Jaco Brand appointed Chief Operating Officer of Liberty Health

Liberty Holdings is pleased to announce that Jaco Brand has been appointed Chief Operating Officer of Liberty Health with effect from 1 June 2011. Jaco replaces Mark Bayley who has moved into a new post in Liberty’s Strategic Initiatives and Retail Distribution team.

This appointment marks a return to Liberty where Jaco began his career, as a graduate, in 1988. He brings with him a wealth of experience in the health and insurance sectors stemming from this work at both Liberty and Discovery Holdings.

Jaco worked in the Individual Life Division at Liberty for 12 years where he held a variety of positions before moving to Discovery Life. At Discovery, Jaco was General Manager of the Individual Life business and was responsible for the integration of the Health proposition. In 2007, Jaco became Chief Operating Officer of PruProtect (Discovery’s joint venture with UK based Prudential Life Assurance) and also served on PruHealth’s executive committee.

In his role as COO, Jaco assumes responsibility for all operations and support services relating to the operating entities in Liberty Health. He reports directly to the Chief Executive of Liberty Health, Peter Botha.

Commenting on the announcement, Peter Botha, CEO of Liberty Health said: “We are delighted to welcome Jaco back to Liberty. He has been working in the field of health and insurance for many years and returns to the company with valuable expertise. We look forward to working with him to deliver our strategic goals in health solutions across our growing African market base.”

He added: “I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Mark Bayley, Jaco’s predecessor, for his enormous contribution to Health. He was instrumental in growing our service capability beyond our South African operations to 12 African markets in the past two years. We wish him well as he gets to grip with his new role in Strategic Initiatives and Retail Distribution.”