Ms Hunt joined Standard Life in January 2009 before being appointed as chief financial officer in May 2010. Prior to this she was chief financial officer at Norwich Union.
The role at Prudential, which she will start at the end of October, will be her first chief executive position. She will be taking over from Rob Devey who is leaving to pursue new opportunities.
David Nish, chief executive of Standard Life, said: "I'd like to take this opportunity, on behalf of the Board, to thank Jackie for her commitment and the contribution that she has made to this business during the last four years."
Tidjane Thiam, group chief executive of Prudential, said: "Jackie joins Prudential with a proven track record of delivering in the highly competitive UK insurance market. I am delighted that a person of her talent and experience is joining the group."
{desktop}{/desktop}{mobile}{/mobile}
Ms Hunt said: "I greatly look forward to joining Prudential. It is a group which combines a proud heritage stretching back 165 years with a clear forward-looking strategy for meeting the savings and protection needs of its customers across the world. The UK and Europe business has a clearly defined and valuable role to play within the group."
Mr Devey is leaving the firm after four years, having been appointed as chief executive in 2009 after seven years at Lloyds Banking Group.
Mr Devey said: "The UK business has emerged from challenging macro-economic conditions in excellent health and with a clear, focused strategy for the future. The time is right for me to pursue the next stage in my career."

• Want to receive a free weekly summary of the best news stories from our website? Just go to home page and submit your name and email address. If you are already logged in you will need to log out to see the e-newsletter sign up. You can then log in again.