Prudential In the News

Chairman and CEO John Strangfeld joined some of the biggest names in investing at the Future Investment Initiative conference in Saudi Arabia this week. Prior to his panel appearance, Strangfeld was interviewed live by Maria Bartiromo for her “Mornings with Maria” segment on Fox Business. Bartiromo covered a range of topics, from the prospects for tax reform in the United States to the recent debate in Washington, D.C., about potential changes to limits on 401(k) contributions.

Richard Florida, co-founder and editor at large of CityLab and a senior editor at The Atlantic writes: "When I was a young boy growing up in and around Newark, New Jersey, there was one company that stayed when nearly all the others left. Prudential, founded in Newark in 1875 as the Widows and Orphans Friendly Society, remained committed to Newark through all its storied economic and political travails..." 

Mike Domingos, vice president, Corporate Distribution and Strategy with Prudential Retirement, writes: "Almost every manufacturing executive I know says that today’s rapidly changing landscape is putting pressure on their business. Finding and keeping good people, increasing efficiency and speed to market, gaining a competitive advantage through innovation … these are not new concerns, and yet, they feel more challenging than ever. To put some data behind the conversations we’re having, we recently sponsored a survey of over 500 manufacturing executives about their biggest concerns and opportunities."

For more information about the pressing challenges facing the manufacturing sector and the survey results, visit Manufacturing.PrudentialRetirement.com

It's mid-August--the time of year when participants most often begin taking hardship withdrawals from their defined contribution plans, often to help defray the cost of a child's tuition. Sue Unvarsky, COO of Full Service Solutions at Prudential Retirement, says among the biggest downsides of taking a hardship withdrawal is that it diminishes participants' ability to make the most out of compounding earnings. And participants often find it difficult to to put the amount withdrawn back into their plans. A $50,000 hardship withdrawal could lead to a reduction in up to $100,000 in retirement savings over 12 years (assuming 6 percent returns), Unvarsky said.

In its July/August 2017 issue, Real Estate Forum presented its 2017 roster of Women of Influence, selected from hundreds of nominations across the real estate industry. PGIM Real Estate's Lynn DeCastro was among 50 women chosen who are not only successful in their roles, but serve as an inspiration to people within the industry and their communities. DeCastro, an executive director, has more than three decades of industry experience and established PGIM Real Estate's women's leadership network in 2013. The group has since expanded to include diversity across race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and economic and geographic backgrounds. Over the last 12 months, she has completed more than 36 property dispositions worth $2.2 billion, acting on behalf of PGIM Real Estate's investors. She's also a member of the executive committee and advisory board for the Rutgers Center for Real Estate.

While both men and women encounter challenges on the road to retirement, women face more obstacles and often follow a circuitous path. Women's average earnings remain about 21% below those of their male counterparts. Lower lifetime earnings translate into reduced Social Security benefits and smaller retirement account balances. Factor in time off for caregiving duties and the result is that women tend to have about 42% less income in retirement then men, according to a new report from Prudential Retirement.

PGIM President and CEO David Hunt discussed the need to correctly understand the ‘active-passive’ debate in a recent interview with Ellen Kinlin, CEO of the Kinlin Company, for her Women Executives C-Suite Insights blog. Hunt said, “Our active strategies are designed to work in an investor’s portfolio in such a way that they complement a selection of more easily accessible beta, which we believe also plays a role in many investors’ portfolios. In other words, this is a question of how alpha and beta should work together — and not a question of one or the other.” Hunt also discussed the role of alternatives in a portfolio, along with the need for increased diversity within the investment management industry.