MANILA, PHILIPPINES — Leading life insurer Pru Life UK announces the appointment of its new members of the Board of Directors led by its newly-installed Chairperson Imelda “Ida” Tiongson, who takes on the leadership role after having been Independent Director for the last two years. Ms. Tiongson succeeds Henry Herrera after his resignation in December 2021.
Recently appointed to the Board as Independent Directors are—Maria Cristina “Teh” Opinion and Marife Butalid-Zamora. Their appointments were formalized last February 14, 2022.
These latest appointments round up the membership of the Board, namely, Eng Teng Wong, Executive Director; Wilf Blackburn, Non-Executive Director; Wen Chen, Non-Executive Director; and Angelica “Nenet” Lavares, Independent Director. The Board is slated to hold its first regular meeting on 31 March 2022.
“Pru Life UK welcomes the appointment of more women leaders to the Pru Life UK Board. With this addition to our roster, we now have over 70% composition of women, which is a reflection of our commitment to diversity,” shared Pru Life UK President and CEO Eng Teng Wong. “I look forward to our productive and meaningful conversations with our colleagues in the Board as we continue to accelerate forward to help many more Filipinos and their families get the most out of life.”
“I am deeply honored by this appointment as Chairperson of the Board of Pru Life UK. There are many studies showing that good governance with diversity in both gender and skills improves Board and Company performance. I want to congratulate Pru Life UK in its continued support in bringing equal opportunity for women, not just in the Board, but the whole organization,” shared Chairperson Tiongson. “This move has paved the way for having more competent and talented women in the organization. I find the seriousness of Pru Life UK in pushing good governance, as proven by its achieving high scores in the ASEAN Corporate Governance Scorecard, has and will continue to help the Company reach new heights.”
Chairperson Ida Tiongson
Ms. Tiongson is a Trustee and Teaching Fellow of the Institute of Corporate Directors (“ICD”) and is the President/Chief Executive Officer of Opal Portfolio Investments (SPV-AMC), Inc. (“Opal”). She is also part of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Open Finance Oversight Committee.
She currently serves as Independent Director of Xurpas, Inc. and Seedin Technologies Inc., Trustee of Fintech Alliance.Ph and Fintech Association of the Philippines, and Vice Chair of the Management Association of the Philippines Governance Committee.
She has extensive experience in business and risk management, having been a banker for over 22 years and holding senior executive positions with National Australia Bank and Philippine National Bank, until moving to head Opal in 2007. She was also involved in drafting various business laws, such as the Financial Rehabilitation and Insolvency Act of 2010 and the Revised Corporation Code.
Ms. Tiongson completed her Bachelor of Business in Accountancy degree at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Australia, with a perfect score in Accounting for Bankers exam. She also took Masterclasses in Remedial Management at AIM, Blockchain/Digitalization by Terrapin, Audit and Risk by IFC Worldbank, Kaplan Norton Balance Scorecard and AGI -Alibaba Netrepeneurship.
New Independent Directors
Ms. Opinion is the President and CEO of BNEXT, Inc., a value consulting company focused on helping companies achieve and sustain their digital transformation, and is a Board Member of Acquisition Apps, Inc. Previously, she was the Group Chief Information Officer of JG Summit Holdings, Inc. and the Senior Vice President for IT of SM Investments, Corp.
She has more than 30 years of experience in Digital Transformation and Technology
Innovation, encompassing Enterprise Applications, Shared Service Operations, Hybrid Infrastructure and Platforms, Cyber Security, Business Continuity, and Governance, providing enterprises with valuable solutions that provide fast and tangible results balanced with change and risk management necessary for today’s digital economy.
She has Masters in Business Administration and Bachelor of Science in Mathematics degrees from the University of the Philippines and has completed executive courses on Strategic Uses of Information Technology at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, Palo Alto, CA, and Leading Digital Business Transformation at the Institute for Management Development, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Ms. Zamora has held various leadership roles in different organizations spanning her career in the private sector, most notably, as Chairman of Convergys Philippines; Managing Director for Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East, Africa for Convergys Corporation and served as the first country manager of Convergys Philippines, setting up its first contact center in 2003 and leading its growth as the country’s largest private employer.
She is the third woman President and the 68th President of the Management Association of the Philippines. She was President of the Philippine Software Association; Vice President of the American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines and Board Member of the Contact Center Association of the Philippines. Honors conferred on Ms. Zamora include the Asia CEO Awards 2011 Global Filipino Executive of the Year, the ‘Go Negosyo’ Woman STARpreneuer Award 2012, the 100 Most Influential Filipino Women in the World 2013 and UP Sigma Delta Phi Mariang Maya Award 2018.
Ms. Zamora studied at the College of the Holy Spirit, University of the Philippines, and the University of Pennsylvania.
