Message From Our Group Chief Executive

The year 2008 will be remembered as one of the toughest in global financial market history, which saw massive stock market sell-offs and credit extension collapse around the world. The consequences for real economies have been swift and devastating.

In part, the crisis was brought on by poor corporate governance, excessive risk-taking, and reckless lending practices – by many of the world’s major financial institutions – to feed the greed and growing consumptive excesses of a world that has been living beyond its means.

Fortunately South Africa has been able to weather the financial storm remarkably well, given a number of prudent policies that have shielded us from the global predicament. Sanlam, in particular, has held up admirably under the circumstances. I am exceptionally proud of our solid performance during these tough times, which, in large measure, has been due to the resilience of our employees and the sound and responsible business strategies we have in place.

But the financial market fall-out and accompanying global economic slump are just one symptom of the world’s extravagances. Potentially more devastating for us all – individuals and corporations alike – are the long-term consequences of humankind’s activities on global climate change, water supplies, resource consumption and biodiversity. And yet the world faces the paradox of this burgeoning consumption against the backdrop of growing poverty and a widening gap between rich and poor.

In this context the global economic system is entering a period of profound structural adjustment. It is also abundantly clear that the corporate sector is being called on to pay greater attention to a host of environmental, social and governance factors – so-called sustainability issues – and to consider the interests of a broader range of stakeholders. 

But sustainability is not some new-fangled corporate fad, nor does it suggest that the primary purpose of any business is no longer to create economic value. Rather, it is about accepting that we need to examine this value creation more holistically, in a way that:

• recognises that our business activities have broader impacts and consequences,
• anticipates and understands the full range of possible risks and opportunities that we face in the long term, and
• puts prudent strategies in place to ensure that we remain viable, successful enterprises for the long haul.

How do we do this at Sanlam?

One of the keys is our corporate leadership and commitment to this issue. Our board Sustainability Committee is tasked with providing the necessary direction and oversight relating to the environmental, social and transformational issues we face, and I am personally committed to providing leadership in this regard internally within the organisation. We also have a dedicated sustainability department within our Corporate Affairs division to help drive our sustainability actions into the business, to report on these issues, and to identify new ways of thinking and of doing in this crucial space.

In this, our latest web-based Sustainability Report, we describe a number of the environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues that we consider most material in the context of our specific business operations. We’ve categorised these in a way that we hope will make sense to you, the reader, namely our actions to:

• Ensure that our business model is robust and sustainable,
• Invest in our country in ways that help to improve South Africa’s social and economic fabric,
• Grow, develop and transform our employee base in ways that make our employment value proposition a compelling one,
• Ensure that we offer our products and services in an ethical manner, invest the funds under our watch responsibly, and engage only with responsible business partners, and

• Look for ways to reduce our direct and indirect environmental footprint.

Our commitment to sustainable business practices is a journey rather than a destination and this report marks another step along the way. I encourage you to read about the progress we’ve made thus far, in the knowledge that we will increasingly monitor the ESG risks and opportunities that our business faces, and that we are looking for even better ways to measure and manage our progress.