Five-star Prudential Total Return Bond Fund passes $10 billion in assets

Prudential Fixed Income manages the fund using core-plus, multi-sector investment strategy

NEWARK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Prudential Investments^®’ rapidly growing Prudential Total Return Bond Fund (NASDAQ:PDBZX) has recently surpassed $10 billion in assets, the company announced today. The fund's diversified approach to fixed income investing and strong focus on risk management has led to a five-star overall rating from Morningstar (Class Z) and top decile performance in Morningstar’s Intermediate-Term Bond category over the 1-, 3-, 5-, and 10-year periods ending 3/31/2015. The fund increased its assets by 46% in the first quarter alone, placing it third among 90 funds in its category, as of 3/31/2015 (funds with at least $1 billion in assets). Prudential Investments is the mutual fund business of Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE: PRU).

“Naturally we’re pleased the fund has passed an important milestone in terms of assets,” said Stuart Parker, president of Prudential Investments. “But what makes us especially proud is the consistently strong performance that it has delivered to shareholders.” In fact, the Prudential Total Return Bond Fund is one of the few funds in its Morningstar category to finish in the first or second quartile in each of the last 10 calendar years.

The fund is sub-advised by Prudential Fixed Income, which has been managing fixed income portfolios since 1875 and currently manages about $543 billion in assets (as of 12/31/14). The fund is part of Prudential Fixed Income’s $86 billion* in multi-sector strategies and follows a flexible and diversified spread sector approach with exposure to eight different fixed income sectors.

Contributing to the fund’s consistent performance is Prudential Fixed Income’s focus on risk and the fact that its risk management team is an equal partner with credit research and portfolio management in managing the Fund.

“The prominence of risk management in the investment process was one way the total return strategy was able to weather the 2008 credit crisis and outperform most peers in the space,” said James Sullivan, senior managing director and head of Prudential Fixed Income.

The Prudential Total Return Bond Fund is available in the following share classes: A: PDBAX, C: PDBCX, Q: PTRQX, R: DTBRX Z: PDBZX.

Morningstar Overall Rating ^TM Class Z out of 905 Intermediate-Term Bond Funds as of 3/31/2015. Morningstar measures risk-adjusted returns. The overall rating is a weighted average based on a fund’s 3-, 5-, and 10-year star ratings. The Fund’s Class Z 3-, 5-, and 10-year ratings are 5 stars out of 905 funds, 5 stars out of 803 funds, and 5 stars out of 584 funds, respectively.

The Morningstar Rating may not be customarily calculated based on adjusted historical returns. If so, this investment's independent Morningstar Rating metric is compared against the retail mutual fund universe breakpoints to determine its hypothetical rating for certain time periods. Other share classes may have different performance characteristics. Past performance does not guarantee future results. For each fund with at least a 3-year history, Morningstar calculates a Morningstar rating (based on a Morningstar risk-adjusted return measure that accounts for variation in a fund's monthly performance, including the effects of sales charges), placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. The top 10% of funds in each category receive 5 stars, the next 22.5% receive 4 stars, the next 35% receive 3 stars, the next 22.5% receive 2 stars, and the bottom 10% receive 1 star (each share class is rated separately, which may cause slight variations in the distribution percentages). The Fund was rated against U.S.-domiciled funds. 2015 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved. The information contained herein (1) is proprietary to Morningstar and/or its content providers; (2) may not be copied or distributed; and (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete, or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information.

Morningstar rankings.Morningstar rankings are based on total return, do not include the effects of sales charges, and are calculated against all funds in each fund's respective Morningstar category using Class Z shares. Ranking represents the fund's standing across all funds in the Intermediate-Term Bond category: 1=highest; 100=lowest.

Prudential Investments is the mutual fund business of Prudential Financial, Inc., offering a range of open- and closed-end funds. Please visit www.prudentialfunds.com for more information.

Prudential Financial, Inc., a financial services leader with over $1 trillion of assets under management as of December 31, 2014, has operations in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Prudential’s diverse and talented employees are committed to helping individual and institutional customers grow and protect their wealth through a variety of products and services, including life insurance, annuities, retirement-related services, mutual funds and investment management. In the U.S., Prudential’s iconic Rock symbol has stood for strength, stability, expertise and innovation for more than a century. For more information, please visit http://www.news.prudential.com/.

Mutual fund investing involves risk. Some mutual funds have more risk than others. The investment return and principal value will fluctuate, and shares, when sold, may be worth more or less than the original cost, and it is possible to lose money. There is no guarantee the Fund’s objectives will be achieved. The Fund may invest in high yield ("junk") bonds (up to 30%), which are subject to greater credit and market risks; foreign securities (up to 30%), which are subject to currency fluctuation and political uncertainty; short sales, which involve costs and the risk of potentially unlimited losses; leveraging, which may magnify losses; and derivative securities, which may carry market, credit, and liquidity risks; and mortgage-backed securities which are subject to prepayment risks. The Fund may not be invested in all sectors at a given time.

Fixed income investments are subject to interest rate risk, and their value will decline as interest rates rise. These risks may increase the Fund's share price volatility. Diversification does not assure a profit or protect against loss in declining markets.

Class Z shares may be available to group retirement plans and institutional investors through certain retirement, mutual fund wrap and asset allocation programs, and to institutions at an investment minimum of $5,000,000. Performance by share class may vary. Other share classes, which contain either a sales load or a contingent deferred sales charge, are also available. These expenses could lower total fund return. Please see the prospectus for additional information about fees, expenses and investor eligibility requirements.

Consider a fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses carefully before investing. The prospectus and summary prospectus contain this and other information about the fund. Read the prospectus and summary prospectus carefully before investing.

Mutual Funds are distributed by Prudential Investment Management Services LLC (PIMS), a Prudential Financial company, member SIPC. Prudential Fixed Income is a unit of Prudential Investment Management, a registered investment adviser and Prudential Financial company. ©2015 Prudential Financial, Inc. and its related entities.Prudential Investments LLC, Prudential, the Prudential logo, and the Rock symbol are service marks of Prudential Financial, Inc. and its related entities, registered in many jurisdictions worldwide.

*As of 12/31/14. Includes Core Conservative, Core, Global Core, Core Plus, Absolute Return, Global Aggregate Plus, Structured Maturity and Japan Core/Japan Core Bond Active.

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