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Singapore: DollarsAndSense acquires local InsureTech Startup, fundMyLife
From Left to right: Sim Kang Heong, Dinesh Dayani, Timothy Ho, Jackie Tan, Wesley Goi
Finance website, DollarsAndSense announced the acquisition of a financial planning startup fundMyLife.
Started in 2017, fundMyLife connects consumers with questions relating to financial planning or insurance to a curated pool of trusted financial advisers via a private Q&A platform. This allows users to receive answers from qualified financial professionals while maintaining their privacy. Users can also choose if they wish to contact financial advisers for follow-up consultations.
For financial advisers, the platform serves as a digital presence that they can tap on, allowing them to showcase their accomplishments, client testimonials and to value-add to prospects who have already shown an intent to make a financial planning decision.
This access to a group of self-selecting potential clients helps financial advisers cut down on other costs and time in obtaining leads, and instead allows them to spend more time and energy to giving better quality advice to potential clients.
Acquiring fundMyLife will provide DollarsAndSense better insights into what consumers are looking for, as well as identify gaps in Singapore’s financial planning knowledge.
Both entities have been working closely with each other since 2017 on areas such as content marketing, affiliate partnerships, improving engagement with the financial adviser community.
Hong Kong: Starr Insurance uses Facebook Messenger to sell travel plans
Starr Insurance launched Facebook Messenger Chatbot to sell single trip and annual travel insurance via the social media platform in Hong Kong. The Chatbot uses machines learning and natural language processing to communicate with customers on the mobile.
The Chatbot would ask a series of questions to customize a travel insurance plan which the customer then pays for it with a credit card. The transaction takes a few minutes, and once completed, the travel policy is emailed to the customer.
Starr plans to improve the Chatbot’s customer service capabilities and develop more applications such as handling claims.
For more details, please visit https://www.starrinsurance.com.hk.
Singapore: Liberty Insurance collaborates with Grab to launch GrabPet
Grab has started its beta phrase of GrabPet, where household pets approved by the Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore (except birds) are allowed on the Grab ride that starts at $14.
The ride includes ensuring pets are protected from pick-up to drop-off in the event of an accident. As long as your pet(s) are on a GrabPet booking, the Group Pet Insurance covers the trip in its entirety:
Group Pet Insurance Coverage:
- Accidental Death: Insured Pet sustains an injury during the covered trip that results in death
- Medical expenses: Pet Owner reimburse for medical expenses for treatment within 30 days of the Accident and up to another 30days for follow-up treatment
Claims process:
Mail the following documents to Liberty Insurance
Physician Declaration Form
Claim Form
GrabPet ride receipt
For the forms and more information, visit here.
North Korea forms three general insurers
Three insurance firms- Pukguksong Insurance Company, Samhae Insurance Company, and Mirae Reinsurance Company – were launched by Pyongyang from 2016 to 2017, a report by Yonhap News Agency said, citing the Korea Institue of Finance in Seoul.
Prior to the establishment of these companies, North Korea’s insurance market was heavily dominated by state-owned Choson Minjok Insurance General Company since 1947.
According to the report, the setup of the three new insurers serves to attract foreign investors to do business in the North’s special economic zones. Pukguksong Insurance insures risks associated with fire, technology and agriculture, while Samhae Insurance covers marine and maritime cargo. Meanwhile, Mirae Reinsurance is believed to be the country’s first and the only reinsurer.
Digital transformation in Indonesia’s finance industry
Fintech subsidiary of Ping An Insurance Company of China (“Ping An”), OneConnect, begins operations in Indonesia that enables local banks and financial institutions to boost their efforts in digitization of financial services and move towards a more inclusive financial industry.
OneConnect offers a full suite of proven and tested technology solutions ranging from Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Biometrics Identification, and other advanced technology solutions that were used by Ping An.
The Facial Recognition (FR) technology in Biometric Authentication is one of the technologies OneConnect highlights on. It has a 99.8% facial recognition accuracy and was labelled No.1 worldwide by Labeled Faces in the Wild (LFW) database- an authoritative organisation in facial recognition database.
