Tidjane Thiam has told the board of his intention to step down, the company announced this morning. He will become chief executive of Credit Suisse.
Paul Manduca, chairman of Prudential, said: "Tidjane has been one of the most exceptional leaders in Prudential's long and illustrious history.
"From leading the group through the financial crisis at the end of the last decade, first as CFO and then as chief executive, to shaping an Asia-focused strategy that has seen Prudential grow into an ever more successful UK-based financial services business, he has been a great servant to the company and all its stakeholders in his seven years on our board.
"Although the board will be sorry to see him go, we understand his desire to take on a new challenge with another global leader in a different part of the financial services sector, headquartered in Switzerland, and we wish him every success in his new role.

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"As would be expected of a FTSE 100 company, the board is always focused on succession planning and a process has already examined a range of external and internal candidates.
"We are fortunate to have a very strong management team across the group and we have identified a successor and expect to be able to announce a new chief executive once the regulatory approval process has been completed."
Mr Thiam said: "It has been a privilege and a pleasure to lead one of the iconic companies in UK financial services. We have successfully navigated some challenging times, including the global financial crisis, and have emerged with four profitable and strongly cash-generative businesses.
"Our traditional UK life business has performed robustly, while M&G has grown into one of the largest and most successful asset managers in Europe.
"All of that has been achieved as a result of the dedication and teamwork of the group leadership and our talented people around the world and it has been an honour to lead them. There are no words that could adequately express my gratitude to Prudential's people."
Prudential released its full financial results for 2014 this morning, showing that the group IFRS operating profit was £3,186 million, up 14 per cent and the UK life IFRS operating profit was £752 million, up 7 per cent.