South African business executive Jeanette Marais has built a career that stretches from a family farm near Reddersburg in South Africa’s Free State to the chief executive’s office of Momentum Group, a financial services giant with a market capitalization of more than $3 billion on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Since taking the top job in August 2023, she has overseen stronger earnings and increased shareholder returns.

Born in the late 1960s as the eldest of five children, Marais grew up in an Afrikaans-speaking farming family, with both her father and grandfather working the land. Her career eventually took her far beyond the Free State, culminating in an Executive MBA, cum laude, from IMD in Lausanne and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of the Free State.

Her career began at Momentum

Jeanette Marais started her corporate career at Momentum in March 1990 while studying actuarial science, initially planning to become an actuary. Her work in actuarial product development introduced her to client management, prompting a shift toward sales and marketing. She later joined the team that launched Momentum Administration Services before moving into broader financial services roles.

In 1999, Marais left Momentum for PSG, where she helped establish the group’s unit trust business. She subsequently served as a director at Stanlib and an executive general manager at Old Mutual. From 2009 to 2018, she worked at investment management firm Allan Gray, first as co-head of retail and later as executive director for distribution and client services.

Jeanette Marais’ return to Momentum

Momentum Metropolitan Group brought Marais back in 2018 after Momentum and Metropolitan had been combined. The group announced her appointment as second deputy chief executive in January that year, alongside Hillie Meyer as CEO. Marais began the role March 1, 2018, working with deputy CEO Mary Vilakazi and taking responsibility for Momentum Investments.

Her mandate extended across Momentum Distribution Services, Consult by Momentum and Momentum Money, giving her oversight of businesses spanning investments, financial advice and consumer financial services. The return marked another stage in a career that had taken her through some of South Africa’s major financial institutions before placing her back inside the group where she began.

She takes the top job

In May 2023, Momentum announced Marais as Meyer’s successor, effective Aug. 1, 2023, as his five-year term ended. She became the first woman to lead the group, taking charge of a financial services business whose operations span retail, investments, life insurance and corporate markets across South Africa.

Two years into her tenure, the group’s financial results provide a clear measure of the business she now leads. Momentum Group exceeded its long-term profit target a year ahead of schedule after normalized headline earnings rose 13 percent to R7.06 billion ($435 million) in the year ended June 30, 2026, from R6.26 billion a year earlier.

Profit growth reaches shareholders

Operating profit increased 9 percent to R5.97 billion ($367.6 million), while investment returns climbed 40 percent to R1.09 billion ($67.1 million), compared with R779 million previously. Stronger operating performances across the group’s retail, life and corporate businesses, combined with improved investment returns, supported the increase in annual earnings.

The stronger performance also translated into higher distributions. Momentum Group raised its final dividend to R1.20 per share, taking the full-year payout to R2.30, compared with R1.75 in 2025. The 31 percent increase left the payout ratio at 43 percent of normalized headline earnings per share, within the grouo’s 40 percent to 60 percent target range.

Normalized headline earnings per share rose 18 percent to R5.30 from R4.50, with the figure also benefiting from the completion of a R1 billion ($62 million) share repurchase program during the year. The buyback reduced shares outstanding while supporting the group’s per-share earnings and leaving scope for additional shareholder distributions within its stated payout policy.

Five units clear R1 billion

Momentum’s earnings strength was spread across five divisions that each generated more than R1 billion in normalized headline earnings. Momentum Corporate remained the largest contributor at R1.42 billion ($87.45 million), despite lower operating profit, supported by large single-premium structured investment and living annuity transactions during the year.

Momentum Investments generated R1.19 billion ($73.3 million), up 24 percent from R963 million, as stronger equity markets increased asset-based fee income. Metropolitan Life followed with R1.15 billion ($71 million), a 32 percent increase from R868 million, helped by favorable mortality experience, tighter salesforce management and fewer onerous contracts.

Guardrisk contributed R1.04 billion ($64 million), a 26 percent increase driven by stronger underwriting results. Momentum Retail generated R1.01 billion ($62.2 million), despite pressure from lower long-term yields and higher reinsurance costs. Together, the divisional results underscored the breadth of earnings across the group under Marais’ leadership.

Her minority stake rises too

Jeanette Marais also increased her stake in Momentum Group during the 2026 financial year, according to the audited annual financial statements. Her direct beneficial holding rose to 226,000 ordinary shares at June 30, 2026, from 217,000 shares a year earlier, representing an increase of 9,000 shares through an acquisition rather than a direct equity grant.

The increase in her stake came as Momentum Group reduced its overall share count through its repurchase program. Ordinary shares in issue fell 3.3 percent to 1.316 billion from 1.361 billion after shares were canceled, slightly increasing Marais’ proportional ownership of the company even though her additional purchase accounted for only part of the change in her position.

Based on Momentum Group’s closing share price of R38.65 on Sept. 22, Marais’ 226,000 shares were worth R8.73 million ($540,000). The same closing price put the company’s market capitalization at R50.85 billion ($3.14 billion), placing the value of her direct stake alongside a broader period of stronger earnings, higher dividends and completed share repurchases.