Manulife champions longevity in Asia

Source: Manulife. From left: Harshal Shah, Chief Marketing & Experience Design Officer, Manulife Asia; Koh Hui-Jian, CEO, Manulife Investments; Steve Finch, President and CEO, Manulife Asia; Benoit Meslet, President and CEO, Manulife Singapore; and Mark Czajkowski, CMO, Manulife Singapore.

Manulife has enhanced ManulifeMOVE, Manulife’s flagship lifestyle programme, launching it at the inaugural Longevity Symposium in Asia. Originally introduced to promote physical activity, the platform now supports holistic wellbeing across six key pillars: healthcare, home and nursing care, fitness and wellness, lifestyle privileges, legacy planning services and community engagement.

“Insurance is no longer just about protecting people financially after something happens. It’s about helping them stay prepared for life’s changes. With ManulifeMOVE, we’re giving customers the power to take charge of their health and financial choices, so they can make confident decisions every day,” said Harshal Shah, Chief Marketing & Experience Design Officer, Manulife Asia.

Key programme enhancements include: 

• A tiered membership structure (Essential, Ascend, Prestige, Signature) offering access to differentiated benefits and partner privileges. 

• An expanded suite of services covering preventive health services, medical and assistive care, cancer care support, health and wellbeing coaching, fitness and wellness experiences. 

• Community engagement, such as a dedicated platform to foster a vibrant community with exclusive experiences, access to new offerings, and health content. 

ManulifeMOVE Partners*, including AMILI, ClassPass Singapore, Chi Longevity, Doctor Anywhere, Fullerton Health, Guardant Health AMEA, Hin Tat Augustine & Partners, Homage, Kin Teck Tong, Padang Trust, Parkway Cancer Centre, Parkway Shenton, Naluri, Q & M Dental Group, SportsMed, Ten Lifestyle Group and others, offer solutions that help people navigate everyday health and life management, supporting them through milestones from entering the workforce to becoming parents, managing chronic illness, or planning their legacy. 

“As a purpose-driven bank, we’re committed to using our business as a force for good – creating long-term value for our customers, community, and the nation. With Singapore transitioning into a super- aged society, our focus is on closing the gap between lifespans and ‘living spans’ by supporting financial, physical, mental, and social wellbeing at every stage of life," said Karen Ngui, Head, DBS Foundation and DBS Group Strategic Marketing and Communications.

"Ageing presents challenges, but also opportunities – the onus is on us to act early, and act together. At the DBS Foundation, we’re glad to join hands with likeminded partners like Manulife to build a future where everyone, regardless of age or circumstance, can live and age with dignity, purpose, and joy.”

“Cancer is one of the leading causes of death in Singapore, underscoring the urgent need for continuous innovation in how we detect, monitor, and treat it. At Guardant Health, we believe molecular data is essential for precision oncology to guide each patient’s journey with insights that matter," said Simranjit Singh, CEO, Guardant Health AMEA.

"Through our partnership with Manulife Singapore and the ManulifeMOVE programme, we are expanding access to cutting- edge liquid biopsy technology. With just a simple blood draw, we can unlock vital information to help personalise treatment decisions for patients with advanced solid tumours.”

“Good gut, good health. At AMILI, we believe gut health is foundational to long-term well-being. The microbiome in our gut plays a vital role in how we age, affecting immunity, metabolism, and chronic disease risk. By harnessing microbiome insights, we can deliver truly personalised preventive health strategies that go far beyond generic advice," said Jeremy Lim, CEO & Co- founder, AMILI.

"Our collaboration with Manulife Singapore is an important step in making science-backed, localised solutions for longevity more accessible across Asia. Through the ManulifeMOVE programme, we’re empowering individuals to take charge of their health in ways that are tailored and culturally relevant.”

The Longevity Symposium in Asia was convened to tackle one of the region’s most pressing challenges: how to live not just longer, but better.

“As an insurer, our role goes far beyond paying claims or managing risks. We have a responsibility to improve lives – not just by protecting our customers, but by empowering them to make better decisions for their health and financial future,” said Benoit Meslet, President and CEO, Manulife Singapore.

“Our latest Asia Care survey shows that only 6% of respondents wished for a longer lifespan, the vast majority prioritised staying physically, mentally and socially active, achieving financial independence and ageing gracefully. 

"Through initiatives like this symposium, we’re raising awareness across every dimension of longevity, from preventive health and financial planning to mental wellbeing and social connection, we’re helping our customers plan ahead and live with greater clarity, resilience and peace of mind.”

According to Manulife, one in four people in Asia will be over the age of 60 by 2050**. This 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, Manulife's Asia Care Survey showed that physical wellbeing is central to both financial and mental wellbeing for people across Asia, and that rising healthcare costs are a major concern, fuelling anxiety about insufficient savings.  

