Eugene Strauss

Group CEO, AVBOB

Eugene Strauss is Group CEO of AVBOB, in the role since August 2026.

AVBOB is South Africa's largest mutual assurance society, founded in Bloemfontein in 1918, with about 350 branches and 5.5 million lives insured. Strauss joined from Absa Life Insurance and took over on 4 August 2026 after a transition period following Carl van der Riet's retirement in August 2025.

In the job

  1. AVBOB appointed Strauss as Group CEO, succeeding Carl van der Riet, who had led the society since December 2019 and retired in August 2025. Source

  2. Strauss set out in an interview how AVBOB, a mutual society, plans to grow beyond funeral insurance. Source

Career before

  1. Financial manager, Rentmeester Assurance
  2. Head of Finance and Data Support, Individual Life Operations, Liberty
  3. from 2007Financial manager and later CFO, Absa Life
  4. from 2013CFO, Wealth, Investment Management and Insurance cluster, Barclays Africa
  5. 2019-2026CEO, Absa Life Insurance

Education

BCom Accounting and BCom Honours Accounting, University of Pretoria; postgraduate diploma in Strategy and Innovation, University of Oxford; member of SAICA

Sources

  1. dailyinvestor.com
  2. businesstech.co.za

Facts last checked 3 November 2026. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.

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