That man from the Pru has an enviable track record when it comes to recognising eastern promise. Prudential was one of the first British insurance companies to recognise the Asian growth potential and remains one of the most successful in the region. In little over ten years, the exotic adjunct that was Prudential’s Asian business has metamorphosed into being the the most powerful driver of growth for this £18 billion mega-corporate.

It ought not to surprise anyone, therefore, to learn that the Pru is in the vanguard of companies relocating jobs to India. Pru has an established reputation for recognising the potential in Asia. It might raise the odd eyebrow that the Pru is actively considering shifting more senior management jobs to the sub-continent. This is not another of those stories that may end with the construction of a new call centre. Pru is of the view that white-collar jobs – in accountancy, risk management, and insurance underwriting – may be equally well done in Bombay as they are in London or Manchester.

It may scare some people that the Pru is thinking about relocating senior, as well as junior, jobs to India. But even this should not shock. India and Indians suffered over a long period from to its politicians’ penchant for closed, quasi-command, economics. Many things – including the quality of trade-enhancing physical infrastructure – were neglected in the first four decades of Indian independence. Investment in education, however, remained a top priority. It cannot be assumed that the development of India’s human capital began only ten years ago when more enlightened economic policies gained traction under Manmohan Singh, first as Finance Minister and latterly as Prime Minister.

There were, and are, millions of Indians who live at or underneath the breadline. But this has not impeded this nation’s enthusiasm for education. It is long established and is now beginning to pay dividends.

Feelings of surprise at the rise of India may give way to indignation. Some people may be enraged because they wrongly assume that these jobs are being somehow stolen. They are not. They are being taken according to a game played according to the rules. If the jobs can be done as well in India as they are done at present here, there is no reason why Pru should do any other than exploit an opportunity. Indeed, if the cost of the work is lower, it has a duty to its value-seeking customers to relocate.

Shareholders should welcome the move since it shows Pru pursuing ways of preserving and creating shareholder value. Those same shareholders need not be concerned that the quality of work will suffer, although they may require understandable reassurance.

In allowing the transfer of these and other jobs to India and elsewhere, we do much for Third World development and the eradication of poverty. But the health of the UK economy may well begin to show worrying signs of strain if we fail to invest both heavily and cleverly in our own human capital resources.

It’s the long run that matters

Shares in Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct have now fallen by nearly 30 per cent in the two months since they were floated at 300p. No obvious disaster has befallen the cut-price sportswear retailer during that time. So the stock market and fund managers could be accused of short-termism, a refrain of wilful entrepreneurs less shy of publicity than Mr Ashley.

The truth may be that fund managers and entrepreneurs expect too much from each other. For investors, this float raised doubts from the start.

Sports Direct seemed to be a collection of assets astutely acquired and energised by Mr Ashley, rather than a coherent business. No money was being raised for expansion. The main purpose seemed to be for Mr Ashley to cash in more than £900 million and yet retain majority control of the company, leaving outside shareholders powerless. That always tends to make them fractious.

Mr Ashley showed no desire to relate to, let alone answer to, minority holders. He kept himself out of the immediate line of fire by taking the role of executive deputy chairman, the same role that Stefano Pessina had at Alliance Boots and that Lakshmi Mittal took at Arcelor Mittal before he showed his hand.

Given this initial distrust, everything since has been interpreted badly. Mr Ashley bought a 3 per cent stake in adidas on his own account, not the company’s. He explained that a commitment noted in the prospectus was not quite what it seemed (even though this benefited the company). and Citigroup, one of the share promoters at 300p, rated it a “hold” 15 per cent lower.

Yesterday, one of the few stockbroking fans switched from “buy” to “sell” after interpreting an opaque trading statement as a profit warning. Sports Direct is behaving predictably. It is therefore hard to have much sympathy for investors who gambled on the shares and now find, again predictably, that few others are interested in holding them.

Dutch auction

The 68 per cent vote in favour of the resolution put by the rebel hedge fund TCI is a heavy blow to the credibility of the ABN Amro supervisory board and its plans for a merger with Barclays, and a big boost to the ambitions of the rival Royal Bank of Scotland-led consortium.

Although the resolution has no standing in law, the ABN board risks being accused of ignoring the will of the bulk of its shareholders unless it starts cooperating fully with the RBS group.

It has now placed two poison pills in the way of a full-blooded auction. The LaSalle deal was bad enough, ABN shareholders argue, but even yesterday the ABN board was making it difficult for RBS to see the books.

Ironically, not all the fury at yesterday’s meeting was over the obstructiveness of the ABN board. There was also anger that a Dutch institution was being emasculated by Barclays (which is as nothing to the castration planned by RBS, of course).

Nevertheless, the vote was emphatic. A break-up may yet turn out to be impossible for antitrust or supervisory reasons. But the ABN board must now listen to its critics.

— Numbers of construction workers killed on site will rise, at the next count, by at least 15 per cent. This is depressing after so many initiatives by companies, Government and the Health & Safety Executive to raise safety awareness. It is also unacceptable. More workers now do not read English, so all parties need to redouble their efforts, helping high performers and enforcing the law against laggards to staunch the waste of life.

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