"Extending lifespan in our ecosystem is no longer our key focus. Instead, optimising healthspan is becoming our key imperative. Healthy ageing requires early intervention, data-driven behavioural change and integrated support across healthcare, technology and finance - across all stages of life," said Professor Dean Ho, Provost’s Chair Professor, Director, The N.1 Institute for Health, Director, The Institute for Digital Medicine, and Head, Department of Biomedical Engineering, National University of Singapore.

"The Manulife Singapore Longevity Symposium is an important catalyst for bringing scientific research into everyday insights and actions. By bridging science and education, we can address aging preparedness, helping people thrive across a longer life - physically, mentally and financially.”

“Healthy longevity isn’t just about adding years, it’s about adding good years that is not just extending your lifespan but your healthspan. That means having the energy, cognitive ability and independence to keep enjoying life as we age. To do that, we must take a proactive approach to health and start long before retirement age," said Professor Andrea B. Maier Oon Chiew Seng, Professor of Medicine at National University of Singapore, and Co-Founder of Chi- Longevity.

"In healthy longevity medicine, we look beyond short-term outcomes and focus on how individuals want to feel 10 or 20 years from now, and how we can help them get there. This future-oriented approach is why partnerships with organisations such as Manulife are essential. Through the ManulifeMOVE programme, we are enabling more individuals to proactively manage their health and better prepare for the realities of ageing."

Manulife and UpLink, the World Economic Forum’s early-stage innovation initiative, and the Forum’s Centre for Financial and Monetary Systems additionally announced 10 winners of the Innovating for Asia’s Demographic Future Challenge, launched earlier this year.

The challenge sought breakthrough solutions to support multigenerational financial resilience, equitable healthy ageing, and lifelong fulfilment across Asia’s rapidly ageing societies. The winning ventures — ranging from digital tools that enhance home safety and caregiving for older adults, to AI-powered platforms that modernise primary healthcare delivery, wearable rehabilitation solutions for post-surgery recovery, and lifelong learning and reintegration support for migrant workers — were selected for their potential to drive meaningful impact across Asia.

The winners will join UpLink's Innovation Ecosystem with access to exclusive networking, visibility, and partnership opportunities to help scale their solutions. Additionally, three of the winning innovators will share a prize pool of CAD$200,000.

“Longevity is reshaping how people across Asia think about their future. Our Asia Care Survey shows a growing focus on quality of life, independence, and financial security – underscoring that it’s not just about adding years, but enriching them,” said Steve Finch, President and CEO, Manulife Asia.

“We see a clear opportunity to help close the gap between aspiration and action. Through platforms like the Longevity Symposium and the UpLink challenge, we’re working with partners to deliver practical, preventive solutions that help people live well, for longer.” 

"Early-stage innovation is vital to turning the challenges that come with Asia's demographic shifts into meaningful opportunities for communities across the region," said John Dutton, Head of UpLink, World Economic Forum. 

"Through the Global Longevity Innovation Initiative, we are proud to partner with Manulife and the Forum's Centre for Financial and Monetary Systems to build an innovation ecosystem that promotes healthier, more financially resilient and fulfilled lives for all generations."

The event, held in Singapore, marks a milestone in Manulife’s commitment to advance Asia’s longevity movement. This builds on Manulife’s global commitment to longevity, following two successful longevity symposiums in in the US led by John Hancock.

*Access to services offered by ManulifeMOVE partners may vary by membership tier and customer eligibility.

**ADB: Adapting to Aging Asia and the Pacific

***Stanford Center on Longevity 

****  Andrew J. Scott and Lynda Gratton, The New Long Life: A Framework for Flourishing in a Changing World 

The challenge of innovating fast enough to live comfortably to 100

Source: The Economist Events. Rashmi Dalai, Managing 
Editor, thought leadership, Asia, The Economist 
Intelligence Unit (EIU) (left) with Blackburn 
(right).

Will the speed of innovation, at its current pace, be enough to meet the longevity challenge? This question was asked in an on-site poll during The Longevity Summit – Is Asia ready for 100? in Singapore, and the majority (60%) of delegates said no.

More than 200 Asian business leaders, government officials and healthcare professionals gathered at the summit to discuss how best to engage Asia’s over-60 population in the productive economy and how stakeholders can foster healthier, longer-living societies. The need for change was clear.

A call for total change

Kanwaljit Soin, Founding President of Women’s Initiative for Ageing Successfully highlighted, "We have to change this linear version of life that exists currently, completely.”

Penny Wan, Regional VP and GM, JAPAC, Amgen, said that the current practice of waiting till people get quite sick before offering a solution is flawed. It would be better to predict and prevent, she said. "Find patients earlier, so they don't have to go through the debilitating consequences of a disease," she said.

