LONDON--U.K. insurer Prudential PLC confirmed Friday that it has
appointed U.S. head Mike Wells as chief executive, replacing
Tidjane Thiam who is leaving after six years at the helm to join
Credit Suisse Group AG.
The appointment will take effect on June 1, Prudential said.
The Wall Street Journal reported on March 10 that Mr. Wells
would replace Mr. Thiam, according to a person familiar with the
plan.
Mr. Wells has been with Prudential's U.S. unit Jackson National
Life Insurance Co. since 1995 and has been a Prudential director
for four years. He has long been the board's choice to succeed Mr.
Thiam, the person told the Journal.
Prudential also announced Mr. Thiam's departure on March 10. The
insurer reported operating profit rose 14% to GBP3.19 billion
($4.78 billion) last year compared with 2013.
Once Mr. Wells takes over the group will "simply continue what
they've been doing--appealing to the baby boomers in the U.K. and
U.S. and rapidly growing middle class in Asia. The operational
heads are very strong particularly in the U.S. and Asia," said
Panmure Gordon analyst Barrie Cornes after the announcement of Mr.
Thiam's departure.
Mr. Wells has "turned the business around from being an area
where we thought the Pru may well be looking to sell the U.S.
operation into a highly profitable op [operation] throwing off a
huge amount of cash remitted back to the group to pay the
dividend," added Mr. Cornes.
Matthew Preston, analyst at Berenberg, said: "That layer of
management below Mr. Thiam--the heads of business units--is an
extremely strong and capable set of individuals."
"He [Mr. Wells] clearly knows the business very well, has been
alongside Tidjane all of his reign," Mr. Preston said. "What
they've done in the U.S. has been very opportunistic and responding
to people pulling out of markets as a result of pressures...The
U.S. business has been a phenomenal success. But there is a
recognition that Asia is the long-term growth story."
David Wighton, Juliet Samuel and Rory Gallivan contributed to
this article.
Write to Ian Walker at ian.walker@wsj.com
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