UK insurer Hastings is fast becoming as important to the fortunes of Rand Merchant Investment Holdings (RMI) as MMI, underscoring how SA’s financial services companies are outgrowing their home market and making their mark abroad. RMI’s 30% stake in Hastings contributed R382m to the group’s earnings for the six months to December. This compares with MMI’s R396m contribution. Hastings is worth R10.5bn to RMI, while its interest in MMI, in which it holds a 25.5% stake, is worth just R8.4bn. The geographic tilt in RMI’s portfolio comes as FirstRand looks to launch a transactional bank in the UK through subsidiary Aldermore. Discovery, in which RMI has a 25% share, has a considerable presence in UK health and life-insurance markets, Sanlam, once an Afrikaans middle-market insurance company, will soon have a footprint across 33 African countries following its purchase of the remainder of Saham Finances. RMI, which holds an 87.7% stake in Outsurance, will be pleased with Hastings’s 2017 p...
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