Prudential hires Shriti Vadera as next chair

Prudential has recruited Shriti Vadera as its next chair in a move that cements the former government minister's position as one of the most powerful women in the City.

Vadera will join Prudential's board on 1 May as a non-executive director and a member of its nomination and governance committee. The insurer said she was expected to replace Paul Manduca as chair on 1 January 2021.

The life peer has chaired Santander's UK business since March 2015 and was the first woman to head a major British bank. She is also a non-executive director at the mining group BHP. Prudential said she would step down from both jobs before becoming chair.

After a career in investment banking Vadera rose to prominence as a minister in Gordon Brown's Labour government from 2007. To join the government she became Baroness Vadera of Holland Park and was a Labour peer until 2011.

Vadera, 57, was a business minister and also a trouble-shooter for Brown, gaining a reputation for an abrasive working style. She was one of the architects of the 2008 banking bailout that prevented the collapse of the financial system.

She was also mentioned as a potential successor to Mark Carney as governor of the Bank of England, a job that went to Andrew Bailey of the Financial Conduct Authority. Her role at Prudential will make her one of the few women chairing a FTSE 100 company.

Born in Uganda to Indian Gujarati parents, Vadera moved to India in 1972 after the Ugandan government expelled Asians and later transferred to the UK. She studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Somerville College, Oxford, before working for UBS.

Philip Remnant, Prudential's senior independent director, who led the appointment process, said: "Shriti Vadera was the unanimous choice of the board following a rigorous assessment of external and internal candidates from around the world. She has senior boardroom experience at complex organisations with extensive international operations, and strong strategic and financial services experience."

Manduca joined Prudential's board in 2010 and became chairman in 2012. He will step down at the end of 2020. He oversaw the company's demerger of its UK business last year, leaving Vadera to chair a business focused on Asia and the US.