Company: Sanlam
Country: South Africa
Sector: Property/Casualty Insurance
CEO: Paul Hanratty
Website: https://www.sanlam.com
Careers Page: Not publicly listed
LinkedIn: Not publicly listed
Email: Not publicly listed
Headquarters: Bellville, Cape Town, South Africa
Founded: 1918
Valuation/Revenue: $1,289.6m revenue (ranked segment); $9,525.6m market value (African Business Top 250, 2025)
Sanlam is one of Africa’s largest and oldest financial services groups, offering life and short-term insurance, investment management, retirement products and broader wealth and risk management services across roughly 33 African countries as well as India, Malaysia, the UK, Ireland, the US and the Philippines. Listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, it is widely described as Africa’s largest non-banking financial services group.
What Does Sanlam Do?
Sanlam operates through several business clusters: Sanlam Personal Finance (life insurance, retirement annuities, trusts, wills and financial planning for individuals), Sanlam Investments (asset management), Sanlam Corporate (employee benefits and group risk products), and SanlamAllianz, a pan-African joint venture combining Sanlam’s African life and general insurance operations with those of German insurer Allianz outside South Africa. Sanlam also holds a majority stake (roughly 62.3% as of the most recently confirmed disclosure) in Santam, South Africa’s largest short-term (property and casualty) insurer, which is itself separately listed on the JSE.
Is Sanlam Legit?
Yes. Sanlam is one of South Africa’s oldest and most established financial institutions, registered in 1918 and demutualised and listed on the JSE in 1998. It is regulated by South Africa’s Prudential Authority and Financial Sector Conduct Authority and is a constituent of the JSE’s Top 40 index, reflecting its status as one of the country’s largest listed companies by market capitalisation.
How Old Is Sanlam?
Sanlam was registered on 8 June 1918, making it over a century old as of 2026 — one of the longest continuously operating financial institutions in Africa, having grown from a South African mutual life insurer into a multinational financial services group.
Who Is the CEO of Sanlam?
Paul Hanratty serves as group chief executive of Sanlam, having previously built a career in insurance leadership before taking the top role. He leads the group’s continued pan-African expansion strategy, including the SanlamAllianz joint venture structure formed with German insurer Allianz to combine both companies’ operations across the rest of Africa outside South Africa.
Who Owns Sanlam?
Sanlam is a widely held, JSE-listed public company with no single controlling shareholder, also cross-listed on the Namibian Stock Exchange and traded on the A2X Markets alternative exchange in South Africa. Its major operating subsidiary Santam is roughly 62% owned by Sanlam, while the rest of Santam trades freely on the JSE.
How Big Is Sanlam?
African Business magazine’s Top 250 companies in Africa for 2025 lists a revenue figure of approximately $1.29 billion for the specific segment/metric captured in that ranking, alongside a market value of roughly $9.53 billion, reflecting Sanlam’s status as one of the highest market-capitalisation financial companies on the African continent. It’s worth noting that as a large diversified insurer, “revenue” for a group like Sanlam can be defined and reported in materially different ways (gross written premium versus net earned premium versus total group income including investment returns), so figures from different sources may not be directly comparable without checking methodology. A landmark moment in Sanlam’s growth was its 2018 acquisition of Moroccan-based pan-African insurer SAHAM Finances for approximately $1.1 billion, a deal widely credited with cementing Sanlam’s position as Africa’s largest non-banking financial services group by geographic reach.
What Has Sanlam Been in the News For Recently?
The formation and rollout of the SanlamAllianz joint venture with Allianz has been the most significant recent structural development, consolidating both groups’ operations across most of Africa outside South Africa into a single combined entity aimed at achieving greater scale and efficiency in markets where either company alone might have struggled to reach critical mass. Like other major South African insurers, Sanlam has also had to navigate currency volatility across its many African operating markets, along with the broader industry-wide pressures of climate-related claims inflation (including major flooding events in parts of Southern Africa) affecting the general insurance side of its business through Santam.
How Do I Apply for a Job at Sanlam?
As one of Africa’s largest financial services employers, Sanlam recruits across a wide range of functions including actuarial science, financial advice and planning, asset management, IT, and corporate roles, spanning its South African operations and its broader pan-African and international footprint through SanlamAllianz and other units. Given the professional and often regulated nature of insurance and investment roles, many positions require specific qualifications (such as actuarial exams or financial advisory accreditation), and recruitment is generally handled through Sanlam’s own careers channels alongside specialist financial services recruiters.
Links
Website: https://www.sanlam.com
Careers Page: Not found
LinkedIn: Not found
Email: Not publicly listed
FAQ
Is Sanlam a legit company?
Yes, it is a JSE-listed, over-century-old South African financial services group regulated by South Africa’s financial authorities.
Who is the CEO of Sanlam?
Paul Hanratty is group chief executive of Sanlam.
Is Sanlam publicly traded?
Yes, on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the Namibian Stock Exchange, and A2X Markets.
How old is Sanlam?
Sanlam was founded in 1918, making it over 100 years old.
What is SanlamAllianz?
A joint venture combining Sanlam’s and German insurer Allianz’s insurance operations across Africa outside South Africa, aimed at achieving greater pan-African scale.
Does Sanlam own Santam?
Yes, Sanlam holds a majority stake (roughly 62%) in Santam, South Africa’s largest short-term insurer, which is separately JSE-listed.