Sanlam Appoints Leon Vermaak As Chief Executive Of
News release
Sanlamhof, 7 March 2001
Dr Leon Vermaak (39) has been appointed as chief executive officer of Sanlam
from 1 May 2001. He is currently managing director of Santam. He will also
become an executive director of Sanlam.
Announcing the appointment in Bellville with the release of Sanlam's results
for 2000, chairman Marinus Daling said that the appointment of Dr Vermaak
heralds a new era for the financial services group
"Our Board of Directors has gone through an extensive process to select the
right person for our strategic needs. Dr Vermaak is eminently suited for his
new position. As our results show, we have in the two years since our listing
in 1998 established a sound basis from which we will now aggressively pursue
our growth strategy.
"Dr Vermaak has a proven track record in Santam for delivering on challenging
goals as was demonstrated when he successfully headed Santam's take over of
Guardian National. This transaction that was concluded last year, positioned
Santam as the market leader in the South African short term insurance industry
with a market share of 25%. Under his first full year of leadership, Santam
also posted very favourable results for 2000.
"This, coupled with his qualifications, management and people skills are the
strengths that will assist him in leading Sanlam well in this very important
phase of our development", Daling said.
Daling will remain at Sanlam as full time chairman.
Dr Vermaak has been managing director of Santam since July 1999. He joined the
company in 1993 to launch a Market Research department. He was promoted to
head of Marketing in 1995 and in 1997 he took over the management of Santam's
southern operations. In 1998 he was promoted to senior general manager :
Marketing Operations.
He obtained the degrees B.Comm (1983) and MBA (1987), both from the University
of Pretoria and his PhD (Marketing) from the City University, London in 1993.
Responding to his appointment, Dr Vermaak said that it was a privilege to be
considered for such a key position in Sanlam
"I have seen Sanlam change into a dynamic and focused company over the past
three years as is also evident from its latest results. I am excited to be
part of an enviable management team in developing the Group to achieve
excellent results for its shareholders and policyholders," he said.
Ends.
Issued by Frans van Rensburg, Sanlam Media Relations
Tel. (021) 947-4893 / Cell. 082 805 9245
Note:
Marinus Daling became executive chairman of Sanlam in December 1997. While it
was always the intention to separate the two positions in future, the decision
was expedited with Marinus' sudden illness in August last year. He is
responding extremely well to chemotherapy and has been back full time in office
since 2 October 2000.
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