Outgoing Sanlam’s CEO,Dr Johan van Zyl, has assured the nation that his departure does not mean that his organisation will abandon transformation initiatives from its mission.
In a media brief in Cape Town, van Zyl said that Sanlam implemented transformation in two ways. “Firstly, our client base continues to become increasingly diverse – both within South Africa and in our global business. Therefore, we must also reflect that diversity within Sanlam – that part is key.”
Secondly, van Zyl explained that Sanlam’s biggest transformation process was from developing from a life insurer to a bigger group focusing on all emerging markets.
“So, in a broader sense this is what we are talking about. At present we have still a few people from the Western Cape dominating in the group, but in future we would like to also source a lot of people from our business hubs overseas to be a truly international business with an international culture.”
He said Sanlam’s objective was to become much more diversified, especially regarding the emerging market space. “In the past we were mainly a life insurance company focusing on white Afrikaans speaking people. We have now expanded into areas like short term insurance, savings and investments, credit and health products and Sanlam is not just focused on the Afrikaans market anymore.”