Our country is in a most exciting era. Our democracy is maturing, our debates are deepening, our challenges are crystallising and our opportunities are widening. How we respond to the world around us now will dictate our individual and collective fortunes in the years that lie ahead.

At Old Mutual we believe it to be vital for us to continue playing a very significant role in the development of the South African economy.

Our mission for over 160 years has been to harness the nation’s savings and invest them for our clients’ financial success. The process of saving and investing for our clients provides the nation with the capital it needs to drive growth. We are committed to finding ways to improve South Africa’s savings rate, and to increasingly direct our investments to areas of the economy that will drive long-term sustainable growth for the benefit of all South Africans. We believe a healthy economy that creates a sound future for all South Africans is crucial to the success of our business - so what is good for South Africa, is good for us.

This report details some of the initiatives we have already undertaken, and will point to where we want to make future contributions. Firstly, Old Mutual must become both the most exciting place for exciting talent to work, and the most caring place to work. Our people should feel they work for the best company in the country, because then our external contributions will become energised and sustainable. But we also have to contribute to the creation of robust national economic growth, because this, as the government’s Accelerated Shared Growth Initiative (AsgiSA), points out, will address unemployment and alleviate poverty – the main contributors to crime and a plummeting national morale. We have further made the commitment to contribute to financial education, because we believe that a more informed nation will become a more prosperous one. Finally, we have committed to engaging at the highest levels, and in whatever forums are available, with key national debates and issues. Already we have begun to play a meaningful role in tabling and helping shape the discussions that are important to all South Africans.

This report is as much a look at our past performance as it is a look ahead into how we want to add our weight to make South Africa continue to be a case study for success.