Daily Briefing: SingSaver launches digital insurance comparison platform; Hardware firm Home-Fix closes down

And Pan Pacific Hotels Group rebrands The Westin Prince Hotel in Toronto.

From e27:

SingSaver.com.sg, Singapore’s financial comparison platform, has launched instant digital insurance comparisons and secured a brokerage license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

With the license, the platform is now able to offer its instant digital insurance comparisons for its travel, home, and main categories insurance products ranging in over 100 policies by 12 providers.

The insurance providers include AXA, Allianz, FWD, HL Assurance, Ergo, MSIG, NTUC Income, Tokio Marine, Ergo, Sompo, Allied World, and Etiqa TIQ.

The platform’s new license as an insurance broker allows the firm to diversify beyond credit cards and personal loans. With it, SingSaver’s broking team are able to advise consumers applying for a range of insurance products.

Read more here.

From ChannelNewsAsia:

Beleaguered family-run hardware firm Home-Fix may have pulled the shutters down at its stores for good after a 26-year run, but its founders are not giving it up without a fight.

The Do-It-Yourself (DIY) chain is in talks with potential investors and is looking to transform itself and come back in a “very different form”, co-founder and managing director Low Cheong Kee told ChannelNewsAsia.

“We have a game plan in mind. We are garnering support for it,” he said at the Home-Fix building in Tai Seng, where the company's offices, showroom and warehouse are located.

At its peak, Home-Fix had more than 20 stores across Singapore. On Thursday, however, it closed the shutters at its last remaining store in Tampines One for a final time, becoming the latest casualty in the retail sector in Singapore.

Read more here.

From TTG Asia:

Singapore-based Pan Pacific Hotels Group (PPHG) is stepping up its presence in North America with the rebranding of The Westin Prince Hotel in Toronto.

Located in North East Toronto, Pan Pacific Toronto offers 409 guestrooms and suites, with many overlooking the six hectares of greenery surrounding the hotel and the cityscape.

Amenities on-site include Katsura Japanese restaurant; Seasons, the all-day diner; an outdoor heated pool; a tennis court; and a fitness centre with a whirlpool.

The hotel also features more than 2,780m² of meeting spaces including 18 meeting rooms and a ballroom which can hold up to 700 guests. Events are also possible on the greens outdoors.

Pan Pacific Toronto is the fifth hotel for PPHG in North America, joining other hotels in Vancouver, Whistler in British Columbia and Seattle.

Read more here.