Prudential group CEO Mike Wells to retire from role

PRUDENTIAL group chief executive officer (CEO) Mike Wells will be retiring from his role at the end of March 2022, the insurance company announced in a bourse filing on Thursday (Feb 10).

He has also indicated to the board that he will not stand for re-election as a director at the next annual general meeting, the statement added.

The board is conducting a search for a group CEO to be based in Asia to succeed Wells, which includes both internal and external candidates.

Current group chief financial officer (CFO) and chief operating officer Mark FitzPatrick will become the interim group CEO, after which he intends to step down from the board and remain as an adviser for a period, the statement added. He has asked not to be considered for the permanent group CEO role.

Wells first joined Prudential in 1995 and was named group CEO on Jun 1, 2015, having succeeded Tidjane Thiam. During his tenure, he executed 2 strategic demergers and accelerated the development of an Asian shareholder base through an equity issuance on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

He will host the group's full year FY2021 results conference call on Mar 9 and meet investors after.

He will remain employed with the group until Feb 8, 2023 and be available to assist with a "planned and orderly transition", the statement noted. His shareholding will be subject to the share ownership guideline, which is 400 per cent of his current salary, for a period of 2 years after stepping down from the board.

On stepping down, Wells said: "It has been a privilege to serve Prudential for the last 26 years. Having led the transformation of the group into an Asia and Africa-focused life and health insurer, now is the right time for me to hand over to an Asian-based team to take the company forward."

Shriti Vadera, chair of Prudential, said: "I would like to thank Mike for his outstanding contribution to Prudential over the last 26 years, and particularly as CEO for the last 7 years. He has led the group through one of the most significant periods of change in its 174-year history."

Separately, the company also announced that it has made 2 further appointments with effect from end-March 2022.

Current group chief risk and compliance officer James Turner will succeed FitzPatrick as group CFO, while chief risk officer for the group's Asian and African businesses Avnish Kalra will take over Turner's role as group chief risk and compliance officer, and join the group executive committee. Both will continue to be based in Hong Kong.

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