In It Together - The Old Mutual Wealth Double Century
Old Mutual Wealth managing director Farhad Sader explains why the Double Century tells you everything you need about building wealth.
Ask anyone who has ridden the Double Century and you get the same answer. The race gets under your skin.
My journey started almost a decade ago, in a makeshift team that met for the first time on the morning before the start. I have come back every November since. Good legs, bad weather, and every mood in-between. Just over 200 kilometres from Swellendam and back, mountain passes, four seasons in a single day, and up to 12 riders who agreed to suffer together.
By the time Old Mutual Wealth put its name to the race, I was already hooked as a rider. Backing it made sense in a way that goes past sponsorship. The Double Century is the closest thing in sport to how wealth actually gets built. Not by one hero out front, but by a prepared group that crosses the line as one.
What has changed?
The biggest change is in us. In the early years our goal was simple. Finish. Get to Swellendam in one piece and earn the Charles Milner Medal, which goes to teams that complete the full 202km as a group of 12.
That has shifted. The more ambitious riders among us started asking: how fast can we finish? That ambition dragged the rest of us with it. Nobody wants to be the reason the group slows down, so everybody trains. We show up fitter, sharper and far more prepared.
What 202km teaches you that a boardroom cannot
A few lessons have stuck. The first one surprised me. I assumed serious preparation would kill the fun. More early mornings, more discipline, less of the post-race kuier that made it special in the first place. The opposite happened. Preparation made the race more enjoyable. When your team is fit and drilled, when you understand each other's strengths and can talk honestly on the road, the riding is smoother, the bad patches pass faster, and you actually get to look up and enjoy the day. Suffering badly because you cut corners is not fun. Working hard inside a team that has done the work is one of the best feelings I know.
The second is about the format. The Double Century is a team time trial. Your time is taken on the middle of the group, not the individual. You are only as fast as the riders you keep with you. A strong rider who burns everyone else off the wheel does not win this race. A team that shares the load, shelters the tired one, and rolls through together does.
The third lesson rides with us. Breyton Paulse is our mascot, our cheerleader and our captain. After years at the top of professional sport, it comes naturally to him. He brings the discipline of a man who knows exactly how to inspire a team. He also brings the gees; he can push you up a climb and lift the whole bus at the same time. Last year, a bad crash put him in hospital shortly before the event. Then he was called into studio to commentate on the Springbok game on the evening of the race. None of it stopped him. He marshalled us remotely all day, calling through with instructions and encouragement while we were still on the bikes. He was still our leader.
Why this is exactly how Old Mutual Wealth works
Wealth management is a team sport. The Double Century just makes it visible.
A client's financial life is a 202km route. Long, with hard passes, with weather that turns when you least expect it. No one rides it alone. The adviser, the investment team, the platform, the partners and the client all sit in the same group, sharing the work across the distance.
The Charles Milner Medal says it best. The reward goes to the team that finishes together. That is the standard we hold ourselves to with clients. The win is not getting one person to the finish fast. The win is getting everyone there.
Preparation is the other parallel. Doing the work up front creates freedom. In a well-built financial plan the discipline goes in early so the journey can be calmer, steadier and far more rewarding when conditions get rough.
And the ambition matters. The moment our team stopped riding to merely finish and started riding to compete, everyone raised their game. We hold the same posture with clients and partners. Comfortable is not the goal. Prepared, ambitious and in it together is the goal.
That is the race. That is the business. Same road.
See you in Swellendam on 21 November 2026.
