John Hancock tie up

And then a more significant announcement from Discovery, introducing a US life insurance and investment business, John Hancock, which will essentially white label the Vitality product. Here is the official announcement: DISCOVERY AND JOHN HANCOCK ANNOUNCE STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP. John Hancock is a really old US based investments business named after one of the US "founding fathers". Hancock has the longest serving President of the Continental Congress. Remember the Lincoln speech about four score and seven years? That refers to the Continental Congress, so Hancock has an important name in American history.


Quite simply, as a Vitality user and how the program encourages you to perform better and make sure that you continue to get healthier, make smarter choices and live longer. Drive better. And so on. According to the release the Vitality program is not new to the US, there are 700 thousand members across 50 US states.


There is quite a cute advert for the product, if you follow the following John Hancock Vitality page. Well made and well done, with visuals of sports, exercise, healthy living and so on. All the stuff that we know really well, we know that we have to be fit, eat better and not have as much stress. Work out more. I think that this is pretty big. It turns out that Americans, like almost everyone globally, are underinsured on the life side. The chaps over at John Hancock had Tal Gilbert (one of the top guys at Vitality who has been there since 2004) at the release. Tal is a Joburger, guess what, like Barry and Adrian went to Wits and is an actuary. Excellent.


Good work Discovery, finding partners in well established markets and shaking it up a little. The health and wellness revolution (which is why we like this business) and more focus on a lifestyle that leads to a longer life. We all want to live healthier and longer.