Operating in its home base of Canada, the U.S. and Asia, and with about $640 billion (CAD) in assets at the end of Q2, Manulife Financial Corporation needed a boost to its international operations, thanks to the global escalation of scrutiny over financial services combined with growth in Asia. To that end, Manulife looked for a single solution to reduce the reconciliation time between its bases of reporting, which is why the company chose to work with Infor, Inc. to beta test the software provider’s newest product, Infor Xi.

Because local foreign exchange and the value of bonds can differ between its various bases, Manulife wanted to reduce reconciliation issues for two reasons. The first was because Manulife’s jurisdictions wanted consistency locally in order to have the ability to compare within their local industries as well as across industries locally. Secondly, Manulife needed reporting on a consolidated basis to ensure it had consistency and transparency across the organization. As a Lawson Software, Inc. client since 2000, the company focused on global consolidation of its Canadian and US bases. The challenge and pain point was the fact that local matters were handled offline.

In an interview for theCUBE at Inforum 2014, Manulife AVP Bill Coffin stated that Infor wanted Manulife’s experience of being a global presence and familiarity with local regulatory when it came to beta testing Infor Xi. Through the beta test, Manulife realized the advantage of truly bringing everything together into one place. “It does address all the uniqueness that you can address in a ledger,” said Coffin about Infor Xi. This includes things like language, unique foreign exchange accounting rules and analysis.

Also, because Manulife chose not to have any customizations from the start, the company can now support its local businesses across the globe more effectively. Infor Xi is going to be a much more powerful toolkit for Manulife’s local businesses to use for both their external and internal financial reporting. The company is additionally going to manage all the information centrally, so that it’s exposed and transparent. “It’s a win-win for everybody,” Coffin added.

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