Prudential
Key Company Metrics
AM Best Rating: A+ (Superior)
Years in Business: 150 Years
Direct Premiums Sold: $12.3 billion
Product Availability: Variable, fixed index and MYGA annuities
Products Offered by Prudential
Prudential’s annuity lineup spans variable, fixed index and MYGA varieties. Because the level of detail Prudential provides varies from product to product, comparing options directly can be a challenge
Fixed Index Annuities
Fixed index annuities are among the most common products available through annuity providers, and Prudential has a presence in this space.
Prudential’s fixed index annuity lineup includes:
- PruSecure®
- Elevate Accumulator®
- Elevate Income®
- SurePath®
- SurePath Income®
These products span a range of surrender periods and strategies, giving customers the flexibility to choose fixed-rate or indexed-based growth depending on their goals and risk tolerance.
Who It Works Best For: Angela, 61, wants index growth with principal protected. PruSecure® is an FIA offering fixed and indexed strategies with a five- or seven-year surrender period.
Fixed Annuities
Prudential sells a MYGA as well, which is known as the Prudential WealthGuard℠.
Fixed annuities tend to be more simple than other types of annuities and the WealthGuard is a straightforward and standard product.
It offers term lengths of three, five or seven years.
Who It Works Best For: Victor, 65, wants a locked-in guaranteed rate as he transitions to retirement. Prudential WealthGuard℠ is a MYGA with three-, five-, or seven-year terms for predictable, tax-deferred growth.
Prudential also offers ActiveIncome®, a contingent deferred annuity that functions as an insurance overlay on an existing investment account rather than a traditional annuity contract. Prudential markets it as the industry’s first “Insurance Overlay” of this kind, and ActiveIncome was recognized as the 2025 Datos Impact Award winner for Best Innovation in Retirement and Income Planning.
Who It Works Best For: Denise, 60, wants to protect her retirement income without giving up control of her existing investment portfolio. ActiveIncome® lets her add a guaranteed lifetime income layer on top of her account, without having to move those assets into a new annuity contract.
Prudential also offers the Fixed Annuity with Daily Advantage Income Benefit®, a deferred fixed annuity that pairs principal protection with a guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefit. The account value stays out of the market and remains accessible, while the guaranteed future income amount increases daily — most annuities credit income growth once a year on the contract anniversary, so this version lets income start any day of the year and still reflect the growth accrued to that point. The owner decides when income begins and how much to take each year, and anything untaken carries over. The benefit charge is 0.95% of account value annually.
Who It Works Best For: Nina, 58, is a few years from retirement without a firm date. She wants her future income to keep building while her principal stays out of the market, and daily crediting means she isn’t penalized for retiring in March instead of waiting for her contract anniversary.
Variable Annuities
One of Prudential’s main indexed variable annuity offerings is the Prudential FlexGuard®. As its name implies, it is designed to be a flexible product that you can mold to fit your needs. A separate version, FlexGuard Income®, offers the same index-linked growth approach but is built around guaranteed retirement income rather than pure accumulation.
It is available with a minimum of $25,000 and a maximum of $5 million and is offered in term lengths of one year, three years or six years.
The available strategy is point-to-point cap rate and you can choose buffers of 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 30%, or 100% (availability varies by index strategy and term length), with five index strategies to choose from: Point-to-Point Cap Rate, Step Rate Plus, Tiered Participation Rate, Enhanced Cap Rate, and Dual Directional. The annuity offers access to three different indexes, including the ability to work with ETFs.
In December 2025, Prudential expanded its FlexGuard lineup with the launch of FlexGuard 2.0, a new product offering flexible allocation, a simplified no-contract-fee structure, and an expanded selection of buffers and indexes. The update also introduced a new crediting strategy, Participation Rate with Cap, bringing the total to six index crediting strategies.
Who It Works Best For: Kevin, 58, wants market participation with defined downside protection. Prudential FlexGuard® 2.0 lets him select a 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 30%, or 100% buffer across six indexes (including ETFs) with one-, three-, or six-year terms, and choose from all six crediting strategies to fit his goals.
The FlexGuard lineup offers access to six indexes:
- S&P 500
- Invesco QQQ ETF
- Dimensional International Equity Focus Index
- AB 500 Plus IndexSM
- MSCI EAFE
- iShares Russell 2000 ETF
Other variable annuities available through Prudential include Prudential Premier®, which is an investment variable annuity, and Prudential MyRock®, which offers a lifetime income option.
Who It Works Best For: Lisa, 55, wants a variable annuity for long-term tax-deferred accumulation. Prudential Premier® is an investment-focused VA designed for those whose priority is portfolio growth over time.
About Prudential
Annuities are just one piece of a major financial institution when it comes to Prudential. The company traces its origins back to the 1800s and is one of the main entities in the United States financial space.
As with many other major conglomerates, Prudential is divided into many smaller companies and entities. One primary entity that issues its annuities are Pruco Life Insurance. The company sells more in annuity premiums than many of the other smaller companies in the industry.
Prudential’s overall annuity offerings went through a big shift in 2021 when former subsidiary Jackson National demerged to become its own independent company.
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Credit Ratings
Credit ratings for annuity providers can help determine a company’s financial strength and stability — an indication that it will be around to guarantee payments to you in the future. Different rating companies use different scales.
Prudential’s Credit Ratings
| Rating Company | Credit Rating |
| AM Best | A+ |
| Fitch | AA- |
| S&P | AA- |
See which annuity providers our independent editorial team ranked as the Best Annuity Companies of 2026.
What Customers Are Saying About Prudential
Most of Prudential’s annuities are issued by Pruco Life Insurance Company, a Prudential subsidiary, so that’s the entity to check on complaint history. In the NAIC’s 2025 National Complaint Index for individual annuities, Pruco Life scored 0.08 against a national baseline of 1.00 — roughly 8% of the confirmed complaints expected from a company with its 2.29% market share, on about $10.1 billion in premium.
That score is based on one confirmed complaint. The index counts only complaints filed with a state insurance department and confirmed by that department, so complaints handled directly by the company aren’t included. At that count, one or two additional complaints would change the score noticeably. The result indicates no complaint problem at Pruco Life, while the small sample limits what it can say about service quality overall.
NAIC Complaint Index for Pruco Life Insurance Company
| Individual Annuities Only | 0.08 |
Prudential Pros & Cons
Prudential’s biggest strength is the stability that comes with its size; buying an annuity from such a large, established provider leaves little concern about long-term viability. Its biggest limitation is the flip side of that same size: the lineup doesn’t offer as many contract variations or rider options as some smaller, more specialized insurers, and fee structures may be less competitive as a result.
“Prudential is very, very financially sound.”
Ryan CicchelliOwner of The Safe Investing Expert
Ryan Cicchelli, owner of The Safe Investing Expert, also pointed to the trade-off that comes with that scale: “They work with corporate entities that have higher fees, and they don’t offer a wide range of plans.”
Federal Retirement Advisor Ken Orenstein, who has quoted Prudential to clients as an independent agent, offered a similarly balanced take: “Prudential has some interesting annuities,” though he noted other companies may have more compelling offerings.
In short, Prudential suits shoppers who prioritize financial stability and brand size. Those looking for more product variety or simpler structures may find a better fit elsewhere.
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