Tidjane Thiam to succeed Mark Tucker


LONDON--(Marketwire - March 19, 2009) -



Embargo: 07:01am Thursday 19 March 2009

PRUDENTIAL PLC - TIDJANE THIAM TO SUCCEED MARK TUCKER AS GROUP CHIEF
EXECUTIVE ON 1 OCTOBER 2009

Prudential plc announces that Mark Tucker has informed the Board that
he intends to step down as Group Chief Executive on 30 September 2009
after four and a half years. The Board is very sorry to lose Mark, but
understands and respects his decision.

The Board is pleased to announce that Tidjane Thiam, Chief Financial
Officer, will succeed Mark Tucker as Group Chief Executive with effect
from 1st October 2009.

In his 25 years at Prudential, Mark Tucker has worked across the
business in the UK, US and Asia. He was Chief Executive of Prudential
Corporation Asia and established Prudential as the leading
international life company in the region. Mark was appointed Group
Chief Executive in May 2005. Over this time the compound annual growth
rate in EEV has been 21 per cent and IFRS profits of 14 per cent. Under
Mark's leadership, the business has taken maximum advantage of the
opportunities for profitable growth arising from its advantaged
geographical diversification, and as a result 65 per cent of earnings
now come from outside of the UK.

Tidjane Thiam joined Prudential in March 2008 from Aviva PLC, where he
was an Executive Director and CEO of Aviva Europe. Tidjane worked for
six years in core leadership roles including as Group Strategy and
Development Director. A French national, Tidjane began his professional
career with McKinsey & Company, working in both Paris and London, from
1986 to 1994, serving insurance companies and banks. Between 1994 and
1998, Tidjane returned to his birth place, the Ivory Coast, as the
Chief Executive Officer of the National Bureau for Technical Studies
and Development, reporting directly to the President and Prime
Minister. He was then appointed as Minister of Planning and Development
and left the country after the December 1999 military coup. He was
elected as a partner of McKinsey & Company in 2000, where he worked
until joining Aviva in 2002.

Commenting, Harvey McGrath, Prudential plc Chairman, said: "Mark has made
an outstanding contribution and has led the
transformation of Prudential into the strongest, and best focused,
company in the sector with a diversified international presence in
advantaged regions and markets. He is a world-class leader and we are
very grateful to have had his leadership, vision, drive and commitment.
We are truly sorry to see him go, but fully respect his decision.

As a Board, we maintain a continuous focus on succession planning and
have one of the strongest management teams in the industry. I am
therefore delighted to announce that Tidjane Thiam will succeed Mark on
1st October 2009. Tidjane is ideally equipped to succeed Mark, given
his global experience, knowledge of the sector and his outstanding
leadership qualities. We are delighted to have such an outstanding and
proven successor in Tidjane."

Commenting, Mark Tucker said: "Choosing to leave Prudential has been one of
the hardest decisions of
my life. When I was appointed Group Chief Executive here, I set myself
a number of key deliverables - namely establishing a clear and readily
understood strategy that would deliver sustainable growth, improving
the overall quality of our business through selective disposals,
building the best executive team in the industry, driving continually
improving performance and ensuring that world class leadership
succession was in place. I believe that I have delivered on what I set
out to do and that the time is now right to hand over to a successor to
continue the work.

I am deeply proud of what the team here at Prudential has delivered and
believe that we have in place very firm foundations for the next phase
of Prudential's growth. I am excited by the quality of my successor,
Tidjane, who I know will do an outstanding job."

Commenting, Tidjane Thiam, Chief Financial Officer, said: "I am delighted
at this opportunity. Prudential is an outstanding
organisation, with a proud history and an exciting future. I look
forward to taking over from Mark on 1st October. Mark is an outstanding
Chief Executive, who has transformed Prudential into a strategically
focused, efficient and very strongly capitalised business. It will be a
privilege to work with the Executive team to lead Prudential into its
next stage of development. In the meantime, I remain absolutely focused
in supporting Mark and ensuring delivery on our financial commitments."

ENDS

Enquiries:

Media                              Investors/Analysts
Stephen Whitehead 020 7548 3537    James Matthews     020 7548 3561
Edward Brewster   020 7548 3719


Notes to Editors:

Biographical details of Harvey McGrath, Mark Tucker and Tidjane Thiam
can be found online at:
http://www.prudential.co.uk/prudential-plc/aboutpru/ourpeople/ourboard/

Photographs of Harvey McGrath, Mark Tucker and Tidjane Thiam can be
found online at: http://www.newscast.co.uk/index.jsp

About Prudential plc

Prudential plc is a company incorporated and with its principal place
of business in England, and its affiliated companies constitute one of
the world's leading financial services groups. It provides insurance
and financial services directly and through its subsidiaries and
affiliates throughout the world. It has been in existence for over 160
years and has GBP249 billion in assets under management (as at 31
December 2008). Prudential plc is not affiliated in any manner with
Prudential Financial, Inc, a company whose principal place of business
is in the United States of America.

Forward-Looking Statements

This statement may contain certain "forward-looking statements" with
respect to certain of Prudential's plans and its current goals and
expectations relating to its future financial condition, performance,
results, strategy and objectives. Statements containing the
words"believes", "intends", "expects", "plans", "seeks" and "anticipates",
and words of similar meaning, are forward-looking. By their nature, all
forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they
relate to future events and circumstances which are beyond Prudential's
control including among other things, UK domestic and global economic
and business conditions, market related risks such as fluctuations in
interest rates and exchange rates, and the performance of financial
markets generally; the policies and actions of regulatory authorities,
the impact of competition, inflation, and deflation; experience in
particular with regard to mortality and morbidity trends, lapse rates
and policy renewal rates; the timing, impact and other uncertainties of
future acquisitions or combinations within relevant industries; and the
impact of changes in capital, solvency or accounting standards, and tax
and other legislation and regulations in the jurisdictions in which
Prudential and its affiliates operate. This may for example result in
changes to assumptions used for determining results of operations or
re-estimations of reserves for future policy benefits. As a result,
Prudential's actual future financial condition, performance and results
may differ materially from the plans, goals, and expectations set forth
in Prudential's forward-looking statements. Prudential undertakes no
obligation to update the forward-looking statements contained in this
statement or any other forward-looking statements it may make.



                    This information is provided by RNS
          The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

END

Contact Information: Contacts: RNS Customer Services 0044-207797-4400 http://www.rns.com