New zest added to Sanlam Namibia

Juan recently joined the blue team
Ester Kamati
Michelline Nawatises



Juan Laufs hails from Keetmanshoop. He completed school in Keetmanshoop and furthered his studies at North West University in Potchefstroom, South Africa. He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics & international trade. After graduation Laufs started working at Old Mutual Namibia as a broker consultant for almost six years and thereafter joined Sanlam Namibia.

Juan is a vesting specialist for the Academy Branch. “I recruit advisers entering the Sanlam Affluent Market,” he says.

He also trains them to ensure they deliver successful financial advice to clients. Juan also manages adviser activities, productivity and performance of advisers to ensure focused coaching and vesting of appointed advisers to successfully graduate to a developed team after 24 months.

Juan’s day-to-day workload is packed from early morning to late afternoon to ensure the academy is operating optimally and reaches its targets. “This role’s success depends on the effort you put in,” he says.

Juan joined the team last month and he looks forward to a long-term journey with Sanlam. He says the past month was quite challenging moving from a broker channel to financial adviser channel.

“This month gave me great insights into the advisory channel and the management of financial services in Namibia,” he says.

When asked to list some of his accomplishments and challenges, he says the financial services industry is a challenging industry which is sensitive to market volatility.

“The satisfaction you get from helping clients is worth it; 2020 has been especially challenging as we saw a lot of customers who were no longer able to afford their current lifestyles due to the economic downturn and a lot had to be done to accommodate them.”

One of the accomplishments from his previous role includes qualifying for the off-shore convention as consultant of the year for 2016.

Success in his position is reflected by the success of the team he works with. “I measure success in my role, based on the number of advisers I can successfully vest into a developed team after 24 months,” he adds.

He has a passion for financial services and would like to further his studies in this field and work to excel in the financial services industry. The advice he would give to aspiring young people is to always give your utmost best.

“Put in the extra hours and strive to be the best in your field – hard work pays off,” he concludes.