Vincenzo D'amelio Named as Deputy General Manager of Italian Joint Venture.

Business Editors

NEWARK, NJ--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 17, 2004

Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU) announced today the appointment of Vincenzo D'Amelio as deputy general manager of BPU Prumerica SGR, its Italian joint venture with Banche Popolari Unite. In this position, D'Amelio will be responsible for managing the delivery of Prudential Financial's capabilities in the areas of product development, sales and marketing to the Italian joint venture. He will be based in Milan, Italy and report to Marco Carreri, general manager of BPU Prumerica, and to Gabriel Irwin, managing director, European region for its International Investments subsidiary.

Previously, D'Amelio worked at the S.A.I. Fondiaria group, Italy's second largest insurance group according to Associazione Nazionale fra le Imprese Assicuratrici (ANIA) as of December 31, 2003, where he was commercial director of EFFE Investimenti SIM, a network of 600 Financial Advisors. Prior to this position, D'Amelio worked for Credito Italiano, one of Italy's top three banking groups according to Associazione Bancaria Italiana (ABI) as of June 2003, in a number of commercial and management roles in private banking and financial products distribution. For three years, he was Credito Italiano's senior representative in the South and Southwest regions of the United States.

"Vincenzo brings a strong background in Italian banking, said Irwin. "His skills and experience will contribute enormously to the operating success of our Italian joint venture. We are delighted that he has decided to join the company and represent us in the Italian marketplace," said Irwin.

BPU Prumerica Sgr, headquartered in Milan, offers a product line-up in Italy that includes 23 locally domiciled mutual funds, as well as individual asset management fee-based programs offering portfolios suited to meet clients varying risk and return objectives. The company, with 14.2 billion euros of assets under management as of March 31, 2004, distributes its products via the over 1200 branches of the BPU Banca group and the approximately 400 financial agents of BPU SIM. For more information, visit www.bpuprumerica.it.

Prudential Financial companies, with approximately $454 billion in total assets under management as of March 31, 2004, serve individual and institutional customers worldwide and include one of the largest life insurance companies in the U.S. These companies offer 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, banking and trust services, real estate brokerage franchises and relocation services. For more information, visit www.prudential.com. Prudential Financial of the United States is not affiliated with Prudential plc which is headquartered in the United Kingdom.