Pru Life UK announces partnership with ATRAM
Pru Life UK has sealed a strategic partnership with the ATRAM Group (ATRAM) as part of the Company’s growth strategy to fulfill the evolving needs of its growing customer base.
The leading life insurer will soon onboard ATRAM as its local fund manager. Its expertise and solid track record in asset and wealth management will complement Pru Life UK’s superior selection of funds.
To achieve their shared goal of helping more Filipino families live wealthier, Pru Life UK and ATRAM will co-develop and launch more innovative and customer-centric investment solutions to further strengthen their investment performance for their customers.
This will enable Pru Life UK agents to further value-add and enhance their customer network through a wider array of financial solutions. More importantly, Pru Life UK customers will gain access to ATRAM’s wide range of solutions and platforms to help them grow and expand their investment portfolio.
ATRAM was selected following a rigorous evaluation and approval process. Certain transactions related to the partnership are subject to regulatory approval.
RCBC director honored
Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC) independent director Erika Fille T. Legara, PhD has been honored with a Certificate in Cyber Risk Governance by DCRO Institute, making her the first Filipino to be awarded with such a prestigious title.
DCRO Institute president and chief executive officer David R. Koenig confirms that Legara is the first one from the Philippines to be awarded such credential. This recognition by DCRO Institute — which is the world’s leading source of risk governance training and credentials for board members and c-suite executives — underscores Legara’s commitment to enhancing risk governance practices within the banking industry and her dedication to contributing to the advancement of data science and artificial intelligence.
The Certificate in Risk Governance® is awarded exclusively to graduates of The Board Members’ Course on Risk® and is regarded as the premier credential for board members and C-suite executives seeking to excel in the realm of risk governance.
Widely recognized in the industry as a leading expert in data science, artificial intelligence, and governance, Legara has been an independent director at RCBC since July 2022. She also holds positions at the Asian Institute of Management (AIM), including associate professor of Data Science, founding director of the Master of Science in Data Science Program, and deputy director and senior scientist of the Analytics, Computing, and Complex Systems Laboratory.
Green Living Starts Here: A Look at Practical Steps to Sustainability at Home
SM Store has made it easier for homemakers to make eco-friendly choices with its SM Green Finds program. The program offers a wide range of sustainable products that are both eco-friendly and convenient for consumers.
As part of SM Green Finds, ACE Express offers a wide array of biodegradable cleaning solutions and products for environmentally conscious homemakers. One of the standout products that carry the Green Finds badge are these organic cleaners formulated with eco-friendly surfactants which make them safe for families and the environment.
For those who love gardening, ACE Express has Ramgo, Vertigo, and Konice, which are natural-growing media that use by-products found in local farms and mountainsides of the Philippines.
Also from ACE Express, are biodegradable alternatives for planting such as pots made from wood powder and rice or corn husks with resin which are sustainable options for eco-conscious plantitos and plantitas.
Under SM Home, consumers can choose from a wide variety of linens, such as bedsheets and towels made of Bamboo — a raw material that is eco-friendly and sustainably sourced. In SM Store- shoppers will have access to handcrafted home accents by artisans and social enterprises made from locally sourced materials like rattan, bamboo and abaca.
SM Green Finds makes green living easy for its customers by promoting products that are eco-friendly, made from natural and local ingredients and supports local communities. To find out more about our sustainability programs, search for The SM Green Movement.
Safeguarding futures and providing financial security for Filipinos
MaxiLife, the visionary life insurance startup, commemorates its first-year anniversary of providing financial security to Filipinos. Over the past year, MaxiLife has achieved remarkable milestones and deserves recognition for the notable accomplishments attained in such a short period.
MaxiLife received its operating license from the Insurance Commission (IC) in July 2022. In a swift response, the company immediately assembled a team of key professionals and staff to spearhead its startup operations. In December 2022, the grand inauguration of the head office in the iconic BDO Equitable Tower, Makati City, marked a significant milestone for MaxiLife.
In January 2023, the IC approved the first set of Group Life Insurance products offered by MaxiLife, enabling the company to provide this essential coverage to its corporate clients and group affiliates without delay.
By March 2023, MaxiLife achieved an extraordinary feat by being accredited as a Great Place to Work® Certified company. This prestigious certification acknowledged MaxiLife’s outstanding employee satisfaction, progressive work culture, and exemplary HR practices, all accomplished within a year of its establishment.
The crowning moment for MaxiLife came in July 2023 when it reached a significant milestone of reaching 350,000 insured lives.
