Prudential Financial: Closing the Wealth Gap for Black and Brown Communities

Income alone is not enough to achieve financial security; workers need access to equitable wealth-building tools and services. That’s why Prudential Financial’s philanthropic support focuses on innovative models of ownership and asset-building, supports advocacy and policy to create inclusive wealth-building systems, and advances job quality for all workers.

Prudential believes financial security should be within everyone’s reach. To achieve that goal, the company is focused on helping people build financial health and resilience through its insurance, investing and retirement solutions. It also collaborates with community partners to help address the financial needs of customers who are overlooked or poorly served by mainstream financial institutions.

To address the systemic issues that hold back communities of color financially, Prudential Financial established Blueprints to Black Wealth, which builds on the company’s more than 50-year legacy of investing and cultivating long-standing relationships with Black and Brown communities.

To develop Blueprints, Prudential started by speaking with Black employees and financial advisors to understand their concerns and suggestions for how the company can further help the Black and Brown communities. Prudential then conducted market research that showed the U.S. population is becoming younger and more racially diverse – two attributes that were not reflected in its existing customer portfolio. Based on these learnings, the company concluded that it needed to develop a business growth strategy that would address these gaps.

Prudential also tapped its long-standing partnership with the Financial Health Network, leveraging insights and frameworks that would help tailor its business strategy to best serve the unmet needs of Black and Brown Americans. Prudential worked with the Financial Health Network to analyze and address gaps in its present-day customer experience; forge new partnerships with fintechs focused on people of color; and support the FinHealth Spend Report, an annual study on which Americans are paying the most to access common financial products and services.

Blueprints has provided Prudential with several learnings. During initial focus groups, the company learned that Black consumers prefer digital options and a combination of instructor-led and self-service educational content. It also found that Prudential cannot try to “fit” diverse segments into its existing infrastructure, which wasn’t originally designed with them in mind. Instead, Prudential must reimagine and redesign its infrastructure to make its solutions relevant for all.

To further the impact of Blueprints, Prudential is currently designing a pilot with the Financial Health Network to establish a warm handoff from one of its Detroit-based community partners to financial professionals within Prudential’s ecosystem. This model is a first for the company, so Prudential is excited to see the opportunities that will result as it continues to support the financial health and security of Black and Brown Americans.