Sanlam, the largest nonbanking financial services provider on the African continent, says it is well positioned to grow earnings via its wealth and asset management business in India.
The financial services major, worth R182bn on the JSE, has received all required regulatory approvals for the transaction to increase its effective economic shareholding in Shriram Asset Management Company from 16.3% to 35.5%.
Group CEO Paul Hanratty said early signs from India’s wealth and asset management space were exciting.
“With the growth of India over the past 20 years, people who were relatively modest in their incomes are now beginning to get to a point where they are starting to have significant wealth,” Hanratty said.
“One thing about Shriram is that although our customers are drawn from [the] rural and the lower end of the market, the majority of them are actually entrepreneurs. As the Indian economy grew, wealth has risen.”
The group, which released its results for the six months to end-June on Thursday, said Shriram had exceptional reach in the expansive Indian finance market.
It said Shriram’s strong market position placed the group in an ideal position to benefit from structural positives that included low insurance penetration and rapid advancements in digitalisation.
“Though we are a niche in the market, basically the rural and lower end of the market, it’s a huge niche because the majority of the Indian population is rural,” Hanratty said.
“It’s hard for anyone to compete with us in India. We have established a strong position and with our technology we are able to operate profitably in a space that financial services companies find it hard to compete in,” he said.
Though we are a niche in the market, basically the rural and lower end of the market, it’s a huge niche because the majority of the Indian population is rural.
— Paul Hanratty
Sanlam CEO
“That is why we are so bullish about India. We have fantastic partners. We can keep growing that business.”
Sanlam has reported a strong operational performance at the halfway stage of the financial year, with a 7% increase in new business volumes.
The group reported a 14% rise to R8.076bn in the net result from financial services in the six months ended June, benefiting from strong contributions from general insurance, life insurance and credit and structuring.
Group new business volumes increased 7% to R218bn, benefiting from increased investment management and general insurance inflows in SA, it said.
Net operational earnings increased 15% to R9.3bn, boosted by higher investment returns on the shareholder capital portfolio.
Headline earnings per share (HEPS) decreased 2% to 465c and attributable earnings per share increased 3% to 490c, with the lower growth relative to net operational earnings due to the 2024 results benefiting from higher positive investment variances and partial recognition of the noncash Capitec reinsurance recapture fee.
Attributable earnings per share were also affected by lower gains from the disposal of subsidiaries and associates relative to 2024, Sanlam said.
The group said the integration of Assupol had progressed well, with the retail mass segment now operating as one business, with one strategy and with employee and agent harmonisation. Medium-term synergy projects had also commenced, focusing on realising further synergies.
Sanlam jumped the final competition hurdle in its R6.5bn acquisition of Assupol in August. The deal sees Assupol becoming a member of Sanlam’s retail mass cluster.
During the period, Santam completed the transaction to acquire 60% of A1 ordinary shares in NMS Insurance Services SA from Sanlam Life for R925m, effective on May 2.
In Pan-African operations, SanlamAllianz continues to successfully execute integrating the operations and realising revenue and cost synergies. In April, Allianz Europe BV (Allianz) concluded acquiring 8.59% in SanlamAllianz for an initial cash consideration of R4.5bn, resulting in a final shareholding split in SanlamAllianz of 51% Sanlam and 49% Allianz.
In June, the UK component of the Ninety One transaction concluded, with Sanlam Investments UK transferring £1.9bn in assets under management to Ninety One Plc.
Update: September 4 2025
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