Business

R65 million goodbye for retired Old Mutual CEO

Luke Fraser

 ·9 Apr 2026

Former Old Mutual CEO Iain Williamson received close to R65 million in single-figure remuneration after taking early retirement from the financial giant.

Williamson stepped down as the Group CEO of Old Mutual at the end of May 2025, and remained employed until the end of August 2025 to support an orderly transition with new CEO Jurie Strydom.

Williamson received about R65 million in single-figure remuneration in 2025, which included total guaranteed pay and short-term incentives (STIs) of around R7 million.

He also deferred a performance award (DPA) of R34.7 million and close to R2 million in dividends.

Given that he took early retirement, Old Mutual said his 2025 STI award was prorated and paid in full in cash in March 2026, aligned with the group’s performance.

He is, however, ineligible for a DPA in 2026, with his previously awarded DPAs, worth R34.7 million, continuing to be deferred and vesting in line with their original timelines and remaining linked to performance.

As he retired, his performance awards were no longer assessed annually before vesting. The value of his DPA awards is thus included in his 2025 single-figure remuneration, with payment in 2029.

The value of the DPA is made up of

• 2023 DPA – R17.2 million
• 2024 DPA – R17.5 million

The former CEO also received R13 million on other commissions, which included R12 million for a restraint of trade agreement effective until 31 August 2027, where payment is only received after the period.

He also received R1.1 million for an executive course. He will also participate in the group’s post-retirement medical aid structure as a retiree.

“We thank Iain for his service and wish him well in his future endeavours,” the group said.

His remuneration was far higher than that of his peers at Old Mutual, with the next-highest being the new CFO Casper Troskie’s R24 million.

2025 financial results

The broader Old Mutual group saw results from operations rise by 13% to R9.8 billion, driven by improved operating performance in Old Mutual Life and Savings and Old Mutual Insure.

Old Mutual Life and Savings benefited from positive experience and economic variances as well as improved Old Mutual Finance profitability, partially offset by persistency basis changes.

The group’s 2025 earnings were also impacted by elevated returns from its Malawi operations, which continue to face high inflation and foreign currency shortages.

Given a devaluation of the Malawian kwacha of between 50% and 30%, Old Mutual said that the increase in results from operations would have been between 7% and 9%.

IFRS profit rose by 10% to R8.4 billion, driven by improved operating performance, offset by the prior-year impairment of the group’s China business and the loss on sale of its Nigeria business in 2024.

It was also partially offset by smaller profits from Old Mutual’s Zimbabwean business after the transition of the functional currency from Zimbabwe Gold to the US dollar in 2024.

Headline earnings thus dropped by 2% to R8.6 billion, primarily due to the impact of Zimbabwe. The group’s total dividend still increased by 8% to 93 cents per share.

The group also recorded an impairment loss of R3 billion at OM Bank, which reduced the bank’s value from R6 billion to R3 billion.

The group said the primary reasons for the impairment were higher forecast capital requirements and lower forecast returns from operations for 2026 than previously thought.