A company to watch in 2024
FINANCIAL PARTNER: DISCOVERY HAS COME FAR SINCE ITS ROOTS AS A MEDICAL INSURER
Its bank is targeting 1m by 2026 from its 700 000.
For those South Africans who are serious about building long-term wealth, selecting their financial planner or advisor will be one of the most important decisions they will make.
This is a big responsibility for these advisors, and it is critical that they stay at the forefront of innovation in terms of technology and products.
Do-it-yourself (DIY) investing has taken off globally, thanks to platforms such as Robinhood and EasyEquities. But one has to only look at the most recent industry trends to understand DIY can only take you so far.
While Covid inspired a generation of day traders and an explosion in the number of retail investors, the last 18 months have seen interest rates rising, with many of these platforms seeing outflows as “investors” need to utilise their savings as they struggle to keep up with the cost of living.
Charles Savage, chief executive of EasyEquities, was quoted in a recent interview as saying: “Lower-income groups, LSM [living standards measure] one to five, were more impacted, with deposits reduced by 50-100%.
“Higher-income groups, LSM five to seven, were more resilient with a 15-20% reduction.
“The impact correlated with interest rate increases, revealing investors’ debt.”
This begs the question: “Are you actually able to build longterm wealth if you are reducing investment deposits by 50-100%?”
The short answer is, no – longterm wealth is built by taking advantage of compounding and developing good financial habits, supported by a financial planner who understands your financial roadmap as your career progresses.
For this reason, I believe Discovery is one of the country’s most innovative financial services businesses right now.
Discovery has come a long way since its initial roots as a medical insurer – some of its recent highlights include:
▶ The introduction of Discovery Bank has been a game-changer in the domestic market, attracting more than 700 000 clients and targeting one million clients by 2026.
▶ Despite being a new player in the market, Discovery Bank has been ranked first for the last two years in the Ask Afrika Orange Index for service excellence.
▶ Vitality is a world leader in integrating healthy living with financial goals. The Vitality Wellness Programme was recognised by the World Economic Forum for innovation in addressing workplace wellness in 2023 and Discovery continues to invest millions of rands in artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance the product.
▶ Recognising the strategic importance of clean energy infrastructure in South Africa and its role in growing the domestic economy, Discovery launched Discovery Green last September – a platform that will connect businesses with clean, renewable energy sources from leading independent power producers.
As a financial planning team representing Discovery in SA, this kind of innovation is important to us as it gives us tools to work with that enable our clients to strengthen their financial positions and build strong financial habits.
These are some of the things we are particularly excited about for this year:
▶ Discovery Bank was recognised as the Best Digital Bank last year in a MyBroadband survey – a key feature was its ability to integrate with the Discovery suite of products, enabling clients to track spending habits and be rewarded for good financial behaviour.
▶ This year will see Discovery enter the home loan market in SA with an innovative new offering that will incorporate a home loan, insurance and even an exclusive solar solution priced at up to 1.5% cheaper than competitor products.
To highlight the attractiveness of this product: If you were to take out a R2 million home loan at prime (11.75%) today, you would pay R5.2 million over the life of that bond. The Discovery product could see you saving as much as R490 000 over the life of the bond with its pricing.
▶ The Discovery Invest product offering has also demonstrated great innovation, with offerings like the Discovery Invest Global Offshore Endowment, providing South Africans with the opportunity to access offshore markets through a tax and estate planning-efficient tool at favourable exchange rates.
Discovery remains one of the most innovative financial services businesses in the country today, and it is constantly investing in new tools and products to empower people to take control of their financial journey.
Coupled with the right financial advisory team, you can partner with Discovery and take charge of your financial future in 2024.