Nine leadership questions for Robert Dommisse, CEO Life Insurance, SanlamAllianz

1. For how long have you been CEO SanlamAllianz Life Insurance?

The joint venture recently celebrated its 1-year anniversary in September, so I have held this position for a year. Prior to this, I was Chief Executive of Sanlam’s Life businesses across the continent for 5 years. These businesses together with the Egyptian Life business of Allianz formed a major part of the current Life businesses of SanlamAllianz.

2. How you characterise your career; and how have your previous roles before SanlamAllianz prepared you for this current role .... Any challenges, highlights and learnings?

I joined Sanlam in 1994. Sanlam in those days had a very good bursary scheme for which I was fortunate enough to qualify. Sanlam funded all my university studies and in exchange I had to work for the company for a few years. I began my career in Employee Benefits and moved every few years into a new role across the group.

So, I was exposed to almost all aspects of the business, from Finance to Actuarial, Operations, IT, Distribution and I even spent some time in the Tax department!  After more than a decade, I then headed up the Mergers & Acquisitions team which acquired most of the businesses that Sanlam had on the continent before it entered the joint venture with Allianz.

3. In leading a large organisation of the magnitude of SanlamAllianz Life with a presence in 27 countries (excluding SA), what would you say are an effective leaders' top qualities?

I believe a good leader should set a vision for people, so that the employees feel part of something bigger than just coming to work every day and doing their job. And then inspire the organisation to perform beyond the expectations of stakeholders. We call it creating a high-performance culture in our organisation. But then you also need to know what is happening in the business on a day-to-day basis. That is not easy across so many companies, but by working diligently every day and being interested in what is happening in the various businesses one collects enough information to have a very good view of what is happening. But just knowing what is happening is not enough – you must influence and steer (lead) so that the right things get attention.

4. What would you say are SanlamAllianz Life’s top priority areas for the next three years?

Our biggest opportunity is growing the businesses in our portfolio. Across the continent the life insurance penetration (premiums as % of GDP) is extremely low. There are historical reasons for this, but as the leading insurer on the continent I believe it’s incumbent on us to address these issues in the industry and lead the growth agenda in the markets in which we operate in line with our mission to empower generations to be financially confident.

5. As a leading pan African insurer, how do you attract and retain talent?

Our first choice is always to grow our own talent in the organisation. So, to get young people to join the organisation and then by giving them exposure and development opportunities and grow them into business leaders. Basically, like how I was given opportunities in Sanlam over the years to grow and expand my capabilities. Sometimes we must recruit senior people from outside the group in specific circumstances and then we find that our reputation as a good corporate generally helps to attract the right talent.

I believe you retain talent by giving people challenging work or projects that grow them as a person. Obviously, the monetary rewards must be there, but that is not enough in my view.

6. How do you see technology playing a much more significant role in the distribution of insurance/reinsurance products in the next few years?

Technology is changing very fast, and one cannot ignore it in any part of the business. In the distribution area enabling our agents, brokers and bancassurance partners with appropriate technology to improve their productivity is a priority. We are trying various ways of distributing product through new channels, such as via telcos. To date these have not had a major impact on our total business, but we believe that we need to continue with our efforts in order not to miss out on those opportunities that will develop over time.

7. What would you point out as key areas of concern for the insurance/reinsurance sector - from a global perspective - in the next three to five years?

On the continent the high inflation and interest rate environments have placed pressure on our clients’ financial position. If people must make hard choices of whether to pay for food or their children’s school fees or to pay for insurance, then insurance invariably stands last in the queue. So, it is also becoming a challenge to sell new insurance policies in the market. We expected inflation to start moderating quicker, but global events like the instability in the Middle East and Ukraine has negatively impacted on this.

8. If you could go back and give your 18-year-old self-one piece of advice, what would it be?

Work hard and take all the opportunities you are presented with to grow your skillset. We once had a CEO who told the story of him asking his father what he should do if he gets the right opportunity. His dad said, jump for it. He then asked his father, but how will I know it’s the right opportunity. His dad said, you won’t necessarily know but jump in any case.

9. What is the one book you would recommend to your audience, and why?

It’s probably not the most philosophical book you can get….but the book that had a major impact on me was “The 5am Club” by Robin Sharma. After reading it I deliberately changed my sleeping habits and started getting up at 5 am in the morning. In the beginning it was hard, but now my body clock wakes me up automatically at that time. I feel that I can get much more done by starting the day early with quiet time to think and work without interference.