PLDT, Smart train visually impaired persons
PLDT and its wireless unit Smart Communications, Inc., together with ATRIEV, successfully trained 20 visually impaired persons in using the Android Accessibility Suite program so they can maximize the use of their smartphones for daily living.
The PLDT Group partnered with ATRIEV, the prime ICT specialist non-profit organization that empowers visually impaired persons through technology-enabled assistive programs, which conducted the free five-day learning program.
The trainers, who are themselves visually impaired, coached participants how to operate Android devices with the help of a TalkBack screen reader. The technology enables them to use Android-based smartphones independently.
The course featured learning sessions on angle gestures or two-part swipes that help students open and close menus, toggle between pages, and operate other essential Android-based applications.
It also demonstrated the use of an onscreen keyboard in composing messages and filling out forms and search boxes. Participants were also taught how to download and install applications.
Co-sponsored by PLDT and tucked under its Infoteach program, the training is also supported by the National Council on Disability Affairs, NORFIL Foundation and Liliane Fonds.
P&G Philippines among top employers for fresh graduates
Procter & Gamble (P&G) Philippines, the leading consumer goods company behind health and hygiene brands such as Safeguard, Tide, Joy, Head & Shoulders, and Pampers, has been recognized as one of the Philippines’ 2023 Top 100 Employers for Fresh Graduates by Prosple, a careers and education technology company used by leading organizations and universities to connect students with employment and education opportunities.
Prosple Philippines’ methodology combines data from applications, page views, and graduate reviews to determine a comprehensive and objective ranking of graduate preferences. Using this advanced ranking methodology, Prosple ranks the Philippines’ Top 100 Employers list.
This is the first time P&G Philippines has been included in Prosple’s Top 100 Employers for Fresh Graduates. P&G secured its place within the Philippines’ Top Retail, Sales, and Consumer Goods sector after evaluation of employee feedback, career advancement opportunities, learning and development programs, and workplace benefits of the organization.
Earlier this year, P&G also became a Great Place to Work-Certifiedâ„¢ company after earning a 94% satisfaction rating from its employees. The company has also previously won several employer-of-choice awards.
Pia Wurtzbach to launch book at MIBF 2023
Pia Wurtzbach will be a special guest at the Manila International Book Fair (MIBF) on Sept. 14, at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City. Pia will be joining the opening ceremonies at 10:00 am and have the first public launch of her novel “Queen of the Universe” at 6:30 pm of the same day.
Pia Wurtzbach is an entrepreneur, advocate, and global media personality crowned Miss Universe in 2015. She has built her brand & business empire across beauty, fashion, food, and lifestyle and passionately advocates for gender equality and mental health, supporting leading charities UNAIDS & UNICEF, launching her female empowerment network Between Us Queens, and giving motivational talks for Tedx.
Wurtzbach is one of only a handful of Filipinos to have a book published for international release. Outside the country. Her book will be available in Singapore and Malaysia, and will launch later this year in Australia, UAE, United States, and the United Kingdom.
The MIBF, which will run from September 14-17 is the Philippines’ biggest and longest-running book fair with an average of over 100,000 attendees every year.
FPIP to help Red Cross organize disaster response teams in Batangas
Humanitarian organization Philippine Red Cross (PRC) and Lopez-led economic zone developer First Philippine Industrial Park Inc. (FPIP) have agreed on a joint project to organize in Tanauan City, Batangas, volunteers who will be trained to respond rapidly to emergencies and disasters.
The PRC, through its Batangas Chapter Administrator Ronald G. Generoso, and FPIP, through Vice President Ricky Carandang, recently signed a service agreement for the implementation of their joint project, which also aims to strengthen the country’s disaster risk reduction and management system.
Under the agreement, both parties agree to help each other in mobilizing grassroots-level volunteers who will train and familiarize themselves with PRC programs, in particular, with the Red Cross 143 Program (RC143).
Red Cross created RC143 to build community resilience where RC143 volunteers—composed of one leader and 43 members—serve as the eyes, ears, hands, and feet of the PRC.
The program aims to promote a culture of self-help in schools, workplaces, and communities by developing a network of Red Cross volunteers who will prepare for disasters and respond rapidly to emergencies.
The 520-hectare ecozone, which straddles the host cities of Tanauan and Santo Tomas in Batangas, now provides employment for almost 80,000 Filipinos, aside from generating hundreds of millions of pesos in tax revenues for both cities.
