Our Leadership
Corporate Risk and Broking
- Peter Olyott | Chief Executive Officer
- George Bishop | Chairman: Corporate Risk & Broking South Africa
- Ryck Genis | Deputy Chief Executive Officer
- Bernard Standley | Head of GRMS
- Steve Riordan | Head of Risk Management
- Jack Wheatley | Regional Leader (KwaZulu Natal)
- Murray Zipp | Chief Financial Officer
- Nomagugu Nxumalo | Regional HR Partner: Southern and Anglo Africa
- Richard Kolbe | Operations Manager
- Pasha Karodia | Assistant General Counsel: CEEMEA Legal Department
- Shiksha Singh | Regional Compliance Officer for English Speaking Africa
- Pravina Nair | Client Advocate
- Andrew Panzera | Mid-Corporate and Business Development Leader
- Euan Dixon-Smith | Head of Health and Benefits
Talent and Reward
Meet our Leadership
Corporate Risk and Broking Leadership
Peter Olyott
Chief Executive Officer
Peter began his career in 1981 at Mutual and Federal Insurance Company. He earned his ACII (UK) in 1984 and FCII (UK) in 1985.
At Fedsure, he progressed from Inspector to Assistant Divisional Manager, and earned the Chartered Insurance Practitioner (UK) designation. In 1987, he joined PFV Federale Volksbeleggings brokerage, (later to become Alexander Forbes) eventually leading the in-land regions and Global broking teams. He obtained a Diploma in Advanced Risk Management from Unisa in 1995.
In 2003, Peter established Alexander Forbes Cre8, which grew into Guardrisk General Insurance Company. He served as an Executive Director at Alexander Forbes Risk and Insurance Services and Alexander Forbes Management Services.
Peter moved to Innovation Group South Africa in 2007 as Chief Sales and Services Officer. In 2009, he joined Indwe Broker Holdings, and in 2014 was appointed CEO, leading its growth and diversification into Life, Employee Benefits and Healthcare sector to become the largest independent broker in South Africa. After Indwe’s acquisition by Santam Group in 2022, he managed the transition and divestment processes.
Peter has held significant roles in the Financial Intermediaries Association of South Africa, including Director, Vice President, and President, and has been a Director of the Insurance Institute of South Africa and a committee member of the Financial Services Transformation Council.
George Bishop
Chairman: Corporate Risk & Broking South Africa
George Bishop is the Chief Executive Officer of Willis South Africa (Pty) Ltd.
George commenced his career with Price Forbes Stellenbosch in 1977 as a trainee. In his 35 years with Alexander Forbes he worked his way up to becoming the joint CEO of Alexander Forbes Risk & Insurance as well as performing various other executive functions. George was employed by Marsh in an executive capacity for 2 ½ years following the acquisition of Alexander Forbes Risk Services by Marsh in January 2012. George joined Willis SA in October 2014 and is the chief executive officer. George has in excess of 30 years of experience in the servicing and portfolio management of large South African and multinational clients, and he has negotiated the settlement of a number of large and complex losses.
Ryck Genis
Deputy Chief Executive Officer
Ryck Genis is the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Willis South Africa (Pty) Ltd based in Cape Town.
Ryck started his career with Price Forbes Stellenbosch in 1991 as a graduate trainee. In his 15 years with Alexander Forbes he worked in various positions, later becoming the branch manager for the Stellenbosch office before being appointed the regional manager for Alexander Forbes Risk Services in the Western Cape comprising the offices of Cape Town, George and Stellenbosch. In addition Ryck was part of the Alexander Forbes Risk Services executive committee.
In 2007 Ryck joined Willis South Africa as Chief Executive Officer and he was succeeded in 2014 by George Bishop. His expertise is in the servicing and management of large South African and multinational clients across all classes of insurance.
Bernard Standley
Head of GRMS
Bernard is the leader of GRMS, a subsidiary of Willis Towers Watson facilitating and administering in a large Industrial Mutual Arrangement.
