Launch of WAP Transaction Service

Old Mutual PLC
4 April 2000


                     OLD MUTUAL PLC
                            
  Old Mutual Unit Trusts in South Africa leads with WAP
                      transactions

Old  Mutual  Unit  Trusts ('OMUT')  in  South  Africa  is
introducing the first so-called WAP (Wireless Application
Protocol) transactions in South Africa and believes  that
it  is the first unit trust company in the world to offer
this  facility.  This enables OMUT clients to  buy,  sell
and  switch unit trust holdings directly by mobile  phone
using the phone as an Internet browser.

WAP  is a technology standard that has been developed  by
the   leading  phone  manufactures  to  deliver  Internet
capability  to  mobile  phones.   In  South  Africa   and
elsewhere  in  the world, there has recently  been  rapid
introduction  of portals providing content for  this  new
Internet  access  mode,  but  this  is  the  first   time
transactions are done in this way.

The  WAP  capability has been built on top of OMUT's  STP
(Straight Through Processing) Internet system.  With STP,
buyers  and  sellers transactions are processed  in  real
time  from  stockmarket to banks and remain untouched  by
human hands.  OMUT was the first South African unit trust
company  to  introduce this capability. The  WAP  service
uses state-of-the-art security technology, including 128-
byte  encryption of the data - the same as  the  Internet
access channel.

South   Africa   has  an  excellent   record   of   rapid
assimilation  of  new technology and  OMUT  has  recently
experienced  exponential growth in clients'  use  of  its
Internet  services. OMUT has successfully partnered  with
world  class technology players Dimension Data,  IBM  and
Nokia in the implementation of this initiative.

OMUT  is Africa's largest unit trust company with  assets
under  management of some £2.2 billion (Rand 22  billion)
and 30 unit trust funds.

Jim  Sutcliffe,  Chief Executive, Life,  Old  Mutual  plc
comments:

'The  introduction of this service for our  700,000  unit
trust  clients in South Africa is testament to Old Mutual
plc's  commitment to world class product  innovation  and
technology  development in the quest to satisfy  clients'
needs  profitably.  With  the  introduction  of  the  WAP
service, we offer our clients the ability to manage their
investments anytime, anywhere in a fast, secure and cost-
efficient way.'

                                             4 April 2000
ENQUIRIES:

Old Mutual plc
James Poole (London)                Tel.  [phone]
Paul Dold (Cape Town)               Tel. + 27 21 509 3609

College Hill
Nicholas Williams (London)          Tel.  [phone]
Graham Fiford   (Johannesburg)      Tel.  [phone]