Old Mutual Holdings, the diversified Kenyan financial services firm, emerged from a prolonged period of earnings strain in the first half of 2026, posting a net profit of Sh882 million against a near-breakeven result a year prior. The recovery was not accidental — it was the product of deliberate operational discipline: tighter claims management in insurance, more selective capital deployment in investments, and a strategic pivot away from volume toward value. In the longer arc of institutional reinvention, this moment represents a company choosing depth over breadth, and beginning to be rewar
Old Mutual's H1 profit surges 175x to Sh882m on insurance recovery
Insurance division swung from Sh303m loss to Sh287m profit
Mark
So Old Mutual went from making almost nothing to making Sh882 million in six months. That's a huge jump. What actually changed?
Mimi
The insurance business flipped from losing Sh303 million to making Sh287 million. That's the core of it. They tightened how they manage claims, got stricter about what risks they underwrite, and cut costs across the group.
Luke
But we should be careful here—we don't know if that's structural improvement or if they just had fewer claims in the first half of 2026 than they did in 2025. The source says they improved claims management, but it doesn't tell us whether claims actually went down or whether they just handled them better.
Mimi
Fair point. But the investment side also improved—net investment results went from Sh1.7 billion to Sh1.9 billion. And assets under management grew 32 percent, which drove commission income up 34 percent.
Mark
Is that growth real, or is it just because markets went up?
Luke
The source doesn't say. We know AUM grew 32 percent and commission income grew 34 percent, but we don't know how much of that was market appreciation versus new money coming in versus better fee structures. The company says it was selective allocation to higher-yielding investments, but that's management's interpretation.
Mimi
The CEO did say they're moving away from volume-led business toward value-led business. That suggests they're being more deliberate about what they take on.
Mark
So is this a one-time recovery or the start of something sustained?
Luke
That's the question we can't answer from this half-year report. The company says it's executing its strategy, but we're only looking at six months of data. We'd need to see the second half and next year to know if this holds.
Mimi
The CFO specifically said they're focused on operational efficiency and financial resilience. That language suggests they think this is sustainable, not a bounce.
Mark
But he would say that, wouldn't he?
Luke
Exactly. We have the numbers for H1 2026. Everything else is management's confidence in their own strategy.
Der Puls
- A single year ago, Old Mutual's insurance division was hemorrhaging Sh303 million — by mid-2026, that same unit had swung to a Sh287 million profit, a Sh590 million reversal that changed the entire earnings story.
- The turnaround was not luck: stricter underwriting, aggressive cost control, and tighter claims management were the levers pulled, signaling a structural shift rather than a seasonal bounce.
- Assets under management surged 32 percent as the firm repositioned portfolios toward higher-yielding instruments, pulling commission income up 34 percent and proving that the investment arm could carry its own weight.
- CEO Arthur Oginga is steering the company away from a volume-chasing model, betting that a value-led strategy and new growth engines will sustain earnings quality — not just for one half-year, but as a durable operating posture.
- The open question hanging over the second half of 2026 is whether the discipline that drove this recovery is structural or circumstantial — and whether favorable market conditions masked vulnerabilities that tighter times will eventually expose.
Old Mutual Holdings, the diversified Kenyan financial services firm, emerged from a prolonged period of earnings strain in the first half of 2026, posting a net profit of Sh882 million against a near-breakeven result a year prior. The recovery was not accidental — it was the product of deliberate operational discipline: tighter claims management in insurance, more selective capital deployment in investments, and a strategic pivot away from volume toward value. In the longer arc of institutional reinvention, this moment represents a company choosing depth over breadth, and beginning to be rewarded for it.
Old Mutual Holdings turned a meaningful corner in the first half of 2026, reporting a net profit of Sh882 million for the six months ending June 30 — a swing of Sh877 million from the Sh5 million it had managed in the same period a year earlier. The story behind the numbers begins in insurance, where the company had lost Sh303 million in H1 2025. By H1 2026, that division had reversed to a Sh287 million profit, a Sh590 million turnaround driven by tighter claims management, stricter underwriting discipline, and cost control applied across the group. These were deliberate operational choices, not market gifts.
