Just what is Discovery banking on?
New lender will need an ‘edge’ as it embarks on its latest challenge
Adrian Gore's Discovery has enjoyed rapid growth since its inception some 26 years ago, broadening its product offering beyond medical aid into insurance and financial products and, this year, banking. The company's diversification away from its core healthcare product is drawing more intense investor interest as the long-term prospects for that business are muddied by the impending National Health Insurance. So pervasive has Discovery Health's growth been that the recently completed Health Market Inquiry, which looked into competition in the private healthcare market, described it as "an indication of market failure" and that the market showed no signs of self-correcting. The company, founded by Gore and a colleague in 1992 after leaving Liberty Holdings, is made up of a medical aid arm, life insurance, a Vitality health programme and some other financial products. Its insurance arm has already overtaken its healthcare business, and, according to Bloomberg data, makes up more than ...
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