Prudential plc

The company was founded in Hatton Garden in London in May 1848 as The Prudential, Investment, Loan, and Assurance Association and in September 1848 changed its name to The Prudential Mutual Assurance, Investment, and Loan Association,{{cite book|author=Dennett, Laurie.|title=A Sense of Security: 150 Years of Prudential|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5EEm3mbYqwAC&pg=PA165|year=1998|publisher=Granta Editions|isbn=978-1-85757-060-1|pages=18–20}} to provide loans to professional and working people. In 1854, the company began selling the relatively new concept of Industrial Branch insurance policies to the working class population for premiums as low as one penny a week through agents acting as door to door salesmen. The army of premium collection agents was for many years identified with the Prudential as the "Man from the Pru". The company moved to its long-time home at Holborn Bars in 1879 and converted to a limited company in 1881. The building was designed by Alfred Waterhouse, and is built of terracotta manufactured by Gibbs and Canning of Tamworth (c.1878): two of the same driving forces behind the Natural History Museum in London.[http://atschool.eduweb.co.uk/arodgers/gibbs_and_canning.htm Research page including details of many buildings that used Gibbs and Canning terracotta] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070615082058/http://atschool.eduweb.co.uk/arodgers/gibbs_and_canning.htm |date=15 June 2007 }} accessed 25 March 2012

File:Prudential Assurance Building 1, Holborn, London - Diliff.jpg

The company was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1924.{{Cite web |title=Timeline |url=https://www.prudentialplc.com/en/about-us/our-history/timeline |access-date=2024-10-14 |website=www.prudentialplc.com |language=en}}

In the mid-1980s, financial deregulation allowed financial institutions to own estate agencies, and Prudential decided to follow early market entrants such as Provident Financial Group plc (Whitegates) and Lloyds Bank (Black Horse Agencies),{{cite book |editor1-last=Ennew |editor1-first=Christine |title=Cases in Marketing Financial Services |date=1993 |publisher=Butterworth-Heinemann on behalf of the Chartered Institute of Marketing |location=Oxford |isbn=0750606614 |pages=196–200}} in summer 1985 by purchasing a long-established and successful Huntingdon-based firm of estate agents, Ekins, Dilley and Handley, for £12 million.{{cite book |last1=Dennett |first1=Laurie |title=A Sense of Security: 150 Years of Prudential |date=1998 |publisher=Granta Editions |location=Cambridge |isbn=185757060X |page=363}} This was originally intended as an experiment allowing the company a new route to market for mortgage-linked endowment policies; however after many other financial institutions followed suit, Prudential rapidly started to embark on an acquisition trail which would quickly see it become market leader in terms of number of offices.{{cite news |last1=Thomson |first1=Richard |title=The lenders fold their cards: Richard Thomson looks into the story behind Abbey National's sale of its disastrous estate agency venture |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/the-lenders-fold-their-cards-richard-thomson-looks-into-the-story-behind-abbey-nationals-sale-of-its-1462787.html|work=The Independent|access-date=27 March 2020 |date=22 August 1993}} Acquisitions included Chestertons Residential and Earl & Lawrence in August 1986,{{cite news |last1=Eadie |first1=Alison |title=Prudential buys two estate agencies |work=The Times |date=8 August 1986 |url=https://archive.org/stream/NewsUK1986UKEnglish/Aug%2008%201986%2C%20The%20Times%2C%20%2362530%2C%20UK%20%28en%29_djvu.txt |access-date=11 May 2020}} Edward Bailey & Son in January 1987, The Channel Island Estate Agency Property Shop in February 1987, and Rogers & Clark in May 1987.{{cite book |last1=George |first1=K D |title=Mergers and Acquisitions Year Book |date=1988 |publisher=Macmillan Publishers |location=Basingstoke |isbn=978-1-349-10005-7 |pages=68, 116, 402}} This was however done at great cost. Although a typical cost of establishing a new estate agency branch was around £75,000–£100,000, Prudential paid a total of £125 million for 337 of its branches: an average cost per branch of £371,000.{{cite book |last1=Hamnett |first1=Chris |title=Winners And Losers: Home Ownership in Modern Britain |date=1998 |publisher=Routledge |location=Abingdon |isbn=978-1857283341 |pages=42–44}}

In 1986, Prudential acquired the American insurer Jackson National Life.{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/09/19/business/company-news-prudential-plc-to-buy-jackson.html|title=Prudential P.L.C. To Buy Jackson|date=19 September 1986|work=The New York Times|access-date=9 April 2017}} In the same year, amongst many other acquisitions, Prudential Property Services acquired the fifty-two strong chain of Reeds Rains for £24 million.Lawson, David (1999). Swiss Financial Giant Backs UK Residential Agents. Property Week, April 1999.

