Mike Evans has permanently stepped down as chairman of M&G to concentrate on the recovery of his health.

He had previously taken a temporary leave of absence from his duties as chair at the start of the year due to stress-related illness.

Mr Evans said that whilst he is making good progress on his recover, he does not feel able to return to the business before the end of the year.

He said: “I have therefore decided, in the best interests of the company and to ensure good governance, that I step down as Chair.”

M&G has begun a search for a new chair. The search will be led by temporary chair Fiona Clubberbuck, who stepped into the interim chair from senior independent director when Mr Evans started his leave of absence in January.

Ms Clutterbuck joined the board of M&G as senior independent director in October 2020. She is also chair of Paragon Banking Group and non-executive director of Nordic financial services group Sampo.

She was previously on the board of Hargreaves Lansdown.

She has spent over 30 years in financial services including head of strategy, corporate development and communications at Pearl/Phoenix Group from 2008-2018. She was also previously head of financial institutions advisory at ABN AMRO Investment Bank and global co-head of the financial institutions group at HSBC Investment Bank.