AST BlackRock Value Portfolio - Prudential Annuities

Financial Times as representative of British industry and commerce. As of January 31, 2012 the Hang Seng Index consisted of 48
stocks listed on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Ltd. (the “Hong Kong Stock Exchange”), and it includes companies intended to
represent four major market sectors: commerce and industry, finance, properties and utilities.
This strategy primarily consists of common stocks of the five companies with the lowest per share stock price of the ten companies
in each of the DJIA SM , FT Index and Hang Seng Index, respectively, that have the highest dividend yields in the respective index as
of the close of business on or about the applicable security selection date.
Value Line ® Target 25.
To select the stocks for this strategy, First Trust follows a disciplined investment strategy that invests primarily in the common stocks
of 25 companies selected from a subset of the stocks that receive Value Line’s ® #1 ranking for Timeliness as of the close of
business on or about the applicable security selection date. Value Line’s ranking for Timeliness measures Value Line’s view of
probable price performance during the next 6 to 12 months based upon long-term trend of earnings, prices, recent earnings, price
momentum, and earnings surprise. First Trust expects to select 25 common stocks each year through the following multi-step
process from a subset of the stocks that receive Value Line’s ® #1 ranking for Timeliness as of the close of business on or about
the applicable security selection date:
Step 1: Start with the 100 stocks that Value Line ® on or about the security selection date gives its #1 ranking for Timeliness,
and remove the stocks of companies considered to be financial companies, as defined by S&P’s Global Industry Classification
Standard (“GICS”), and the stocks of companies whose shares are not listed on a U.S. securities exchange. Rank each
remaining stock from the best (1) to worst (100) on the following factors:
— 12 month price appreciation
— 6 month price appreciation
— Return on assets
— Price to cash flow
Step 2: Select a market-cap weighted portfolio of the 25 stocks with the best overall ranking on the above four factors. In the
event of a tie, the stock with the greatest 6-month price appreciation is selected.
Securities selected by this strategy will be weighted by market capitalization subject to the restriction that no stock will comprise
less than 1% or more than 7.5% of the Portfolio on or about the security selection date.
Target Small-Cap.
The Target Small-Cap stocks are stocks with small market capitalizations that have recently exhibited certain positive financial
attributes. First Trust selects stocks for this strategy as follows:
Step 1: Select the stocks of all U.S. corporations that trade on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the NYSE Amex, or The
Nasdaq Stock Market (Nasdaq) (excluding limited partnerships, American Depositary Receipts and mineral and oil royalty
trusts) as of the close of business on or about the applicable security selection date.
Step 2: Select companies that have a market capitalization of between $150 million and $1 billion and whose stock has an
average daily dollar trading volume of at least $500,000.
Step 3: Select stocks with positive three-year sales growth.
Step 4: From there, select those stocks whose most recent annual earnings (based on the trailing 12 month period)
are positive.
Step 5: Eliminate any stock whose price has appreciated by more than 75% in the last 12 months.
Step 6: Select the 40 stocks with the greatest price appreciation in the last 12 months.
Market capitalization and average trading volume are based on 1996 dollars which are periodically adjusted for inflation.
Securities selected by this strategy will be weighted by market capitalization.
THE DOW ® TARGET DIVIDEND (AST FIRST TRUST BALANCED TARGET PORTFOLIO ONLY). The Dow ® Target Dividend
Strategy contains some of the most widely traded of the market’s highest-yielding stocks. This strategy selects stocks with good
value (low price/book) and signs of growth (change in return on assets (ROA)) from the Dow Jones U.S. Select Dividend Index SM ,
which consists of 100 of the highest dividend-yielding securities (excluding real estate investment trusts) in the Dow Jones
U.S. Total Market Index, an index representative of the total market for United States equity securities. These factors allow the
strategy to select an equally weighted portfolio of high dividend paying value companies that have future growth potential.
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