The investment arm also strengthened, with net investment results climbing to Sh1.9 billion from Sh1.7 billion. The company moved capital into higher-yielding positions, matched assets more carefully to liabilities, and managed liquidity with greater precision — a shift from chasing scale to chasing returns. Asset management showed the most visible momentum: a 32 percent rise in assets under management fed a 34 percent increase in commission income, reflecting active portfolio repositioning that investors rewarded with fresh inflows.
Group CEO Arthur Oginga described the results as validation of a strategy centered on new growth engines and a deliberate move away from volume-focused thinking. CFO Isaiah Gakonyo reinforced that framing, calling the performance a product of disciplined execution across insurance, investments, and asset management. Both executives signaled that operational efficiency and earnings quality — not top-line expansion — would define the company's path forward. Whether the discipline that produced this recovery proves durable, or was partly aided by favorable first-half conditions, remains the central question as the year continues.
Old Mutual Holdings turned a corner in the first half of 2026. The diversified Kenyan financial services firm reported a net profit of Sh882 million for the six months ending June 30—a swing of Sh877 million from the Sh5 million it had posted in the same period a year earlier. The turnaround was driven by a sharp reversal in its insurance operations, which had been a drag on earnings just twelve months before.
The insurance division is where the real story lives. In the first half of 2025, that business had lost Sh303 million. By the first half of 2026, it had flipped to a profit of Sh287 million—a swing of Sh590 million. The company attributed the recovery to three operational moves: tighter claims management, stricter underwriting discipline, and aggressive cost control across the group. These were not one-time windfalls but deliberate changes in how the business was run.
Beyond insurance, Old Mutual's investment arm also strengthened. Net investment results climbed to Sh1.9 billion from Sh1.7 billion in the prior-year half. The company said this gain came from a more selective approach to where it deployed capital—moving money into higher-yielding investments, matching assets more carefully to liabilities, and managing liquidity with greater precision. It was a shift away from chasing volume toward chasing returns.
The asset management side showed the most visible growth. Assets under management increased by 32 percent, and that expansion fed directly into the bottom line: commission income rose 34 percent. The company had been building managed funds and tilting portfolios toward higher-yielding positions, and investors responded by bringing more money into those vehicles. This was not passive growth—it reflected a deliberate repositioning of the business.
Arthur Oginga, the group's chief executive, framed the results as evidence that the company's strategy was working. He said the firm would keep pushing on what he called new growth engines while shifting away from a volume-focused model toward one centered on value. The language was corporate, but the implication was clear: Old Mutual was no longer trying to be everything to everyone. It was trying to be profitable.
Isaiah Gakonyo, the group's chief financial officer, echoed that theme. He called the half-year performance a product of disciplined execution—improved insurance profitability, stronger investment returns, and sustained growth in asset management. He said the company would keep its focus on operational efficiency and financial performance. The tone suggested this was not a one-quarter bounce but the beginning of a sustained shift in how the company operated.
For investors and analysts watching Old Mutual, the numbers offered a clear signal: the company had stopped bleeding money in insurance and had begun to generate real returns from its investment and asset management operations. Whether that momentum holds through the second half of the year, and beyond, will depend on whether the operational changes the company made—the tighter underwriting, the cost discipline, the more selective capital deployment—prove durable or were simply the result of favorable market conditions in the first half of 2026.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
Our performance demonstrates the progress we are making in executing our strategy and delivering on our long-term ambitions. We will continue to enhance this performance through new growth engines and a focus on a value-led rather than a volume-led business.— Arthur Oginga, Old Mutual Group CEO
Our first half performance reflects disciplined execution across the Group, delivering improved insurance profitability, stronger net investment results, and sustained growth in asset management.— Isaiah Gakonyo, Group Chief Financial Officer
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