Liberty appoints Stanlib CEO

Johannesburg - Three months after insurance giant Old Mutual appointed an outsider to head its South African operations, one of the senior managers it overlooked for the position has resigned to join competitor Liberty.

On Thursday Liberty announced the appointment of Old Mutual Investment Group South Africa (Omigsa) CEO Thabo Dloti to a similar position at Stanlib Asset Management, the wealth management arm of the insurance company's joint venture with Standard Bank, with effect from March 2010.

Dloti's other responsibilities include heading Liberty Properties, Liberty Corporate Benefits and Group Risk.

As Omigsa CEO for the last five years, Dloti was tipped to succeed Paul Hanratty as head of South African operations when Hanratty left his position to head up Old Mutual's savings products and emerging markets division in London.

However, the insurance giant surprised the market by appointing Kuseni Dlamini, the former head of Anglo American South Africa, who had no previous insurance industry experience.

Prior to this, Dloti's ascension to the top post seemed all but guaranteed as he also sat on Old Mutual SA's board.

Unlike Dlamini's position at Old Mutual - his responsibilities were watered down from those of his predecessors - Dloti's reporting line goes directly to Liberty Group CEO Bruce Hemphill.

"Dloti has established an enviable track record in the asset management arena and we look forward to benefiting from his wealth of industry experience," said Hemphill.

The Liberty CEO took some flak from analysts in November for the delay in the appointment of a CEO at Stanlib. The analysts blamed the asset manager's lacklustre performance on a management void.

In another move, Liberty announced its deputy CEO Rex Tomlison would be leaving the company in the middle of 2010. Tomlison will first work with Dloti to facilitate a smooth handover.

Liberty shares were trading 1.26% lower at 6 517 cents per share during early trade on Thursday. - Fin24.com