Old Mutual on Fairbairn’s legacy

If Old Mutual founder John Fairbairn saw his Mutual Life Assurance Society as an essential part of solving a broad range of social issues, the insurance group is keeping something of that flame alive. That’s according to group CEO Iain Williamson, speaking to the FM about the legacy Fairbairn bequeathed to the company.

Where Fairbairn believed the middle class held the answer to societal issues, Old Mutual today remains centred on the idea that “the growth of the economy” and “the growth towards a more solid middle class” is a fundamental social value. And if Fairbairn was concerned with the idea of building society from the ground up, Old Mutual remains engaged with the question of “how to galvanise the prosperity of a citizenry”.

Of course, central to Fairbairn’s view of social justice and social progress was education, something that resonates with Old Mutual. The company focuses

“not only [on] financial education, but also the broader educational space”, working with nonprofit initiatives to improve literacy and reading for meaning, says Williamson.

And where mentorship was close to Fairbairn’s heart, the company is part of Partners for Prosperity, which offers mentorship for school leadership. Because, Williamson adds, it is “quite clear that a strong leader in a school is one of the biggest differentiating factors as to whether a school is successful”.

It’s not all a direct parallel. As Williamson admits, there is a clear distinction between Fairbairn’s Mutual Life Assurance Society and the Old Mutual of today. Fairbairn’s society “was something like a stokvel” while today, in its demutualised form, the company has access to huge capital markets and is beholden to shareholders rather than just policyholders.