Momentum boss gets more time at helm as group hikes retirement age - TimesLIVE

Financial services group Momentum has raised its retirement age from 60 to 63, becoming the latest blue-chip company to hike the deadline as skills shortages in key roles and a war for talent ramp up in the sector.

The move by Momentum, which owns household brands such as Metropolitan Life and Multiply, follows shortly after similar moves by Nedbank and Standard Bank over the last year — with South African corporates increasingly looking at whether their retirement ages are still fit for purpose.

Momentum, worth R51bn on the JSE, revealed the new retirement age in the group’s annual report published this week, without giving reasons behind the change.

The pivot buys group CEO Jeanette Marais and her executive team more time at the helm.

Marais, 58, is the first and only female CEO of a large, listed life insurance and asset management group in South Africa.

Her tenure as CEO since 2023 has seen an exponential growth in earnings and the company’s share price, which has surged 95% over the past three years.

Marais, armed with an executive MBA (cum laude) from the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland, began her career with Momentum in 1990.

She left nine years later to join PSG, where she helped set up the group’s unit trust business and would go on to work for Stanlib, Old Mutual and Allan Gray, before going back to Momentum as deputy CEO to Hillie Meyer.

She was elevated to the CEO role in 2023 upon Meyer’s retirement, spearheading the group’s “Impact” strategy, launched in 2024 with the ultimate aim of achieving R7bn in earnings by 2027 — a target the group achieved a year early.

Board chair Tyrone Soondarjee used his inaugural letter to shareholders to hail the execution of the strategy by Marais and her team, as reflected in the 2025/26 financial year results, which were tabled last week.

“The board is delighted with the exceptional performance delivered under the leadership of the group CEO and Exco. Their clear strategic direction, disciplined execution and rigorous governance allowed the group to achieve outstanding results while bolstering the group’s resilience and future prospects,” Soondarjee wrote.

“As the group enters the final year of its Impact strategy and develops its next three-year strategy cycle and beyond, the board remains committed to creating lasting value for clients, shareholders and broader stakeholders through rigorous governance, strategic foresight and disciplined execution.”

Having achieved some of its key targets a year ahead of schedule, Marais told shareholders her team is already looking beyond 2027 to ramp up growth.

“We have simultaneously started formulating the strategy beyond F2027 and will continue to strengthen the capabilities that will define our competitiveness in the next cycle,” she said in her annual letter to shareholders.

“I am confident in Momentum Group’s right to win. We have a diversified portfolio, a resilient balance sheet, robust cash generation, disciplined capital deployment, a reinforced federated model, market-leading advice capabilities, growing digital and AI capability and a culture anchored by our purpose. But most importantly, we have people who care deeply about the clients, advisers and communities we serve.”

The group’s breakout performance in the year under review saw Marais receive total pay of R45m, up from the R35.3m paid in the prior year. Group CFO Risto Ketola also saw his pay jump, from R28m to R36.7m.

One of the highlights for the group during the year was its appointment as administrator for Bonitas, a contract that was long held by Sanlam’s AfroCentric.

The group also successfully concluded turnaround strategies for Momentum Insure and Metropolitan, while green shoots emerged from its Indian outfit Aditya Birla Health Insurance, which continued to progress towards sustainable profitability.

The move to increase the retirement age forms part of a pattern in corporate South Africa, particularly in financial services, where the war for talent is more pronounced and fiercest.

The country’s and Africa’s largest bank by assets, Standard Bank, last year increased the retirement age of its executives to 63 years, looking to hold on to its top brass for longer in a fiercely competitive jobs market.

However, the change will not affect its two most senior executives, CEO Sim Tshabalala and CFO Arno Daehnke, who are set to retire at the end of next year — after a stellar run that grew the lender’s assets by about R2-trillion.

“The revised executive retirement age aligns Standard Bank with prevailing practices across the financial services industry, ensuring that the bank remains competitive in the global and local talent market,” the bank said when announcing its decision.

“It reflects the evolving nature of executive leadership and the increasing value of experience, continuity and institutional knowledge in driving long-term growth and innovation. This change also ensures that Standard Bank is not an outlier in what is a highly competitive market for key talent.”

Nedbank last year resolved to increase its normal retirement age from 60 to a “competitive” 63 years from August — joining rival Absa, which also has a retirement age of 63.