Rarely have I seen a CV as, well, arresting, as the one I read when the Prudential announced that Philip Broadley will step down as FD in April next year to be succeeded by one Tidjane Thiam.

Now, (and this is a dangerous thing for a business journalist to do, so please don’t crucify me) I have to confess at not knowing too much about Thiam so I looked him up.
So at the risk of repeating a column in next week's Accountancy Age, here’s a flavour of that remarkable CV. He was born in the Ivory Coast and is currently chief executive of Aviva Europe. Highly respected he has been on speaking platforms with luminaries such as chancellor Alistair Darling, George Osborne and FSA chief regulator John Tiner. He studied engineering at top schools in Paris and got his MB from INSEAD.

He joined McKinsey in the early 80s, later became a partner and in 1998 was named one of the 100 Global Leaders of Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum. The WEF also cited him as being a candidate for a dream board. He returned to the Ivory Coast and became minister for planning and development after first being CEO of the country’s National Bureau for Technical Studies. Following a coup in 1999 he left to rejoin McKinsey in  Paris and then joined Aviva working his way up to CEO.Out of breath. I am. That’s an astonishing CV. There can’t be an FD in the country, or anywhere for that matter, with a history like that. But here’s the odd thing. He’s a CEO becoming a group FD. Not a common event. That almost never happens, except where CEOs are running much smaller divisions. The record shows Thiam is obviously a very talented and ambitious individual. Who would dare say that he will stop at being FD? In fact you wouldn’t. Clearly this is a man who must be tipped for the top and won't remain a Group FD for too long.

 

 

September 21, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (3)

Never could an exit from a FTSE100 company have been so calm. I'm talking about the announcement today that Philip Broadley will quit as finance director of the Prudential next year.

At a time when being a top executive could never have been tougher, when we usually only read of executive changes when they've been forced to resign, Broadley's departure from Pru comes as something of a refreshing change. And that's saying something for journalist more accustomed to writing bad news.
His successor, Tidjane Thiam, will take over in April 2008, giving a six-month lead in which should make for one of the more sedate handovers in the history UK plc.
Broadley of course is widely respected and there should be no other reason for a move than, well, he fancies a change.
He's been on the board at the Pru for eight years, chaired the very influential Hundred Group of FDs and, may I say, was a very committed judge for the 2006 Accountancy Age Awards (in fact, to be honest, he was one of our best ever - no cosying up intended). He's also made some very strong remarks about auditor competition in the UK.
So, he's picked his moment, no doubt played a major part in picking his own successor, and leaves the Pru with a terrific reputation. How many execs can boast of that?
It remains to be seen what he does next. The press statements give no clue. It may be that he is making himself available for a CEO's job. But I suspect, given his experience and success, he would make a solid gold addition to the non-execs compliment on any board. Need a battle hardened expert who speaks his mind and knows the accounting detail inside out to chair an audit committee? I know of one who might be available.

 

September 21, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0)