At Willis Towers Watson, he is responsible for the oversight of a few large corporate clients and the Claims area. He also plays a strategic role as Head of Clients. He has been at Willis Towers Watson since 2003. Prior to WTW Bernard spent 7 years as a corporate adjuster and prior to this he held a number of positions as a Client Executive in some of the major broking houses in South Africa. He is well experienced in Client Servicing; he has also developed a unique skill set in complex claims management. He has a strong knowledge base, passion and a good insight into Risk management.
Steve Riordan
Head of Risk Management
Steve leads Risk Strategy for WTW South Africa. His special areas of interest are the formulation of Risk Management strategies, development of Risk Management programmes, Risk Profiling and in particular managing risk based solutions in the client / broker / insurer interface. He studied in the field of economics, engineering, insurance, and risk management.
Jack Wheatley
Regional Leader (KwaZulu Natal)
Jack Wheatley is the Regional Leader (KwaZulu Natal) of Willis South Africa (Pty) Ltd.
Jack commenced his career in insurance in 2005 when he joined his father as a CC member and a director of the family short-term brokerage. Jack was involved in client servicing and in developing and maintaining relationships with the insurance market and achieving profitable growth for the company. In 2011 the business was sold to Alexander Forbes Risk Services (AFRS) where Jack took up the position of Client Executive of Commercial Solutions. AFRS was sold to Marsh Africa Limited in 2012 and Jack was appointed as Senior Client Executive of Risk Management Practice. His experience in the servicing, structuring and risk management of these significant and complex accounts has been good grounding. In 2016 he joined WTW in Kwa-Zulu Natal.
Murray Zipp
Chief Financial Officer
Murray Zipp is the Chief Financial Officer of Willis South Africa (Pty) Ltd and also has responsibility for South and East Africa.
Before joining Willis Towers Watson, Murray gained valuable finance experience and assisted in modernizing finance and other systems at a variety of large organisations. Murray spent 8 years at PA Becker & Company a specialist auditing firm focused on the German Multinational sector. Murray thereafter gained experience and assisted with transformation as a Finance Executive in various German, Japanese and American multinationals such as Didier, Sony, EDS, and BCX a large local player. Murray has a bachelor's degree in accounting from the University of the Witwatersrand and is a Chartered Accountant (SA).
Nomagugu Nxumalo
Regional HR Partner: Southern and Anglo Africa
Nomagugu Nxumalo is the Regional HR Partner: Southern and Anglo Africa. Nomagugu joined WTW in 2012.
She has a Bachelor of Commerce (Economics, Industrial Psychology) from UNISA. Nomagugu acquired extensive HR knowledge and skills from her experience working in various industries (manufacturing, finance and business services) from May 1996 to date, working as an HR generalist. A third of her experience is from the finance industry (two years with Standard Bank prior to joining WTW).
Richard Kolbe
Operations Manager
Richard Kolbe is the Operations Manager of Willis South Africa (Pty) Ltd.
Before joining WTW Richard spent 15 years in a consulting role advising and implementing operational improvements projects in various industries. With an undergraduate qualification in Engineering following by post graduate diploma in business administration as well as an MBA, Richard has focused on strategy development and implementation to bring about transformational change in businesses. Richard joined WTW SA in April 2017 and is passionate about supporting the business grow and mature, leveraging the aspects of people, process and technology to create improvements.
Pasha Karodia
Assistant General Counsel: CEEMEA Legal Department
Pasha Karodia is the Assistant General Counsel: CEEMEA Legal Department.
Before joining Willis Towers Watson, Pasha spent 8 years at AIG heading up their Africa legal and company secretarial functions. He sat on the board and Audit committee of AIG Uganda and served as the company secretary of AIG South Africa.
He started his legal career as an attorney practicing for his own account before entering the financial services industry. His experience in the financial services sector spans 15 years during which he worked in corporate financing, banking, investments, insurance (both long and short term) and board governance.
Pasha has a B.Proc degree from the University of South Africa (Unisa) and is an admitted (non-practicing) attorney of the High Court of South Africa.
Shiksha Singh
Regional Compliance Business Partner: English Speaking Africa
Shiksha Singh is the Regional Compliance Business Partner for Southern & Eastern Africa and Mauritius (SEAM).
