Prudential Mutual Funds Strengthens Product Line; Premier Asset Managers Identified To Subadvise Selected Funds.

Business & Insurance Editors

NEWARK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 6, 2000

Prudential announced today the selection of subadvisers for five key domestic and international Prudential mutual funds. This move is the latest step in the Company's strengthening of its equity mutual fund line-up which began in May, 2000. At that time, Jennison Associates, a Prudential company, began assuming responsibility for all of Prudential's active public equity asset management operations.

As an extension of the process intended to strengthen performance across the entire product line, the Company continues to identify and implement changes. Through intensive analysis conducted by Prudential's Investment Management Research Team, Prudential has selected external asset managers with proven expertise in their categories, recognized as among the best in their fields.

Management responsibility for the Prudential Equity Fund Inc. with more than $4 billion in assets under management, and the Prudential Value Fund, with more than $1.4 billion in assets under management, is being divided among three subadvisers each, with Jennison retaining responsibility for half the assets in each fund. These actions, which also apply to Prudential Series Fund/Equity Portfolio, with assets under management of more than $5.8 billion and the Prudential Series Fund/Equity Income Portfolio, with more than $1.8 billion in assets under management, have been approved by each Fund's Board of Directors, and are subject to shareholder approval.

"We're confident that our ability to select accomplished investment advisers from among the world's leading asset management firms will help enable our funds to achieve consistent, solid, best-in-class performance," said David Odenath, president, Prudential Investments.

The new subadvisers are: GE Asset Management Inc. and Salomon Brothers Asset Management Inc. for the Prudential Equity Fund and Prudential Series Fund/Equity Portfolio; Deutsche Asset Management Inc. and Key Asset Management Inc. for the Prudential Value Fund and Prudential Series Fund/Equity Income Portfolio.

"Jennison's influence has already had a positive impact on both the Prudential Equity Fund and the Prudential Value Fund," continued Odenath. "We expect these funds will also benefit from having a multi-manager approach, coupled with the complementary, yet distinctive, management styles of these new subadvisers."

In a related action, Prudential has recommended and received approval from the mutual fund boards to engage the following firms to subadvise: Jardine Fleming Asset Management--for the Prudential Pacific Growth Fund, with more than $96 million in assets under management; Gartmore Global Partners--for the Prudential Europe Growth Fund, with more than $267 million in assets under management; and Bank of Ireland Asset Management (U.S.) Ltd. --for the Prudential International Value Fund, with more than $577 million in assets under management.

"Jennison's strength within the international/global investing arena is rooted in growth-oriented investments, and in having the flexibility to invest anywhere in the world. Therefore, we determined that these funds would also be better served if sub-advised," said Odenath. "In the case of Prudential International Value Fund, for example, we have selected a fund manager with solid performance in selecting international stocks using a value style."

"As we continue to evaluate and refine our product line--merging, liquidating and repositioning several funds to strengthen our mutual fund family and series portfolios-- it's clear that the potential for superior performance is greatly enhanced by the capability to selectively subadvise," Odenath added.

Shareholder approval of all subadvisers is expected in early 2001. Prudential expects to continue to manage the majority of its funds in-house, under the direction of Jennison Associates.

GE Asset Management Inc. (GEAMI) was established in 1988. GEAMI is a wholly owned subsidiary of General Electric Company (GE). GEAMI was created to provide investment management services to institutional and mutual fund investors. Its predecessor organizations have been managing investments for GE's employee pension and benefits plans since the late 1920s. Based in Stamford, CT, GEAMI currently oversees assets exceeding $120 billion, approximately $40 billion of which is in actively managed large-cap equity holdings.

Salomon Brothers Asset Management Inc.(SaBAM) was established as an investment adviser in 1989. SaBAM has $28.7 billion in assets under management as of September 30. SaBAM is part of SSB Citi Asset Management Group, the money management arm of Citigroup. As of September 30, SSB Citi managed $397 billion in assets, ranking it as one of the world's leading asset management companies.

Deutsche Asset Management (DeAM) is one of the world's largest investment management organizations, with over $550 billion in assets under management globally and approximately $250 billion under management for clients in the Americas, $1 billion of which is invested in large-cap value equity holdings. With over 3500 employees in 20 offices, DeAM's team of world-class investment professionals is dedicated to serving clients around the clock and across the globe. Over 400 investment professionals strive to deliver out--performance and to develop new products to meet clients' future investment needs. DeAM has major asset management businesses in the Americas, Europe and Asia, providing the full range of investment management products across the risk/return spectrum.

Key Asset Management Inc., headquartered in Cleveland, OH, is a registered investment adviser, managing over $71 billion, including $4 billion in large-cap value assets. Key Asset Management has a 100-year heritage of delivering custom made investment solutions to corporations, public entities, endowments foundations and unions.

Jardine Fleming Asset Management (JFAM) is an affiliate of Chase Fleming Asset Management (CFAM), a combination of two well-established leaders in the global financial services industry, The Chase Manhattan Corporation and Jardine Fleming. JFAM has investment professionals in all major Asian-Pacific financial centers, including Hong Kong, Taipei, Melbourne, Singapore and Tokyo. Known for its strong presence throughout Asia, JFAM manages over $42 billion in the Asia-Pacific region. CFAM's assets under management worldwide are over $185 billion.

Gartmore Global Partners' (GGP) is a US-based company. GGP's parent, Gartmore Investment Management plc is based in London and was established in 1969 to manage global equities, bonds, currency and alternative strategies. Gartmore has in excess of $80 billion in assets under management, of which $20 billion is in actively managed European equities.

Bank of Ireland Asset Management Limited (BIAM) was established in 1966. The firm currently manages $40.6 billion in global securities for a variety of clients in Europe, Asia and North America. BIAM has offices in major financial centers throughout the world, including Ireland, Germany, Australia, Japan, the UK and the U.S.

Jennison, a Prudential affiliate which has $86 billion in assets under management, has been managing equity portfolios for more than 30 years. It looks for companies with attractive earnings potential, strong balance sheets and experienced management with creativity and vision.

Prudential's asset management division encompasses nearly every major investment product category, including public and private equity, public and private fixed income, commercial mortgage lending and securitization and private and public real estate advisory services.

The Prudential Insurance Company of America, with more than $366 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 1999, is one of the largest life insurance companies in the United States and is among the largest financial services institutions in the world. Prudential serves millions of individual and institutional customers worldwide and offers a variety of products and services, including life insurance, property and casualty insurance, mutual funds, annuities, pension and retirement-related services and administration, asset management, securities brokerage, real estate brokerage franchising and relocation services.

For more complete information about any of Prudential's mutual funds including fees and expenses call 1800-225-1852 or contact your financial professional for a free prospectus. Please read the prospectus carefully before you invest or send money.

Shares of mutual funds are distributed through Prudential Investment Management Services LLC, 100 Mulberry Street, Newark, NJ 07102, a Prudential company.