If there’s one lesson we can take from this tumultuous year, it’s that we can change our future.
Despite enormous economic and political headwinds, ordinary South Africans and business and political leaders came together to pledge their support for this country and to commit to doing whatever it took to get our economy back on track.
This commitment and determination, along with a strong constitution, robust civil society and sound legal framework, demonstrated to the world that, while we’re still a young democracy, we’re ready to face our challenges. Whether as a country or in our own personal lives, we’ll continue to face new challenges. It’s how we face them and the actions we take that’ll determine our future. The power is in our hands.
Against this background of uncertainty and a rollercoaster ride of optimism and fear, as a company we continue to look forward, committing to helping our customers build a better, stronger future.
We also continue to improve the way in which we do things in our quest to become the most trusted leader for insurance and investments in Africa and our chosen markets, while ensuring that we continue to fulfil our purpose of making financial freedom possible for you.
As a commitment to you, we paid out R3,57-billion in valid claims for the year 2015.
In October, we announced the listing of our premier property portfolio, Liberty Two Degrees, so that we could raise further capital to invest in South Africa and the rest of Africa. We also provided our loyal customer base with the opportunity to participate in the listing through the Liberty Real Estate Portfolio at a discount to the listing price.
We continued to leverage our balance sheet to bring innovative solutions to help you better prepare for retirement. Last year, we launched Agile, a retirement annuity which allowed customers to invest a specific amount to guarantee a minimum income at retirement, while allocating additional retirement funding to higher risk investment portfolios to take advantage of stock market growth.
This year we launched Bold for our customers who’ve reached retirement. Following a similar philosophy as Agile, Bold is a living annuity that includes a capital guarantee. This provides you, our customer, with the benefits of a market-linked living annuity while lowering potential capital loss.
Next year we celebrate 60 years of providing financial solutions to South African households and we look forward to partnering with you for the next 60 years. We’re invested in your future because we believe South Africans have a future worth investing in.
We wish you all the best over this festive season. |
