Liberty Group Annual General Meeting 2008
At his first AGM as Liberty Chairman, Saki Macozoma comments on Liberty’s strong operating performance, progress in the transformation of the group to become a leading wealth manager and reiterates concern at the nation’s low savings rates.
Saki Macozoma, Chairman of Liberty Group Limited, today addressed the Annual General Meeting of Liberty Group Limited, held at its Braamfontein head office. Extracts of his address are highlighted below. In particular he noted that 2007 marked the group’s 50th anniversary of operations and that the Group’s financial performance had been a fitting tribute to that anniversary.
Excellent Financial Performance
Under the stewardship of Bruce Hemphill, Liberty Group CEO, the group delivered an excellent set of financial results, with record earnings from core insurance operations and all key indicators reflecting a solid operational performance. STANLIB, the Group’s asset manager, delivered outstanding investment performance and received the 2007 Raging Bull award for the best domestic unit trust manager in South Africa, a significant honour.
Transformation to a leading wealth management group
While Liberty’s expansion plans are a long-term undertaking, a marked shift in the shape, philosophy and direction of the business is already visible. In 2007, a number of major milestones in the long term transformation of the group were achieved.
These include the consolidation of Marketing, Sales and Distribution activities across the group and the formation of innovative distribution partnerships including a joint venture with kulula.com. 2007 also saw the launch of Liberty Health’s new business strategy – a technology-enabled, multiple-revenue, health solutions business - and the restructuring of Liberty Properties into a cluster of property businesses, involving management, development and investment.
These initiatives provide a strong basis to enable Liberty to achieve its strategic objectives for 2008.
Facing the challenge of South Africa’s low rate of savings
Liberty Group wants to play a leading role in collectively finding solutions to the challenges of improving the cost effectiveness and consumer protection provided by contractual savings products. Liberty Group is fully supportive of the government’s efforts to encourage a savings culture among South Africans. The critically low rate of national savings is one of the biggest issues facing the South African economy. The Group also wants to continue to influence the reshaping of the life assurance industry with National Treasury, the Financial Services Board and the Life Offices Association of South Africa.
