Manulife opens third innovation lab in Singapore

Manulife, a Canada-based financial services group, has opened a new Lab of Forward Thinking (LOFT) location in Singapore to focus on emerging fintech solutions for customers in Asia.

John Hancock, a division of Manulife, launched the LOFT last year. The LOFT is a global exploration and incubation capability to build Manulife's competitive advantages within the financial services industry. It provides a platform for employees to collaborate and devise new technological solutions for the for the companies’ various wealth and asset management and insurance business lines.

Singapore, a technology hub for Asia, hosts the third LOFT site for Manulife. The other labs are in Boston and Toronto.

"We are using emerging technologies and platforms such as blockchain and artificial intelligence to build competitive advantages," said Greg Framke, Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Manulife. "Now that our Singapore LOFT has launched, our global innovation system can continue to explore new markets and build solutions that will benefit our customers around the world."

The LOFT has been engaging with blockchain startups to apply blockchain technologies to enhance the on-boarding of new wealth management clients. In April, LOFT announced a collaboration with ConsenSys Enterprise and BlockApps in LOFT’s first Ethereum blockchain proof of concept (PoC). In addition, it has also partnered with Nervana Systems and indico data solutions to develop artificial intelligence and deep learning technologies that enhance investment research.

Innovative initiatives, such as the LOFT, RED Lab and the creation of the new roles of Chief Analytics Officer and Chief Innovation Officer are part of Manulife's strategy of putting the customer at the centre and provide solutions to improve the customer experience.

"Our goal is to become the most customer centric organization in our industry. Through the LOFT, we encourage experimentation, incubation and collaboration to find the answers we need to best serve our customers”, said Roy Gori , President and Chief Executive Officer, Manulife Asia. "Consumers in Asia are looking for tools and services to make their lives easier. There are tremendous rewards on offer for those businesses that take up the challenge. That's why we chose to build a LOFT in Asia and Singapore , with its thriving start-up culture, is the perfect home for that investment”.