The collapse of the housing market in the south of England in 1989 brought about a slump in income at Prudential Property Services, which during the first half of 1990 lost £23 million. Prudential had been closing branches, with 100 closing between December 1988 and May 1990. After these losses were announced, another 175 branches closed in July 1990. In May 1991 Prudential sold the remainder of the chain for a total of £13.5 million, representing a 90% loss on the cost of acquisition. Some branches were purchased by their original owners for fractions of the price they had received from the Prudential just a few years earlier. For example, the Prudential Property Services office in Hanwell was originally an independent agency, purchased by Prudential for £200,000: it was subsequently sold off to Rolfe East Estate Agents for £1. The western division of Prudential Property Services was sold to Scottish Widows to join their Connells Estate Agents chain. The northern division{{cite web |last1=Willcock |first1=John |title=Abbey National sells estate agents for 8m pounds: Two entrepreneurs buy Cornerstone chain after bank's losses since 1987 mount to at least pounds 243m |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/abbey-national-sells-estate-agents-for-8m-pounds-two-entrepreneurs-buy-cornerstone-chain-after-banks-1461674.html|work=The Independent|access-date=27 February 2020 |date=17 August 1993}} was sold in a £3.4 million management buyout reverting to the name, Reeds Rains, the south east division was sold to become Arun Estates, and Chestertons and another region were sold to the Woolwich Property Services.{{cite book |last1=Woolwich Property Services Limited |title=Accounts to 31 December 1991 |date=1992}}{{cite book |last1=Backe-Hansen |first1=Melanie |title=The History of Chestertons |date=2018 |publisher=Chestertons Global Limited}}

In 1997, Prudential acquired Scottish Amicable, a business founded in 1826 in Glasgow as the West of Scotland Life Insurance Company, for £1.75 bn.[https://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/26/business/prudential-of-britain-in-deal-to-buy-scottish-life-insurer.html Pru of Britain in Deal to buy Scottish Life Insurancer]. The New York Times, 26 March 1997.

In 1998, Prudential set up Egg, an internet bank in the UK. The subsidiary reached 550,000 customers within nine months, but had difficulty achieving profitability.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/the_company_file/406903.stm Egg cracks internet for Pru] BBC News, 1999 In June 2000, an initial public offering of 21% was made to allow for further growth of the internet business, but in February 2006 Prudential decided to repurchase the 21% share of Egg.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4487456.stm Prudential to swallow the Egg whole]. BBC News, 2005. Egg was subsequently sold to Citibank in January 2007.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6309731.stm Pru sells Egg to Citigroup]. BBC News, 2007. In 1999, M&G, a UK fund management company, was acquired.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/the_company_file/294759.stm Pru pounces on investment rival] BBC News, 1999 In June 2000, the company was first listed on the New York Stock Exchange to help focus on the US market.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/790649.stm Prudential goes to New York] BBC News, 2000

In February 2002, Churchill bought Prudential's general insurance business.{{cite web|url=https://www.insurancetimes.co.uk/churchill-set-to-cull-pru-suppliers/1350407.article|title=Churchill set to cull Pru suppliers|work=Insurance Times|date=31 January 2002|access-date=11 May 2020}}

In October 2004, Prudential launched a new subsidiary, PruHealth, a joint venture with Discovery Holdings of South Africa selling private medical insurance to the UK market.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3706970.stm Insurance boon for health conscious]. BBC News, 2004. In April 2008, Prudential outsourced its back office functions to Capita: about 3,000 jobs were transferred (1,000 in Stirling, 750 in Reading and 1,250 in Mumbai).[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/tayside_and_central/7116240.stm Prudential jobs deal with Capita] BBC News, 2007 This significant outsourcing deal, worth an estimated £722m over a 15-year contract, built on Prudential's existing relationship with Capita, who took over its Belfast operation in 2006 along with about 450 employees in a smaller operational restructure.[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20060817/ai_n16640437 Prudential outsources 450 jobs in Belfast to Capita Group]. The Independent, 17 August 2006.

