The company said today that it has now formally begun the process and made some progress on the plan it first signalled back in March. It aims to complete this by the end of 2018.
The group will be split into Old Mutual Wealth, Old Mutual Emerging Markets, Nedbank and Old Mutual Asset Management.
The group’s emerging markets operations will be rolled into a new South African holding company.
“We have started executing the managed separation and I am pleased with the progress that we have made since the announcement three months ago,” said Old Mutual chief executive Bruce Hemphill. “We are now in a position to provide further guidance on our plans. Increased market volatility following the referendum decision to leave the EU does not affect our strategy although it may impact the performance of the underlying businesses.”
“We are working intensively with the businesses to prepare them for separation,” he added. “We remain confident that the managed separation process will lead to the creation of shareholder value, and strong businesses for our customers, staff and other stakeholders.”
Paul Feeney, CEO of Old Mutual Wealth said: “Today’s announcement is a clear endorsement of our vertically integrated strategy and the strength and readiness of our business for the next stage of our corporate journey. By putting customer needs at the heart of our business strategy, we are transforming into an award-winning, next generation wealth management business. Old Mutual Wealth is a purpose-led, responsible business, building simple end-to-end solutions for real customer needs, accountable for helping create prosperity for the generations of today and tomorrow.”
Feeney also noted that the post Brexit landscape for the business is far from clear. He said his expectation is that the outcome of the vote will continue to drive increased levels of market volatility.
