South Africa’s biggest short-term insurer, Santam, on Thursday said it had appointed Lizé Lambrechts as CEO with effect from January 1 next year.

He replaces Ian Kirk who has been appointed CEO-designate at Santam’s parent company, Sanlam, which is one of South Africa’s biggest life insurers. Kirk will replace Sanlam’s current CEO, Johan Van Zyl, who is retiring.

Lambrechts joins Santam from the Sanlam Group where for the past 12 years she was CEO of Sanlam Personal Finance (SPF), Sanlam’s retail business in South Africa.

She has a B.Sc. Hons (cum laude) from the University of Stellenbosch, qualified as an actuary and has held numerous senior memberships and directorships within Sanlam’s local and international operations.

As CEO of SPF, she successfully led Sanlam’s biggest business through extensive regulatory changes to become one of leading retail financial services groups in South Africa.

“We have a solid business strategy in place for the Santam Group and an outstanding executive team. We believe Lizé has the qualities and vision to build on this and take the Group forward into the next stage of its development,” Kirk said.

“She has demonstrated throughout her time within the Group the ability to build and grow the business and to work with people. Lizé’s extensive experience, knowledge and insight of both the insurance market and the group’s strategy as well as her proven leadership skills marks her as the prime candidate to take over the leadership of Santam,” Kirk added.