Sun Life Financial successfully holds 2nd Sinag Students Summit

Sun Life Financial holds its 2nd Sinag Students Summit. In photo are (from left):SLAMCI President Valerie Pama, ABS-CBN broadcast journalist Alvin Elchico, online influencer Arriane Serafico, serial mompreneur and TV host Christine Babao, ANC reporter Michelle Ong, Inquirer business writer/editor Dax Lucas, and Sun Life Financial Philippines Chief Marketing Officer Mylene Lopa.

The annual financial literacy journalism summit is part of the giant insurance firm’s advocacy to promote financial planning among Filipinos.

Sun Life of Canada (Philippines), Inc. has once again gathered a notable array of media personalities to share knowledge and insights to future professional communicators through the 2017 Sinag Students Summit.

Close to 300 college students from across the metro and surrounding provinces (Batangas, Bulacan, and as far as Pampanga) participated in the daylong annual conference held on October 26 at the Pan Pacific Hotel in Manila.

The venue was fully packed with students from various universities across the metro and nearby provinces.

Advocacy communication
With the theme ‘Starting a Financial Journey, Communicating an Advocacy,’ this year’s Sinag Students Summit tapped CNN Philippines President Armie Jarin-Bennett to deliver an inspiring key note address, which highlighted the importance of the media in promoting advocacy.

Bestselling practical book author, businessman, and multi-media personality Chinkee Tan talked about the importance of financial literacy and how it can help improve lives of Filipinos. Sun Life Asset Management Co., Inc. (SLAMCI) Head of Bank and Alternative Channels Gerald Bautista oriented the students to the basics of mutual funds investing.

A panel discussion was facilitated during the second half of the conference. Under the theme ‘Reporting a Story, Advocating a Cause,’ five guests were invited to share more insights and relate their own experiences on how financial literacy can be promoted.

Five panelists shared their insights and experiences about financial planning and the role of media in promoting it.

Inspiring personal insights and stories
ABS-CBN broadcast journalist Alvin Elchico discussed how typical stories for the day can be linked to consumers’ spending power and behavior. Philippine daily Inquirer business writer and editor Dax Lucas inspired many when he narrated how he ended up in the publishing industry after becoming an investment banker prior to the Asian financial crisis in 1997.

Blogger and online influencer Arriane Serafico gave insights on how to easily catch the attention of millennials especially when communicating topics like financial literacy, while ABS-CBN News Channel reporter Michelle Ong gave tips on how to choose and keep personal investments (especially stocks).

Serial mompreneur and TV host Christine Bersola-Babao shared how she was financially conscious and entrepreneurial at an early age. She also briefly narrated several true stories of startup entrepreneurs who made it big through unconventional strategies despite lack of huge capital.

Annual Sinag Students Summit
“We are again overwhelmed at the huge turnout of this event,” said Sun Life Financial Philippines Chief Marketing Officer Mylene Lopa, who was also among the key speakers during the event.

Lopa disclosed why the company started the Sinag Students Summit in 2016. “In 2009, we started advocating this cause of promoting financial literacy. We realized through various researches that there really is a big need for us to educate or help Filipinos realize the importance of financial planning.”

The annual summit is part of Sun Life Financial Philippines’ major activities to reach out to more consumers and promote financial literacy. “Whichever way Filipinos prefer to learn and talk about money, we have it covered,” said Lopa.

Sinag Students Summit and many other initiatives that are being implemented by Sun Life Financial Philippines are part of its special growth strategy dubbed as RI5E PH. The campaign is aimed at having 5 million Filipinos insured by 2020. As of June 2017, the company has insured 2.2 million consumers in the country from 1.5 million when RI5E PH was launched in June 2016.