Discovery Limited is a financial services group based in South Africa. It is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), and its headquarters are located in Sandton.
Discovery Limited does most of its work regarding long-term and short-term insurance, asset management, savings, investment, and employee benefits through its different brands. Discovery Limited has subsidiaries in countries other than South Africa, such as the United Kingdom, the United States, China, Singapore, and Australia.
About Discovery
In 1992, Adrian Gore founded Discovery Limited. In the same year, RMB Holdings (RMBH) made Discovery Limited its subsidiary by taking part in their business through Momentum Group.
Discovery Limited is a financial services organization that specializes in health insurance, life assurance, wellness, investments and savings products, short-term insurance, and credit card products. The company has subsidiaries in different countries with different names such as Health South Africa, Life South Africa, Invest South Africa, Vitality South Africa, Health United Kingdom, Life United Kingdom, and many other segments.
The remaining segments include SA Insure, SA Bank, SA Distribution, Discovery Partner Markets, and other new business development costs, along with the costs of the UK, US, SA, and Singapore head offices.
The company provided administrative services through Discovery Health and managed care services through the Discovery Health Medical Scheme. Ping An Health, another initiative of the company, offers policyholders in China some leverage for various private healthcare-related issues.
And through Discovery Life, the company offers a whole range of insurance and financial solutions to both individuals and group policyholders.
Discovery Investments
For the past couple of years, the company has spent a huge amount of money on several things, including insurance, behavioural, and technology assets, to succeed in the markets and a global business of scale. Shared value insurance has been of great significance under Discovery’s Vitality Program. The company is working on creating a whole network under Discovery’s Vitality Program.
The WDB Investment Holdings fund the business of Discovery. It was established in 1991, and the Women’s Development Businesses (WDB) were allotted the responsibility of bringing about the economic uplift and social advancement of economically disadvantaged women living in the lesser developed areas of South Africa.
WDB Investment Holdings (Proprietary) Limited was later established in 1996 to provide a sustainable source of income for the WDB Trust. This setup is a business managed and owned by women, with over 80% of its profits going to economically disadvantaged households wracked with poverty. And almost two decades later, the WDBIH is positioned as one of the leading women empowerment companies in South Africa.
If you want, you can invest in Discovery funds, where our investment managers combine the right combination of assets to reach your financial goals successfully.
Here are the company’s following investments:
1. Standard Healthcare
In July 2010, Standard Life plc completed the sale of Standard Life Healthcare Ltd to a subsidiary of Discovery Holdings Ltd. Discovery is one of the leading financial services institution working in insurance, long-term savings, and the financial well-being of its customers in the UK, South Africa, the United States, and China.
In the UK, Discovery operates through a joint venture with Prudential plc through Vitality Health, a specialist private medical insurance provider. And since August 2010, Standard Life Healthcare has been renamed Vitality Health, and any future communication will be under Vitality Health’s jurisdiction.
Discovery’s most acknowledged initiative, Vitality Rewards Program, allows clients to earn discounts and various rewards through meeting behavioral goals that reduce, such as buying healthy food, achieving their weekly goals, completing regular health checks, driving well, and knowing how to manage their money.
Discovery business strategy
In 1992, Adrian Gore founded this idea for a health insurance model that would make people healthier and happier, eventually becoming Discovery. The start-up quickly established itself as a global player, with a market cap of over $8 billion. It also had a foothold in major markets like the United Kingdom and China.
Discovery is an insurance company whose main purpose and ambition are achieved through a pioneering business model. The company’s main incentive is giving people a healthier and happier life so their clients can live more financially independent lives.
The company is known for its innovative and unique ideas. Discovery merges technology with best practices to get something valuable for its clients, employees, and shareholders.
The company’s approach towards insurance has resulted in innovative and sustainable products and also services. These services have not only proven to be beneficial for the clients but also the company.
Additionally, Discovery’s success in the emerging behavioural insurance market proves useful to attract the international insurers who are establishing a partnership with Discovery to inject an innovation and wellness approach to their product offerings. Discovery has some important joint ventures with some of the world’s most prominent insurance companies.
Discovery IPO
In 1999, Discovery listed its IPO on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Discovery has shown a decline in growth lately, and the live online stock chart shows that Discovery’s share price reflects this as well. However, the company has said that investments into new businesses have made a slight decline in the company’s operating profits. But according to experts, this should turn around as the new investments start to come up with more dividends.
Some of the company’s most major IPO holders are the Rand Merchant Investment Holding and the Government Employees Pension Fund.
Discovery stock analysis
Discovery Limited (DSY) currently has a share price of ZAR 150.68. On the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the DSY stock completed its most recent trading day at 150.68 ZAR per share, representing a 1.02 percent increase over its previous closing price of 149.16 ZAR. DSY started the year with a share price of 153.54 ZAR, but it has already lost 1.86 percent of that value.
Shareholders’ concerns may have been alleviated by the 14.54 percent gain in the DSY share price since April 28. So, investors can take advantage of this bullish trend.
Bottom line
The financial service sector has grown during the pandemic in South Africa, and Discovery has gained plenty from this. Discovery provides an attractive investment opportunity, which also drives inclusive growth in the South African economy.
Though Discovery provides good overall investment opportunities, investors need to study the overall market before investing in Discovery.