South Africa's No.2 insurer Old Mutual said on Friday Chief Executive Peter Moyo had been suspended following a "material breakdown in trust" between him and the board.
"As a result, the board has suspended the Chief Executive Officer with immediate effect," the company said in a statement, adding that Chief Operating Officer Iain Williamson would assume the role of acting CEO.
A spokeswoman for the company said Old Mutual Chairman Trevor Manuel would provide more information at the insurer's Annual General Meeting on Friday afternoon.
Moyo did not respond to a request for comment sent via LinkedIn.
Moyo's suspension comes just under a year after the listing of Old Mutual Ltd following the disentangling of the 173-year-old group's conglomerate structure last year.
The break-up, set in motion in 2016, split the group into a U.S. asset manager, British wealth manager, Old Mutual Ltd and a South African bank.
Moyo, who has held senior executive or board positions in a variety of big and state-owned firms, rejoined the group in June 2017, initially as head of its emerging markets division prior to the break-up.
He had previously served as deputy managing director of Old Mutual, before leaving in 2005 to head up financial services group Alexander Forbes.