0000929523 ptrbfi:S000004536Member 2012-01-01 2012-12-31 0000929523 2012-01-01 2012-12-31 0000929523 ptrbfi:S000004536Member ptrbfi:C000012434Member 2012-01-01 2012-12-31 0000929523 ptrbfi:S000004536Member ptrbfi:C000012435Member 2012-01-01 2012-12-31 0000929523 ptrbfi:S000004536Member ptrbfi:C000012436Member 2012-01-01 2012-12-31 0000929523 ptrbfi:S000004536Member ptrbfi:C000095380Member 2012-01-01 2012-12-31 0000929523 ptrbfi:S000004536Member ptrbfi:C000057394Member 2012-01-01 2012-12-31 0000929523 ptrbfi:S000004536Member ptrbfi:C000038955Member 2012-01-01 2012-12-31 0000929523 ptrbfi:S000004536Member ptrbfi:C000012437Member 2012-01-01 2012-12-31 0000929523 ptrbfi:S000004536Member rr:AfterTaxesOnDistributionsAndSalesMember ptrbfi:C000012434Member 2012-01-01 2012-12-31 0000929523 ptrbfi:S000004536Member ptrbfi:BarclaysUsAggregateBondIndexMember 2012-01-01 2012-12-31 0000929523 ptrbfi:S000004536Member ptrbfi:LipperIntermediateInvestmentGradeDebtFundsAverageMember 2012-01-01 2012-12-31 0000929523 ptrbfi:S000004536Member rr:AfterTaxesOnDistributionsMember ptrbfi:C000012434Member 2012-01-01 2012-12-31 pure iso4217:USD <div style="display:none">~ http://www.prudentialfunds.com/role/ScheduleShareholderFeesPRUDENTIALTOTALRETURNBONDFUND,INC. column period compact * ~</div> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.prudentialfunds.com/role/ScheduleAnnualFundOperatingExpensesPRUDENTIALTOTALRETURNBONDFUND,INC. column period compact * ~</div> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.prudentialfunds.com/role/ScheduleExpenseExampleTransposedPRUDENTIALTOTALRETURNBONDFUND,INC. column period compact * ~</div> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.prudentialfunds.com/role/ScheduleAverageAnnualTotalReturnsTransposedPRUDENTIALTOTALRETURNBONDFUND,INC. column period compact * ~</div> 2012-12-31 485BPOS 2012-10-31 PRUDENTIAL TOTAL RETURN BOND FUND, INC. 0000929523 false 2012-12-31 2012-12-31 INVESTMENT OBJECTIVE The investment objective of the Fund is total return. FUND FEES AND EXPENSES The tables below describe the sales charges, fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and an eligible group of investors purchase, or agree to purchase in the future, $50,000 or more in shares of the Fund or other funds in the Prudential Investments family of funds. More information about these discounts is available from your financial professional and is explained in Reducing or Waiving Class A's Initial Sales Charge on page 31 of the Fund's Prospectus and in the Fund's Statement of Additional Information (SAI), in Rights of Accumulation on page 53. Shareholder Fees (fees paid directly from your investment) Annual Fund Operating Expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a percentage of the value of your investment) Example. The following hypothetical example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. It assumes that you invest $10,000 in the Fund for the time periods indicated and then, except as indicated, redeem all your shares at the end of those periods. It assumes a 5% return on your investment each year, that the Fund's operating expenses remain the same and that all dividends and distributions are reinvested. Your actual costs may be higher or lower. If Shares Are Redeemed If Shares Are Not Redeemed ° The manager of the Fund has contractually agreed, through February 28, 2014, to reimburse and/or waive fees so that the net annual Fund operating expenses (exclusive of distribution and service (12b-1) fees, extraordinary expenses and certain other expenses such as taxes, interest and brokerage commissions) do not exceed .60% of the Fund's average daily net assets. This waiver may not be terminated prior to February 28, 2014. The decision on whether to renew, modify or terminate the waiver is subject to review by the manager and the Fund's Board of Directors. ° The distributor of the Fund has contractually agreed to limit its distribution and service (12b-1) fees through February 28, 2014 for Class A and Class R shares to .25% and .50%, respectively, of the average daily net assets of the Class A and Class R shares. This agreement may not be terminated prior to February 28, 2014. The decision on whether to renew, modify or terminate the agreement is subject to review by the distributor and the Fund's Board of Directors. The Fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover rate may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when Fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the Fund's performance. During the Fund's most recent fiscal year, the Fund's portfolio turnover rate was 256% of the average value of its portfolio. Portfolio Turnover. The Fund will seek to achieve its objective through a mix of current income and capital appreciation as determined by the Fund's investment subadviser. The Fund invests, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of the Fund's investable assets in bonds. For purposes of this policy, bonds include all fixed-income securities, other than preferred stock, with a maturity at date of issue of greater than one year. The term “investable assets” refers to the Fund's net assets plus any borrowings for investment purposes. The Fund's investable assets will be less than its total assets to the extent that it has borrowed money for non-investment purposes, such as to meet anticipated redemptions. The Fund will provide 60 days' prior written notice to shareholders of a change in the 80% policy stated above. The Fund's investment subadviser allocates assets among different debt securities, including (but not limited to) U.S. Government