Comment: Expect more of the same from the Pru

That's his relaxed, conversational way of reassuring investors not to expect any sudden jerks of activity when he formally takes over from Mark Tucker at the helm of the Pru.

A close eye will be kept on preserving capital and driving up margins. Cunning plans to chase fancy new business will be viewed with suspicion.

As chief financial officer Thiam has been behind much of the recent strategy and seems happy to be seen for now as Tucker mark II.

City analysts digesting today's half-year numbers will find holes and some will ask when caution will be ditched in favour of growth. Not any time soon, and certainly not this year, seems to be the message.

The so-so figures from the UK arm — decent compared to rivals, but still down on a year ago — will prompt the usual calls to sell up, to quit Britain altogether, in effect.

It would be odd indeed though, given its history, if Pru became little more than an Asian/American insurer that happened to have a stockmarket listing in London.

And there are other reasons for keeping it, as Thiam explains: regulators and ratings agencies find it a visible way of measuring the group's financial strength.

Insurance consolidator Clive Cowdery, who this week snapped up Friends Provident cheap, might fancy a bite at the Pru's UK business. He'll find Thiam much harder to persuade of the merits of such a deal.