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Willem Roos

Insurance founder and executive

By South African Index Editorial Desk · Published

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Illustrative placeholder; no verified photograph available.: Domdomegg · Source · CC0 1.0. Resized and converted to WebP for this site.

Willem Roos was one of the founders of OUTsurance, which launched in February 1998. He joined the project team developing the direct insurer in 1997 and later led the business. [1][2][3]

Biography

A 2013 OUTsurance annual report says Roos joined an RMB Holdings-funded project team in March 1997 to establish a direct short-term insurer. [2]

OUTsurance’s official history identifies Roos, Howard Aron and René Otto as the founders who brought the company to life in early February 1998. [1]

Roos became joint managing director in 2001 and later spent about two decades leading OUTsurance. The current group board biography still identifies him as one of the founders. [2][3]

Key contributions

Co-founded OUTsurance and helped establish its direct-insurance model. [1][2]

Led the insurer for much of its first two decades. [3]

Career timeline

  1. Joined the project team funded by RMB Holdings to build a direct short-term insurer. [2]

  2. Co-founded and launched OUTsurance. [1]

  3. Was appointed joint managing director. [2]

Associated organisations

Sources

  1. OUTsurance, History and culture at OUTsurance. Original source. Accessed 2026-09-25. ↩
  2. OUTsurance, Annual Report 2013, 2013-06-30. Original source. Accessed 2026-09-25. ↩
  3. OUTsurance Group, Our board. Original source. Accessed 2026-09-25. ↩