Procurement and suppliers
Having set an overall target of 30% of overall procurement spend that is influenceable (where the company can make discretionary purchasing decisions), the company reached an actual total of 38%. While this has been aided by the use of black contractors on Old Mutual Properties construction projects, there has also been a concerted drive to extract value from the existing database. To this end, plans have been drawn up and efforts begun to limit newcomers to the supplier database to those already empowered; to ensure that spend favours black- and women-owned small and medium-enterprises and that these are paid withing 14 days of receipt of an invoice; and to conduct a project within the supplier database among non-empowered companies to encourage them to engage in empowerment of their own.
A key activity during 2004 was the audit of the supplier database to classify suppliers into the Charter definitions of black-owned; black-empowered; and black-influenced.
The overall Charter-weighted procurement picture for 2004 follows:
| Total Influenceable | Black-owned | Black-empowered | Black-influenced |
| Spend | Companies | Companies | Companies |
| | Weighting 125% | Weighting 100% | Weighting 75% |
| R2.29 billion | R321.9 million | R455.2 million | R82.5 million |
" We are equipped with knowledge and skills to be there for our peers but we are really there for all. Sharing HIV information with one person can result in many others learning as well. It might just make a difference in someone's life without you even knowing it. Lend an ear, share and guide, that's what I do as a peer educator. It helps others and makes me feel good."
AAMAL SAMSODIEN Actuarial Services HIV/AIDS Peer Educator
Managing the effects of HIV/AIDS on the business
Old Mutual Chief Actuary Gary Palser and his team constantly measure the impact on the business of AIDS claims and they ensure the business incorporates the correct and current statistics in their business planning. The work of this team ensures that product pricing is adequate, the cash reserves are sufficient and generally that managers are correctly informed regarding the disease.
Old Mutual is party to the decision taken at the Life Offices Association (LOA) to scrap HIV/AIDS exclusions on new business written from 2005. This step is possible because the intense research of the past three years means the disease can be quantified and priced for a fundamental aspect of risk underwriting.
The effect of this decision is that HIV/AIDS sufferers will be treated no differently from sufferers of other diseases. However, normal underwriting principles will apply to all applicants for life insurance from all insurers, including Old Mutual.
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