Discovery wins two prestigious FIA Awards

Discovery has succeeded in winning awards in two categories at this year’s Financial Intermediary Association of Southern Africa (FIA) Awards. Discovery Life took the honours in the category Long-term Insurance Product Supplier of the Year – Risk Products and Discovery Health was named Product Supplier of the year – Healthcare. Discovery Health has won this award category in each year since its introduction.

“Consumers are facing greater economic pressures, leading to an increased focus on value for money when it comes to financial products, but in our experience providing value, certainty, sustainability and stability are much more important to consumers than purely looking at price” said Hylton Kallner, Chief Marketing Officer for Discovery. Financial Advisers want to recommend products to their clients that they know will work as advertised, not just immediately, but also over the long term. “It is heartening to know that these product offerings by Discovery are seen as the benchmark in their respective categories – that means that intermediaries know that our best of breed products offer significant value for their clients,” said Kallner.

The FIA Awards is one of the most prominent events on the financial services calendar. This year, more than 15 individuals helped gather the information used to determine the winners. A dedicated call centre has placed more than 23 000 calls to complete 2 710 interviews and rate 6 417 contracts. Each survey participant (intermediaries and their clients) was asked to respond on issues such as product, relationship and service quality and overall levels of satisfaction with the product supplier.

Survey participants also rated staff knowledge and experience as well as the suppliers’ levels of innovation and competitiveness. “This speaks to the thoroughness and dedication to excellence shown by the FIA in ensuring that the awards go to the most deserving institution, based purely on merit. We believe that the FIA Awards survey is one of the benchmark surveys conducted in South Africa today,” said Kallner.

Discovery has embraced the principles of Treating Customers Fairly by ensuring that products are developed and marketed in a simple, transparent and easy-to-understand way. “While Discovery and its subsidiaries operate in an increasingly complex financial landscape, we welcome the opportunity to find simplicity in our product design, so our clients and intermediaries know that a Discovery product works – especially in those times when you need it most. Exceptional intermediaries and smart financial planning is crucial for the advancement of our economy and for consumers. In our continuous drive to share knowledge and expertise amongst intermediaries, initiatives like the Discovery Financial Planning Summit have been well received and we will continue to look at ways to add value to intermediaries.” Kallner said.

He added that the support provided to intermediaries after they’ve sold a Discovery product remains a core focus for Discovery, which invests in support structures like business consultants, training and compliance support and other technical and operational support systems. “We constantly ask for feedback from our intermediaries and our clients, to find out which areas we need to improve on. While our satisfaction scores are high, we pay specific attention to the voices of the minority who are unhappy, so we can make sure that we pick up on issues as they emerge, address them speedily and in that way ensure that our clients never regret having purchased a Discovery product,” said Kallner.

Kallner thanked all intermediaries for the recognition at this year’s awards: “We are humbled and extremely grateful for the support from our intermediaries. They are an integral part of our business structure. Our philosophy is to create innovative, category leading products that meet consumers’ needs and the FIA awards are a gratifying endorsement of that ethos.”