Trevor Manuel will retire as Old Mutual chair after the group’s AGM in June, after which former FirstRand chair Roger Jardine will assume the role.

• Roger Jardine joined Old Mutual as an independent non-executive director in September 2025, after a brief foray back into politics following nearly six years at FirstRand.
• The group made the announcement during its financial results for the year to 31 December, which showed adjusted headline earnings increased by 24% to R8.3 billion.
• Old Mutual’s results were significanly impacted by Malawi, which is suffering from ongoing inflation and foreign currency shortages.
• For more financial news, visit News24 Business.

Old Mutual has named former FirstRand chair Roger Jardine as its chair designate in the place of outgoing chair Trevor Manuel, who is retiring.

Jardine will assume the chair role at the conclusion of Old Mutual’s annual general meeting (AGM) on 5 June 2026. He will work with Manuel, who turned 70 in January, the retirement age for directors, during a three-month handover period from March to June 2026 to ensure an orderly transition.

“Roger has outstanding leadership experience in financial services and the broader business environment,” Manuel said in the group’s results for the year to 31 December, which showed adjusted headline earnings increased by 24% to R8.3 billion.

Old Mutual’s board also declared a final dividend of 56 cents per share, taking the total dividend to 93 cents per share, an increase of 8% year-on-year from the 86 cents per share full distribution the prior year.

“The board is confident that his proven strategic, governance, and operational leadership will be invaluable to Old Mutual as it continues on its ambitious path of strategic and operational renewal and enhanced value creation,” Manuel, who has served as Old Mutual chair since 2018, said on Jardine’s appointment.

Jardine, a former anti-apartheid activist, joined Old Mutual as an independent non-executive director in September 2025 after a brief foray back into politics following nearly six years at FirstRand, after which he founded political movement Change Starts Now with the aim of contesting the 2024 general elections. However, despite launching a manifesto in Soweto just months before the poll, Change Starts Now did not contest the 2024 elections that later gave rise to the government of national unity (GNU).

Jardine holds a Master of Science in Radiological Physics from Wayne State University and a Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Physics from Haverford College, both in the US. He has extensive corporate experience, having previously also held chief executive positions at construction firm Aveng, as well as Kagiso Media and Primedia.

Malawian troubles

Old Mutual’s results from operations rose 13% to R9.8 billion during its 2025 financial year, driven by strong performances from its life and savings unit as well as its insurance and Africa regions businesses. However, the group’s 2025 earnings picture was significantly clouded by its operations in Malawi, which is suffering from continued high inflation and foreign exchange shortages.

Notwithstanding central bank intervention to influence the exchange rate of the Malawian kwacha, Old Mutual said that if one were to assume a devaluation of the nation’s currency of between 50% and 30%, then the group’s results from operations would have increased between 7% and 9%. Similarly, adjusted headline earnings – which traditionally exclude Old Mutual’s operations in Zimbabwe due to its own foreign currency shortages and shifts in exchange rate policy – would likely only have increased by between 11% and 16%, assuming a 30%-50% devaluation in the kwacha.

Within each business cluster, Old Mutual Life and Savings delivered a 13% rise in results from operations to R7.27 billion, while the Africa Regions unit lifted this metric by 64% to R1.68 billion. Old Mutual Insure grew results from operations by 14% to R2.06 billion.

OM Bank saw negative results from operations of R1.25 billion, 13% wider than the previous financial year, as the group continues to invest in its fledgling lending business. The group’s bank now has total retail customer deposits of R272 million.

Old Mutual Investments saw results from operations fall by 8% to R1.54 billion. Nevertheless, the group’s total assets under management (AUM) - which include its eponymously branded asset management division, Marriot, its majority stake in Futuregrowth, as well as its specialised finance and alternative investments businesses – increased 13% to more than R1 trillion.

Old Mutual also said that as of end-2025 it had spent about R700 million on share buybacks since announcing the R3 billion repurchase programme in September 2025. That leaves it with a R6.1 billion discretionary capital balance, including the R2.3 billion remaining to complete the approved share buyback programme.

One area where Old Mutual has work to do is improving the group’s value of new business (VNB) Margin, which represents the percentage of new premium income likely to translate into profit and therefore measures the efficiency of new business sales. Old Mutual’s VNB Margin for 2025 was only 1.2%, versus a medium-term target of 2%-3%.

“It’s a steady operating performance,” CEO Jurie Strydom told News24 when asked about the group’s 2025 financial results. “The big standout, where we have work to do […] is the VNB margin.”

The group’s value of new business (VNB) Margin, which represents the percentage of new premium income likely to translate into profit and therefore measures the efficiency of new business sales, was only 1.2% for 2025. That compares to a medium-term target of 2%-3%.

“The big journey for us now is to get that back into the [medium-term] range.”

*This story has been updated with comment from CEO Jurie Strydom.