General

• Upcoming independent financial adviser training - Special forex and tax amnesty

Discovery Health

• Smart Plan update

Discovery Insure

• The updated list of smartphone-enabled DQ-Track compatible phones
• Tiger Wheel & Tyre Table View is now open for business!

Discovery Invest

• Introducing the new Recurring Dollar Endowment Plan
• Discovery Invest funds update
• Commentary for Discovery Invest funds

Discovery Life

• The Discovery Life Integrated operating model
• Business owners can enjoy more security and more cash back with the Business Life Plan special offer!

Discovery Vitality

• Introducing EyeGym for kids

Upcoming independent financial adviser training – Special forex and tax amnesty

With the draft legislation now out for the special forex and tax amnesty, we are holding joint training sessions with ENS Attorneys on the amnesty. We will be going through the law, as well as explaining the procedures to apply for the amnesty, and the special offering ENS attorneys have for our advisers’ clients.
We will hold our next training sessions on the following dates:

• Thursday 26 May, 9:00 to 10:30, Johannesburg at the Discovery Head Office Auditorium, at 155 West Street, Sandton
• Tuesday 7 June, 9:00 to 10:30, Durban at the Durban Country Club.

This will be a final opportunity for clients to come clean before automatic exchange of information begins next year, and also present a fantastic business opportunity for advisers. If you wish to attend, please mail Dhelia at dheliam@discovery.co.za to book your spot.

Smart Plan update

The Smart Plan uses technology to give members of Discovery Health Medical Scheme (DHMS) access to the best quality care at highly competitive contributions. Since introducing the Smart Plan, it has grown to cover more than 15 500 beneficiaries.

The Smart Plan empowers members of DHMS to manage their health plans through the Discovery app. To access GP services easily, members can make appointments through the app or directly with their selected network GP. Network hospitals and GPs are situated in major metropolitan areas (Pretoria, Johannesburg, Durban, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town).

The Smart Plan Network is being extended

As a result of the success of the Smart Plan to date, the Smart Plan Network will be extended to the following additional areas; Rustenburg, Mpumalanga and East London. The hospitals on the Smart Plan network in these areas are:

• Netcare Ferncrest
• Nelspruit Mediclinic
• Life Beacon Bay​

​Click here to view the complete Smart Plan Hospital Network.

Doctors have also been contracted in the immediate vicinity of these hospitals to make sure that all members joining the plan will be within reasonable reach of a participating doctor. This will facilitate optimal service delivery for more DHMS members on the Smart Plan. You can use the MaPS tool on www.discovery.co.za to search for a doctor on the Smart Plan Network.

The updated list of smartphone-enabled DQ-Track compatible phones

We have updated the list of devices that meet our telematics technology requirements and are compatible with the smartphone-enabled DQ-Track. 

The latest version of this list, as well as other marketing supporting documents, is always available on the Financial Adviser Zone on www.discovery.co.za

To find any documents related to DQ-Track on our website, select the ‘Discovery Insure’ tab, go to ‘Insure marketing and support documents’, and choose the ‘Vitalitydrive’ tab.

If you have any questions, please contact our dedicated call centre on 0860 66 55 44 from 08:00 to 17:00, Monday to Friday.

Tiger Wheel & Tyre Table View is now open for business!

Tiger Wheel & Tyre opened its new store in Cape Town and is ready for business. This means that your clients in the Table View area can now take their vehicles for the Annual MultiPoint check without having to travel too far.

The new store is located on the corner of Raats Drive and Briza Road in Table View, Cape Town. 

When your clients take their vehicle to Tiger Wheel & Tyre for an Annual MultiPoint check, not only will they make South African roads safer, they will also earn up to 150 DQ Points for 12 months.

Your clients can also save 10% on their Tiger Wheel & Tyre purchases. The discount is subject to a maximum transaction limit of R5 000 and there is a monthly transaction limit of R10 000. The discount does not apply to the Tiger Wheel & Tyre Annual MultiPoint check fee of R95 and cannot be combined with any other discount or cash back offer from Tiger Wheel & Tyre.

Please note that the 10% Vitalitydrive discount only applies to products and services that are quoted at standard or advertised Tiger Wheel & Tyre prices.

Introducing the new Recurring Dollar Endowment Plan 

The Recurring Dollar Endowment Plan allows your clients to invest monthly contributions offshore with ease.

Discovery Invest has launched the Recurring Dollar Endowment Plan, which allows your clients to diversify their investments offshore on a monthly basis through a recurring offshore endowment policy.

With the Recurring Dollar Endowment Plan, your clients can invest at a minimum of $200 a month and they do not have to own a Dollar Life Plan to invest in this plan. They can choose between three risk-profiled funds for easy mapping to their risk profile according to their specific risk tolerance.

