Manulife and UpLink, a World Economic Forum Initiative, Launch the ‘Innovating for Asia’s Demographic Future Challenge’
Manulife launched the ‘Innovating for Asia’s
Demographic Future Challenge’ through UpLink, the World Economic Forum’s
early-stage innovation initiative to tackle the world’s biggest challenges.
Together, Manulife, UpLink and the Forum’s Centre for Financial and Monetary
Systems, invite start-ups, innovators, and changemakers with solutions for
enabling long-term financial resilience, well-being, and fulfillment across
multi-stage lives in Asia to participate.
“To help people live better for longer, we
must fundamentally rethink traditional approaches to investments, insurance,
health care, and workforce participation,” said Sarah Chapman, Global Chief Sustainability Officer for Manulife. “This
challenge is an opportunity to drive investment in innovations that are truly
going to move the needle to address demographic trends shaping the future of
Asia in an effort to improve health, wealth, and quality of living outcomes for
generations to come.”
By 2050, one in four people in Asia will be
over the age of 60. This
profound demographic shift is driven by longer life expectancies and declining
fertility rates. As countries in Asia
adapt to these changes, people may no longer follow the traditional ‘school,
work, retirement’ paradigm. Instead,
they transition more frequently between learning, working, caring, and
recreation. In
addition, recent data from Manulife’s Asia Care Survey showed physical
well-being is central to both financial and mental well-being for people across
Asia, and that rising health-care costs are a major concern, fueling anxiety
about insufficient savings.
To promote long-term financial resilience,
well-being, and fulfillment across populations in Asia, the challenge seeks
startups who are working to drive progress in three focus areas:
Multigenerational financial resilience: Solutions that promote better financial planning over the course of longer lives.
Multigenerational financial resilience: Solutions that promote better financial planning over the course of longer lives.
- Equitable healthy aging: Solutions that expand access to preventative and holistic
health care, helping people maintain their physical and mental well-being as
they age.
- Lifelong fulfillment: Solutions that maximize personal and professional
potential for people at all stages of life through skill building and community
engagement.
- Challenge winners will benefit from access to exclusive networking events and partnerships as well as increased visibility and funding opportunities. Manulife will give $200,000 CAD in prize money split among three of the top ten winners.
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