About Santam
Santam is the leading general insurer in South Africa with a market share of more than 22%.
We provide a diverse range of general insurance products and services in southern Africa and internationally through a network of 2 700 intermediaries and direct channels. We serve more than 1 million policyholders who range from individuals to commercial and specialist business owners and institutions.
Santam’s commitment to its policyholders and clients is captured in the brand promise, Insurance good and proper, which emphasises responsible and ethical insurance.
As an Investment, the group offers the following:
Competitiveness
Santam’s geographical footprint, scale, brand strength, business diversity and distribution networks put the group in a strong competitive position in South Africa, where we have a market share of more than 22%.
The group further benefits from the diversity of our product offering and multiple channel capabilities (including a growing direct channel market share), which have contributed to sustained underwriting surpluses despite highly adverse operating conditions. We currently insure 86 of the top 100 companies listed on the JSE and has a network of more than 2 700 intermediaries.
Through our partnership with SEM, we offer intermediaries access to 13 insurance licences across the African continent, India, and Malaysia.
Consistency
Santam has been able to consistently achieve underwriting profits while adapting our business model to the prevailing market conditions and risks. Since our establishment in 1918, we have diversified our portfolio, focusing on profitability rather than only on increasing market share. The group has enjoyed the benefit of a strong, stable and strategically aligned core shareholder in Sanlam.
Santam continues to be recognised in the market: we were voted the leading general insurer in South Africa by the intermediary community in the Personal Insurance category at the Financial Intermediaries Association of Southern Africa’s (FIA) annual Insurer of the Year awards in 2015.
Competence
Santam has a world-class scientific underwriting capability supported by a strong and experienced management team. Our pool of specialist insurance skills and knowledge is evident in the success of the specialist business, which offers a complex range of insurance cover. Due to our integrated systems and processes, we are able to proactively deal with and benefit from regulatory changes, which can constitute high barriers of entry into the industry for new players.
Santam has a stringent capital management framework underpinned by an internally developed, risk-based model and embedded enterprise risk management framework, which is integrated into strategic decision-making and capital allocation.
Growth through diversification
Santam has a strong international diversification capability through our partnership with SEM, and through Santam Re and Santam Specialist. This will rapidly gain further traction in Africa following the Saham transaction, whereas MiWay attracts new and previously uninsured policyholders through its new online life and business insurance offerings in South Africa. Acquisitive growth opportunities in the local market are limited due to our dominant position, but organic growth remains a focus area, driven by Santam’s well-established intermediary network, integration opportunities with Sanlam’s distribution network and development of the Santam direct distribution channel.