Britam CEO Wairegi puts off retirement awaiting successor

Britam managing director Benson Wairegi. PHOTO | SALATON NJAU | NMG

By VICTOR JUMA
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Summary

• The term of Britam’s chief executive Benson Wairegi has been extended beyond his retirement date of December 31, 2020 as the insurer seeks more time to recruit his replacement.
• Mr Wairegi was to retire last month after working for the Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed firm for 40 years.
• He, however, continues to hold the office to offer continuity and smooth transition to a new leader who is yet to be named.

The term of Britam’s #ticker:BRIT chief executive Benson Wairegi has been extended beyond his retirement date of December 31, 2020 as the insurer seeks more time to recruit his replacement.

Mr Wairegi was to retire last month after working for the Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed firm for 40 years.

He, however, continues to hold the office to offer continuity and smooth transition to a new leader who is yet to be named.

“Mr Wairegi is still in office. At the appropriate time, the board will announce the new CEO,” a source familiar with the matter told Business Daily.

The duration of Mr Wairegi’s new contract was not immediately clear. He had recently told the media of his retirement plans, with the extension of his contract extension coming as a surprise.

The move to retain Mr Wairegi shows that the insurer had not concluded the succession process ahead of his retirement.

It could also signal that the company intends to continue benefitting from his extensive experience in running the insurer that has grown more complex in recent years.

Through a mix of organic growth and acquisitions, Britam now has operations in seven countries –Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Uganda, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania.

The company offers life and general insurance besides running asset management, property investment and portfolio investments.

During its life as a publicly-traded company, Britam has grown shareholder wealth by 1.66 percent including dividends since September 2011 when it went public at an offer price of Sh9 per share.

The performance excludes the impact of new shares that were created and issued to new institutional investors including the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in the past few years.

Britam’s share price had rallied to hit highs of Sh40 in 2014 but has receded to the current levels of Sh7 on a mix of factors including the general bear market and major losses at its associate HF Group #ticker:HFCK.