July 2022

YuLife picks up $120M at an $800M valuation for gamified, wellness-focused life insurance

YuLife originally made a name for itself in its home market of the U.K. for its new approach to the provisioning of life insurance: yes, sell a policy that provides financial security to your people in the event of your death; but do so with a focus on improving the policyholder’s current life with wellness opportunities, and encourage use of that with gamification — a model that not only is aimed at benefitting the policyholders more, but increases engagement...

China Turns to Automation and Robotics to Solve Aging Problem

The impact of an aging population has taken a toll on China’s economy. Industrial automation and robotics could be the solution. We believe that China is at the beginning of a structural shift thanks to the country’s policy support, demographic trends and technological progress. Furthermore, the ongoing trend of domestic substitution will likely provide a fertile breeding ground for local champions to be born and thrive – and our portfolio companies Shenzhen Inovance Technology Co., Ltd Class A (“Inovance”) (0.64%...

June 2022

India. PFRDA to go fully digital in operations, invites bids from IT vendors to launch tech project

Pension fund regulator PFRDA has initiated steps to digitise its operations through the 'Technology Architecture (TARCH) Project', inviting bids from IT solutions providers to launch the project. PFRDA's most of the operations are currently manual in nature, and digitisation is partial. PFRDA has decided to digitise and automate its operations through Technology Architecture (TARCH) Project, which is envisioned to be a modular and API (Application Programming Interface) based platform, PFRDA said in a bid document seeking interest from reputed IT...

The Aging Readiness & Competitiveness Report 2021. Enabling Innovation for Healthcare and Wellness

By AARP As the world enters the UN’s Decade of Healthy Ageing, amid global covid-19 vaccination efforts, the need to increase support for the wellbeing of older adults has never been so clear. Older people comprise a growing share of the global population. This trend will persist over the coming decades, and not just in high-income countries. By 2050 an estimated 80% of older adults will be living in low- and middle-income countries. Yet disparities for older adults are ubiquitous,...

India. Government to launch AI-driven portal for distributing pension payments

In order to seamlessly process, track and disburse pensions, the Department of Pension and Pensioners' Welfare will soon launch an Artificial Intelligence (AI) enabled the common portal for the benefit of pensioners and elderly citizens. Union Minister Jitendra Singh said that the AI-supported portal, 'Bhavishya', will send automatic alerts to pensioners and superannuated senior citizens, including retired paramilitary personnel. Apart from enabling constant contact with pensioners and their associations across India, the portal will also receive their inputs, suggestions as well...

UK. FCA: Technology is both a risk and an opportunity

The Financial Conduct Authority’s chief data, information and intelligence officer Jessica Rusu has said technology can be “a force for good” but comes with many risks. Speaking at the Money 2020 Amsterdam event last week (June 8), Rusu explained that the increase in firms suffering from cyber-attacks demonstrates the risks that arise through innovation. “Looking through the lens of a regulator, having spent many years in big tech, fintech and traditional banking roles – I see that innovation and the role...

April 2022

How AI and robots are caring for the elderly in Taiwan’s ageing society

The idea that cities today will have a disproportionate number of elderly would have been laughable a mere century ago. As recently as 1950, global mortality rates for children were five times higher than they are now, according to Our World in Data. Yet, advancements in healthcare and sanitation standards are helping adults live longer than ever before. Taiwan, in particular, is estimated to become a super-aged society by 2025, with one in five being over 65 years old, said...

Age-friendly cities and communities: A global perspective

By Tine Buffel, Sophie Handler & Chris Phillipson New book Age-Friendly Cities and Communities: A Global Perspective, Policy Press Tine Buffel, Sophie Handler and Chris Phillipson (Editors) Bringing together leading researchers and policy-makers working to develop age-friendly cities and communities, this edited volume examines the potential of developing urban environments responsive to the needs of older people. The book provides numerous case studies and examples of good practice, drawing upon work in Australia, Europe, Hong Kong, and the USA. It...

Strategic partnerships and ICT solutions in extending social security coverage in Africa

By ISSA Through strategic partnerships and modern information and communications (ICT) solutions, member institutions of the International Social Security Association (ISSA) are strengthening the scope, extent, and adequacy of social security coverage. Across Africa, the quasi totality of countries has social security schemes and/or programmes theoretically covering most of the population. The policy discourse on extending social security coverage during the last decades culminates in the enactment of new legislation to expand the scope of coverage and reforms on existing schemes...

March 2022

UK. Pension dashboards are coming - action for occupational pension schemes to take now

UK. Pension dashboards are coming – action for occupational pension schemes to take now

Establishing a system of “pension dashboards” to enable individuals who have yet to take retirement benefits to find clear, standardised information about all their pension arrangements (including rights to state pension) in one place is a key element of the government’s pension strategy. The ambition is laudable but achieving it will be a mammoth task, requiring significant time and resource from occupational pension scheme trustees, pension managers and administrators. All UK occupational pension schemes with 100 or more non-pensioner members...