Prudential Annuities recently announced the addition of two new investment options.

The company added AST BlackRock Global Strategies Portfolio and AST Wellington Management Hedged Equity Portfolio, bringing the number of alternative investment strategies to six and the total number of asset allocation options to 18.

Prudential Annuities is the first company to offer an alternative investment asset allocation portfolio in a variable annuity.

“We believe expanding our offering to include six portfolios that provide exposure to alternative investment strategies strengthens the focus we initiated in 2006, and will help to further enhance the daily step-up component of our industry-leading guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefit,” said Douglas McIntosh, vice president of Investment Management for Prudential Annuities, in a statement.

AST BlackRock Global Strategies Portfolio delivers a flexible, broad-ranging mandate that is designed specifically for use with Prudential Annuities’ products.

AST Wellington Management Hedged Equity Portfolio is a 100 percent equity asset allocation that uses an index-option overlay in an attempt to provide downside market protection.