Prudential Financial, Inc.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by, and welcome to Prudential's quarterly earnings conference call. At this time, all participants have been placed in a listen-only mode. Later, we'll conduct a question and answer session. Instructions will be given at that time. If you should require any assistance during the call, please press star zero, and an operator will assist you offline. As a reminder, today's call is being recorded. I will now turn the call over to Mr. Bob McLaughlin. Please go ahead.

Good morning, and thank you for joining our call. Representing Prudential on today's call are Charlie Lowry, Chairman and CEO, Rob Fausen, Vice Chairman, Andy Sullivan, Head of the International Businesses, and P. Jim, our Global Investment Manager, Caroline Feeney, Head of U.S. Businesses, Janela Frias, Chief Financial Officer, and Rob Axel, Controller and Principal Accounting Officer. We will start with prepared comments by Charlie, Rob, and Janela, and then we will take your questions. Today's discussion may include forward-looking statements. It is possible that actual results may differ materially from the predictions we make today. In addition, our presentation includes references to non-GAAP measures. For a reconciliation of such measures to the comparable GAAP measures and a discussion of factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements, please see the slides titled Forward-Looking Statements and Non-GAAP Measures in the appendix to today's presentation and the quarterly financial supplement both of which can be found on our website at investor.prudential.com. And now I'll turn it over to Charlie.

Thank you, Bob, and thanks to all of you for joining us today. During the second quarter, we continued to grow our market-leading businesses and become more capital efficient to deliver greater long-term value for our stakeholders. Our momentum was driven by robust sales in our U.S. and international businesses, as well as strong investment performance and originations across PGM's private alternatives platform. We maintained our disciplined approach to capital deployment by investing in the growth of our businesses and returning excess capital to shareholders. This progress was supported by our strong financial position. Turning to slide three, I will focus my remarks this morning on the strategic actions we are taking to expand access to investing insurance and retirement security. and how they position us to address the evolving financial challenges of our customers around the world. One of our most compelling growth opportunities is addressing the increasing global demand for retirement products, solutions, and advice. This year, historic levels of Americans will turn 65. At the same time, 55-year-olds will enter the crucial decade before retirement in preparation for life after work. These aging demographics will result in an estimated $137 trillion retirement opportunity in the US and $26 trillion in Japan by 2050. As a leader in pension risk transfer and individual annuities, Retirement Strategies is delivering products and solutions that protect the life's work of our customers and ensure a more financially secure retirement for people around the world. Our market leadership is demonstrated by nearly $22 billion in retirement strategies sales in the first half of this year, representing a 67% increase from the prior year. This includes robust sales in pension risk and longevity risk transfer, as well as nearly doubling our individual annuity sales. Since the launch of our FlexGard indexed variable annuity product suite in 2020, our sales have exceeded $21 billion. Meanwhile, in Japan, our customers are benefiting from an expanded product suite demonstrated by a 20% increase in retirement and savings product sales year over year. PGM, our global asset management business, is well positioned to address the increasing demand for retirement solutions around the world, while capitalizing on growing institutional demand for private credit and alternative investments. PGM provides investment solutions that help retirement plan sponsors deliver benefits to millions of beneficiaries. With nearly half a trillion dollars of assets under management supporting defined benefit and defined contribution plans, PGM is a market leader servicing more than half of the world's 300 largest pension funds, including over two-thirds of the largest 100 US pension plans, and is the largest pension fund manager in Japan. BGM also continues to grow its private alternatives business with capital deployment of nearly $11 billion in the second quarter, a 35% increase compared to a year ago quarter. This includes the benefit of our recent acquisition of Deer Path Capital. Moving now to our market-leading insurance businesses, we have expanded our product suite and distribution channels to meet the growing demand for products and solutions that can help bridge the global life insurance gap. In our US insurance businesses, strong sales continue to benefit from expanded distribution and product diversification. This has resulted in a shift to a more capital efficient product mix. Year to date, group insurance sales are up 13% and individual life sales are up 7% compared to the first half of 2023. In Brazil, we continue to expand our third party distribution and benefit from the high quality of our life planners. This has resulted in a 27% increase in year-to-date sales. Across each of our businesses, our strategy is underpinned by the continued investment in capabilities and initiatives that translate into future earnings growth. This includes expanding our products and distribution and using artificial intelligence, machine learning, and other technology to deliver exceptional sales, service, and claims experiences. Turning to slide four. Our disciplined approach to capital deployment supported investments in our businesses while returning over $700 million to shareholders during the quarter. Turning to slide five, our financial strength, diversified business mix, and risk and capital management framework supports our growth strategy. Our AA rating reflects our healthy capital position, including more than $4 billion in highly liquid assets at the end of the second quarter. a high-quality, well-diversified investment portfolio, and a disciplined approach to asset liability management. We are confident that our financial strength, our business strategy, and the evolving opportunities to support our customers around the world put us in a strong position to deliver long-term value to our shareholders. With that, I will turn it over to Rob for a closer look at our individual business performance.