Financial institutions in Indonesia could utilize this technology to accurately and safely verify customer’s identities during the customer onboarding process. FR allows matching of an actual person’s face against photo and data provided by the biometric chip in the passport.
OneConnect’s other popular feature is the Blockchain-based trade finance and supply chain solutions. They are the technology provider of the Hong Kong eTradeConnect platform, a Blockchain-based trade finance platform which aims to improve trade efficiency, build better trust among trade participants and reduce risks by leveraging on Blockchain technology.
Munich: Allianz X Increases Fund Size to €1 billion
Allianz X, the digital investment unit of the Allianz Group received additional investment from Allianz SE, increasing its fund size to €1 billion. This propels the Digital Investment Unit of the Allianz Group to become one of Europe’s largest corporate digital investment firms, dedicated to digital investment by fund size, contributing to Allianz’s overall digital transformation strategy.
The extra funding will be used to make direct investments in global digital companies related to insurance and asset management. In addition to committing capital to promising tech companies, Allianz X focuses on developing strategic partnerships between the portfolio company and one or more Allianz operating entities of global business lines, leveraging expertise on both sides.
To date, Allianz has made more than 15 direct investments in digital businesses related to insurance around the world. Each investment has a dedicated team that assists the company with joint corporate development initiatives and implements them alongside the Allianz business unit(s).
People on the move
Sun Life Asia bolsters leadership to meet growth opportunities
Two new leadership roles in Asia was announced to streamline operations and accelerate growth opportunities across the region by Sun Life Financial Inc.
Leo Grepin, the current SVP, Individual Insurance and Wealth of Sun Life Canada, has been appointed President, ASEAN effective 1st April. His responsibilities surround businesses in the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Malaysia, along with the regional distribution and marketing teams. Prior to Sun Life, Grepin was Head of Account Management at global hedge fund Bridgewater Associates and Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company where he was a leader of the insurance practice.
The current Asia CFO, Karim Gilani, will become Asia CFO and Strategic Integration, responsible for oversight and integration of the core regional functions- Finance, Risk, Actuarial, Product, ALM, Legal, Investments, M&A and Compliance, identifying opportunities, accelerate and prioritize initiatives across the region.
Gilani joined Sun Life Asia as Chief Risk Officer in 2015 and went on to become Asia CFO in 2017 responsible for financial management and strategic analysis and development including M&A, new partnerships and investment opportunities. Prior to Sun Life, he has held varied roles in Risk, Actuarial, Products, Reinsurance and Consulting in Asia and North America. He is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and the Canadian Institute of Actuaries.
Former NTUC chief to head UK’s IFoA
The UK’s Institue and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) has appointed Tan Suee Chieh as its new president-elect, effective June 2019.
Other than being a council member of the IFoA, Tan holds a number of non-executive roles in academic institutions and voluntary organisations.
After graduating from the London School of Economics, Tan held various roles in Prudential such as CEO of Prudential Singapore and regional managing director of Prudential Asia.
He has also served as CEO of NTUC Income from 2007 to 2013 before being appointed group CEO of NTUC Enterprise, a position held till 2017.
Organisation restructuring and senior management changes in AM Best
Roger Sellek is stepping down as CEO of AM Best’s EMEA and AP regions with effect on the 31st March 2019.
Dr. Sellek joined AM Best in 2007 and has led the expansion of AM Best’s global business including the establishment of offices in Dubai, Singapore and most recently Amsterdam. AM Best is now providing rating services in more than 90 countries from its key regional hub offices.
As part of its strategic review and succession planning process, AM Best has taken the opportunity to streamline the management of its business. The new structure will enable the company to continue its growth in core strategic markets whilst responding to the rising costs of the local regulation of credit rating agencies in many territories.
Larry Mayewski, CEO and Chairman of AM Best Rating Services in the United States will take on the position of CEO of AM Best's European rating subsidiaries in London and Amsterdam, whilst Matthew Mosher, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of AM Best Rating Services will take on the responsibilities of CEO of AM Best's Asia Pacific subsidiaries in Hong Kong and Singapore, pending regulatory approval
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