Discovery creates global Vitality composite

Financial services group Discovery has announced changes to its Vitality unit, to create a global composite with uniformity in strategy, product and technology.

In the past, the Discovery Group has consisted of three business composites — Discovery SA, Vitality UK (VUK) and Vitality Global (VG).

“The group’s evolution provides the opportunity today to create one global composite, Vitality, comprising VUK and VG, alongside Discovery SA,” it said in a statement on Wednesday.

The group also announced that in addition to his current role as CEO of VUK, Neville Koopowitz would drive that composite as Vitality’s CEO.

Barry Swartzberg, who has served as the CEO of VG, will work directly with the group CEO, Adrian Gore, to drive its organic growth. That will focus on delivering the strategic priorities, including the finance and technology strategies, to ensure disciplined and structured scaling, Discovery said.

Following a period of internal alignment, the change in Swartzberg's executive responsibility will take effect immediately.

Discovery said it has built two, largely independent, international businesses of scale and significance: one in the UK through VUK and the other in the rest of the world through VG. Both businesses have grown organically over the years at a different pace and with different progressions.

Over the past two years, each has also intensified focus on core initiatives, while closing those with marginal benefits, aligning their strategies.

“Today, the scale of the underlying businesses, the evolving data and its applicability, the focus on a unified product strategy, and the opportunity for uniform and consistent data, IP and technology, has created the opportunity for a single global composite of scale, with significant organic growth potential,” it said.

The performance of the emerging Vitality shared-value insurance model has been consistent for all businesses within VUK and VG, demonstrating high levels of customer engagement and the strong causal effect of this engagement on mortality and morbidity. A central structure created the opportunity to more rapidly and effectively deploy and advance the group’s products and solutions in competitive global health and life insurance markets, it said.

“Currently, the emerging Vitality 3.0 with hyper personalised pathways across all markets will significantly enhance the Group’s competitive advantage, benefiting the group’s global customers and partners,” it added.

Further information would be provided in the group's full-year 2024 financial results on September 19.

MackenzieJ@arena.africa