The life industry heavyweight founded Skandia Life Assurance Company in the UK, which was acquired by Old Mutual in September 2012, in a deal that integrated the Skandia platform into a single business now known as Old Mutual Wealth.
Along with serving as chairman of Nucleus for over 10 years, Bradshaw held board positions at Sanlam and River and Mercantile.
He has also been chief executive of J Rothschild International (now St James’ Place) and Abbey National Insurance and Asset Management.
Throughout his distinguished career, Bradshaw was instrumental in modernising life insurers and asset managers, such as Schroders, by pushing them to adopt platform technology rather relying on the traditional distribution model of selling products via IFAs.
Nucleus chief executive David Ferguson said Bradshaw helped the platform grow since it was established in 2006.
“Right from our very beginning, Paul has been a massive inspiration and a huge part of the Nucleus journey,” he said.
“A man of enormous intellect, great passion and with an insatiable hunger for what comes next. Nucleus, the other companies he was involved in and the wider industry are lessened by his passing but we will work harder than ever to ensure his legacy here is a positive one.”
‘A towering light’
Jonathan Polin, chief executive of Sanlam financial services group, commented on the news of Paul Bradshaw’s passing.
“I am deeply saddened to hear the news of Paul’s passing. Throughout Paul’s long and distinguished career, he was consistently ahead of his time in his thinking and execution. His passion for the industry and advice was boundless.
“A man who guided us, supported us, challenged us and led us to make the right decisions. A towering light, who gave us his time, wisdom and fun. I am the lesser for his going. His contribution to Sanlam was invaluable and his presence will be sorely missed by all,” he said.
Paul was a non-executive director of Sanlam both in the UK and in South Africa and joined the board back in 2008.
During a speech at the Association of International Life Offices (Ailo) 10-year anniversary dinner in October 2012, Bradshaw described international life companies as the “crown jewels” of their parent companies due to their profitability compared to domestic operations.
He also praised them for the many innovations they had brought to the insurance industry, such as open architecture.
Paul Bradshaw (left) at the Ailo dinner, sitting next to Ailo chair Claudia Lang and with Otto Thoresen.
