South-African born Hunt joined Prudential from Standard Life two years ago and had led the UK business during a period, which included the introduction of the government’s radical pension freedoms in April. In addition to her UK and European responsibilities, Hunt was also in charge of Africa.
Mike Wells, Prudential’s group chief executive, thanked Hunt for her contribution during the period of radical change in the UK marketplace.
“She leaves our UK life business in a strong position to continue to meet our customers’ long-term savings and retirement needs while delivering valuable returns for our shareholders,” he said.
Hunt’s departure caps a busy few months for Wells, who took over the group chief executive role from Tidjane Thiam on 1 June this year.
Since his arrival he has overseen the appointment of new heads for the Asian and North American businesses and the departure of company’s chief risk officer.
Foley, who will fill the now vacant UK and Europe chief executive role alongside his current duties until a permanent successor is announced, joined the Prudential in 2000 from the National Australia Bank where he had been general manager of the Global Capital Markets division.
He was appointed managing director of Prudential Capital, and Group Treasurer in 2001, and then became chief executive of Prudential Capital and a member of the group executive committee in 2007. In 2010,
Foley was appointed Group Chief Risk Officer and joined the Prudential board. He left the board to take on the group investment director role.