Professor Harris has been a member of the Executive Committee of the International Actuarial Association since 2018 and among other roles, has served as the Chair of the Health and Education Committees of the Actuarial Society of South Africa, and as the President of the Actuarial Society of South Africa in 2016 and 2017.
During 2019, Discovery Life paid out R4.8 billion to policyholders, including a total of R1.2 billion through the PayBack benefit. In addition, Cash Conversions to the value of R2.8 billion are expected to mature over the course of the next 5 years. Breakdown per benefit: • R2.28bn in life cover • R1.1bn Severe Illness Benefit • R816m Disability benefit • R375m income Continuation Benefit
In line with National Savings Month, Discovery Bank will postpone implementing the interest rate reduction announced yesterday and will keep the interest rates on all its savings accounts as is for the next 14 days. The interest that Discovery Bank charges its clients on their borrowings will, however, be reduced with effect from July 24 2020.
Discovery Invest launched a greatly-enhanced global investment solution that uses shared value to create the world’s first exchange rate enhancer, and offers investment choices advised by BlackRock and Goldman Sachs, world leaders in asset management.
Discovery recognised as the recipient of the Gold Global Innovator Award at the 2020 Efma-Accenture Innovation in Insurance Awards, a virtual ceremony showcasing the best examples of insurance innovations across the globe.
Discovery Insure CEO, Anton Ossip, announced enhancements to Discovery Business Insurance’s offering, including a partnership with MTN to give businesses up to 50% back on their monthly data costs, capital support for the retail sector in partnership with Merchant Capital, as well as the Dynamic Distance Cash Back to reward people for driving less during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Discovery Insure's warranty product covers a comprehensive list of critical components, with no limits. This product encourages good driving with premiums based on a driver’s specific driving profile, as well as the unique circumstances of the vehicle compared to a market where premiums tend to be undifferentiated irrespective of how good a driver you are.
Discovery has created an affordable way for employers to secure basic private healthcare services for their employees, including support for COVID-19. This is available through Primary Care for Household Employees, which gives household employees and their dependants access to primary private healthcare benefits from R249 per month.
• Discovery Bank is working hard to take care of clients during this difficult time • Discovery Bank is making eating healthy more affordable than ever • Clients get up to 100% back on healthy groceries at Woolworths or Pick n Pay • Clients get up to 75% back on personal care products at Clicks and Dis‑Chem
In alignment with the example set by the President and his Executive last week, the Discovery Board Chair, Chief Executive and the Discovery Board in its entirety (including both Executive and Non-Executive Directors) will donate a third of their salaries and fees over the next three months to efforts to fight the pandemic.
Discovery and Vodacom have partnered to deliver a simple but powerful online healthcare platform for the benefit of all South Africans during the COVID-19 pandemic. This platform provides easy access for all South Africans to a COVID-19 risk tool, to help understand your personal risk for COVID-19 plus, where needed, to immediately schedule healthcare professional consultations and get advice.
The Group highlighted results for the period ended 31 December 2019, characterised by substantial investment in new initiatives and a strong performance from the core businesses with the exception of VitalityLife: • Net asset value increased by R1 598 million • Total new business API increased 17% to R11 116 million • Normalised profit from operations decreased 7% to R3 551 million
From January 2020, Vitality members and Discovery Bank clients can earn Discovery Miles – the new rewards currency that will be widely accepted, easy to earn and spend for Vitality members, who have up to now earned Vitality Rewards Points.
The programme combines telematics technology from Discovery Insure and education to promote good driving behaviour that makes transport to and from schools safer for children.
• Vitality Running World Cup starts in March 2020 • The global challenge will enable people to run for their country alongside national teams captained by Olympic Gold medallists Usain Bolt, Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill and Wayde van Niekerk • Forms part of Vitality’s commitment to get 100m people 20% more physically active by 2025 – and address the pressing global issue of inactivity
• Vitality and RAND Europe publish a ground-breaking, global study on the economic impact of physical inactivity • The 23-country study assesses how different physical activity improvement scenarios may affect the economy of countries up to 2050, and shows the significant influence of regular exercise on economic growth, workforce productivity and life expectancy
Discovery Life has long been a pioneer in the life insurance industry, with products that ensure clients are protected in the case of death, disability or severe illness. Since launching in 2000, Discovery Life has offered clients considerable value for money through the PayBack benefit, amongst others. These clients have cumulatively been rewarded with R5 billion in PayBacks this October.
Discovery Insure’s innovative Vitality Drive Sensor which uses vehicle telematics to accurately track driving behaviour has won the Best Commercial IoT solution in the MTN Business Internet of Things (IoT) Awards.
This jacaranda season, Vitality is turning Pretoria orange. The popular Discovery Vitality Run Series (VRS) – which has seen thousands of South Africans participate in Johannesburg and Cape Town – is partnering with four of Pretoria’s most iconic road races to get more citizens active on their streets.
Discovery Life’s 2018 claims data has revealed the major risks Discovery Life members across different age groups faced in 2018. Unnatural causes continue to be the predominant reason for death claims, among people under the age of 30. Last year, the leading causes of unnatural deaths were motor vehicle accidents (35%), suicide (32%), other accidents (17%) and crime (16%).
