The firm stressed that its decision to suspend Moyo was not caused by performance or financial misconduct related to the Old Mutual business.

Old Mutual has suspended its group chief executive, Peter Moyo, with immediate effect as a result of a “material breakdown of trust and confidence” over how he managed conflicts of interest, the firm said late last week. 

“These business relations pre-exist the appointment of Mr Moyo as CEO of Old Mutual and were considered at the time of the appointment to be manageable,” the firm, which is based in South Africa, said in a statement on Friday.

The organisation said that the competing interests were regulated in the chief executive’s contract of employment and were disclosed in the Old Mutual pre-listing statement and the annual financial statements.

“Unfortunately the board and Mr Moyo have disagreed materially on how the conflict of interest has been managed, resulting in a breakdown in the required mutual trust and confidence,” it said. The statement did not specify what these interests were.

The firm stressed that its decision to suspend Moyo was not caused by performance or financial misconduct related to the Old Mutual business, but was “purely related to the conflict of interest issue”. 
Old Mutual’s chief operating officer, Iain Williamson, has been made acting CEO.