Metropolitan

About Metropolitan

Metropolitan is one of South Africa's largest long-term insurers. It sells funeral cover, life and disability cover, health cash-back plans, savings and retirement products. Its focus is on everyday families and the middle market. The brand traces its roots to 1898, when it started as Homes Trust. Sanlam bought the business in 1918, and it became Metropolitan Life in 1985.

In 2010, Metropolitan Holdings joined Momentum to form MMI Holdings. In 2019, the group renamed itself Momentum Metropolitan Holdings. Metropolitan today operates as part of that group, and its Cape Town office is in Bellville. The group's head office is in Centurion, and it employs about 16,000 people.

How Metropolitan supports students

Insurance depends on people who can measure risk with numbers. Actuaries do exactly that. For this reason, the group offers a bursary programme for actuarial science students. It has covered degrees such as BBusSc, BCom and BSc in actuarial science, as well as actuarial and financial mathematics.

Past calls said the bursary pays registration, tuition, meals, accommodation, prescribed textbooks, a travel allowance and a pocket allowance. Students also get mentoring, academic and social support, and vacation work. In one earlier round, only a handful of awards were made in Cape Town. As a result, competition for each place is high.

Students who miss out on the actuarial bursary have other routes into the group. Momentum Metropolitan runs internships for graduates and learnerships for unemployed youth. Learnership fields have included wealth management, financial planning, and long-term and short-term insurance. Its foundation also funds a school-level bursary, called M2E, with partners including the MAD Leadership Foundation and Cricket South Africa. It helps with school fees, transport and textbooks.

What to know before applying

This programme is for students who have already started. You should be a South African citizen with matric and a first-year average of at least 70%. Past calls asked for second- or third-year actuarial students studying full-time at an accredited South African institution. You may not hold another bursary at the same time.

The company also looks beyond marks. It wants communication skills, problem solving, integrity and self-discipline. In addition, it asks for a real passion for actuarial work.

Recipients accept clear duties. You must pass all registered modules and finish your degree with at least four exemptions, which are credits towards the professional actuarial exams. Progress documents are due twice a year. Graduates are expected to join the company after completing the programme, so this is a work-back arrangement. Past calls closed around the end of August. Deadlines vary, so check the official careers pages before you apply.