BrightRock, the life insurer founded 15 years ago, sees itself as very much a 3D printer of the insurance world.
CEO Suzanne Stevens, who helped found the company in 2011, says the idea was to try to create unique, individualised products for financial services, a rather novel concept at the time. That ethos of customisation still underpins the company’s product offering, despite it now being wholly owned by Sanlam following a 2023 buyout.
“Consumers expect to be able to craft and make their own unique solution. We looked at concepts like 3D printing in the manufacturing environment, [where] you could quite literally be designing your once-off product, pressing print and making your own unique artefact,” Stevens told News24 in an interview.
“Financial services, in our view, had not yet shifted into a space where we were harnessing technology to the extent where we were enabling people and clients to craft, in fine detail, a very precise solution around their own personal needs. It was that environment and that context that BrightRock came to market.”
Stevens is reluctant to say how many policyholders BrightRock has accumulatedsince writing its first policy in April 2012, about a year after its founding, but she does disclose that the total cover it provides exceeds R388 billion. Since its inception, BrightRock has also paid out a total of R7.85 billion in claims acrossindividual life insurance, income protection, critical illness cover, sudden expense cover and business insurance.
BrightRock also has about 13% market share in new business written throughindependent fi nancial advisers (IFAs), placing it in the top four insurers in this segment. Stevens says there are about 5 500 IFAs accredited to market and sell its products, while its total annualised premium income is in the region of R1.81billion.
The IFA market also underpins BrightRock’s distribution model, with Stevens saying it does not rely on Sanlam’s tied advisers to sell its products, as they focuson selling the parent group’s own life and risk cover under the Matrix brand.
“We’ve always operated in the independent market, and we continue to operate in that space,” said Stevens.
“Over time, our distribution models may evolve to include other channels, but certainly not in the short term.”
The short-term focus, however, is on developing platforms to support BrightRock’snetwork of accredited IFAs and their practices, better equipping them to advise clients. Stevens says a lot of the company’s future plans are still in the researchand development phase, but the focus is definitely on further cementing relationships with IFAs.
“There’s a huge amount of value that can be added by supporting advisors with platforms that help guide and take care of a lot of the requirements from acompliance perspective, among other things,” says Stevens.
“We still have a massive opportunity for growth in the SA market. Our focus remains within the SA environment, specifically in the environment enabled by advice. We’re looking to continue to grow our market share in that space.”
This article was written by Garth Theunissen and was published by News24 on 5 June 2026. You can read the original article here. https://www.news24.com/business/companies/brightrock-looks-to-expand-insurance-model-through-5-500-strong-adviser-network-20260604-0947