Big management changes at Old Mutual – with its new bank coming this year

Old Mutual has announced that OM Bank CEO Clarence Nethengwe will take over new responsibilities, while Prabashini Moodley will become the CEO of the new Life and Savings segment.

Under the shift, Old Mutual Finance and Old Mutual Transaction Services will now be under Nethengwe’s executive oversight.

Recently appointed Group CEO Jurie Strydom said the moves form a strategic step in Old Mutual’s banking operations in South Africa, asd it prepares for the launch of OM Bank.

OM Bank is set to launch its national rollout in Q4 2025 following several delays.

Between 2022 and 2024, Old Mutual spent a combined R2.8 billion to build the bank and secure a deposit-taking retail banking license.

The group expects the bank to run at an initial loss rate of R1.1 billion to R1.3 billion and break even in 2028.

Nethengwe was previously the managing director for the group’s Mass and Foundation Cluster.

At the same time, the bank’s chair, Nomkhita Nqweni, previously worked as an independent non-executive director of the broader group.

The new digital bank will focus on the mass market cluster, an area dominated by Capitec. The cluster also features competition from African Bank and digital finance group TymeBank.

Changes to the Life and Savings segment

In addition to the new roles for Nethengwe, the group also announced that Prabashini Moodley will be the CEO of the newly configured Life and Savings segment, effective 1 August 2025.

Moodley will report to Strydom, with the new segment consisting of four businesses:

• Personal Finance,
• Old Mutual Wealth Management,
• Old Mutual Corporate, and
• The Mass and Foundation Cluster (MFC) – excluding banking.

The managing directors of these business units will all report to Moodley.

The group believes that the new segment will enable more effective delivery to customers and intermediaries, while offering the benefits of scale efficiencies.

Moodley previously served as the managing director of Old Mutual Corporate and has been at the group since 2002, and qualified as an actuary shortly thereafter.

She also holds a Global Executive MBA from IESE Business School, and has served in various roles across Personal Finance, Old Mutual Investment Group and MFC, four of which were as MFC’s CFO.

Her international experience included working at Skandia México, where she established and led a customer segment business.

“I am confident that Prabashini will bring the clarity, energy, and accountability needed to lead her team and create value across these business units,” said Strydom.