John Foley

John William Foley is a veteran UK financial-services executive best known as the founding Group Chief Executive of M&G plc. He began his career at the merchant bank Hill Samuel & Co., where over roughly two decades he worked across every division, ending in senior risk, capital-markets and treasury roles within the combined TSB and Hill Samuel Bank. He then spent three years at National Australia Bank as General Manager, Global Capital Markets, based in Melbourne and London.

Foley joined Prudential plc in 2000 as Deputy Group Treasurer, becoming Managing Director of Prudential Capital and Group Treasurer in 2001, Chief Executive of Prudential Capital in 2007, and Group Chief Risk Officer in 2011, when he joined the Prudential plc board. In 2015 he was appointed (initially on an interim basis) Chief Executive of Prudential UK & Europe. In that role he oversaw the 2017 merger of M&G Investments with Prudential UK & Europe and then led the 2019 demerger of M&G plc from Prudential, becoming M&G's first Group Chief Executive as a standalone, FTSE-listed savings and investment business.

Foley led M&G plc through its early independent years — including the COVID-19 period — before announcing his intention to retire in April 2022; he stepped down and retired from M&G in 2023. In September 2024 he was appointed Chairman of Salica Investments, the London-based venture and private-markets firm that rebranded that year from Hambro Perks, bringing his treasury, risk and capital-markets experience to a portfolio of early- and growth-stage technology companies.

• Operates as Chairman of Salica Investments rather than a hands-on deal lead — he provides governance, financial-services credibility and capital-markets expertise to the firm's investment platform.
• Salica invests across the lifecycle — "from seed to scaling," plus secondary investments and a growth-debt fund — so check sizes span early venture through later growth rounds.
• Core sectors: fintech, health-tech, climate/sustainability, consumer-tech, productivity and B2B SaaS.
• The firm positions itself as backing "world-changing innovations" with a global team; it managed a portfolio well over 100 companies across multiple funds as of 2025.
• Foley's personal lens is shaped by decades in risk, treasury and capital markets at Prudential and M&G — a strength in regulated financial-services and fintech businesses where balance-sheet and risk discipline matter.