New CEO at Sanlam Employee Benefits to focus on innovation and group-wide collaboration in 2009

26 January 2009 Sanlam Employee Benefists (SEB)

This month saw the appointment of Paul Myeza (pictured) as CEO of Sanlam Employee Benefits (SEB), the employee benefits arm of Sanlam Investments. Previously the head of SEB’s Group Risk business, Myeza replaces acting CEO Robert Roux who will return to his role of Chief Operating Officer at Sanlam Investments.

“Since joining SEB in 2007, Paul successfully established SEB Group Risk, making it a profitable business,” said Johan van der Merwe, CEO of Sanlam Investments. “A skilled businessman and dealmaker with diverse experience in the employee benefits environment as a trustee and consultant, I’m proud to have Paul at the helm of this important business unit.”

Myeza replaces Robert Roux, who oversaw the integration of SEB into the Sanlams Investments Cluster, ensuring that it was appropriately resourced and structured around four focused business units: group risk, umbrella funds, structured solutions and administration (Coris). “SEB is now operationally sound with growth strategies in place that will see the unit enjoy more synergies across the Cluster and greater effort on marketing some of the innovative new products that have been well received by the market,” added Myeza.

According to Myeza, specific priorities for SEB in 2009 are to:

Establish more synergies and mutually beneficial collaboration across the Sanlam Investments Cluster;
Maintain the momentum in the Group Risk business as an important profit centre that is a sought-after and trusted expert in the field;
Improve the return on equity and grow the asset base of Structured Solutions, including proactive marketing of products such as the Smooth Bonus and the Complete Picture Pension Plans;
Further educate South Africans consumers and businesses about the benefits of umbrella funds as follow-up to the FSB-endorsed ’21 Questions’ booklet; and
Leverage SEB’s best-in-class administration system managed by Coris and to start delivering profits from the administration product by year-end.

“The year ahead will be challenging, but with added efficiencies across the business and better integration with the Sanlam family of companies, we are well positioned for a profitable 2009,” said Myeza. “We expect our continuing focus on innovation and greater group-wide collaboration to bear more fruit in the year ahead, re-energise the business and further boost SEB’s profile in the market.”

A former treasurer of the South African Society of Insurance Medical Underwriters and trustee for the Associated Employers Past Service Pension Fund, Myeza previously spent three years as deputy managing director of the consultants and actuaries division of Alexander Forbes before joining SEB. In his role as a consultant to corporate and union clients, he provided investment, risk, legal, compliance and other related retirement fund advice, as well as managing the delivery of actuarial service and client relationship management to the Government Employees Pension Fund and the Workmen’s Compensation Fund. Myeza began his career as an Underwriter with Sanlam.