Shiksha commenced her career in the her regulatory and compliance space in 2006 when she joined the Financial Services Board, now known as the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) working as a Financial Analyst in the Insurance Division. She then joined the Council for Medial Schemes (CMS), looking after the compliance and solvency requirements of various registered medical schemes. She later moved into the private sector, working in the Compliance Corporate Division of Discovery Health. She started her career at Willis in 2014 as a Country Compliance Officer for South Africa, and was later promoted to Regional Compliance Officer for English Speaking Africa. Her portfolio of countries includes Mauritius, Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Liberia and South Africa. Shiksha is an experienced Compliance professional and is a senior member of the WTW team and an Exco member.
She holds an Accounting degree as well as Post Graduate Diploma in Compliance. Shiksha is also a registered Ethics Officer accredited by the Ethics Institute of South Africa. She has also been awarded the Compliance Practitioner designation by the Compliance Institute of SA in 2016. She has also attained an International Advanced Certificate in Compliance awarded by the International Compliance Association in the United Kingdom.
Pravina Nair
Client Advocate
Pravina is a Client Advocate at Willis South Africa (Pty) Ltd.
Pravina's broking career started in 1989 in the marine and logistics sector. She subsequently moved into the general insurance arena and has dealt with a range of large clients including Transnet, Eskom, MTN, Telkom and BHP Billiton. Pravina has worked for both Alexander Forbes and Aon before joining WTW and whilst at Aon was part of their National Executive Committee. Pravina is a senior member of the WTW team and an Exco member. Pravina is multi-skilled which are the requirements of our highly experienced team leaders and client advocates whom provide dedicated portfolio management.
Pravina is an Associate of the Insurance Institute of SA and a member of IRMSA.
Andrew Panzera
Mid-Corporate and Business Development Leader
Andrew is the Mid-Corporate and Business Development Leader at Willis South Africa (Pty) Ltd.
Andrew commenced his career with Price Forbes in 1994 as an Account Executive. Over the course of the next 25 years, he held various positions spanning the sales, branch management and operational disciplines. Andrew was employed by Marsh as head of operations following the acquisition of Alexander Forbes Risk Services by Marsh in January 2012. He joined WTW in March 2018 as Mid-Corporate and Business Development Leader. Andrew has more than 25 years of experience in the commercial and mid-corporate segments and will provide account director support.
Euan Dixon-Smith
Head of Health and Benefits
Euan is the Head of Health and Benefits at Willis South Africa (Pty) Ltd.
Euan has over 19 years of experience working with large multi-national and local organisations across a broad spectrum of industries. He worked in London for 13 years, 4 of these with Mercer in the Employee Health and Benefits Group. Euan returned to South Africa in 2013 to set up Mercer Health and Benefits and to help with the expansion of Mercer in the region. Euan joined Willis Towers Watson in April 2017. Euan holds a bachelor's degree in social science (Political Science, International Relations and Industrial Sociology). He is the Key Individual of Willis South Africa Pty Ltd and holds the National Certificate in Wealth Management.
Investment, Risk and Reinsurance Leadership
Ant Lester
Executive Director and Investment Head
Ant is the Executive Director and Investment Head of Willis Towers Watson South Africa based in Cape Town.
Ant was a founder shareholder and Managing Director of Fifth Quadrant Actuaries & Consultants which subsequently became Willis Towers Watson (South Africa). Prior to this Ant was the Managing Director of Old Mutual Actuaries and Consultants. Ant has 25 years of investment consulting experience, 21 of which have been with Fifth Quadrant / Willis Towers Watson. Ant has provided investment consulting advice to many of the largest retirement funds in South Africa. Ant qualified as an actuary in 1989, but no longer works as an actuary, with his focus being on advising clients on their investment strategy.
Rustum Omar
Executive Director and Managing Consultant
Rustum Omar is the Executive Director and Managing Consultant of Willis Towers Watson South Africa based in Cape Town.
