New direction for Old Mutual

Johannesburg - A new business strategy to reposition Old Mutual's operations in Africa and other emerging countries is one of the things that has occupied Kuseni Dlamini's mind for the past 100 days.

On September 1 Dlamini took over from Paul Hanratty as chief executive of Old Mutual's operations in South Africa and other emerging markets.

The new business strategy was presented to the Old Mutual plc board on Wednesday.

The object is to position Old Mutual for an economic upturn and set out plans for the next three years.

Old Mutual has survived the financial crisis and the plan for the next three years is to capitalise on the anticipated economic revival, expand market share, retain clients and aggressively launch into a market that previously had no access to insurance products.

This market segment offers particular challenges, and traditional insurance products are not necessarily suited to it, said Dlamini.

There are new clients with different needs for whom specific products need to be developed. Dlamini is particularly excited about the opportunities offered by other emerging markets such as India, Mexico and Colombia. Old Mutual inherited operations in Mexico and Colombia after taking over Skandia in 2006.

Mexico has 111m people and insurance products are not widely used.

Part of Dlamini's plan is to increase its stake in the Indian company Kotak Mahindra to 49% as soon as amendments to Indian legislation make this possible. Africa, too, offers exciting opportunities.

Old Mutual has a footprint in Namibia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Malawi and Swaziland and expects to penetrate into West Africa through offices in Nigeria.

- Sake24.com

For more business news in Afrikaans, visit Sake24.com.