André TAIT, BCOM, MBA, CIMA
Chief Insurance & Investment Executive
André Tait, born in 1957, holds BCom and MBA degrees and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. He has extensive experience in the pension, insurance, medical scheme, property and investment sectors, and in many functional disciplines, gained in a corporate environment in South Africa and Namibia. Over the years, he served in various roles, as Company Secretary, Chief Financial Officer, Director and Trustee for various business units within the Professional Provident Society (PPS) Group. He was most recently responsible for the establishment of their Namibian business and for the development of their growth strategy.
André was appointed Chief Insurance and Investment Executive of Cim group in July 2008, and is also the Chief Executive of Cim Insurance and Cim Life.
Hennie FOURIE, BCOM (Financial Management), CA (SA)
Managing Director
Hennie Fourie holds a Chartered Accounting qualification and is a member of the SAICA (Southern African Institute of Chartered Accountants). He has acquired a wide experience in the insurance, banking and financial services, manufacturing, auditing and accounting sectors. He has served in various roles in Saambou Holdings Ltd and Investec Bank Ltd as Finance Manager for its banking sector and as Director in the life insurance sector. He was also appointed as Managing Director of Natsure Ltd for short term insurance.
Naresh GOKULSING, BA(Hons), FCCA
Chief Operating Officer
Naresh Gokulsing was appointed Chief Operating Officer and executive director of Cim Insurance since April 2009. He joined Cim Property Fund Management as Managing Director in February 2008 after having spent 5 years as Head of finance and support services at Cim Insurance. He was also General Manager of Cim Stockbrokers from 2000 to 2002 and served as a Director of the Stock Exchange of Mauritius and Central Depository Settlement Co Ltd from 2000 to 2002. Naresh holds a BA (Hons) in Accounting and Finance from the University of Leeds (UK) and is a Fellow Member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA) – UK.
Patrice HOUDET, ACII, Chartered Insurer
General Manager – Operation General
Patrice Houdet joined Albatross in 1976 as Marine Underwriter. In 1978 he moved to the Claims department and was appointed Claims Manager in 1989. Over the years he has gained considerable experience in the handling of large and complex claims. In 2001, he was promoted to Technical Manager and apart from his key responsibility of managing the Claims department he is also actively involved in the administration of our Health portfolio. In 2009, he was appointed to his current role.
Sonia CHAROUX, ACII, MBA
General Manager - Reinsurance & Underwriting
Sonia Charoux started at Anglo Mauritius in 1982 in the Pension Dept. She then joined Albatross in 1986 in the Reinsurance Department of the General Division. In 2000, she was promoted Supervisor of the Underwriting Dept. and in 2002 to Assistant Technical Manager-General Division responsible for both Underwriting and Reinsurance Departments. Since July 2005 she is heading the Reinsurance Department as manager. She was appointed to her current role in May 2009. In May 2009 she was promoted General Manager – Product Development (including Reinsurance) and in November 2010 she was appointed to her current role.
Veenaye BUSGEETH, ACCA
Finance Manager
Veenaye Busgeeth is a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. He worked for BDO De Chazal du Mée from September 2004 to June 2009 and was a Supervisor in the Audit and Business Advisory, after having worked for two and half years in the Accounting and Auditing Department of Nathadkhan Associate Chartered Accountants. He has performed a large number of operational and financial assignments including extensive reviews of internal control environment. He now heads the finance department of the Cim Insurance & Investment cluster and also acts as the Deputy Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO).
Shailen SOOBAH, FCCA, MBA
General Manager - Compliance
Shailen Soobah joined the company in June 2009. He was previously the Head of Insurance at the Financial Services Commission (FSC) where he was actively involved in regulation and policy drafting. He was a member of the audit practice review panel of the Financial Reporting Council, as the representative of the FSC. Before joining FSC, he worked for DCDM, in the audit and global business department for 10 years. As a team leader in the global business department, he was involved in the management of global business companies and funds.
San T. SINGARAVELLOO , BSc(Hons), PGD(Act. Sci.), FIA
General Manager – Actuarial & Product Development
San completed her Tertiary Education in Cape Town. She is a holder of BSc Economics and Statistics, BSc (Honours) - Operation Research and a Post Graduate Diploma in Actuarial Science at University of Cape Town. She is also a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries (UK) and a student member of the Institute of Risk Management (UK). San has 12 years of experience in respect of Trustees and Corporate advice in the actuarial field having worked at Old Mutual (Cape Town), Hymans Robertson Actuaries and Consultants (Glasgow), and PricewaterhouseCoopers (London and Amsterdam). She further had her own consulting company providing actuarial services to the Dutch government and the UK Pension Regulator prior to moving to Mauritius in February 2010.
Sonia KALACHAND , BA Business Management, MA Human Resources Management
Human Resource Manager
Sonia Kalachand holds a BA in Business Management and an MA Human Resources Management from the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne (UK). Sonia started her career in 1999 at Sun Resorts, where she held the position of HR Manager for Sugar Beach Resort and Le Touessrok. In 2006 she joined Barclays bank's HR team, and after nearly 2 years she moved to the Cim group. After an exposure in HR in Cim's global business, and at Cim Head Office, Sonia joined Cim Insurance and Cim Life in June 2011.