distribution channel. This trend in sales has had an adverse impact on premiums, primarily from
new business, and adjusted operating income. We are seeking to improve performance by taking steps to refocus the
Prudential Agent sales force on the mass affluent market and to continue to improve productivity of the proprietary
distribution channel, and to expand third-party distribution of our products. However, we cannot predict whether
these steps will succeed or have the desired effects.
Prior to 2001, we experienced net redemptions in our proprietary retail investment products due in substantial part
to turnover among experienced Financial Advisors and our focus on the value style of investment management in
our equity mutual funds. The impact of these outflows was partially offset by higher revenues resulting from market
appreciation of remaining assets, which produced increases in assets under management in 1999 and 2000. Over the
last several years, we began to diversify the focus of our investment products and we have been building investment
manager choice into most of our Retail Investments products. This advised choice approach allows us to offer
customers investment alternatives advised by third parties in our products and asset management styles that we
might not otherwise offer. Our Retail Investments wrap-fee assets increased to $19.6 billion at December 31, 2000,
from $16.7 billion a year earlier and $11.5 billion at December 31, 1998. We believe these increases reflect
increased marketplace emphasis on products that provide customers a broader choice of investments. At December
31, 2001, wrap-fee assets decreased to $18.0 billion, reflecting market value declines during 2001. We believe the
continuing turnover among domestic Financial Advisors is due in part to the lack of a stock-based compensation
program. In 1999 this turnover increased due in part to greater industry competition for productive Financial
Advisors. We have taken actions to stabilize the Financial Advisor force, including our implementation, effective
Prudential Financial 2001 Annual Report 47