On 1 March 2010, Prudential announced that it was in "advanced talks" to purchase the pan-Asian life insurance company of AIG, American International Assurance (AIA) for approximately £23 billion.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/mar/01/prudential-american-international-assurance-merger |title=Prudential gambles on Asia with $35bn deal |work=The Guardian|date=1 March 2010 |access-date=18 April 2011}} The deal later collapsed, and AIA ended up raising money in an IPO.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10211773|title=Prudential abandons bid for AIA|date=2 June 2010|publisher=BBC News|access-date=25 March 2012}}

In December 2013, Prudential announced the purchase of Ghana's Express Life Company. Express Life was subsequently rebranded as Prudential Ghana.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4b1536b8-5daa-11e3-b3e8-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3RLb8NVxE |title=Prudential Moves into Insurance in Ghana |work=The Financial Times| access-date=5 December 2013}} In April 2014, Prudential launched two corporate responsibility initiatives to support education in Ghana: the Prudential Scholarship Programme for more than 500 senior high school students, in partnership with the NGO Plan Ghana; and a scheme to support actuarial science graduates.{{cite web|url=http://thebftonline.com/content/prudential-increases-capital-base%E2%80%A6-it-opens-business|title=Prudential Increases Capital Base|date=25 April 2014|work=Business and Financial Times|access-date=25 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140803191416/http://thebftonline.com/content/prudential-increases-capital-base%E2%80%A6-it-opens-business|archive-date=3 August 2014|url-status=dead}} In September 2014, Prudential purchased Kenyan life insurer Shield Assurance and rebranded it as Prudential Kenya, further expanding the company's presence in Africa.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-09-16/prudential-buys-kenyan-insurer-in-second-africa-purchase |title=Prudential Buys Kenyan Insurer in Second African Purchase |publisher=Bloomberg Business | access-date=16 September 2014 |first=Sarah |last=Jones |date=16 September 2014}} Prudential has since entered six other African countries – Uganda in 2015, Zambia in 2016, Nigeria in 2017, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire and Togo in 2019.{{cite web|url=http://thenationonlineng.net/uks-prudential-becomes-majority-investor-zenith-life-assurance/|title=UK's Prudential becomes majority investor in Zenith Life Assurance|author=Taofik Salako|work=thenationonlineng.net|date=4 September 2017 |access-date=4 September 2017}}

On 10 March 2015, it was announced that the CEO, Tidjane Thiam, would leave Prudential to become the next CEO of Credit Suisse.{{cite news|last1=Milmo|first1=Dan|title=Prudential's Tidjane Thiam to take top role at Credit Suisse|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/mar/10/prudentials-tidjane-thiam-to-take-top-role-at-credit-suisse|access-date=10 March 2015|work=The Guardian|date=10 March 2015}} On 1 May 2015, it was announced that Mike Wells, head of the company's US business, would succeed Tidjane Thiam as CEO, on a pay package worth up to £7.5 million.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/may/01/prudential-appoints-new-ceo-on-75m-pay-package |title=Prudential appoints new CEO on £7.5m pay package|author=Julia Kollewe|work=The Guardian|date=May 2015 |access-date=26 March 2016}}

In August 2017, it was announced that Prudential was to combine its asset manager, M&G, and Prudential UK & Europe to form M&GPrudential.{{Cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/9abc0bfa-7de1-11e7-ab01-a13271d1ee9c |title=Prudential announces merger of M&G and Prudential UK & Europe |publisher=FT.com | access-date=12 December 2017}}

In November 2017, Prudential announced the change in the name of its joint venture with Chinese investment company CITIC to "CITIC Prudential Life Insurance Company Limited".{{Cite news|url=http://finance.sina.com.cn/roll/2017-11-29/doc-ifyphkhk8754635.shtml |title=Prudential changes name of Chinese joint venture |publisher=Sina Finance | access-date=12 December 2017}}

In March 2018, Prudential announced that it would demerge M&GPrudential from the Group;{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2018/03/14/prudential-spin-mg-separate-business/|title=Prudential unveils radical overhaul as it splits itself in two FTSE 100 firms|author=Lucy Burton|work=The Telegraph|date=14 March 2018 |access-date=14 March 2018}} the demerger was completed on 21 October 2019.{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/business-money/markets/article/m-g-makes-its-debut-after-demerger-from-prudential-lwzgsb9st|title=M&G makes its debut after demerger from Prudential|last=Senior City Correspondent|first=Ben Martin|date=2019-10-21|work=The Times|access-date=2019-10-21|language=en|issn=0140-0460}}

In 2021, the company demerged its US business Jackson National Life leaving it focused solely on African and Asian markets.{{cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/50a710b5-1ae9-4525-bb88-d5e584e00fdd|title=Prudential carve-up set to complete next month|newspaper=Financial Times|date=11 August 2021|access-date=13 September 2021}}

As of March 2022, 60 percent of Prudential's head office staff were based in Hong Kong, and fewer than 200 employees were in London.{{Cite web |title=Prudential hit by China's zero-Covid policy |url=https://www.ft.com/content/0c3f71e4-fd1d-481e-956f-85a8f528625e |access-date=2024-07-02 |website=www.ft.com|date=10 August 2022 |last1=Kinder |first1=Tabby }}

