Old Mutual CEO stepping down

Old Mutual has announced that its chief executive officer, Iain Williamson, will step down from the group at the end of August 2025, taking early retirement.

Williamson was at the company for 32 years, the last five of which he served as group CEO and executive director.

The group said that he will work with the Old Mutual Board and his successor, upon their appointment, to ensure a smooth and managed handover.

The board said it has initiated a process to identify a new CEO and will be considering internal and external candidates.

It did not give any specific timelines for the process, but stressed t would be done “expeditiously”.

Williamson was appointed CEO of the company in July 2020, after serving as the interim CEO from May 2019.

He joined Old Mutual in 1993 and following various roles across employee benefits and personal finance, he relocated to London in a Corporate Development role at Old Mutual plc.

He returned to South Africa in 2003, serving in a number of roles across distribution, technology and finance before being promoted to CFO Retail Affluent and then Managing Director of the Retail Affluent segment.

He was appointed as Old Mutual Emerging Markets’ Finance Director in 2015, as Chief Operating Officer in 2017 and had also previously been the Interim Chief Executive Officer in 2017.

He holds a Bachelor of Business Science (Actuarial Science), General Management Programme (Harvard), and is a Fellow of the Actuarial Society of South Africa