Cape Town, July 2009:

Bright lights from SA’s creative industries - including musician and music producer Theo Crous, photographer Gerda Genis, architect Stefan Antoni, jewellery designer Philippa Green and fashion designer Sanché Frolich - will be among the judges in the first-ever Sanlam Private Investments Innovation Awards for Students. Celebrating fresh-thinking among students of design, wine-making, architecture, culinary arts, music, fashion design, jewellery design, photography and interior design, the awards are currently underway with winners set to be announced in October.

Additional high profile judges will include wine-maker Richard Rowe, Eat Out editor and Woolworths Taste food editor Abigail Donnelly, curator and art consultant Jeanetta Blignaut and design and décor consultant Laureen Rossouw.

“Sanlam is a quintessentially South African group with a deep commitment to our country’s cultural life. Over the years, we have assembled a corporate art collection representative of all of South Africa – past and present – and the Sanlam South African Fashion Week is now a firm fixture in the fashion pack’s annual calendar,” says Daniël Kriel, CEO of Sanlam Private Investments (the business in the Sanlam stable which manages investments for high net worth individuals).

“Now, as part of Sanlam Private Investments’ 10-year birthday celebrations, we are excited to honour South African students who excel through their innovation and originality. The fields chosen were those which we believe are closest to the hearts of our clients and employees and which are critical to the cultural and creative well-being of our country.

“We are looking forward to seeing some brave new thinking.”

The 2009 pilot awards were opened to a select school in each category. Entries close on July 31 and judging will take place in August and September with winners to be announced on October 7. Each category winner will receive R10 000.

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Note to editors

About Sanlam Private Investments (SPI)
Part of the Sanlam Investment Group, SPI is a private client portfolio management and stockbroking business, serving high net worth individuals, charitable trusts and smaller institutions. With some R50 billion of assets under management, it is the second largest South African private investment manager, with branches in Cape Town, Durban, George, Knysna, Johannesburg, Sandton and Pretoria.

For more information, visit www.spi.sanlam.com