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Historical highlights
The first Prudential agents were appointed in 1848, the year in which Prudential was founded. At first the company had a very small team of agents but after the Industrial Department opened in 1854 to sell affordable insurance to the working classes (known as ‘penny policies’), the team grew to a sizeable army. It was important to hire good men who would represent the company well: they had to stand out from agents representing other companies. The agents were issued with regularly-updated instructions which contained precise details about conducting business, filling in forms and keeping accounts. By the turn of the century there were 10,000 Prudential agents and they had sold insurance to one third of the population. In the 1960s, six million homes in Britain were visited by the Prudential agent.
The phrase ‘Man from the Pru’ was first used by the company in 1949 after Weekly Illustrated magazine produced a feature on the life of a real life Prudential agent, Mr Fred Sawyer. One of the pictures was so striking that the publicity department decided to use the image in their advertising. The image of a striding, purposeful Prudential agent was updated and modified over the years and appeared in publications and sales literature in Prudential’s markets around the world, including Singapore, Pakistan, East Africa, Australia, Canada and South Africa. Both at home and abroad the use of the figure has done much to boost the prestige of the company. The figure of the Man from the Pru continues to represent a uniform aspect of the company’s world-wide service and expresses the unity of the company, not only to the world public but also to those who work for Prudential.
Prudential has a rich and extensive history in Asia and has maintained a continuous presence in the region for more than 80 years.
In 1923 Prudential began its first overseas life operation in Calcutta, India, with the first policy being sold to a tea planter in Assam. General insurance agencies were appointed in China and the Philippines throughout the 1920s, while the life insurance business soon expanded to Malaya (1924), Singapore (1931) and Hong Kong (1964).
Prudential Corporation Asia was formed in 1994 with the objective of developing our established markets of Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong, and pursuing value-creation opportunities in the region's many high-potential markets.
Prudential rapidly extended its life business in Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, India, Vietnam, Taiwan, China, Cambodia and Laos. In 2019, we began life insurance operations in Myanmar.
In China and India, two of the world's fastest-growing economies, the company has formed joint venture partnerships with CITIC Group and ICICI Bank respectively for our life insurance and fund management businesses.
Prudential's Asian asset management business, Eastspring Investments, manages investments across a broad range of asset classes for internal, retail and institutional clients.
Prudential has a long history in Africa.
Prudential took its first steps in Africa in 1930, when chief office officials undertook a two-week investigative tour of South Africa. Their findings led to the establishment of a Head Office in Johannesburg in 1931 and the formation of a field staff during 1932. Branch offices were established in the Transvaal, Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth, Bloemfontein and East London. The first branch office in East Africa was established in Nairobi, Kenya in 1931, although administered from Calcutta; and the first African policy was written on the life of W M S Magambo in Uganda towards the end of 1932, through the agency of Folkes and Company. Mr Magambo collected his maturity proceeds in 1962, and later joined the Company as its first African agent in 1963. From 1933 control of operations at the Nairobi branch was transferred to the South African branch and by 1935 Prudential was represented in Southern Rhodesia, Uganda and Tanganyika, making the area overseen from Johannesburg some 4,000 miles long from Cape Town to northern Uganda. By 1956 Prudential’s operations in Africa had expanded to Malawi and Namibia.
From the 1960s Prudential began to pull out of Africa due to political and regulatory change in the countries in which it had been operating. Prudential returned to Africa in 2014 and now has five operations in African countries (Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia and Nigeria).
In 1879 the Prudential Assurance Company entered its new head office, Holborn Bars, designed by Alfred Waterhouse, one of the most popular and successful architects in the UK, particularly well known for designing the Natural History Museum and Manchester Town Hall. ‘Chief Office’ had the latest modern conveniences: hot running water, a pneumatic tube system and – from 1881 – electric lighting. Lady clerks had their own entrance, staircase, library, roof promenade and dining room and left work 15 minutes earlier to avoid ‘consorting’ with the men.
By the early 1900s Prudential insured one third of the UK population – and the building at Holborn Bars had grown to accommodate the business. On the site were a staff restaurant (for the ladies), a chapel and a hall for meetings and entertainments. The interior decoration of moulded plaster, mahogany counters, marble mosaics and tiled walls was of the highest standard. The tiles made a clean and hygienic working environment for staff. Waterhouse and his son went on to design 21 other offices for Prudential all over the UK, in the same distinctive Victorian Gothic style. During the 1930s the original 1879 block was re-built - large open plan floors were designed in the Art Deco style by the architect E M Joseph to accommodate new punch card machinery used in Prudential’s administration.
By the 1980s, new technology meant that Holborn Bars needed a complete refurbishment. The design, by Prudential Architects and the EPR Partnership, retained the original features of the Waterhouse and Joseph designs but equipped the office for modern working practices. HM Queen Elizabeth opened the new building in October 1993. In 1999, Group Head Office was relocated to Laurence Pountney Hill; however Holborn Bars still remains as a landmark building.
A wide range of claims has been covered by Prudential over the years, including fire, flood, marine, motor, railway, industrial and domestic accidents. Most notoriously, the sinking of the Titanic on 14 April 1912 resulted in the loss of over 1,500 lives. By June 1912, Prudential had paid £14,239 in claims for 324 lives.
For Prudential the prompt payment of claims to provide immediate help in times of emergency is a central part of customer service. Prudential collectors were always on hand to provide rapid financial relief to beneficiaries when calamity struck.
Contact details for M&G and Prudential UK customers and policyholders
