Prudential hires former ABN exec as Asia fund CEO

By Jeffrey Hodgson

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Prudential (PRU.L) has named former ABN AMRO executive Arne Lindman as the new head of its $74 billion (37.5 billion pound) Asian fund arm, ending a nearly year-long hunt for a permanent chief executive.

The former CEO of ABN AMRO Asset Management's Asia Pacific operation will be based in Hong Kong and take up the new job on August 4.

Prudential is one of the largest international fund managers in the region, operating in nine Asian markets and the United Arab Emirates. Last month the division announced plans to launch a Saudi Arabian joint venture.

But it has been without a permanent CEO since last June, when Ajay Srinivasan resigned after almost a decade spent building the unit into a major regional funds player. Srinivasan left to head the financial services arm of India's Aditya Birla Group.

Alan Wren was brought in to serve as the division's interim CEO and has shared some of the responsibilities with other Prudential executives.

Lindman, a former fund manager with more than two decades in the industry, began his career with Sweden's Svenska Handelsbanken Group. He became chief executive of Alfred Berg Asset Management, which was bought by ABN, before heading ABN's Asian fund arm.

Prudential started its funds business in the region in 1998, when it bought a majority stake in India's ICICI Asset Management. Srinivasan was appointed managing director of that business, before going on to head the regional operation.

The sources of its $74 billion in assets under management include Prudential's own insurance operations, both within Asia and in Britain, as well as institutional and retail investors.