Jeanette Christina Marais has been appointed as the new Group CEO of Momentum Metropolitan Holdings and Momentum Metropolitan Life.
The move makes her the first woman CEO of a large, listed life insurance and asset management group in South Africa - a positive move for gender parity.
Only seven of the top 100 Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed companies are led by woman CEOs, indicating minimal progress in balancing gender representation at senior management and executive positions, according to PwC South Africa’s 2022 executive directors report.
And while only 5% of companies listed on Africa’s 24 stock exchanges have a woman as CEO, those that do have a woman CEO outperform financially by a wide measure, according to an analysis, by Africa.com, sponsored by Standard Bank Group, released last month
Marais takes leadership of insurer Momentum Metropolitan Holdings, with a market capitalisation of more that R25 billion, at a time the insurer is in strong capital and liquidity position, despite a moribund South African economy.
This has seen the company mop up R750 million of its own shares during the half-year period to December with a further R500m share buy-back scheme commencing, which was revealed in its interims in March.
In the interim period to the end of December, Momentum Metropolitan lifted normalised headline earnings by 46% to R2.23bn
The group said Marais would be taking over from Hilgard (Hillie) Pieter Meyer with effect from August 1, 2023.
"Following a brief handover period, Hillie will formally retire on September 30, 2023. This will conclude the agreement between Hillie and the group, in terms of which he agreed to fulfil the Group CEO role for a period of around five years," the group said.
Momentum Metropolitan said Marais was an executive leader with an excellent track record and extensive experience in the financial services industry, gained from many years as an executive and senior manager.
“She holds an Executive MBA from the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland, and a Bachelor of Science from the University of the Free State," it said.
Marais started her career at Momentum in 1990 and broadened her horizons through management and executive positions in other financial services institutions in South Africa from 1999 to early 2018.
She rejoined the group on March 1, 2018, as deputy group CEO and currently has executive oversight over a portfolio of businesses, including Momentum Investments, Momentum Distribution Services, Consult by Momentum and Momentum Money.
“Under her leadership Momentum Investments has grown its normalised headline earnings from R271 million in the 2018 financial year (FY2018) to R940 million in FY2022. Value of new business increased from R80 million to R346 million over the last five years,” it said.
Paul Baloyi, the chairperson of Momentum Metropolitan, said: “After undergoing a rigorous, robust and thorough selection process, Jeanette emerged as the best candidate. I am pleased that this appointment represents a significant breakthrough in diversity, and I am proud that we found the best person for the job inside our company. This ensures leadership continuity and a continued focus on strategy execution.
“Having been a key contributor to the Group’s evolution since 2018, Jeanette holds intimate knowledge of Momentum Metropolitan’s strategy, business areas and culture. She truly understands the current industry environment, the unique set of demands on the business and what is required for the business to succeed. It is a challenging operating environment, and Jeanette’s passion, energy and focus on doing what is best for the Group set her up well to continue the company’s growth trajectory.”
Marais said, “This is full circle for me. It was Momentum that provided the very first growth and leadership opportunities in my career. I am honoured that I get the chance to give back and lead this company that is so close to my heart.
“I thank Hillie for his exceptional leadership over the last five years during which he streamlined Momentum Metropolitan’s structure, refocused the strategy and unleashed the group’s potential. I am excited to work with the leadership team to further harness the company’s strong brands and talented people, and to successfully execute our growth plans.”
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