(19 Mar 2009)

Financial company, Prudential plc today announced that Tidjane Thiam, its Chief Financial Officer, will become Group Chief Executive with effect from 1st October 2009. Thiam becomes the first black CEO of a FTSE 100 Company in the UK. 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, Tidjane Thiam 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 Tucker 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.”