FWD Group marks 10th anniversary with region-wide community initiatives

In celebration of its 10th anniversary, FWD Group has introduced its “10 grants in 10 markets” charitable initiatives for local communities across 10 markets in Asia, including Hong Kong, Macau, Thailand, Japan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Singapore.

The community initiative provides grants in each of the 10 markets where FWD operates, supporting charitable programmes with a focus on financial inclusion. The FWD Group Community Care programme forms part of its environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategy.

The idea of the initiatives is also based on the fact that caring has long been one of the values at FWD and that extends to the communities where FWD staff live, work, and serve customers, according to Huynh Thanh Phong, group CEO and executive director of FWD Group. He said the expansion of the company’s Community Care programme aims to boost financial inclusion in local communities.

As part of the initiatives, FWD Group will support CareER in Hong Kong to enhance its job-matching services for highly educated persons with disabilities and special educational needs; whereas FWD Group will support Caritas Macau to develop an online sales platform and physical store for handicrafts handmade by people with disabilities, with vocational skills training.

The group will also partner with Singapore-based finance company The Simple Sum, which aims to empower young adults to manage their personal finances, to develop and distribute financial literacy e-comic book to beneficiaries through local non-governmental organisation partners.

Across the pond, the group will also be collaborating with NGOhub in Malaysia to deliver financial awareness and digital marketing programmes to 10 lower income families to improve financial and digital literacy.

While in Indonesia, the company will launch the InnovateHer Academy programme in partnership with KUMPUL.ID to support 10 female entrepreneurs to kick-start their businesses. Meanwhile, it will further expand the JA SparktheDream programme in the Philippines to provide out of school youths with entrepreneurship and certified financial literacy training.

Phong added: “Over the past decade, the FWD journey has been ambitious. It’s a story of growth, success, commitment, perseverance, and determination in changing the way people feel about insurance. FWD is 10 years young, and we have only just begun.”

Earlier this year, the company also announced the expansion of its financial literacy programme, JA SparktheDream, to span seven markets in Asia as part of its 10th anniversary year community initiatives. Developed in partnership with Junior Achievement Asia Pacific (“JA”), the programme integrates financial, social and life skills education for students to help boost financial literacy in the region. 

Successfully piloted in Hong Kong and Singapore last year, the programme was introduced in Indonesia and Vietnam earlier this year with Japan, the Philippines and Thailand to follow soon.

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