The Prudential, one of the grandest old names in British insurance, has been on quite a journey in recent years.
The business, founded in 1848 in London’s Hatton Garden to provide life insurance to the burgeoning Victorian middle classes, has spent the last half-decade or so breaking itself up.
It announced in 2018 that it would split itself into two businesses, one focused on its international operations and the other focused in the UK.
The latter business, which comprises the Pru’s old UK operations and the fund manager M&G, listed as a separate company in October 2019 under the M&G banner.
For the standalone Prudential, though, the separations did not end there.
Last year saw it demerge Jackson, its US business and part of the Pru since 1986, in order to concentrate on its operations in Asia and Africa.
Today, the company took the next logical step.
It announced that Mike Wells, chief executive since 2015 and the man who oversaw the Pru’s two break-ups, is to step down at the end of March.
Mr Wells, who studied science at San Diego state university and who at 6’5″ is one of the tallest chief executives in the FTSE 100, has been with the Pru since joining Jackson in 1995.
Mike Wells has been chief executive since 2015 Pic: Prudential via PA
The company said it was currently conducting a search for his successor and that whoever got the job would, reflecting the “refocused nature of the business”, be based in Asia.
It is tempting to speculate that whoever does – Mark FitzPatrick, the chief financial officer and chief operating officer, will become interim chief executive but has asked not to be considered for the role on a permanent basis – may eventually shift the company’s primary stock market listing to Asia.
The Pru is currently listed in London, New York,…
Source : skynews
