MMI to focus on growth after merger

The transaction that led to the creation of MMI Holdings (MMI) was approved by the Competition Tribunal at the end of 2010‚ on condition that there may be no merger-related retrenchments for two years.

Kruger said at an investor conference in Centurion that at the end of the two year period there had been very few retrenchments.

At the time of the merger the two companies anticipated job losses of around 1‚000 because of overlaps between the two businesses. He said the company considered an appeal against the condition‚ but did not pursue it.

Instead a redeployment centre was created to provide people with additional training and coaching so they could be deployed elsewhere. There were some voluntary exits.

The total number of employees at MMI Holdings is now about 15‚000.

Cost savings of R500m

Kruger said there was still some integration work needed in terms of system consolidations at Metropolitan International‚ Metropolitan Health and Momentum Investments.

The merged entity was on track to achieve its R500m expense savings and had seen growth in its share price.

Phillip Matlakala‚ chief executive of Metropolitan Retail‚ said the insurance industry faced some stiff challenges in terms of regulatory requirements and increased legislation‚ high cost of compliance‚ new entrants into the sector and additional regulatory changes relating to intermediary remuneration and outsourcing.

The mandatory regulatory examinations‚ set by the Financial Services Board‚ had placed a lot of pressure on intermediaries‚ brokers and agents with many having had to write the examinations more than once before passing.

Around 60% of the agents who had written the tests had passed‚ with those who did not pass focussing on "exempt products".

Agents who had passed the examination were in high demand and a key challenge for his division was the retention of intermediaries and key staff members.

Matlakala said they excelled in "chasing" new clients and the division would be focusing on a better understanding of the needs‚ circumstances and requirements of their clients.