Manulife launches mobile app for college education planning

Insurance provider Manufacturers Life Insurance Co. Philippines Inc. (Manulife) has recently launched a new mobile application which will enable parents to start saving for their children’s college education.

In a statement, Manulife announced the launching of GradMaker, which it said is the first mobile app in the industry specially designed to help parents plan for their child’s future.

“Education is one of the most significant investments many families will make, and, on average, tuition fees increase by 10 percent annually according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas,” Manulife president and CEO Ryan Charland said.

“Through GradMaker, we aim to help parents be prepared by providing visibility on how much and how long they need to invest for their child’s college education,” he added.

According to Manulife, the app was designed to meet the needs of parents who want to start planning for their child’s college education, but are too busy to meet with investment counselors or think that investing is expensive.

It said parents can start using the app for only P10,000 with no lock-in period, giving customers the flexibility to decide when they want to invest.

With GradMaker, Manulife said parents can compute the projected education costs at their preferred local university by the time their child goes to college. It also helps them calculate how long and how much they need to save.

“Being relevant comes from a deep understanding of our customers and allowing them to decide when and on which platform to engage with us. GradMaker is intuitive, simple, and designed from the customer’s perspective,” Charland said.

He said GradMaker invests in professionally-managed funds comprised of stocks and bonds to help customers achieve long-term growth. It also gives life insurance coverage of at least 125 percent of the customer’s single premium.

For every investment made through GradMaker, Manulife said it will donate one percent to Cartwheel Foundation, a non-stock and non-profit organization that seeks to nurture Filipino indigenous heritage through education.