Prudential 2006 Annual Report Download - page 4

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PRUDENTIAL FINANCIAL, INC. 2006 ANNUAL REPORT
2
As a company, across our U.S. and international businesses,
in 2006 we increased our overall assets under management by
approximately $84 billion.
Our financial performance enabled us to continue to deliver
value to our shareholders in 2006. For the fourth consecutive
year, we increased our Common Stock dividend, this time by
approximately 22 percent, to 95 cents per share in 2006.
And for the fifth consecutive year, our stock outperformed the
S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average. In 2006, the
price of Prudential Financial’s Common Stock rose more than
17 percent. Since the end of 2001, our Common Stock has
appreciated by 159 percent, and delivered average annual
appreciation of 22 percent. The S&P 500 and the Dow each
appreciated by 24 percent over the same five-year period, with
average annual appreciation amounting to less than 6 percent.
A balanced mix of businesses and risks
I’m very pleased with where we are and who we are as a company
today—and not simply based on the results we’ve achieved.
Equally important, I am confident that we have established a
strong foundation for continued growth—and we are committed
to fulfilling that potential.
We have developed a balanced combination of complementary yet
diversified businesses. This unique mix of differentiated products,
services and business models serves us well in several ways.
All of our businesses contribute to our mission to help our
customers grow and protect their wealth. But each depends on
different drivers of business results and thus is subject to a
different set of business risks. By diversifying our mix of
businesses, we have also achieved a sound balance in our
exposure to market risks.
In addition, we have built complementary distribution systems
in the United States—both captive and third-party—and in
Japan, where we sell life insurance through our network of
professional Life Planners and through a more traditional
insurance company. The result is an impressive expansion of our
overall distribution capabilities for our insurance, annuity and
investment products.
And we are a leader in the businesses where we choose to
concentrate, particularly where we see potential for high
growth. Our businesses in the domestic retirement and
savings market are a prime example. Through a series of
successful acquisitions, we have developed a significant
presence in this $21 trillion market, which we expect will
continue to grow rapidly.
One component of our retirement and savings market presence
is our annuities business. Today’s variable annuities offer
customers access to sophisticated investment and risk
management capabilities, making them key to effective
retirement strategies. Our acquisition of American Skandia in