End of an era for Old Mutual: Trevor Manuel calls it a day 

Old Mutual has officially said goodbye to Trevor Manuel, the former finance minister who was its board chairman for the past eight years. 

Manuel has hit the company’s retirement age of 70, with his replacement, Roger Jardine, taking over the reins after a three-month handover period that ended at the beginning of June. 

Jardine has been on Old Mutual’s board since September 2025 after being chairman of FirstRand for nearly six years. 

On 3 June, Old Mutual said goodbye to its former chairman, holding an event where the company paid tribute to Manuel. 

“Last night, we had the privilege of honouring Trevor Manuel as he retired as Group Chairman of Old Mutual,” the company said in a statement. 

“This brought to a close a remarkable period of leadership that has helped shape the organisation we are today.” 

The former finance minister oversaw a period of change at Old Mutual, navigating the company through several rounds of legal challenges from former CEO Peter Moyo.

Manuel also led the appointment of Jurie Strydom as Old Mutual’s new CEO, who has been charged with rejuvenating the business and leading its charge into retail banking.

“Throughout his tenure, Trevor reminded us that sustainable success is built on trust, accountability, and an unwavering commitment to doing what is right,” Old Mutual said.

“He challenged us to think beyond short-term outcomes and to remain focused on the role we play in creating positive futures for customers, communities, and the continent.” 

Jardine steps into the role at a time when Old Mutual is facing intense competition across its insurance business, with the rise of the bancassurance model seeing South Africa’s largest financial institutions enhance their insurance capabilities.

Strydom told Daily Investor previously that it is all about bringing Old Mutual back to where it belongs as one of Africa’s premier financial institutions.

The CEO has refocused Old Mutual on the group equity value and cash generation as key metrics, with an aim to reduce customer churn and enhance the value of new business margin. 

Strydom has also overseen major changes to management incentives, with Old Mutual moving towards line-of-sight cost targets.

Old Mutual is also currently rolling out its banking offering, OM Bank, where it expects to compete with Capitec and others to win over the mass market. 

Manuel at Old Mutual

Manuel’s time at Old Mutual has been anything but easy, with his stewardship coinciding with a running legal battle with former CEO Peter Moyo. 

Moyo was suspended for an alleged conflict of interest in May 2019 after several confrontations with Old Mutual’s board.

Old Mutual said at the time that Moyo had violated the terms of his employment contract by placing his personal financial interests above those of the company. 

This was because a company, which was founded by Moyo, NMT Capital, decided to pay an ordinary dividend to shareholders of R105 million.

Moyo chaired the meeting at which the decision to pay the dividend was made. While paying the ordinary dividend, NMT Capital failed to pay preference share dividends worth R65.4 million to Old Mutual. 

This made the situation with Moyo untenable, with Old Mutual saying that it could not endure such a strained relationship. 

Moyo did not take his suspension lying down, accusing the board of acting in bad faith and of trying to remove him from office. Old Mutual rejected these allegations. 

Moyo had filed several lawsuits against Old Mutual after he was fired in mid-2019. He had initially succeeded in his legal application for temporary reinstatement, but Old Mutual managed to have that overturned on appeal. 

Moyo then brought several other cases, including an attempt to secure his reinstatement and R250 million in damages, another to have the directors, including Manuel, be declared delinquent, and one to have the directors be declared in contempt of court. 

The courts dismissed all of these cases.

Ultimately, Moyo’s case, after several rounds of appeals, went all the way to the Constitutional Court. This court refused Moyo’s leave to appeal, saying that his application does not engage its jurisdiction. 

Manuel stabilised Old Mutual during this debacle and after through the appointment of Iain Williamson as CEO for five years. 

Williamson stabilised the organisation and, as a well-respected manager, improved the company’s operations without a dramatic shift in strategy. 

Manuel and Williamson also oversaw the buildout of OM Bank, which is set to be launched to the public in late 2026.