Yes, it’s a short-term insurance jungle
Does newbie insurance business iWyze, which falls under Mutual & Federal, have a fighting chance?
After 18 months under the radar, can the now-established management team at iWyze shake up this lacklustre direct short-term insurer? The three defectors from Telesure — Anton de Souza, Connie Kruger and Hannes Wilken — need to make an impact soon in what is an increasingly competitive direct market. iWyze is branded as part of Old Mutual, though functionally it operates as part of the group’s full-service short-term insurer, Mutual & Federal. Old Mutual, as the largest intermediary-based life insurer in SA, has always been ambivalent about direct insurance. There was a short-lived attempt to set up Old Mutual Direct in 1997, branded (like one of the famous bands of the day) OMD. But it only caused embarrassment when it advertised that it was cheaper to use OMD than to go to a broker or Mutual agent, so it was disbanded. Mutual & Federal stood out by not setting up a standard direct business, unlike its main rival Santam, which set up MiWay in 2008. iWyze was launched in 2010 withou...
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