securities, mortgage-related and asset-backed securities, corporate debt securities and foreign securities. The Fund may invest up to 50% of its investable assets in high risk, below investment-grade securities having a rating of not lower than CCC. These securities are also known as high-yield debt securities or junk bonds. The Fund may invest up to 45% of its investable assets in foreign debt securities. Some (but not all) of the U.S. Government securities and mortgage-related securities in which the Fund will invest are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S.Government, which means that payment of interest and principal is guaranteed, but yield and market value are not. These include obligations of the Government National Mortgage Association (GNMA or “Ginnie Mae”), the Farmers Home Administration and the Export-Import Bank. Securities issued by other government entities, like obligations of the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA or “Fannie Mae”), the Student Loan Marketing Association (SLMA or “Sallie Mae”), the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC or “Freddie Mac”), the Federal Home Loan Bank, the Tennessee Valley Authority and the United States Postal Service are not backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S.Government. However, these issuers have the right to borrow from the U.S.Treasury to meet their obligations. In contrast, the debt securities of other issuers, like the Farm Credit System, depend entirely upon their own resources to repay their debt obligations. While we make every effort to achieve our objective, we can't guarantee success. INVESTMENTS, RISKS AND PERFORMANCE Principal Investment Strategies. Principal Risks of Investing in the Fund. All investments have risks to some degree. Please remember that an investment in the Fund is not guaranteed to achieve its investment objective; is not a deposit with a bank; is not insured, endorsed or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency; and is subject to investment risks, including possible loss of your original investment. Recent Market Events. The financial crisis that began in 2008 has caused a significant decline in the value and liquidity of many securities. In response to the crisis, the U.S. and other governments and U.S. and foreign central banks have taken steps to support financial markets. The withdrawal of this support, failure of efforts in response to the crisis, or investor perception that such efforts are not succeeding could negatively affect financial markets generally as well as the value and liquidity of certain securities. In addition, policy and legislative changes in the United States and other countries are changing many aspects of financial regulation. The impact of these changes on the markets, and the practical implications for market participants, may not be fully known for some time. Risk of Increase in Expenses. Your actual cost of investing in the Fund may be higher than the expenses shown in the expense table for a variety of reasons. For example, expense ratios may be higher than those shown if average net assets decrease. Net assets are more likely to decrease and Fund expense ratios are more likely to increase when markets are volatile. Fixed Income Obligations Risk. As with credit risk, market risk and interest rate risk, the Fund's holdings, share price, yield and total return may fluctuate in response to bond market movements. The value of bonds may decline for issuer-related reasons, including management performance, financial leverage and reduced demand for the issuer’s goods and services. Certain types of fixed income obligations also may be subject to call and redemption risk, which is the risk that the issuer may call a bond held by the Fund for redemption before it matures and the Fund may lose income. Currency Risk. The Fund's net asset value could decline as a result of changes in the exchange rates between foreign currencies and the U.S. dollar. Certain foreign countries may impose restrictions on the ability of issuers of foreign securities to make payment of principal and interest or dividends to investors located outside the country, due to blockage of foreign currency exchanges or otherwise. Derivatives Risk. The Fund will engage in a variety of transactions using “derivatives,” such as futures, options, forwards and swaps. Derivatives are financial instruments whose value depends upon, or is derived from, the value of something else, such as one or more underlying investments, indexes or currencies. Derivatives may be traded on organized exchanges, or in individually negotiated transactions with other parties (these are known as “over-the-counter” derivatives). The Fund will use derivatives both for hedging purposes (to seek to reduce risk) and for non-hedging purposes (to seek to increase return consistent with the Fund's investment objective). Although the Fund has the flexibility to make use of derivatives, it may choose not to for a variety of reasons, even under very volatile market conditions. Derivatives involve special risks and costs and may result in losses to the Fund. The successful use of derivatives requires sophisticated management, and, to the extent that derivatives are used, the Fund will depend on the investment subadviser's ability to analyze and manage derivatives transactions. The prices of derivatives may move in unexpected ways, especially in abnormal market conditions. Some derivatives are “leveraged” and therefore may magnify or otherwise increase investment losses to the Fund. The Fund's use of derivatives may also increase the