Big-As-Ever Prudential Crushes Shrinking Rivals AIG, MetLife

Prudential Financial Inc. Chief Executive Officer John Strangfeld, who held firm as too-big-to-fail peers MetLife Inc. and American International Group Inc. shrunk through asset sales, is being rewarded by investors for his approach.

Strangfeld’s company, the second-largest U.S. life insurer, has outperformed No. 1 MetLife and AIG for months, and the gap widened after Donald Trump was elected president with a promise to dial back regulation. Trump on Feb. 3 targeted the Dodd-Frank Act, which required regulators to identify non-bank companies that were so large that their failure could destabilize markets. These systemically important financial institutions could eventually face tighter ...