Feb 3 (Reuters) - Prudential Financial PRU.N on Tuesday reported a rise in fourth-quarter profit, helped by strong underwriting and gains from its investment portfolio.

Underwriting held up at life and retirement-focused insurers, including Prudential, in the final quarter of 2025, as continued consumer spending supported policy demand, while the insurance firms also adhered to disciplined premium pricing.

Its international businesses posted an adjusted operating income of $757 million, compared with $742 million a year earlier.

Prudential operates a diversified business, including investment management, where assets under management rose to $1.61 trillion in the fourth quarter from $1.51 trillion a year earlier.

PGIM, Prudential's global investment management business, reported an adjusted operating income of $249 million, compared with $259 million a year earlier.

The company's overall adjusted operating income, after-tax, came in at $1.17 billion, or $3.30 per share, for the three months ended December 31, compared with $1.07 billion, or $2.96 per share, in the year-ago period.

(Reporting by Pritam Biswas and Ateev Bhandari in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)

((Pritam.Biswas@thomsonreuters.com;))