Rustum was one of the founder shareholders and Directors of Fifth Quadrant Actuaries & Consultants which subsequently became Willis Towers Watson (South Africa) and currently serves on the Board of Directors. He has extensive experience in the investments industry and is the Chairman of the Board of the firm. He is also responsible for the day-to-day management of Willis Towers Watson South Africa. He serves as a trustee of the Willis Towers Watson South African Development Trust and is a member of the firm's executive management committee, as well as its operations executive committee. He also continues to retain involvement and responsibility with some of our clients from a governance and support perspective.
Erich Potgieter
Head of Retirement
Erich is the Retirement Head of Willis Towers Watson South Africa based in Cape Town.
Erich qualified as an actuary in 1993 while working in the UK. He returned to South Africa in 1994 and joined Old Mutual Actuaries and Consultants, where he worked initially as a pensions actuary and valuator and later as a member of the pensions consulting team. He was a founder / director of Fifth Quadrant in 1998 and has worked for Fifth Quadrant / Willis Towers Watson since then, combining investment consulting work with pensions actuarial and general consulting work.
André Wild
Head of Operations Management
André Wild heads up Operations Management for Towers Watson (Pty) Ltd with overall local responsibility for Finance, Human Resources, and all other Support Functions. André has a wealth of experience spanning over 30 years both locally and in Europe in various finance, audit, risk and compliance roles within the financial services industry including senior positions at both Citigroup and Bank of America. Andre is a registered accountant and is also our FSCA-approved FAIS Compliance Officer.
Talent and Reward Leadership
Melanie Trollip
Director, Talent & Reward (South Africa)
Melanie Trollip heads up the Talent & Rewards practice of Willis Towers Watson in South Africa. Melanie is registered at the South African Reward Association as a Master Reward Specialist and has been providing consulting services to a wide range of organizations across all major industry sectors since 1987.Areas of specialization is Executive Reward and Remuneration Committee advisory services to listed entities, Merger and Acquisition support services, Organization Design, Job Architecture, job evaluation, local and international benchmarking, and pay scale design. Reward consultant since the mid ’90s and in her earlier career she gained experience in Human Resources at an international Merchant Bank and worked as a Statistical Analyst at a multi-national firm.
Lance Meiring BSocSc(Hons)
Associate Director: Talent and Reward
Lance is an Associate Director Reward based in Johannesburg and has been providing consulting services to a wide range of organizations across all major industry sectors since 2003. His areas of expertise is reward advisory and benchmarking services, organisation design and job evaluation also working extensively in unionised environments.
Lionel van Schalkwijk
Associate Director: Talent and Reward
Lionel has over 20 years’ experience in remuneration consulting and specialises in reward strategy development, job description writing, job grading implementations, pay equity assessments, salary benchmarking and review exercises and pay-line development. He has conducted audits on HR policies and procedures and assisted organisations with the development of HR policies. He is registered as a Chartered Reward Specialist through the South African Reward Association (SARA) and was regional Chairperson for the KZN South African Reward Association Committee from 2017 to 2019.
Robyn Maré
Lead Associate: Talent and Reward
Robyn has over 15 years’ experience in Human Resource and remuneration consulting. She is an accredited Reward Specialist with the South African Reward Association. Her areas of expertise are reward management, pay scale development, benchmarking, salary reviews, Job Architecture, job evaluation, job description writing, equity assessments, development of HR policies and practices as well as skills audits, training needs analysis.
Deirdre van Greunen
Senior Associate: Lead of Business Reward Data Services
Deirdre leads Business Development for Southern Africa and Africa through building productive business relationships with clients across all business sectors facilitating client centric solutions to critical human capital business issues. She has some 35 years’ experience in Business Management, Marketing and Sales Management.
Marius Kruger
Senior Associate: Talent and Reward
Marius Kruger is a Senior Associate at Willis Towers Watson South Africa responsible for the Data Services/Surveys practice area. He has over 40 years of experience within Corporate Human Resources and Remuneration Research. His team ensures access to reliable and up to date market data, trends and human capital management best practices.
Megan Shepstone
Lead Consultant
Megan is in the South Africa Business Development team for general and industry specific surveys, and has some 25 years’ experience in the reward consulting industry. She has served as the Chair of the Kwa-Zulu Natal branch of The South African Rewards Association for 3 years in total and is currently serving as a committee member in this region.