{"id":836118,"date":"2025-08-28T12:19:45","date_gmt":"2025-08-28T10:19:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=836118"},"modified":"2025-08-28T12:20:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T10:20:08","slug":"the-small-university-department-that-produced-many-of-south-africas-top-finance-leaders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/finance\/836118\/the-small-university-department-that-produced-many-of-south-africas-top-finance-leaders\/","title":{"rendered":"The small university department that produced many of South Africa’s top finance leaders"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The University of Pretoria\u2019s Department of Actuarial Science has produced numerous leaders who occupy the highest positions in the insurance and investment industries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Department of Actuarial Science began offering actuarial courses as a dedicated programme in 1988, less than 40 years ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It quickly became known for its excellent standards and quality actuarial training, with many of its graduates qualifying as actuaries in record time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although the department is best known for its actuaries, it also produced many of South Africa\u2019s top financial engineers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They work at banks, investment institutions, and insurance companies, assisting with asset management, developing new financial products, and devising strategies to manage credit risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe count among our alumni highly respected and senior businesspeople in top positions not only in South Africa, but also internationally,\u201d the department states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These business leaders include many of South Africa\u2019s most respected chief executives and company founders, including Hillie Meyer, Willem Roos, Nicolaas Kruger, and Sumarie Greybe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hillie Meyer served as the chief executive of Momentum Group from 1996 to 2005 and later returned to lead the company until 2023. He continues to serve as a board member.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nicolaas Kruger was appointed CEO of Momentum in 2009 and subsequently became CEO of MMI Holdings in 2010, following the merger between Metropolitan and Momentum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kruger also serves as a director of Sanlam Group, Afrimat, Gen Re Africa, Granor Passi, VKB Beleggings, Brenn-O-Kem, and WeBuyCars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Willem Roos co-founded OUTsurance in 1998 and served as its chief executive from 2001. At just 29, Roos was one of the youngest leaders of a large financial institution ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2017, Roos left OUTsurance to join the mobile operator Rain as chief executive. He led the company until 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sumarie Greybe is the co-founder of Naked Insurance, which utilises artificial intelligence to develop innovative insurance processes and experiences for its customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apart from these high-profile leaders, many other graduates from the department serve as board directors or lead specialist divisions in financial institutions and financial regulators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Collectively, the department\u2019s alumni network plays a significant role in shaping South Africa\u2019s financial system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Considering that the University of Pretoria\u2019s Department of Actuarial Science is relatively small, it stands out for producing so many top industry leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The man behind the University of Pretoria\u2019s Department of Actuarial Science<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a>
Professor Conrad Beyers, Head of Department of Actuarial Science<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The University of Pretoria\u2019s Department of Actuarial Science head, Professor Conrad Beyers, is also a graduate from this department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After completing his BCom in Actuarial Science at the University of Pretoria, he transitioned into the field of mathematics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He completed a BSc Honours, an MSc, and a PhD degree in mathematics, and worked as a lecturer in UP\u2019s mathematics department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, his passion for the actuarial field led him to join the Department of Actuarial Science, where he now serves as its head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a Fellow of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries and the Actuarial Society of South Africa, as well as being a Chartered Enterprise Risk Actuary, he is well qualified for the position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He maintains strong industry ties, including collaborations with National Standard to deliver complex assignments to clients in the banking and enterprise risk management sectors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since 2013, Professor Beyers has served as the ABSA Chair in Actuarial Science, strengthening collaboration with one of the world’s most respected banks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His department collaborated with Oxford Professor Dimitrios Tsomocos to develop a macroeconomic banking model for South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BusinessTech asked Professor Beyers what makes his department unique, enabling it to produce so many top industry leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyers explained that the key lies in the way actuarial science training helps shape both thinking and character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cActuarial science is a unique blend of technical mastery and business acumen. The syllabus can be gruelling, and only the most committed students qualify as actuaries,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat intensity produces graduates who are not only comfortable with complexity, but also capable of clear judgment under pressure – exactly the qualities you need in a CEO.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said their graduates are recognised for their technical proficiency, as well as their work ethic and softer skills such as leadership, teamwork, and innovation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat rare combination is what propels them into senior leadership positions,\u201d Beyers told BusinessTech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that while his department is relatively small compared to larger disciplines, its influence is felt throughout the financial services sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has close relationships with many major institutions, including FirstRand, Absa, Discovery, Liberty, Momentum, OUTsurance, and the South African Reserve Bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their students are exposed to the realities of the industry throughout their studies, and companies are eager to engage with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This means that it is rare for the Department of Actuarial Science\u2019s Honours graduates to leave without strong job offers in hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe unifying factor across teaching, research, and industry engagement is a culture of resilience and excellence,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are not a production line for number-crunchers. We are a finishing school for decision-makers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

University of Pretoria\u2019s Department of Actuarial Science graduate photos<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The University of Pretoria\u2019s Department of Actuarial Science has produced numerous leaders who occupy the highest positions in the insurance and investment industries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":836266,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11121],"tags":[11347,23473,23476,23475,23477,8393,23474],"class_list":["post-836118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance","tag-conrad-beyers","tag-department-of-actuarial-science","tag-hillie-meyer","tag-nicolaas-kruger","tag-sumarie-greybe","tag-university-of-pretoria","tag-willem-roos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/836118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=836118"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/836118\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":836267,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/836118\/revisions\/836267"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/836266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=836118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=836118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=836118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}