Rudd tipped to be offered the chairman’s role at Prudential
CITY veteran Sir Nigel Rudd has emerged as one of the frontrunners to replace Harvey McGrath as chairman of insurance group Prudential.
Rudd, 65, is believed to be up against Glen Moreno, the chairman of publisher Pearson, to replace McGrath later this year.
McGrath had become a focus of investor dissent after Prudential’s $35.5bn (£21.8bn) deal for AIA was scrapped, despite chief executive Tidjane Thiam taking most of the flak initially. More than a fifth of shareholders voted against McGrath’s reappointment after the Pru racked up £377m in costs and fees for the deal.
It is not certain whether Rudd, who has held a series of top positions at British blue-chips, would accept the Prudential job if it was offered. He is currently chairman of BAA and engineer Invensys and is a former deputy chairman of Barclays. He is best known, however, for building up conglomerate Williams Holdings with Roger Carr in the 1980s.
Moreno also had a brief stint as chairman of UK Financial Investments, set up to manage taxpayers’ stakes in the banks.
Prudential declined to comment.