George Ernest May

George Ernest May, first Baron May (1871-1946), insurance official and government advisor. He joined the Prudential Assurance Company aged sixteen, and rose to become controller in 1910 and company secretary in 1915. In 1915, the Prudential's were £95 million, its life funds substantially exceeding those of the next four largest British life companies combined, and they reached £256 million in the year he retired. He implemented a professional approach to the appraisal of securities and systematic management of the structure of an increasingly global portfolio. He retired from the Prudential in March 1931, and was appointed chair of a newly established import duties advisory committee to the Treasury by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Neville Chamberlain. He resigned after his last term of office in 1941. He lived at Eyot House, Weybridge.