Gross written premium (1999):

Gross written premium (1999):
£326.6m

Parent:
Prudential

Year company established:
1978

UK head office:
142 Holborn Bars
London
EC1M 2NH
tel: 020 7220 7588
fax: 020 7548 3725

website:
www.prudential.co.uk

Company history:
Prudential is the largest life insurance company in the UK, and one of the leading life insurance companies in the world. It has more than £130bn of funds under management. This sum represents the totals savings, investments and insurance policies of more than nine million people worldwide.

Prudential's business is focused on the UK and the Asian and southern Pacific markets.

Its main areas of business are life, pensions, short, medium and long-term savings, mortgages, investment management and general insurance.

Prudential employs nearly 20,000 staff around the world. It is the sixth-largest home insurer in the UK with over 1.75 million household insurance customers

Chief officer:
Alan Cook, chief executive, Prudential Insurance Services

Biography:
Alan Cook was born in 1953. He joined Prudential straight from school at the age of 17.

The majority of his career has been spent in general insurance working in underwriting, claims, product design, process design and IT. Between 1976 and 78 he was seconded to the Association of British Insurers (ABI) where he worked in the press office.

In 1974 he qualified as a Fellow of the Chartered Insurance Institute.

In addition to Prudential activities Cook was greatly involved with the CII as a joint secretary for the examiners' committee for four years and chairman of the education and training committee.

He was also a moderator of the annual examinations in Nigeria. In 1993 he was seconded to Jackson National Life, the wholly owned Prudential subsidiary in Michigan US as senior vice-president operations, for three years. On his return to the UK in September 1996, he was appointed acquisition integration director working with the team that acquired Scottish Amicable.

In April 1997, he was appointed general insurance director, and he became managing director in February 1998.

In 1999 he became managing director, retail insurance operations and in July 2000 chief executive of Prudential Insurance Services

UK branch offices:
83

UK staff:
18,000 (total)

UK general insurance agents:
2,000

Main classes of business:
home, travel, creditor and motor