When the CFO position is still calling your name, you answer the call, as Old Mutual's chief financial officer, Casper Troskie did in his extended CFO duties.
Casper Troskie was set to retire as CFO of Old Mutual in April 2024 at the age of 61, but he agreed to extend his contract twice in less than a year, due to his dedication to supervising the company’s new project developments. CFO South Africa caught up with him shortly after the announcement of his three-year tenure extension and the release of Old Mutual’s financials.
Can you tell us more about the focus areas you have in mind for the next three years?
I think the key focus areas for me remain improving our return on net asset value to within our target range through a combination of improving operating margins and capital optimisation; making significant progress on the financial transformation journey that we have been on; and supporting the launch and growth of OM Bank.
Old Mutual recently released its financial results. What have been some of the highlights for you as a CFO?
The highlights for me were: continued traction on improving our return on net asset value as well as announcing returns to shareholders through a share buyback of R1 billion; continued delivery on our strategic objectives; and continued delivery against our communicated targets.
The establishment of OM Bank has been an exciting project that you have been actively involved in. What are the lessons and challenges you have had to overcome in this project, and how soon can we expect it to launch?
As with launching anything new, our banking build team have had to contend with making sure that we manage the build within agreed timelines and budgets.
We plan to have a phased approach to launching starting with a friends and family launch at the end of the first quarter, subject to regulatory approval.
Old Mutual has achieved impressive results over the years for service excellence. What do you think has been the key to your success over the years?
Being our customers’ first choice to sustain growth and protect their prosperity remains our central ambition. Service excellence is a key part of achieving this ambition and of our strategic objectives.
Old Mutual is also known to recognise those who have achieved excellence. How important is it for big corporations to invest in such initiatives?
I believe that recognition of excellence is a critical part of driving the right culture in the organisation and culture remains one of the key drivers of strategic execution.
And lastly, what message do you have to inspire the next generation of accountants and promising CFOs?
I think that what we are seeing in the country post election of the GNU is very positive from a GDP growth perspective and a substantial change from where we were a year ago.
The lack of loadshedding, improvements in operation in our ports, substantial growth in tourism, reduction in inflation and lower interest rates should be supportive of growth and should be supportive of creating jobs and opportunities for our next generation of accountants/CFOs.
