Liberty Holdings Limited

Liberty Holdings Ltd

Type	Public
Industry	Financial Services (Wealth Management)
Founded	1957
Headquarters	Johannesburg
Key people	Saki Macozoma (Chairman) Bruce Hemphill (Group Chief Executive)
Products	Wealth-building Life and disability insurance Health insurance Investment management Property development and management
Total assets	R449 billion (2011)
Employees	±12,000 (2010) incl. tied consultants
Website	www.libertyholdings.co.za

Liberty Holdings Ltd is an African wealth management group based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Liberty has interests in life and health insurance, asset management and property development, with business operations in six other countries across Southern, East and West Africa.

The group’s principal operating business Liberty Life is the third largest life insurer in South Africa, while 100% subsidiary STANLIB is the second largest investment manager in South Africa, and its largest unit trust (mutual fund) company.

Liberty Holdings is 53% owned by the Standard Bank Group, the largest African bank by total assets.

African operations (outside South Africa)

Through regional hubs in Southern, East and West Africa, subsidiary Liberty Africa researches and facilitates the establishment and development of the group’s pan-African business interests outside South Africa.

Liberty employs a variety of business ownership and partnership models in Africa, and uses the African business and branch footprint of its corporate parent, Standard Bank/Stanbic.^{[citation needed]}

By November 2009, Liberty had established proprietary or partnership offices in Botswana, Kenya, Nigeria, Lesotho, Namibia, Swaziland, Tanzania and Uganda. The group is also involved in major property developments in Zambia and Swaziland, and is researching business cases in other countries in Africa.

Development highlights

Liberty Life Association of Africa Ltd was founded in 1957 by life insurance and property development entrepreneur Sir Donald Gordon. Liberty Life was listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in 1962 (de-listed 2008) and Liberty Holdings in 1968. Standard Bank acquired control of the Liberty group in 1999.

Liberty developed a reputation^{[citation needed]} for product innovation and sales productivity, through pioneering^{[citation needed]} developments in South Africa such as retirement annuities (1960), regional shopping centres (1975 onwards), universal life products (1983) and fully underwritten medical insurance (1991).

Liberty grew rapidly, both organically and by acquisition of the local interests of international assurers Manufacturers’ Life of Canada (1972), Sun Life of Canada (1974), the South-African interests of UK's Prudential Assurance Company (1986); and of local assurers Charter Life (1988), Capital Alliance and Rentmeester (both 2003).

During the 1981’s and 1990’s, Liberty developed a substantial international property portfolio – notably in UK shopping centres – through TransAtlantic Holdings (subsequently renamed and now London-listed Liberty International). In 2006, Liberty announced its new long-term strategy, to expand its traditional life assurance and related business interests, with the aim of becoming Africa’s leading broad-based wealth manager.^{[citation needed]}

Liberty Holdings History

External links

• Liberty Holdings