Margaret Coltman
Group general counsel and company secretary
Prudential
Margaret Coltman was only appointed to her role as group general counsel and company secretary in July 2009 but has a very impressive background, including more than 22 years as an insurance partner at Norton Rose.
One of her first big tasks was to maximise efficiency of the 100-strong in-house legal team to better service the group’s four main business units: Prudential Corporation Asia, Jackson National Life Insurance Company, Prudential UK and M&G. She likes to keep things decentralised and says: ‘We’ve got dedicated teams in each of those business units because, for me, it’s important that lawyers are close to the business.’
She restructured the legal team so that each of the four businesses has its own legal panel and there is also a head office panel led by Coltman and group legal director Simon Ramage. As insurance faces an increasing barrage of regulation over the next year, she believes that Prudential’s volume of work for external law firms will increase.
Law firms used: Baker & McKenzie, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Hogan Lovells, Linklaters, Norton Rose, Slaughter and May
July 2009-present: Group general counsel and company secretary, Prudential
2008-09: General counsel, Lloyds Banking Group
1986-2008: Partner, Norton Rose