Prudential's chief executive has ridiculed western ignorance of Asian markets amid fears of a prolonged crisis in emerging economies, as the insurance giant reported booming profits and announced further plans to tap into the region's growth.
Tidjane Thiam said concerns about the bursting of an Asian economic bubble were based on false information about investment being pulled out of the region.
Prudential's operating profit for 2013 rose 17% to £2.95bn, at the top of City analyst forecasts. Strong Asian sales lay behind the profit rise along with rising fee income in the US.
Asked whether emerging Asian economies would struggle as the US tightened monetary policy and recovering western economies attracted investment funds, Thiam said: "We don't think they will [struggle]. Some of the debate is based on bad data. Some of the data on capital flows is simply wrong but misinformation repeated tends to become accepted truth."
He said there had been no significant flows of money out of Asian markets and that long-term investors had used market falls to invest more.
Prudential makes about half its revenue in Asia after expanding there ahead of rival insurers such as Aviva. Markets have become jittery about the prospects for Asian economies as China's giant economy slows down and its export performance weakens.