Old Mutual’s significant retail investors ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public
43% of the business is held by the top 25 shareholders
If you want to know who really controls Old Mutual Limited (JSE:OMU), then you’ll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. The group holding the most number of shares in the company, around 51% to be precise, is retail investors. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).
And institutions on the other hand have a 49% ownership in the company. Institutions will often hold stock in bigger companies, and we expect to see insiders owning a noticeable percentage of the smaller ones.
Let’s take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about Old Mutual.
Check out our latest analysis for Old Mutual
JSE:OMU Ownership Breakdown December 10th 2025
Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.
As you can see, institutional investors have a fair amount of stake in Old Mutual. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. When multiple institutions own a stock, there’s always a risk that they are in a ‘crowded trade’. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see Old Mutual’s historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there’s always more to the story.
JSE:OMU Earnings and Revenue Growth December 10th 2025
Hedge funds don’t have many shares in Old Mutual. The company’s largest shareholder is Public Investment Corporation Limited, with ownership of 19%. For context, the second largest shareholder holds about 4.8% of the shares outstanding, followed by an ownership of 3.9% by the third-largest shareholder.
Our studies suggest that the top 25 shareholders collectively control less than half of the company’s shares, meaning that the company’s shares are widely disseminated and there is no dominant shareholder.
Story Continues
While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock’s expected performance. There are a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future.
The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. The company management answer to the board and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board themselves.
Most consider insider ownership a positive because it can indicate the board is well aligned with other shareholders. However, on some occasions too much power is concentrated within this group.
Our data suggests that insiders own under 1% of Old Mutual Limited in their own names. Keep in mind that it’s a big company, and the insiders own R70m worth of shares. The absolute value might be more important than the proportional share. Arguably, recent buying and selling is just as important to consider. You can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling.
The general public — including retail investors — own 51% of Old Mutual. This size of ownership gives investors from the general public some collective power. They can and probably do influence decisions on executive compensation, dividend policies and proposed business acquisitions.
It’s always worth thinking about the different groups who own shares in a company. But to understand Old Mutual better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we’ve discovered 1 warning sign for Old Mutual that you should be aware of before investing here.
If you would prefer discover what analysts are predicting in terms of future growth, do not miss this free report on analyst forecasts.
NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.
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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.