Desmond Smith is currently Chair of the Board of RGA Reinsurance Company of South Africa Limited and Sanlam and holds several company directorships. Desmond joined Sanlam in 1968, where he became Managing Director in 1993. He retired from Sanlam at the end of 1997 and served as Managing Director of the Reinsurance Group of America (South Africa) (RGA) from 1999 until 2005.
An active member of industry organizations, Desmond serves on a number of the committees of the Actuarial Society of South Africa and the International Actuarial Association (IAA) and is the current President of the IAA.
In addition, Desmond served as Chairman of the Life Offices Association of South Africa (LOA) in 1996, 2004 and 2008, and is a Past President of the Pensions Institute of Southern Africa and of the Actuarial Society of South Africa.
Desmond received his B.Sc. degree (cum laude) from the University of Stellenbosch. In 1973 he qualified as a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries (London) and completed the International Senior Management Programme (ISMP) at Harvard Business School in 1992.