Prudential Insurance Company of America will soon provide new ways for wealthy customers to manage their Prudential accounts online, the new co-head of the companys e-business development group said.
The affluent, on whom the company has been focusing more recently, are definitely looking for expanded availability of information, advice, and transactions, said vice president Francisco Valeriano, who got the new assignment early this month. (He had been the head of strategy and business development for the U.S. consumer group.)
The redesigned Web site that Prudential plans to launch next month will ultimately provide account aggregation and let wealthy customers view and amend their financial plans online on their own and with advisers, Mr. Valeriano said.
From the start the new site will provide online access to mutual funds, managed money, and brokerage, insurance, banking, trust, retirement, estate planning, and real estate services, he said. Such access will supplement but not replace face-to-face relationships with Prudential financial advisers, planners, and agents, he said.
Later the site will also let wealthy customers non-Prudential advisers, such as accountants or attorneys, view the online information, Mr. Valeriano said.
To use the new services, customers will need to have $100,000 of household income and meet other requirements, Mr. Valeriano said. He did not say what those other requirements would be.
Next months relaunch will include only some of the extra features for affluent customers, Mr. Valeriano said. Many features are still in the planning stages, he said, and Prudential intends to add more all the time.
