With only two weeks remaining until the July 31, 2001, deadline expires, Prudential Insurance Co. of America is urging its policyholders to cast their votes on the insurer's proposed demutualization plan.

Policyholders who don't vote (by mail, phone, on the Internet, or in person at the Hilton Newark Gateway Hotel in New Jersey on July 31, 2001, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.) will have missed their opportunity to decide the future of the insurer.

If the majority of policyholders vote in favor of demutualization, and if the New Jersey Commissioner of Banking and Insurance approves the plan, Prudential would transform itself from a mutual insurance company to a stock owned insurance company and would make an initial public offering (IPO).

After the IPO, eligible policyholders would be compensated for their loss of ownership in the company with stock in the new company, cash, or credits toward insurance policies.

John Hancock Financial Services Inc. raised more than $1.7 billion in its Jan. 27, 2001, IPO while The Phoenix Cos. Inc. raised $854 million through the sale of 48.8 million shares with its IPO on June 19, 2001. Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. is currently involved in several lawsuits in which policyholders allege the company cheated them in the insurer's $2.9 billion IPO on April 5, 2000.