The company has two business units:{{cite web|url=https://www.prudentialplc.com/en/about-us/our-businesses|title=Our businesses|work=prudentialplc.com|access-date=11 May 2021}}

• Prudential Corporation Asia: based in Hong Kong,{{Cite web |url=http://2013hy.prudentialreports.com/index.asp?pageid=36 |title=Prudential Corporation Asia – How to contact us |publisher=Prudential.co.uk |access-date=13 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131218102526/http://2013hy.prudentialreports.com/index.asp?pageid=36 |archive-date=18 December 2013 |url-status=dead}} the business is the largest UK life assurer in Asia. It has had a presence in the continent since 1923 when an overseas agency for life assurance was created in India. Although this was subsequently nationalised, Prudential relaunched in India in 2000 as ICICI Prudential, a 26% joint venture with ICICI Bank. As CITIC Prudential Life, a 50–50 joint venture, they were the first UK company to re-establish a life business in mainland China in 2000. There are also businesses in Cambodia, Mainland China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. Prudential's Asian asset management business, Eastspring Investments, has total funds under management of US$247.8 billion.{{Cite web| url=http://www.prudential.co.uk/~/media/Files/P/Prudential-V2/content-pdf/fact-file-2018.pdf|title=fact-file|access-date=23 May 2018|publisher=Prudential plc}}
• Since 2014 Prudential has been building a multi-product, multi-distribution business in Africa, with operations now in eight countries across the continent, including Nigeria, Ghana, Togo, Cameroon and over one million customers. Nairobi has been the regional office for Prudential's Africa business since 2021.{{cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/business-money/technology/article/breaking-up-is-the-right-thing-to-do-at-prudential-t5ngz6fhk |title=Breaking up is the right thing to do at Prudential|work=The Times|access-date=10 February 2021|last1=Costello |first1=Miles }}{{cite web|url=https://www.insurancebusinessmag.com/uk/companies/prudential-plc/29618/?p=8 |title=Prudential Plc : Everything you need to know|work=Insurance Business UK}}{{cite web|url=https://www.prudentialplc.com/~/media/Files/P/Prudential-V3/news-releases/2021/newsrelease-busrev-2021-03-03.pdf |title=Prudential plc 2020 Full Year Results |work=Prudential plc |access-date=3 March 2021}}

Prudential were the inaugural sponsor of RideLondon, an annual two-day cycling festival, held for the first time in 2013. The 2017 Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 set a new fundraising record for the event, with £12.75 million raised for charity, bringing the total raised by the event to more than £53 million in its first five years.{{Cite web|url=https://www.prudentialridelondon.co.uk/news-media/latest-news/prudential-ridelondon-raises-record-breaking-12-million-for-charity/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307125640/https://www.prudentialridelondon.co.uk/news-media/latest-news/prudential-ridelondon-raises-record-breaking-12-million-for-charity/|url-status=dead|archive-date=7 March 2016|title= Riders raise record £12.75 million for charity in 2017 |publisher=Prudentialridelondon.co.uk |access-date=18 December 2017}}

The event was developed by the Mayor of London and his agencies and is organised by the London & Surrey Cycling Partnership. The main events are a 100-mile professional road race through Surrey and London, and an amateur race along the same route. Participants in the amateur race typically raise money for good causes. The 20,709 finishers in the 2014 event raised more than £10 million for charity.{{Cite web |url=http://www.prudentialridelondon.co.uk/News/Newsroom/Prudential_RideLondon_raises_record-breaking__10_million_for_charity_s1_p20267.htm |title=Prudential RideLondon raises record-breaking £10 million for charity |publisher=Prudentialridelondon.co.uk |access-date=18 December 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150210155409/http://www.prudentialridelondon.co.uk/News/Newsroom/Prudential_RideLondon_raises_record-breaking__10_million_for_charity_s1_p20267.htm |archive-date=10 February 2015}} Prudential ended its title sponsorship of RideLondon in 2020.{{Cite news|url=https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/prudential-to-end-title-sponsorship-of-ridelondon/ |title=Prudential to end title sponsorship of RideLondon |publisher=cyclingnews}}

Key individuals are:

{{Portal|Banks|Companies}}

• Invest Financial Corporation
• Prudential Staff Union
• Richard Woolnough

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• [https://www.prudentialplc.com Prudential plc official website]

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Category:Multinational companies based in the City of London

Category:Former mutual insurance companies

Category:Financial services companies based in the City of London

Category:Holborn

Category:British companies established in 1848

Category:Financial services companies established in 1848

Category:1848 establishments in England

Category:Companies listed on the London Stock Exchange

Category:Companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange

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Category:Companies listed on the Singapore Exchange

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Category: 1920s initial public offerings