Old Mutual suspended Chief Executive Officer Peter Moyo due to a disagreement over the handling of the relationship between the South African insurer and an investment company that he co-founded, according to a person familiar with the matter.
When Moyo was appointed CEO in 2017, Old Mutual set up a protocol regarding an earlier R291m investment made by the company in Moyo’s NMT Capital. The new CEO would be excluded from all decision making regarding the relationship, but that deal didn’t stick, said the person, who asked not to be identified as the details aren’t public.
“Unfortunately the board and Mr Moyo have disagreed materially on how the conflict of interest has been managed, resulting in a breakdown in the required mutual trust and confidence,” according to a letter sent by the company to shareholders and seen by Bloomberg.
Moyo declined to comment when contacted by phone on Friday.
Old Mutual announced earlier on Friday that it had suspended Moyo over a "conflict of interest".
In an updated notice later in the day, it said that it had parted ways with him. Old Mutual said at the time its decision to part ways with Moyo was in no way related to performance or financial misconduct.