"Innovate in how we do digital technology. Machine learning (ML), artificial intelligence (AI), and robotics are enabling us to do routine screening so we can predict and prevent a lot of the diseases especially in the chronic area. We could save hospitals and healthcare systems billions of dollars. It's no longer about adding years to life. It's really about adding life to those years."

Adapting to silver needs

Society will need to adapt to older people working for longer, on their terms. Wilf Blackburn, CEO, Prudential Singapore stated that “it is a myth that older people in Singapore don’t want to reskill and we need to demystify it".

Blackburn shared that in one case people working in a call centre were initially asked for data to train chatbots and later took over the training of chatbots themselves, some going on to train the trainers thereafter. Those others left in the call centre took on the more stimulating work of answering the complicated questions that the chatbots could not answer.

"Adopting practices in the working environment that are conducive to older people and to allow people to have flexible working hours is so important,” he added. "Practices that allow staff to have flexible work schedules, flexible processes where they work, where they choose when they work - certainly the older people appreciate that more."

Ecosystem needed

The consensus was that policy makers, financiers, tech companies and scientists need to collaborate if the region is to cope with and benefit from greater longevity.

"The topic of ageing is far too great for any sector to address on its own. We can't do it on our own, we can't do it on just technology. We need an ecosystem and we need different solutions," Wan declared. "Through focused and purposeful collaborations, we’ll be able to move from a health system of break-and-fix, to one of predict and prevent. Prevention measures lead to better health outcomes, lower costs and better quality of life for patients and their families.”

Blackburn also said that the new normal will require input from many constituents, and praised Singapore's SkillsFuture government reskilling programme for helping people to become productive assets in the workplace.

The need for more collaboration came through strongly in a panel titled Age of Innovation. Elizabeth Cha, Country Manager, Insilico Taiwan, talked about how AI and deep learning are being harnessed for molecular medicine. 

"We can do cross-comparisons between different communities and behaviours. We can get results quickly and get into validation earlier, find better medicare, or new uses for old medicine," she said.

"We need to find a new way to find the best medical care for the community, especially for longevity issues. Data is important, not just medical data – tissue typing, tests, but we need to analyse data from social behaviour," she added. Cha called on experts from multiple disciplines to collaborate to produce that data.

From left: Dalai; Roy; Wan; Kim; Cha and Tan.

What's hot in healthcare

When it comes to the solutions, Anne Kim, founder and Chief Executive, Alphavita Capital, said that the investment landscape for longevity had expanded from ageing to management of chronic diseases and the lifecycle of patients and customers. High net worth individuals and family businesses are interested in the phenomenon, she said, adding: "We are seeing more interest in broad investments in products, services and innovative business models leveraging technology today."

Specifically products that improve quality of life as people age are of interest, Kim said. In the services space the focus is on evolving business models for telemedical services and greater access to care; while the shared economy platform approach "to aggregate services and basically balance demand and supply of care" is also popular, she shared.

Finetuning the focus is important, however. Kim said that there is a lot more data needed to close the gap across the spectrum of care, which spans patients with chronic diseases, the sick, the dying, urgent care, and those who are frail. "We need to do more research what exactly patients need and what patients need to be served," she said. "The needs of men and women are markedly different."

Tan Hwee-pink, Academic Director, SMU-TCS iCity Lab, Singapore Management University, said that industry-led research projects at the university do involve AI, and identified a further challenge with following up on results. AI could identify seniors at risk for social isolation, or facing physical deterioration, for example. "If nobody knows what to do with that information it is as good as not having that information," he said.

Source: Prudential survey microsite.
Ready for 100 logo.

The Prudential Ready for 100 study

Prudential recently commissioned The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) to survey more than 1,200 residents in Singapore to find out if they are prepared to live long and well as life expectancy rises. Singapore, whose population has reached 5.6 million, will see 900,000 aged over 65 by 2030, and a rising number living to 100, the survey said.

Ready for 100: Preparing for longevity in Singapore found that Singapore residents often understand what they should do to live healthy lives, but may not practise what they preach. 

According to the report, rising longevity will only be a positive experience for Singapore residents if they strengthen four key areas of life:

Relationships

Three-quarters of respondents said they would be able to find some or all of the support they need in an unexpected life event. To avoid financial and emotional pressure from family members, the report recommended that people engage with "a more diverse set of communities and networks outside of their family".

Health and wellness

Singapore’s residents are largely aware of the importance of eating better and exercising regularly. They also have good intentions to do so, but urban living, a strong food culture - what Blackburn called an "eating culture like nowhere else" and conflicting definitions of what is “good” and “healthy” have created a gap between intent and action.

The study found that Singapore residents, on average, exercise below the recommended time per week and consume an excess of the recommended intake of sugar and processed grains. "This is contributing to rising rates of dementia, heart disease and diabetes," the study noted.

