Old Mutual

History

The company was founded 1845 as a mutual insurance company by John Fairbairn, together with several other prominent Cape Town figures such as the liberal politician Saul Solomon. The original name The Mutual Life Assurance Society of the Cape of Good Hope was changed to The South Africa Mutual Life Assurance Society in 1885.

In 1939, the Old Mutual art deco office opened in Darling Street as the Mutual Building (or, Mutual Gebou in Afrikaans) which has since been converted to residential use and known as "Mutual Heights". In 1956, Old Mutual relocated its head office to Mutualpark in Pinelands which was the largest office block in the southern hemisphere at the time.

In 1970, Old Mutual acquired a major shareholding in the newly formed Mutual & Federal, and later acquiring the remaining shares in 2010.

In 1973, Old Mutual acquired shareholdings in Nedcor Bank (renamed the Nedbank Group in 2005).

In 1997 and 1998, the company acquired UK stockbrokers Capel-Cure Myers and Albert E. Sharp respectively which then merged to form Capel-Cure Sharp.

In 1999, it was demutualised and the company listed on the London, Johannesburg, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Namibian Stock Exchanges as Old Mutual. Old Mutual establishes a head office in London.

In 2000, it bought the Gerrard Group, a financial services concern, for $857 million. Capel-Cure Sharp subsequently merged with Greig Middleton, Gerrard Group's private client business. Old Mutual sold Gerrard to Barclays Bank PLC in 2003.

Later in 2000 Old Mutual purchased United Asset Management, based in Boston, for US$1.46 billion in cash and assumed ownership of UAM net debt of around US$769 million, thus acquiring a large and diverse US-based asset manager. Among the holdings of UAM were the PBHG Funds of Pilgrim Baxter & Associates. In 2003, PBA was one of many companies who faced charges related to market timing brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Attorney General of New York. Ultimately, the PBHG Funds (which had been renamed Liberty Ridge) were absorbed into the Old Mutual Funds group.

In 2005, Mike Levett retired as Chairman and was succeeded by Christopher Collins. A Black Economic Empowerment deal was introduced at Old Mutual South Africa, Nedbank and Mutual & Federal in 2005.

In 2006, Old Mutual acquired the Swedish insurer, Skandia, in a $6.5billion deal, bringing additional business in the United Kingdom, several other countries in Europe, in Latin America, the Far East and Australia (which Old Mutual has since exited). Old Mutual also announced its Black Economic Empowerment deal in Namibia.

In 2010, Patrick O'Sullivan became chairman of Old Mutual, succeeding Christopher Collins. That same year, HSBC backed away from its plan to acquire 70% of Nedbank, including Old Mutual's 53% shares. In 2011, Old Mutual sold US Life to Harbinger Group Inc. for $350million.

In 2012, Old Mutual sold its Nordic operations to Skandia Liv for £2.1 billion.

In 2013, Old Mutual strengthened operations in Africa with the acquisition of Provident Life Assurance in Ghana and Oceanic Life in Nigeria.

In 2014 Skandia Colombia renamed to Old Mutual Colombia, Provident Life Assurance renamed to Old Mutual Ghana and Skandia UK renamed to Old Mutual Wealth. Later in 2014, Old Mutual Wealth sold Skandia Germany, Skandia Austria and Skandia Poland.

In May 2015, Old Mutual celebrated 170 years of operation and Bruce Hemphill became Group Chief Executive in November 2015.

In March 2016, Old Mutual announced its intention to split its operations into four core companies to save on operating costs. In August 2016, Old Mutual Investment Group signed a deal with the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority to invest $700 million in hospitality, retail, commercial sectors, and food security, and sold its Italian wealth management arm to the ERGO Group for €278 million.

Operations

Executive committee

The members of the executive committee are:

Sponsorships

Old Mutual and its subsidiaries are involved in a number of sponsorships worldwide:

Bursaries

Old Mutual South Africa awards a number of bursaries every year for exceptional matriculants and actuarial students at South African universities. It also offers part-qualified actuarial employees study leave before actuarial exams. Actuarial students are also typically awarded salary increases following exam passes. Although generous, these bursaries are accompanied by onerous financial conditions. As of 2012, a typical bursary will require a student, upon graduating, to enter an employment contract with Old Mutual for at least 6 years.

Responsible business

Old Mutual Group released their first annual Responsible Business Report in 2010, alongside their Annual Report and Accounts. The report covers the progress the Group has made against their five pillar framework of Responsible Business - Customers, Responsible Investment, Employees, Communities and Environmental Management.

Old Mutual participates in the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), Johannesburg Stock Exchanges’ Socially Responsible Investment Index (JSE SRI) and FTSE4Good as well as the Carbon Disclosure Project. In 2012, Old Mutual joined the United Nations-backed Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), and, in October 2013, sponsored the seventh annual 'PRI in Person' conference, held in Cape Town.

During 2014, Old Mutual began a partnership with the Cambridge Institute of Sustainability Leadership to identify the areas where the Group can make the most material impact, culminating in the launch of the Positive Futures Plan which highlighted the focus going forward on financial wellbeing and responsible investment. In 2015, Old Mutual joined the Investment Leaders Group, focusing on directing capital towards sustainable economic development.

Office locations

The Old Mutual Group Head Office is located at 5th Floor, Millennium Bridge House, 2 Lambeth Hill, London EC4V 4GG.

Main office locations of subsidiaries include: