Tidjane Thiam an executive director, sitting on the plc board. In January 2007, after Richard Harvey announced he would step down as chief executive of Aviva, Thiam was tipped as a possible future head of the group. Thiam left Aviva in September 2007 to become chief financial officer of Prudential plc. In March 2009, Thiam was named chief executive, effective from October, after Mark Tucker chose to step down. The appointment made him the first African to lead a FTSE 100 listed company. His departure from the role was announced on 10 March 2015. After he became chief executive, Prudential launched a
FTSE Group the index series was renamed into FTSE China Index Series; the Hong Kong incorporated company was renamed to "FTSE China Index Limited". In 2011, Pearson sold its stake to LSE. FTSE Group operates 250,000 indices calculated across 80 countries and in 2015 was the number three provider of indices worldwide by revenue. FTSE Group earns around 60 per cent of revenue from annual subscription fees and 40 per cent from licensing for index-based products. Clients include both active and passive fund managers, consultants, asset owners, sell-side firms and financial data vendors. FTSE’s products are used by market participants worldwide for