Sanlam CEO to step down end of June

Cape Town – SA's biggest insurer Sanlam [JSE:SLM] has announced that its CEO, Johan van Zyl, will step down at the end of June 2015.

In September 2014 the board announced that group CEO Dr Johan van Zyl will retire in 2015. It has now been agreed that he will step down on June 30 2015.

“Our succession planning has been made known well in advance to ensure a smooth leadership transition,” chairperson of the board of directors of Sanlam and Sanlam Life Insurance, Desmond Smith, said in a statement.

Van Zyl will also retire from the boards of Sanlam and Sanlam Life Insurance. “Dr van Zyl will remain employed by Sanlam until December 31, focusing on specific projects,” the statement said.

The current deputy group chief executive, Ian Kirk, has been appointed as group CEO of Sanlam and Sanlam Life Insurance respectively with effect from July 1 2015.

Kirk inherits a company in the middle of bulking up its presence in the rest of Africa, where rapid economic growth has increased the number of people with money to spend on insurance to protect their wealth.

Sanlam, which operates in 10 African countries including oil-rich Ghana and Africa’s biggest economy Nigeria, aims to nearly double sales contribution from those countries to about 20% in the next five years.

Kirk joined the Sanlam 2006 as head of the company's strategy before taking over as chief executive of Santam, Sanlam's short-term insurance arm.

Other board and executive changes include the retirement of Arun Duggal from the Boards of Sanlam and Sanlam Life Insurance, the appointment of Hubert Brody as chief executive: Sanlam Personal Finance, the appointment of Anton Gildenhuys to the group executive committee as chief actuary and group risk officer.

Current chief actuary and group risk officer, André Zeeman, has opted for early retirement with effect from June 30. He will remain employed until December 31, working on special regulatory projects.