Malusi Ndlovu Rejoins Old Mutual as Managing Director of Mass Foundation Cluster

Malusi Ndlovu, managing director of Old Mutual's Mass Foundation Cluster.

Returning to the group after leading Wealth Consolidation and Distribution at Absa, Ndlovu brings extensive experience in corporate strategy, product development, distribution and client engagement.

Having previously held several senior leadership roles within Old Mutual, he rejoins with a deep understanding of the business and a strong track record of turning strategic priorities into measurable outcomes that enhance customer value and drive sustainable growth.

As managing director of the Mass Foundation Cluster, Ndlovu will lead a business focused on expanding access to financial services while strengthening distribution capability, improving productivity, building high-performing teams and ensuring that customer needs remain at the centre of every strategic decision.

Purpose drives growth

For Ndlovu, however, the future of financial services will not be determined by the size of an organisation's footprint alone.

“The next phase of reinvention in financial services will not come from opening more channels or selling more products; it will come from being more relevant to customers' everyday lives. The organisations that succeed will be those that understand their customers deeply enough to solve real problems with solutions that are simple, accessible and genuinely valuable,” Ndlovu says.

He believes that the industry is entering a period where brand connection will become its greatest competitive advantage.

“For too long, success has often been measured by how many products we sell. I believe the better question is whether we are helping customers make meaningful financial progress. Sustainable growth will be achieved through customers' value, through meaningful experiences."

Opportunity through innovation

Ndlovu says South Africa's lower-income and emerging middle-class market presents one of the greatest opportunities for innovation within the financial-services industry.

“This is a market that deserves quality thinking, innovation and customer experience. Affordability should never mean lowering our ambitions for customers. It should challenge us to design smarter, more intuitive financial solutions that meet people where they are in their financial journeys,” Ndlovu says.

He adds that delivering on this ambition requires more than strategy documents and good intentions. “Strategy has very little value unless it changes outcomes for customers. My focus has always been on translating strategy into execution, building businesses that perform, developing teams that are empowered to deliver and creating measurable impact that customers can actually feel,” he adds.

Having previously led Old Mutual Corporate's Large Enterprise Market strategy, corporate consulting business and product demand function, Ndlovu brings experience spanning institutional markets, product innovation, mergers and acquisitions, distribution strategy and customer-value proposition development. His leadership included overseeing the acquisition and integration of Remchannel from PwC South Africa, as well as shaping strategic growth initiatives across South Africa and selected African markets.

Building customer trust

Returning to Old Mutual, he says, presents an opportunity to contribute to the next chapter of the group's evolution.

“Old Mutual has always played an important role in helping South Africans build financial security across generations. I'm excited to be part of shaping what comes next by ensuring we continue evolving alongside our customers, their changing expectations and the realities they face every day,” says Ndlovu.

Looking ahead, Ndlovu believes the financial-services sector has an opportunity to redefine how it achieves and measures success.

“The future belongs to organisations that earn trust every day through relevance, consistency and timeous execution. When we put customers at the centre of every decision, commercial success becomes the outcome,” he notes.

Ndlovu’s appointment reinforces Old Mutual’s commitment to building a more customer-focused, innovative and inclusive financial-services business, while strengthening its leadership capability to meet the evolving needs of South Africa's mass market.