Sanlam UK’s chief executive Lukas van der Walt has left the firm as part of its ongoing integration and management restructure.
He will formally leave Sanlam UK on 29 February, after which he will serve as a strategic consultant to the group, advising on its development, mergers and acquisitions.
During his 12 year tenure, Mr van der Walt orchestrated the purchase and development of Merchant Investors Assurance in 2004 as well as Buckles, English Mutual and FOUR Capital Partners.
He was also responsible for strategic investments and partnering initiatives with Nucleus, Intrinsic and Punter Southall Group - the latter two being sold in 2013 and 2014 respectively.
Jonathan Polin became chief executive of Sanlam UK on 1 January with a brief of business integration and dynamic future growth.
He left his position as Ashcourt Rowan’s group chief executive at the end of October, with Sanlam Private Wealth’s incumbent chief executive Craig Massey returning to South Africa as branch operations director and head of stockbroking.
In December, Sanlam announced changes to the management structure of its UK businesses from the start of this year.
The UK group will be known as Sanlam UK and will be made up of:
• Sanlam Wealth Planning: The national financial adviser.
• Sanlam Private Wealth: The discretionary fund manager.
• Sanlam Investments & Pensions: The life and pensions business.
• Sanlam Four: The boutique asset management and fund solutions business.
• Sanlam Securities: The provider of institutional and retail stockbroking services.
Earlier this month, it was revealed that adviser numbers at Sanlam Wealth Planning have fallen by about one in five since August 2012, according to figures from Imas Corporate Finance.
According to the acquisitions adviser, the number of total approved persons at Sanlam Wealth Planning fell from a peak of 101 in August 2012 to 79 last month. A source close to the company claimed it had seen a raft of departures, but Mr Polin said its number of advisers was roughly the same as in 2013.
He acknowledged his company’s decision to reduce the number of employed advisers at Sanlam Wealth Planning, which was created from a merger of Sanlam Private Wealth (formerly Denbighshire-based Buckles) and financial advisory firm English Mutual, which Sanlam UK bought in 2014.
“A large number of the former Buckles clients did not meet our criteria, so we were able to reduce the number of our employed advisers at Sanlam Private Wealth and improve quality,” said Mr Polin.
peter.walker@ft.com
