Sanlam was established in 1918 and is a leading financial services group in South Africa. It demutualised in 1998 and is listed on the JSE Securities Exchange in Johannesburg and on the Namibian Stock Exchange.

On 31 December 2004 the Group had R350 billion in assets under management and administration. The Sanlam group conducts its business through Sanlam Limited, the corporate head office, and four business clusters.

The corporate head office is responsible for the Group's centralised functions which include strategic direction, financial and risk management, group marketing and communications, group human resources and information technology, corporate social investment and general group services.

The four business clusters are:

Life Insurance cluster

The Life Insurance cluster includes Sanlam Individual Life and Sanlam Employee Benefits.

Sanlam Individual Life is a major provider of a wide range of individual life insurance and personal financial services and products, including estate planning and trusts, home loans, personal loans, linked products, money transfer and financial services in South Africa and Namibia. It conducts business in the United Kingdom through Merchant Investors Assurance, which it acquired in 2003.

Sanlam Employee Benefits provides life insurance, investment and annuity products for group schemes and retirement funds and fund administration for retirement and umbrella funds.