Britam CEO to depart in December after 40 years

Britam #ticker:BRIT chief executive Benson Wairegi will depart in December after four decades in the financial services company, making his the longest serving CEO among firms listed on the Nairobi bourse.

Mr Wairegi, 67, told the Business Daily Monday that he will not seek a new term when his three-year contract ends in December.

“The board is seized of the matter. They have actually engaged and started a search for my successor. Whether it’s internal or external (replacement), that’s now for the board to decide. But the process actually began as long as two years ago,” the CEO said in an interview.

“That should not worry the market, should not worry anybody. When I leave, there will be that pool of leaders who can take over from me.”

He leaves a firm where he controls a 4.01 percent stake worth Sh715.7 million, enough to earn him a board seat.

“After 40 years here… the first thing (I will do) is sit back and think what

next. (I will) spend time with family, I have golf to play and there are friends I have missed because I have focused on this business all these years,” Mr Wairegi said of his immediate post-retirement plans. “There’s no urgency to do anything, just taking stock before I decide what to do next.”

The outgoing CEO’s contract does not provide for pension, but contains gradual gratuity payments, which amounted to Sh18.22 million last year and Sh17.12 million in 2018, according to the firm’s latest annual report.

Mr Wairegi is credited with shepherding the listing of the firm at the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) in July 2011, helping its founders, including Jimnah Mbaru and Peter Munga to reduce their stake, earning hundreds of millions of shillings from the disposals.

The disposals and sale of new shares has seen founders of the firm cede control to foreign institutional investors like Zurich-based insurance giant, Swiss Re, International Finance Corporation (IFC) and private equity firm Africinvest.

Increased purchase of the insurer’s shares by the institutional investors signals their confidence in Britam’s long-term future prospects.

“We are sitting on a fantastic platform for growth through the investments that we have made in people and in systems, and the support of institutional investors,” Mr Wairegi said.

“Britam is poised for the next phase of rapid growth through tech-enabled solutions, and I have every confidence the organisation will continue to grow; never mind the short-term challenges presented by the stock market. The core business remains strong.”

Britam sank into a half-year loss of Sh1.6 billion from a Sh1.6 billion net profit in the six months to June last year, hit by falling share values at the NSE.

The worth of its shares at the Nairobi bourse shed Sh3.2 billion in the six months to June, compared to a gain of Sh2.5 billion in a similar period a year earlier.

The firm runs insurance, asset management and property development businesses, with operations in neighbouring Rwanda, Uganda, Malawi, Mozambique and South Sudan.

Mr Wairegi is also credited with diversifying Britam through further expansion in Kenya and in neighbouring countries, an acceleration of property development and increase investment in private equity.

Its investment subsidiary, Britam Asset Managers, set up in 2004, for instance, had a portfolio of Sh227.0 billion in wealth under its watch in December 2019 after posting a 55 percent growth from Sh146.6 billion a year earlier.

He will become the second long-serving top official to step down from executive roles at the Britam in about a year after Stephen Wandera, the former principal executive director, retired after 26 years of service late 2019.

Mr Wandera has retained his seat on the board as a non-executive member.