Sanlam is pleased to announce the conclusion of agreements with Alexander Forbes Group Holdings Limited (“Alexander Forbes”) which will result in Sanlam Life Insurance Limited (“Sanlam Life”) acquiring 100% of Alexander Forbes’ individual client administration business (Alexander Forbes Individual Client Administration Proprietary Limited and its two wholly-owned subsidiaries, Alexander Forbes Retail Client Administration Proprietary Limited and Alexander Forbes Nominees Proprietary Limited, collectively the AFICA group) (The “Proposed Transaction”).
The AFICA group is a South African administration business that offers retail investors access to a wide variety of retirement and savings solutions.
Glacier by Sanlam, as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sanlam Limited, will take full responsibility for the operations from effective date. On conclusion of the LISP transaction, Glacier will be one of the leading LISP businesses by under administration in South Africa.
An exciting new milestone in our history
Glacier has always been a forward-looking and innovative company that considers opportunities to grow our client base and broaden our offering - to ensure that we remain a sustainable business for staff, clients and intermediaries alike.
The Proposed Transaction will enhance Sanlam’s competitiveness in respect of the provision of LISP services and provide individual clients of Alexander Forbes with a modernised experience through enhanced administration and user functionality that is enabled by the best-in-class technological capability of the Glacier system.
Through the implementation of the Proposed Transaction, a comprehensive set of Alexander Forbes’ individual client products covering both retirement and savings needs will be administered on the Glacier investment platform.
Alexander Forbes’ living annuity and endowment solutions will be administered by Glacier through binder and outsource agreements.
The Proposed Transaction is subject to certain suspensive conditions, including but not limited to the relevant approvals from the competition authorities and other regulatory authorities (including the Prudential Authority), the entry into a transitional services agreement to allow for a smooth migration and integration of the AFICA group business into Glacier, the entry into the Relationship Agreement and the entry into other ancillary agreements.
The effective date of the transaction will be dependent on the fulfilment of the suspensive conditions to the transaction and is expected to occur during the first half of 2022. Until the transaction has been approved by regulators and finalised, nothing will change and both businesses will continue operations as per normal.
We expect our newly combined and scaled business to become significantly more competitive, creating sustainable, inclusive opportunities for our stakeholders.
Why have we considered this transaction?
On conclusion of the AFICA group transaction, Glacier will be even more robust, giving us more security, and enabling us to act with purpose as a leader in the industry.
Glacier has grown exponentially since our founding in 1997 and now, acquiring the AFICA group business will give us an even larger market presence, access to new market segments and new solutions. As such, this transaction directly supports our third-party administration growth strategy. It will also increase our scale and efficiency, allowing us to reduce the cost of solutions and further improve our client value proposition.
This increased scale also allows us to invest more in technology, to enhance the data and systems that are critical for success in our industry today and into the future. By building a broader, more relevant and sustainable business, we will ensure continued growth and opportunity for generations to come.
What will change?
On conclusion of the transaction, Alexander Forbes and Sanlam will enter into a relationship agreement in terms of which Alexander Forbes will continue to play an important role in developing solutions that reflect its best advice model.
It is important to note that it would not be appropriate to comment on the details of the transaction until we have all the necessary approvals. However, I can assure you that all parties are committed to making this transition as smooth as possible. We are currently finalising all aspects of the proposed transaction and will keep you informed, where possible, as we progress over the next few months.
Another opportunity to take ownership
As with the planning and integration of the previously announced ABSA deal, the team has been putting in significant effort with regards to the planning for this AFICA transaction so that we integrate as efficiently as possible.
