From Deloitte partner at 28 to running Standard Bank’s R1.75 trillion hidden gem

Yuresh Maharaj is tasked with providing the final piece to Standard Bank’s integrated financial services puzzle by plugging in one of the largest insurance and asset management businesses in Africa into the continent’s biggest bank. 

This is no easy feat, with the creation of such a financial services giant being referred to as the ‘Holy Grail’ for good reason – it always feels closer than it really is. 

However, this time around, such a feat is imminent, Maharaj told Daily Investor at Liberty’s historic Braamfontein office.

Standard Bank’s “plumbing”, as Maharaj calls it, has been sorted out, and its insurance and asset management arm is now steadily adding capabilities to the banking business. 

Maharaj sits atop a business unit that comprises one of Africa’s largest insurers, Liberty, and an asset management business that oversees R1.75 trillion worth of retirement savings, unit trust investments, and specialised portfolios. 

Simultaneously, he is the head of the Liberty legal entity, which requires extensive engagement with regulators across the continent.

While this is a daunting task requiring Maharaj to be “ambidextrous”, he also finds it motivating as an ultra-competitive individual. 

When asked what excites him the most about his current job, there is no hesitation – “I want to win. I really want to win. I am a competitor at heart,” Maharaj said. 

“That is what I keep telling Sim (Standard Bank CEO) and the Group Leadership Council. We have such an opportunity in South Africa to really win and complement where we are in banking.” 

Liberty and the various asset management brands under its umbrella were integrated into the Standard Bank Group when its minority shareholders were bought out in 2022. 

The various businesses which were scattered across the group previously are now housed under a single umbrella, Insurance and Asset Management (IAM), of which Maharaj is CEO. 

This gave Standard Bank all the building blocks to create an integrated financial services provider that can serve all of a client’s needs, from lending and saving through to retirement and life insurance. 

The insurance offering can also operate across the bank’s other business units outside of personal banking, with Maharaj excited about what can be offered to businesses and large corporates. 

“The Holy Grail is imminent, but on a serious note, I think it is always a journey because it is easier to speak about the Holy Grail than to deliver it,” Maharaj said. 

“We must go and deliver it now and claim the accolade. I think we can, so the next three to four years are going to be really powerful.” 

Deloitte partner to insurance CEO

Taking on the task of integrating an insurance giant into Africa’s biggest bank is not for the faint-hearted, which is why it might be surprising that Maharaj never expected to be in such a position. 

Maharaj did not have a disposition towards insurance and asset management, nor did he have a proclivity for banking and finance. 

Growing up in modern-day KwaZulu-Natal, Maharaj graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Natal. 

The following year, he completed his Post-Graduate Diploma in Accounting, which enabled him to work as a trainee auditor at Deloitte. 

Here, Maharaj would experience a rapid rise through the ranks, working his way up to audit manager and later partner.

“For some reason, I got given a whole lot of insurance clients back when I started auditing in Durban doing my articles,” Maharaj explained. 

“That was sort of where, as a youngster, I was exposed to insurance as a little, young, naive trainee.” 

Deloitte also gave Maharaj international experience and exposed him to the world of asset management through stints in Boston and Luxembourg. 

In Boston, Maharaj spent much of his time auditing American mutual funds, being thrown into the deep end with some of the world’s largest investment firms. 

“After coming back to Durban, Deloitte decided the office was too small and relocated us to Johannesburg, where I was made a partner and worked there for ten years,” he said.

Maharaj slightly undersold his achievements, as he became a partner at only 28 and received the Chief Executive Excellence Award at the 2009 Annual Deloitte South African conference for outstanding client service.

As a partner, Maharaj picked up an interesting client in the form of Liberty, with whom he built a relationship and became increasingly interested in insurance. 

“After ten years with Liberty as my client, I sort of told myself that it’s time to go and do the hard job and get involved with running a company,” he said.

“I was fortunate enough that Liberty wanted me to work in-house as its financial director for the listed entity, where I stayed for four years.” 

The pandemic would come knocking just as Maharaj was gaining momentum with Liberty’s management team in rebuilding the business. 

“The call by the Standard Bank Group to buy out the minorities in Liberty came at the right time. Liberty would have taken four or five years to recover from Covid,” Maharaj said. 

After the buyout, Maharaj actually considered leaving the insurer. “I always thought I would do five years as a financial director and then reflect, but I now have the chance to pause after four years,” he said.

However, three months later, Maharaj would have a meeting with Sim Tshabalala that would change his career plan in a heartbeat. 

“Sim said to me, ‘Well, I need you on the executive team, and we are creating this business unit. You are going to do both’,” Maharaj said.

Having always wanted to run a business, the opportunity was perfect for Maharaj, who said the journey at Standard Bank has been very rewarding. 

“I now spend more of my time with people development, sharing my thoughts and ideas, coming up with a strategy, and that is really quite rewarding as opposed to just running the business,” he said. 

“That is my journey. I certainly did not expect it, but I am here now.”