Old Mutual has appointed Iain Williamson as Finance Director of Old Mutual Emerging Markets (OMEM), effective August 1, 2015.

He will also join the OMEM board as an Executive Director.

Williamson is currently Managing Director of Old Mutual South Africa’s Retail Affluent segment, which is the largest business by profit contribution in the Emerging Markets cluster.

He has been with the company for 22 years and has deep experience across its long term savings, investments and protection businesses.

Williamson said he was looking forward to his new role: “It is certainly a very exciting challenge and I am eager to serve the team by executing our capital management and funding priorities and continuing to deliver excellent financial analysis and reporting.”

Williamson is a qualified actuary, and attained his Bachelor of Business Science (Actuarial) and Post Graduate Diploma in Actuarial Science, from the University of Cape Town.

He is a Fellow of the Actuarial Society of South Africa (FASSA) and a graduate of Harvard Business School’s General Management Programme.

Williamson is replacing Katie Murray, who has been with OMEM on a 5-year intergroup transfer from Old Mutual in London.

Murray will remain in the business until the end of October 2015 to ensure a smooth handover to Williamson before returning to the UK.

Ralph Mupita, OMEM CEO, said: “We want to congratulate Iain on his well-deserved appointment as Finance Director. He is a remarkable leader and his extensive financial background and impressive depth of experience position him well to build on Katie’s achievements."

"We also want to thank her for her invaluable contribution over the last five years to the strategic development of our business and the building of a world-class finance function,” he said.