For your clients’ convenience, contributions will be deducted monthly from their South African bank accounts, converted to dollars, and invested globally. Your clients do not have to apply for tax clearance on the amount invested offshore because this investment uses the annual R1 million single discretionary allowance (SDA).

For more information on this new offshore investment, please see the Recurring Dollar Endowment Plan brochure and Discoverer. Terms and conditions apply.

Discovery Invest funds update

Discovery Invest offers three risk-profiled multi-manager funds that comprise a mix of asset classes and fund managers. These multi-manager funds are managed by Investment Solutions on behalf of Discovery Invest. The asset classes used in these portfolios are restricted to South African assets, without exposure to offshore assets.

To better reflect the asset allocation of these funds, the fund names are being updated as shown below:

• The Discovery Aggressive Portfolio is now called the Discovery Aggressive SA Portfolio
• The Discovery Moderate Portfolio is now called the Discovery Moderate SA Portfolio
• The Discovery Conservative Portfolio is now called the Discovery Conservative SA Portfolio

Please note that this is only a change to the names of the funds. There are no changes to how the funds are managed and no action is required from your clients.

We will communicate with your clients to advise them of the name change of the above multi-manager funds.

Commentary for Discovery Invest funds 

Below is a commentary on the performance of the Discovery Funds, the Dynamic Asset Optimiser and the Discovery Annuity Escalator Funds.

Discovery Invest local fund list
The latest Discovery Invest fund list now includes the monthly performance report for the Discovery Funds.

This report shows unit prices, fund statistics and fund performances over different time periods up to 30 April 2016.

Discovery Annuity Escalator Fund performances
The Discovery Annuity Escalator Funds give investors the reward of unlimited upside potential with the unique feature of protecting investment gains. If the guarantee of an Annuity Escalator Fund reaches a new highest value within a policy year, the guaranteed minimum income on the Guaranteed Escalator Annuity Fund increases to a new level. 

Here is more information about fund performances.

Discovery Dynamic Asset Optimiser
Discovery’s Dynamic Asset Optimiser is designed to rebalance an investor’s asset allocation regularly to preserve their risk profile and to maximise the expected returns across the different asset classes.

This document contains past performance information and recent weightings for default fund selections effective 30 April 2016.

The Discovery Life Integrated operating model

Discovery Life’s unique Integrated operating model enables a more accurate assessment of a policyholders’ risk through accessing additional information regarding their level of health and wellness through Vitality, Discovery Health, Vitalitydrive and Active Rewards for Life. 

The Integrated operating model provides all clients with an initial premium discount, which can be further increased through positive health management and engagement. Alternatively, it can also be reduced for clients who have not managed their health and wellness. 

To find out more about this model, click here for the full document, 

Business owners can enjoy more security and more cash back with the Business Life Plan special offer!

If a client signs up for a Business Life Plan and qualifies for a Principal PayBack Fund, they will receive a guarantee of up to 33% of their life cover premiums back after five years. This is in addition to the Integrator premium discounts of up to 28% and the 50% discount that qualifying policies receive on their Capital Disability Benefit premium for the first three years of their policy. 

For qualifying criteria and details on how the Business Life Plan Special Offer works, please refer to the Business Life Plan Special Offer technical document.

Introducing EyeGym for kids

Vision is the most important of all senses and just like any muscles in your body, your vision can be trained to improve. By training with EyeGym online, your client’s children can strengthen their visual fitness. 

EyeGym is a cutting-edge visual training software program that will not only improve visual awareness but also processing ability and, ultimately, concentration and cognitive skills. Dr Sherylle Calder, visual skills coach and founder of EyeGym, says, “Especially if a child spends too much time looking at smartphone screens, they won’t see everything in their surroundings properly and their ability to concentrate will also be affected.”

Your client’s kids can now train with EyeGym for free and earn Vitality points
Vitality offers your clients an exclusive EyeGym course that was customised especially for children. The course is available to Vitality kids for free and they can also earn Vitality points once the course is completed. Extra Vitality points can be earned for every 5-minute session they complete.
Clients also have the option to buy an advanced EyeGym course for their children at a discounted rate.

How it works
Kids need to complete a free Primary EyeGym course and will earn 50 Vitality points for every 5-minute session. They will earn an additional 500 Vitality points for completing the course. Once the primary course is completed, they can move on and complete the Advanced EyeGym course for only R350 and earn up to 1 000 Vitality points for it.

Until recently there wasn’t much you could do to train vision. But now your clients’ kids can have fit eyes, faster reaction times and improved processing skills by completing these fun courses.