amount of taxes payable by shareholders. Other risks arise from the potential inability to terminate or sell derivatives positions. A liquid secondary market may not always exist for the Fund's derivatives positions at any time. In fact, many over-the-counter derivative instruments will not have liquidity beyond the counterparty to the instrument. Over-the-counter derivative instruments also involve the risk that the other party will not meet its obligations to the Fund. Recent legislation calls for new regulation of the derivatives markets. The extent and impact of the regulation is not yet known and may not be known for some time. New regulation of derivatives may make them more costly, may limit their availability, or may otherwise adversely affect their value or performance. Credit Risk. This is the risk that the issuer, the guarantor or the insurer of a fixed-income security, or the counterparty to a contract, may be unable or unwilling to make timely principal and interest payments or to otherwise honor its obligations. Additionally, the securities could lose value due to a loss of confidence in the ability of the issuer, guarantor, insurer or counterparty to pay back debt. The longer the maturity and the lower the credit quality of a bond, the more sensitive it is to credit Risk. Market Risk. The securities markets are volatile and the market prices of the Fund’s securities may decline generally. Securities fluctuate in price based on changes in a company’s financial condition and overall market and economic conditions. If the market prices of the securities owned by the Fund fall, the value of your investment in the Fund will decline. Interest Rate Risk. The value of your investment may go down when interest rates rise. A rise in rates tends to have a greater impact on the prices of longer term or duration securities. When interest rates fall, the issuers of debt obligations may prepay principal more quickly than expected, and the Fund may be required to reinvest the proceeds at a lower interest rate. This is referred to as “prepayment Risk.” When interest rates rise, debt obligations may be repaid more slowly than expected, and the value of the Fund's holdings may fall sharply. This is referred to as “extension Risk.” U.S. Government and Agency Securities Risk. U.S. Government and agency securities are subject to market risk, interest rate risk and credit Risk. In addition, to the extent the Fund invests in such securities, its potential for capital appreciation may be limited. Not all U.S. Government securities are insured or guaranteed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. Government; some are only insured or guaranteed by the issuing agency, which must rely on its own resources to repay the debt. The maximum potential liability of the issuers of some U.S. Government securities held by the Fund may greatly exceed their current resources, including their legal right to support from the U.S. Treasury. It is possible that these issuers will not have the funds to meet their payment obligations in the future. In September 2008, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were placed into a conservatorship by their regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (“FHFA”). It is unclear what effect this conservatorship will have on securities issued or guaranteed by these entities. Although the U.S. Government has provided support to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, there can be no assurance that it will support these or other government-sponsored enterprises in the future. Junk Bonds Risk. High-yield, high-risk bonds have predominantly speculative characteristics, including particularly high credit Risk. Junk bonds tend to be less liquid than higher-rated securities. The liquidity of particular issuers or industries within a particular investment category may shrink or disappear suddenly and without warning. The non-investment grade bond market can experience sudden and sharp price swings and become illiquid due to a variety of factors, including changes in economic forecasts, stock market activity, large sustained sales by major investors, a high profile default or a change in the market's psychology. Active Trading Risk. The Fund actively and frequently trades its portfolio securities. High portfolio turnover results in higher transaction costs, which can affect the Fund’s performance and have adverse tax consequences. For more information on the risks of investing in this Fund, please see How the Fund Invests—Investment Risks in the Prospectus and Investment Risks and Considerations in the SAI. The Fund's Past Performance. The following bar chart shows the Fund's performance for the indicated share class for each full calendar year of operations or for the last 10 calendar years, whichever is shorter. The bar chart and Average Annual Total Returns table demonstrate the risk of investing in the Fund by showing how returns can change from year to year and by showing how the Fund's average annual total returns for the share class compare with a broad-based securities market index and a group of similar mutual funds. Past performance (before and after taxes) does not mean that the Fund will achieve similar results in the future. Updated Fund performance information is available online at www.prudentialfunds.com. Annual Total Returns (Class A Shares)1 <table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4" align="center" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 8pt; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-left-color: black; border-left-width: 1px; border-left-style: