Santam appoints new head of its agricultural offering

Santam, South Africa's leading short-term insurer, has appointed Tobias Doyer as the new Head of its Agricultural business unit as from November 2007.

Santam has recently strengthened its position in the agricultural insurance market by merging its existing operations with those of Agri Risk Specialists (ARS) to form a single business unit that will focus on asset as well as crop insurance. Santam and ARS have an existing successful relationship Santam is the 100% shareholder in ARS and underwriter of its products since 2001.

Doyer is well known in the Agricultural sector having been involved in the Agricultural Business Chamber (ABC) for the past 8 years and more recently as CEO of the ABC. He has gained an in-depth understanding of the agricultural sector and through his business and academic dealings and is highly regarded in the industry. In his role as CEO of the ABC he served the industry in various capacities, among others, the chairman of the Agri BEE Charter drafting team, member of the Nedlac task team on co-operatives and chairman of Nepad Agri Business. Doyer's qualifications include a BSc Agriculture and a PhD in Agricultural Economics.

Edward Gibbens, Executive head: Broker Distribution, says following the establishment of the new business unit, Santam is extremely excited about Doyer becoming part of the senior management team. "Santam were specifically looking for someone with strong strategic and operational skills and found that in Tobias.

"The merger made Santam the undisputed leader in the agricultural insurance market, with about 30% of the asset insurance market and more than 70 % of the crop insurance market. Tobias will play a huge role, in conjunction with an existing talented team, in growing Santams share in the agricultural sector," he says.

Doyer commented that he is looking forward to the new challenge. "The agricultural industry has always been very close to my heart and I look forward to being part of it from a financial services perspective. South African farmers are facing numerous challenges that can effectively be addressed with comprehensive risk management solutions. I look forward to being part of the development of new and innovative products to make a positive contribution in this regard," he says.