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Johannesburg - Management at insurance giant Liberty Holdings have said they are well prepared to make up for lost ground after the group suffered torrid fortunes in 2009.
"When I arrived 18 months ago we were a bit passive, but we are now going on to the front foot," Liberty Life CEO Steven Braudo said during an interview on Thursday.
Braudo was speaking following the release of Liberty Holdings' annual results, reporting a fall in headline earnings per share for the year to end-December 2009 to 47c, down 93.6% from 740c in 2009.
The company has taken a beating from competitors, while it experienced huge lapses in life and risk insurance policies.
Braudo said that the group has taken counter-measures to reward its broker channel for not only winning new business, but also retaining clients - in line with international practice to offer less upfront fees and more ongoing annuity income. "It comes down to better management of our existing book," concurred Liberty Holdings CEO Bruce Hemphill.
Numerous Liberty executives used the results presentation to emphasis the steps they have taken to make the company more competitive.
One business unit which has been overhauled was asset management subsidiary Stanlib, following two years of bad performances of its managed assets. In the process, Stanlib has lost a R8.3bn mandate from the Public Investment Corporation, among others.
Apart from head-hunting high profile portfolio managers and analysts, Stanlib said it has also improved its internal controls and risk management systems.
Chief investment officer Stewart Rider said the group now maintains a much closer relationship between its research and selling arms.
Another area where Liberty sees considerable opportunities both at home and abroad is in its relationship with Standard Bank, which owns 53% of Liberty Holdings. Standard Bank has been aggressively growing its presence in Africa, an opportunity Liberty believes it can leverage off.
"For example, Standard Bank has 700 000 people on its pension fund business in Nigeria. This give us lots of opportunities for things like our health business," said Hemphill.
On Thursday, shares in Liberty Holdings were up 0.7% (45c) to 6 950c, while the JSE all share index was down 0.4%.
- Fin24.com