Citadel today confirmed a planned leadership transition, announcing that Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Andrew Möller, will be retiring from his executive role, with Chief Operations Officer (COO), Sajeel Maharaj, appointed as the new CEO, effective 1 July 2026.

Möller has held senior leadership roles within the specialist wealth management company for three decades and has led Citadel as CEO since 2013, making him one of the industry’s longest serving CEOs. The Citadel Group manages R390 billion in assets, while maintaining an industry-leading client retention rate of above 99%.

He said the decision reflects a deliberate and responsible approach to leadership succession.

“I believe the time is right for me to retire,” says Möller. “Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of working alongside people who care deeply about this business, our clients and importantly, one another. Together, we’ve navigated uncertainty, built resilience and stayed anchored to what matters, even as the environment around us shifted.”

Reflecting on leadership, Möller explains, “Leadership teaches you many things. Perhaps the most important is humility, the understanding that none of us owns the organisation we lead. We hold it in trust, for a time, on behalf of those who depend on it today and those who will shape it tomorrow. When you have been part of something for this long, it becomes personal and so for me, this moment is less about ending a role and more about honouring the responsibility that came with it: to leave the business stronger than I found it and ready for the next season.”

“I will continue to serve on the Citadel Holdings board as a non-executive director. This ensures strategic continuity, while allowing new leadership to guide the next chapter.” Möller added that Maharaj’s experience and knowledge of the business will ensure a smooth transition as he steps into the role of CEO from 1 July 2026.

Maharaj joined Citadel in 2018 following more than a decade in corporate finance in London and Johannesburg, where he worked on corporate strategy, mergers and acquisitions, and capital raisings. He has played an important role in advancing the Citadel Group’s growth strategy and has been instrumental in strengthening its operating model, with a focus on enhancing client service, developing products, improving platform and process efficiency and leveraging technology while maintaining rigorous regulatory compliance.

Maharaj says, “Our vision remains to be a client’s most trusted partner in building and protecting wealth. This was our vision when Citadel was founded in 1993. It is our vision today and it will remain our vision as we enter the future as a proudly South African business. We continue to meaningfully invest in our employees, capabilities and client offering.”

This leadership transition reflects a considered evolution of Citadel’s long-term strategy and reinforces its commitment to sustained, independent growth.

“It’s been an extraordinary journey since I joined Citadel in 2018,” says Maharaj. “I am both humbled by the experience and energised by what lies ahead, confident that the business is on solid ground.”