Sun Life extends support to financial literacy drive

MANILA, Philippines - Global insurer Sun Life of Canada (Philippines), Inc. fully supports the government’s move to address the issues on financial literacy among Filipinos.

In a recent courtesy call on Sen. Sonny Angara who authored Senate Bill 201 or the Financial Literacy Act of 2013 that pushes for the inclusion of entrepreneurial and financial literacy education as an integral part of the secondary education, Sun Life Philippines president and CEO Riza Mantaring expressed the company’s willingness to launch more programs and campaigns to improve the level of financial literacy in the country. 

“Actually we pioneered in the life insurance industry a financial literacy advocacy in 2009 through our “It’s Time! campaign.  This advocacy has evolved since then, now with major industry players likewise taking an active role in promoting their own programs,” Mantaring said.

The Sun Life chief emphasized that the company’s campaigns are backed by extensive research conducted under SOLAR (Study of Lifestyles, Attitudes and Relationships).  She noted that recent findings indicate that there is still a long way to go when it comes to addressing the need to improve the level of understanding of Filipinos when it comes to basic financial concepts,  and their attitudes towards savings and investments.

“SOLAR showed that out of 1,100 respondents from middle and upper income segments, 20 percent consider themselves experts in money matters but only eight percent actually scored higher than 80 percent in a financial literacy quiz administered to them,”  Mantaring said. 

She added that only one out of two Filipinos consider savings as a regular part of their monthly budget, lagging behind other monthly items like communications and clothes.

The results of the survey were presented in detail in a report called ‘FLARe” (Financial Literacy Advocacy report) that was handed over to Senator Angara during the call.   This report was also handed over to the Insurance Commission in June this year.

For his part, Angara welcomed Sun Life’s continuing interest to propagate its financial literacy advocacy and expressed his eagerness to work hand in hand with the private sector to push for reforms in the country’s educational system, punctuated further by his proposed bill on financial literacy.

Senate Bill 201 aims to equip Filipinos with ‘the knowledge to properly manage their finances and make informed financial decisions. It seeks to raise the levels of financial literacy in Filipinos (and) encourage them to seek information about their financial options.”