Awards

Welcome to the DigFinnies! The 2021 DigFin Innovation Awards recognize the best providers and solutions in digital finance serving users in Asia.

Our Spring 2021 awards program will celebrate excellence in wealthtech, insurtech, asset management, wealth management, and insurance.

Our Autumn 2021 program will recognize leaders in banking, payments, and capital markets. Stay tuned for details.

♦ Contents (click to jump)

• What makes your awards special?
• Who should apply?
• What does the application process involve?
• Timelines
• Sponsorship
• Meet our judges
• Awards categories
• How to win a DigFinnie

♦ What makes your awards special?

DigFin is Asia’s leading independent media covering digital finance, fintech, and digital assets. We have assembled an esteemed panel of judges from around the region to ensure awards are decided strictly on merit. We do not charge a fee to enter the awards. The categories have been chosen to be comprehensive but also competitive.

♦ Who should apply?

Financial institutions, technology companies and consultants are eligible to apply for awards, either individually or (for our solutions awards) in partnerships.

Applicants may be situated anywhere in the world but their solutions should be relevant to users in Asia Pacific.

You may apply for multiple awards, but each submission must be specific to its category.

♦ What does the application process involve?

We value simplicity. For each category you apply for, we will want two things: a written essay of 800-1,000 words explaining clearly why you deserve to win, and upload a pitch video of no more than 120 seconds. You may use the video in any way you like: to support your essay, to augment it. We want to be charmed, impressed, and convinced. Treat these as “on the record”.

Based on the judge’s feedback, we may request an interview with applicants or referrals to users. These will be treated as confidential and the information gathered will be used for the sole purpose of deciding who wins a DigFinnie.

♦ Timelines

• April 2 to April 30: Submissions open for the DigFinnies.
• April 30: Submissions closed.
• May 3-mid-May: Judges advise on awards; DigFin may request private interviews with candidates.
• June 2-3: The “DigFinnies”: live announcement of the winners and judges’ discussion.

♦ Sponsorship

The DigFinnies are open for sponsors who wish to leverage the high degree of visibility of our awards process and related virtual events. Please contact Maralyn Ho (maralyn@digfingroup.com) or Nick West (nick@digfingroup.com) to learn more.

♦ Meet our judges

The following people have graciously agreed to judge the DigFinnies’ Spring 2021 program. They will recuse themselves from judging any category in which the applicants represent a conflict of interest. In alphabetical order:

♦ Awards categories

Asset and Wealth Management, & Wealthtech

Company awards

• Most innovative asset management company 
• Most innovative premium wealth management company (for HNW, private banking)
• Most innovative wealth management company (retail, mass affluent)
• Most innovative asset services provider 
• Best technology provider to asset & wealth managers (for comprehensive technology leaders)
• Best consultancy for wealthtech

Solutions awards

• Best solution for portfolio management
• Best solution for buy-side operations (reporting, compliance, post-trade processing)
• Best digital advisory solution (applicants can be wealth managers, or solution providers, or both in partnership)
• Best market access solution (helping investment firms reach new market segments, solutions expanding investment opportunities, or advancing financial inclusion)
• Best digital-assets investment solution (cryptocurrencies, tokenization)
• Best digital-assets services solution
• Best fintech ESG solution (to support investors with compliance, certification, benchmarking, performance, or reporting)
• Best compliance/RegTech solution for the buy side
• Best solution for serving asset owners
• Best solution for serving high-net-worth individuals
• Best solution for serving retail investors

Insurance & Insurtech

Company awards

• Most innovative life insurance company
• Most innovative general/P&C insurance company
• Most innovative insurance broker
• Most innovative reinsurer
• Digital insurer of the year
• Insurtech startup of the year
• Best technology provider to insurance companies
• Best consultancy for insurtech

Solutions awards

• Best fintech solution for underwriting
• Best fintech solution for claims processing
• Best fintech solution for policy lifecycle management
• Best fintech solution for distribution networks
• Best fintech solution for customer user experience
• Best market access solution
• Best insurance integration into a platform/ecosystem

♦ How to win a DigFinnie

All submissions will be made on a software platform for your convenience and privacy. Here are the three components to each pitch:

• Explain in writing why you deserve to win (max 1 page)
• Upload a video (max 120 seconds) to augment your argument
• Client referrals

Submissions are private and confidential. However, we may wish to publish some or part of the winners’ written pitch or video. Be clear if there is any information that must remain confidential. Referrals will always remain private.

There are generally two types of awards: recognizing firms, and solutions. Firm awards should emphasize strategy, KPIs, results. Solutions awards should highlight the problem, your approach, any partnerships or collaborations, market segmentation, product fit, success metrics. Customer or client referrals are powerful extras.

Written solutions are not going to be judged on the basis of your English, which may not be your first language. Judges will look for a clear and logical argument, backed by evidence. Keep it simple and concise – and take pride in your accomplishments.