Shares in financial services group Old Mutual have jumped more than 30% over the past six months, giving new CEO Jurie Strydom a strong start as he seeks to lift the company’s value.
Strydom, who took over the insurance giant in May 2025, has skin in the game, as the group has dangled a R300m carrot to drive share price growth and create billions of rand in value.
Strydom needs to get the Old Mutual share price to R21.74 or higher by May 12 2030, to get the reward.
The group’s share price traded at R15.08 on Monday, having surged in the past six months, valuing the group at around R70bn — still a mile from its R213bn rival, Sanlam, which is quoted on the JSE.
Sanlam’s share price has grown 18% in the six months under review.
The market has taken a liking to Old Mutual’s refined strategy, laid out at the group’s capital markets day held in October 2025.
Under the new growth blueprint, the group has placed emphasis on disciplined execution, operational efficiency, and capital allocation to deliver long-term value for shareholders.
It is looking to slash costs by about R2.5bn by 2027 and restore margins and returns over the medium term.
The 180-year-old group holds market-leading positions in several of the business areas it is competing in and has about 13.7-million clients across the several jurisdictions it is operating in, with about 7.5-million of these in South Africa.
The company’s board in November acknowledged that the group’s share price has not met expectations since 2018, a watershed year for Old Mutual when it unbundled its majority shareholding in Nedbank. and continues to trade at a large discount to its group equity value (GEV).
At the end of September, the GEV was R86.7bn, translating into a GEV per share of R18.40 versus the share price of R13.35 at the time.
The group’s robust cash generation of R27.6bn since financial year 2022 is indicative of underappreciated intrinsic value that lies in the group, which Strydom and his executive are expected to unlock.
Old Mutual’s new banking proposition, OM Bank, is set to play a critical role in driving shareholder value.
The group’s banking sequel comes while South Africa is experiencing a rapid convergence of banking, insurance and telecommunications.
OM Bank is targeting clients earning between R8,000 and R80,000 a month but has its work cut out in seeking to dominate the mass market.
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