Capital Legacy Announces New CEO – Craig Harding

Craig Harding has more than 30 years of financial and operational experience in African financial services markets. For the last seven years he has been integral to Capital Legacy’s success, initially serving as Chief Financial Officer and more recently in a leadership role of the combined Capital Legacy and Sanlam Trust fiduciary businesses. Prior to joining Capital Legacy, Harding was a shareholder in FMI before its acquisition by Bidvest, CEO of Altrisk, and Executive Director at African Life.

His deep understanding of Capital Legacy operations, combined with his extensive leadership experience in the financial sector, make him ideal to steer the company’s next growth phase. Capital Legacy’s rise has been meteoric, with significant investments from African Rainbow Capital, and Sanlam in 2023, underscoring a bright future for the business.

“Being an entrepreneurial business, we have always set steep growth targets, whilst at the same time laying the organisational foundations for long-term growth. We are now poised to realise the potential of this next chapter in the life of the business, sticking to our core ethos of making the loss of a loved one easier,” says Harding.

As founder and major shareholder, Simeonides will remain heavily vested in the success of the business. His strengths lie in innovation and entrepreneurial thinking where he thrives in driving new business and product development, challenging the status quo, and identifying growth opportunities. His new role will focus on such projects within the group, providing technical input, advice and insights to Harding and the leadership team through his executive role, as director and member of the board. The initiative for this next phase of the business, came from Simeonides. He approached Harding and the shareholders and received their full support.

“Having worked closely with Craig for the past seven years, I can say with confidence that he is the ideal successor for the CEO role. I look forward to seeing the business continue to flourish under his leadership,” says Simeonides. Under Harding, the Capital Legacy core values, principles, and business objectives will remain steadfast. The company’s ambitious goal of reaching one million clients by 2027 continues to drive its strategic initiatives.

About Capital Legacy

Capital Legacy was founded in 2012 and has grown to become South Africa’s leading wills and estates specialists. The company pioneered insurance to cover the legal fees and costs at death with their Legacy Protection Plan™. With 11 offices nationwide and nearly 2,000 employees, Capital Legacy continues to innovate in the estate planning industry. In 2023, Capital Legacy acquired Sanlam Trust, a division of Sanlam Life Limited, further enhancing its offerings.  Sanlam in turn secured a 26% strategic interest in the broader Capital Legacy Group. Capital Legacy’s mission is to make the loss of a loved one easier, and they are committed to educating South Africans on the importance of a valid last will and testament, offering a free will-drafting service to all.