IT may be more than a century old, but Great Eastern Holdings : G07 0% is still fighting fit — despite a raft of challenges unleashed by Covid-19, and the emergence of technology startups that compete in the insurance space.

Speaking to The Business Times, Khor Hock Seng, group chief executive officer of the oldest provider of life and general insurance in Singapore and Malaysia, said the 114-year-old group has been “very resilient”. This is in part due to a digital transformation journey that began in 2018 — 2 years before the pandemic. Great Eastern, which is 88 per cent-owned by OCBC : O39 0%, has so far invested more than S$100 million in its digitalisation.

“(Being a traditional company) doesn’t mean we can’t compete. It is all about investing in the digital space, which we do,” he said. “We have invested quite a bit in our digital affinity partners…So, we are also in the insurtech space.”