Firms increasingly adopting electronic data feeds to track insurance policies

This marks the third global exploration and incubation facility the company has opened, joining other LOFT locations in Boston and Toronto

Toronto-based Manulife Financial Corp. has opened a new Lab of Forward Thinking (LOFT) location in Singapore, joining the company’s other labs in Boston and Toronto.

The LOFT is a global exploration and incubation facility aimed at providing a platform for employees to collaborate and devise new technological solutions for the company’s wealth, asset management, and insurance customers.

“We are using emerging technologies and platforms such as blockchain and artificial intelligence to build competitive advantages,” says Greg Framke, executive vice president and chief information officer with Manulife, in a statement. “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.”

In the past six months, the LOFT announced collaborations to apply blockchain technologies to enhance the onboarding of new wealth management clients. It has also announced partnerships aimed at developing artificial intelligence and deep learning technologies that enhance investment research.

Initiatives such as the LOFT are part of Manulife’s strategy of developing and providing new technologies to improve the customer experience.

“Consumers in Asia are looking for tools and services to make their lives easier,” says Roy Gori, president and CEO of Manulife Asia, in Australia. “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.”

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