Discovery Insurance Surprises Market

February 23 - As insurance companies in the South African market reveal their poor financial performance, especially for the last quarter of 2008, along comes Discovery and changes the whole picture.

Market analysts have been surprised, to say the least, that Discovery has managed to remain absolutely debt free, and yet still grow new business by 28% in the last half of December, when the rest of the world experienced a near collapse of financial markets.

While analysts are scratching their heads in puzzlement over Discovery's ability to stay out of debt, remain a dominant force in the market and still expand, the company's Chief Executive Officer, Adrian Gore is not surprised.

According to him, the answer to Discovery Insurance's success is innovation.

Discovery lies and breaths innovation, ranging from new product lines that are one of a kind in the market, to perks for their policyholders (such as the latest Vitality Health Food initiative that offers members a 25% discount on an incredible range of Pick n Pay health foods).

Gore believes that another reason why Discovery is so successful is that it is not afraid to take risks, but at the same time is not ashamed to admit defeat. This was seen when an attempt to break into the US market to the tune of R1.5 billion failed last year. Instead of ploughing more money into the initiative, Discovery made the strategic decision to pull out at that point, thus cutting its losses.

As such, Discovery continues to manage an annual turnover of over R4 billion, yet grows new life business at a rate of 58% in a particularly troubled year. Analysts are examining Discovery's model to understand just what makes this company tick.