Press release -
Financial Intermediaries Association gives Discovery top honours
The membership base of the Financial Intermediaries Association (FIA) voted Discovery Life the Long Term Insurer of the Year, and Discovery Health the Healthcare Product Supplier of the Year.
Discovery walked away the winner in two categories of the 2016 FIA Awards. Discovery Life, for the seventh time overall and the fourth year in a row, took top honours as the Long Term Insurance Product Supplier of the Year – Risk, while Discovery Health was selected the Healthcare Product Supplier of the Year for the 8th time since these awards were announced.
Hylton Kallner, CEO of Discovery Life, says, “It’s an absolute honour for Discovery to receive this recognition from the intermediary community in two categories this year. These awards are an acknowledgement of our continual effort to deliver high-quality, innovative products people need, and assistance and support for all intermediaries we interact with.”
The FIA awards are highly anticipated by the financial services industry and the in-depth benchmark survey offers an opportunity for intermediaries to recognise excellence in products and in service delivery. Typical measures in the assessment by the FIA include innovation, competitiveness, and knowledge and service.
On winning in the category Healthcare Product Supplier of the Year, Dr Jonathan Broomberg, CEO of Discovery Health, says, “We are deeply appreciative of this recognition from members of the FIA. We consider excellent service and products as crucial elements of success in managing all our client medical schemes. For Discovery Health, this is a testimony that our investment in outstanding service to members and intermediaries, including innovative technology and partnerships that add value to our healthcare system, are not only valuable to all our client medical schemes, but also to our supporting advisers in their critical advice-giving role.”
The FIA appointed an independent research company, Bluestream Research, to conduct extensive, telephonic surveys among the association's member intermediaries. The three main criteria for all insurance disciplines which form the basis of the survey include:
- Product quality (as perceived by intermediaries and their clients)
- Service quality (as perceived by intermediaries and their clients)
- Relationship quality and overall satisfaction (as perceived by the intermediaries).
Discovery’s shared value insurance model that encourages clients to be healthier and to drive better benefits everyone – clients, society, and the insurer. This model enables us to offer financial advisers a suite of solutions that allow them to construct the best possible financial plans to meet their clients’ current and future needs, and have access to benefits that can help them live longer, healthier lives,” says Kallner. This model has also been recognised globally by the world’s most respected insurance giants as the future of life insurance: AIA has launched Vitality in Singapore, Australia and Hong Kong; John Hancock has launched John Hancock Vitality in the US; VitalityLife is thriving in the UK; and Generali is launching Generali Vitality in Europe.
“We thank the financial adviser community once again for their trust in our products for their clients. We want to assure them of our continued motivation to offer them the best support as they give clients the many benefits of best-in-class protection and insurance solutions,” says Kallner.
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About Discovery Limited
Discovery Limited is a South African-founded financial services organisation that operates in the healthcare, life assurance, short-term insurance, savings and investment products and wellness markets. Founded in 1992, Discovery was guided by a clear core purpose – to make people healthier and to enhance and protect their lives. Underpinning this core purpose is the belief that through innovation, Discovery can be a powerful market disruptor.
The company, with headquarters in Johannesburg, South Africa, has expanded its operations globally and currently serves over 4.4 million clients across South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States, China, Singapore and Australia. Discovery recently announced an intent to partner with Generali, a leading insurer in Europe, and has partnered John Hancock in the US. These new partnerships will bring Discovery’s shared-value business model to protection industries in Europe and the US.
Vitality, Discovery’s wellness programme, is the world’s largest scientific, incentive-based wellness solution for individuals and corporates. The global Vitality membership base now exceeds three million lives in five markets.
Discovery is an authorised financial services provider and trades under the code “DSY” on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange.
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