Executive appointments at Metropolitan, a subsidiary of MMI Holdings

Berniece Hieckmann

Coenie van der Merwe

MMI Holdings was formed from the merger of Metropolitan and Momentum, sizable insurance-based financial services players in South Africa. Total assets under management total R414 billion, making makes MMI the third largest life insurer in South Africa.

As part of its branding strategy, the group decided to retain and apply its existing client-facing brands, Metropolitan and Momentum, in the six operating divisions. This means that MMI will capitalise and continue to build on the strengths and existing market positioning of the two complementary brands in their respective markets.

Metropolitan will retain its focus on the low and middle income retail market. Its businesses include:

· Metropolitan Retail

· Metropolitan International – Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Ghana and Nigeria

· Metropolitan Health formerly Metropolitan Health Group (MHG)

Appointment notice: BELINDA FAULKNER, BRAND EXECUTIVE

Belinda Faulkner has been appointed as the Brand Executive for Metropolitan.

Her portfolio will include all MMI divisions using ‘Metropolitan’ as its lead brand (namely, Retail, Health and International businesses). Belinda joined Metropolitan in April 2008 as the Head of Retail Marketing and she was primarily responsible for developing and implementing the Metropolitan Retail’s segmentation model and customer value proposition, marketing strategy and managing the brand portfolio.

Previously employed by Old Mutual South Africa as the Group Brand Governance Manager,she was responsible for driving and executing the brand portfolio with key stakeholders as well as driving the annual brand planning process.

Appointment notice: COENIE VAN DER MERWE, CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER

Coenie van der Merwe has been appointed as the Chief Information Officer at Metropolitan Retail.

Former Chief Information Officer (CIO) at Momentum New Markets – a position he held since 2005 – van der Merwe was part of the executive team which started the entry-level market business within the Momentum group. He was also CIO for FNB Insurance and Momentum Employee Benefits prior to this. During his past 18 years in the financial and IT industry, he was involved in the implementation of various insurance and financial applications, as well as the set-up of business units.

Appointment notice: Berniece Hieckmann, Marketing & Business Development Executive

Berniece Hieckmann has been appointed as Marketing & Business Development Executive at Metropolitan Retail.

She has an illustrious career spanning no less than 20 years in the financial services industry. Her experience covers a wide range of financial service specialisation areas, including life insurance, retail banking and private banking.

Berniece spent 12 years at the FirstRand Group where she was involved in the creation and implementation of new strategies within the group. Most recently Berniece served as a member of the Momentum New Markets Executive team. As chief financial officer (CFO), she was responsible for three teams: valuation actuaries, accountants and financial administrators, and a field marketing channel (sales and operations).