Financial health

Nearly eight in 10 residents do save, but it is challenging to save enough so that they do not have to work between the standard retirement age of 62 and 100. "As a result, residents need to reimagine how they plan their finances for older age. This includes investing as much in building their financial assets as they do in extending professional assets and careers," the report warned.

Work

The study notes that the Singapore government has mandated that employees cannot be forced to retire before the age of 62, and that eligible employees can be re-employed up to the age of 67. "However, to take advantage of these additional working years, ageing professionals need to have vision and courage to reimagine their careers and plan to work longer.

"Technology provides a number of opportunities for people to pursue new industries and provide education and reskilling opportunities, but it is only as useful as the initiative people take. Currently, a proactive attitude at work appears to be lacking. Only four out of ten residents say they actively seek new challenges at work," stated the report.

Changing behaviours

The psychology of persuasion - getting people to change their minds for the better - had some airtime during the summit. Nawal Roy, Chief Executive, Holmusk, has been engaging patients with digital tools to manage chronic diseases like diabetes for some years. "In chronic disease, engagement matters. Medication has value but if you are not able to engage with the patient on a regular basis you are not able to influence the outcome," he warned.

"We are banking on the fact that people who are unhealthy will do whatever it takes to become healthy," said a member of the audience. "If we took that away and see them at consumers and try to sell them something we would see better success."

Tan shared that older people are typically more resistant to advice from doctors, nurses, or staff from voluntary welfare organisations, whom they see as "big brother". "If (students) step in to speak to them they are more willing to speak to us," he said. "Seniors usually have a ringleader. Once you identify that ringleader, and if you get her on board (she will persuade the others)."

Roy said healthcare is "way behind the curve" when it comes to the science of psychology or behavioural science. "The good news is that it's changing at a very fast pace," he said.

Personas can help shape the narrative. He said there are those who are fully motivated, willing to change and able to change at one end of the spectrum, and those who are never going to change at the other. "In between you have different degrees of willingness and ability to change – that's the sweet spot," he said.

Roy also observed that solutions have to be recalibrated for different markets. "When you scale at the Asia level (that is a) problem even if you have a solution," he said.

Peggy Liu, Chair, Joint US-China Collaboration on Clean Energy, has found common denominators in getting people to change behaviours, from making it fun to catching them young.

Liu is focused on food as it is the the single largest source of greenhouse gases and affects climate change, and the best "Trojan horse" to changing the world's problems. She said the best time to change dietary behaviour is between the ages of five and nine, with one of the basic messages being to "eat a rainbow every day".

"You have to start at ages five to nine. Once you've passed nine you're pretty much hopeless," she said.

Liu's organisation has come up with the Food Heroes initiative, which focuses on microlearning, gamification, and play based education to educate people more effectively about healthy eating and food waste. Focusing on the children means that the adults in the family become involved as they shop for the "rainbow food" that the children request, for example.

"We're doing it all wrong, talking to people's heads, talking about statistics. It's all about their sense of self love and prosperity... tap into people's dreams," she said.

Liu is also proposing public-private partnerships on rewarding people for positive food behaviour with a Blockchain-based system.

Hashtags: #EconLongevity, #PRUReadyfor100, #PrudentialSG

Vitamin D does not help you live longer

Despite claims that vitamin D could be the new cure-all, new research from the University of Cambridge which examined data from nearly 100 studies has shown that vitamin D supplementation, when administered alone, does not reduce mortality among older adults.
 
Previous research had observed that lower levels of vitamin D in the blood are associated with a number of different diseases, including multiple sclerosis, cancer and cardiovascular disease. As it was unclear whether vitamin D supplementation when given alone (that is, not adminstered together with other interventions such as calcium) would reduce the risk of deaths from various causes, researchers analysed the results of 73 observational cohort studies and 22 randomised trials of both naturally circulating vitamin D and supplements (either D2 or D3). 

The analysis reinforced the observational associations of lower levels of circulating vitamin D concentrations with deaths from cardiovascular, cancer, as well as other causes, but also found that vitamin D supplements in the trials, overall, did not reduce the risk of all-cause mortality significantly. However, when researchers looked deeper, they did find that vitamin D3 alone reduced mortality by 11%, and stress that additional research on healthy populations is needed.

The research was published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), and conducted by an international team of researchers that was co-led by Dr Rajiv Chowdhury at the University of Cambridge’s Department of Public Health and Primary Care. 

Dr Chowdhury said: “Before any recommendation of widespread supplementations with vitamin D3, it is, however, essential that further clinical investigations are conducted into the optimal dosage and safety. 

"It will also be important to examine whether D2 or D3 alone may indeed have different effects on the risk of death in different populations since the current trials were essentially based in elderly high risk populations with a variety of baseline diseases and any beneficial effects on healthy general populations are not yet known."

Read the original press release here.