Prudential CEO Mike Wells to retire, successor to be based in Asia instead of London
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Mr Mike Wells first joined Prudential in 1995 and was named group CEO on June 1, 2015.
PHOTO: BT FILE
BENGALURU (REUTERS) - Insurer Prudential said on Thursday (Feb 10) its group chief executive officer Mike Wells will retire at the end of March this year, and that his replacement will be based in Asia instead of London.
Over his seven-year tenure, Mr Wells has pivoted the focus of Prudential to Asia by overseeing two strategic demergers.
Mr Mark FitzPatrick, currently the group chief financial officer and chief operating officer, will become the interim group CEO of the company. He has asked the board not to consider him for the permanent group CEO role, Prudential said.
The insurer is conducting a search internally and externally for Mr Wells’ successor, according to a company statement.
Prudential now focuses only on Asia and Africa markets after it completed offloading holdings in its United States business, Jackson Financial, in September last year, following spin-offs of its British and European business, M&G, in 2019.
About 67 per cent of Prudential’s adjusted operating profit in 2020 was derived from Asia, which rose by 13 per cent to prop up its overall 4 per cent profit growth.
Mr James Turner, the company’s chief risk and compliance officer, will become the group CFO succeeding Mr FitzPatrick, while Mr Avnish Kalra, chief risk officer for Prudential’s Asian and African businesses, will succeed Mr Turner.
The new group CFO will be based in Asia as well, the company said.
In Asia, the insurer entered talks in 2020 that could lead to it taking full control of its 50:50 joint venture with China’s Citic as part of its strategy to sharpen focus on the region.
