Old Mutual’s sales have been dented by the weakness of the rand, though the Anglo-South African insurer and investment firm said its assets have risen and it is working on expansion elsewhere in Africa.
The firm was managing £307.6bn at the end of September, up 5pc on the same point a year ago, but quarterly sales fell almost 5pc on last year to £6.2bn.
Old Mutual’s South African subsidiary Nedbank last month bought 20pc of lending group Ecobank with a view to expanding banking and insurance services. The pair currently operate together in 39 African countries.
Chief executive Julian Roberts said the firm had also seen strong demand for its new fund offering UK retailers the chance to invest directly in African equities.
“I would like people to think of us immediately when they think about investing in Africa,” he said.
Mr Roberts said the company has no plans to sell more of its stake in Old Mutual Asset Management, which raised £317m through a stock market float of 20pc of its equity in New York last month.
Old Mutual, which shifted its main stock market listing from Johannesburg to London in 1999, has also bolstered its wealth management business after agreeing to buy Quilter Cheviot from Bridgepoint for £585m last month. The deal is set to complete next year after getting regulatory clearance.
Old Mutual Global Investors, which hired star manager Richard Buxton from Schroders last year, managed £18.4bn at the end of September, up from £17bn three months ago, on flat gross sales of £2bn. The overall wealth business managed £82.2bn, up from £80.3bn.
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