solid; line-height: 10pt; width: 549px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: Arial; empty-cells: show; margin-bottom: 15pt; border-top-color: black; border-top-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid;"><tr><td valign="bottom" colspan="2" align="center" style="border-bottom-color: black; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-right-color: black; border-right-width: 1px; border-right-style: solid;">Best Quarter:</td><td valign="bottom" colspan="2" align="center" style="border-bottom-color: black; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-right-color: black; border-right-width: 1px; border-right-style: solid;">Worst Quarter:</td></tr><tr><td valign="top" align="center" style="border-bottom-color: black; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-right-color: black; border-right-width: 1px; border-right-style: solid;">7.82%</td><td valign="top" align="center" style="border-bottom-color: black; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-right-color: black; border-right-width: 1px; border-right-style: solid;">3rd Quarter 2009</td><td valign="top" align="center" style="border-bottom-color: black; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-right-color: black; border-right-width: 1px; border-right-style: solid;">-2.69%</td><td valign="top" align="center" style="border-bottom-color: black; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-right-color: black; border-right-width: 1px; border-right-style: solid;">2nd Quarter 2004</td></tr></table> Average Annual Total Returns % (including sales charges)(as of 12-31-11) ° After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Actual after-tax returns depend on an investor's tax situation and may differ from those shown. After-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold their Fund shares through tax-deferred arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts. After-tax returns are shown only for the indicated share class. After-tax returns for other classes will vary due to differing sales charges and expenses. February 28, 2014 You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and an eligible group of investors purchase, or agree to purchase in the future, $50,000 or more in shares of the Fund or other funds in the Prudential Investments family of funds. 50000 2.56 and is subject to investment risks, including possible loss of your original investment. Please remember that an investment in the Fund is not guaranteed to achieve its investment objective; is not a deposit with a bank; is not insured, endorsed or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency; The bar chart and Average Annual Total Returns table demonstrate the risk of investing in the Fund by showing how returns can change from year to year and by showing how the Fund's average annual total returns for the share class compare with a broad-based securities market index and a group of similar mutual funds. www.prudentialfunds.com Past performance (before and after taxes) does not mean that the Fund will achieve similar results in the future. These annual total returns do not include sales charges. If the sales charges were included, the annual total returns would be lower than those shown. After-tax returns are calculated using the historical highest individual federal marginal income tax rates and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. After-tax returns shown are not relevant to investors who hold their Fund shares through tax-deferred arrangements, such as 401(k) plans or individual retirement accounts. After-tax returns are shown only for the indicated share class. After-tax returns for other classes will vary due to differing sales charges and expenses. The total return for Class A shares from 1-1-12 through 9-30-12 2012-09-30 0.0791 Best Quarter: 2009-09-30 0.0782 Worst Quarter: 2004-06-30 -0.0269 0.045 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.06 0 0 0.01 0.05 0.01 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 15 15 0 0 15 0 0.0048 0.0048 0.0048 0.0048 0.0048 0.0048 0.0048 0.003 0.01 0 0.01 0.0075 0.01 0 0.0015 0.0015 0.0015 0.0006 0.0015 0.0015 0.0015 0.0093 0.0163 0.0163 0.0054 0.0138 0.0163 0.0063 -0.0008 -0.0003 -0.0003 0 -0.0028 -0.0003 -0.0003 0.0085 0.016 0.016 0.0054 0.011 0.016 0.006 533 663 263 55 112 763 61 725 811 511 173 409 911 199 934 984 884 729 1184 348 302 1535 1656 1930 1633 677 1930 783 533 163 163 55 112 163 61 725 511 511 173 409 511 199 934 884 884 302 729 884 348 1535 1656 1930 677 1633 1930 783 0.0638 0.0618 0.0487 0.025 0.0439 0.0542 -0.0355 0.1968 0.0973 0.0757 0.0195 0.0784 0.0622 0.0083 0.0273 0.0778 0.0162 0.0737 0.0794 0.0581 0.0203 0.0681 0.0692 0.0776 0.0652 0.0471 0.0452 0.065 0.0557 0.055 0.0563 0.0642 0.0568 0.0389 0.038 0.0578 0.0513 0.0843 0.0765 0.0711 2010-12-27 2008-01-14 2007-03-05 <div style="display:none">~ http://www.prudentialfunds.com/role/ScheduleExpenseExampleNoRedemptionTransposedPRUDENTIALTOTALRETURNBONDFUND,INC. column period compact * ~</div> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.prudentialfunds.com/role/ScheduleAnnualTotalReturnsPRUDENTIALTOTALRETURNBONDFUND,INC.BarChart column period compact * ~</div> PRUDENTIAL TOTAL RETURN BOND FUND, INC. FUND SUMMARY These annual total returns do not include sales charges. If the sales charges were included, the annual total returns would be lower than those shown. Without the management fee waiver and the distribution and service (12b-1) fee waiver, the annual returns would have been lower, too. The total return for Class A shares from 1-1-12 through 9-30-12 was 7.91%.