Latest news with #GIF
Cision Canada
12-05-2025
- Business
- Cision Canada
Empire Life expands its lineup of intelligent investment solutions with four new segregated funds featuring Fidelity investments Français
KINGSTON, ON, May 12, 2025 /CNW/ - Today, The Empire Life Insurance Company (Empire Life) launches four new segregated funds in its Guaranteed Investment Fund (GIF) contract to help customers build wealth through enhanced diversification in their investment portfolios. Two of the new segregated funds are the Empire Life Fidelity Global Income Portfolio GIF and the Empire Life Fidelity Global Growth GIF, rounding out our offering of managed solutions featuring Fidelity asset allocation solutions. The two additional new funds are: Empire Life Fidelity Insights TM GIF whose underlying fund manager, Will Danoff, with almost 40 years experience, employs a successful strategy of investing in companies undergoing strategic change that has the potential to unlock accelerated earnings growth. Empire Life Fidelity Multi-Asset Innovation GIF is a balanced fund that, through the underlying fund, will provide investors with access to March Schmell's investment style. This style focuses on dynamic exposure to some of the most innovative, growth-focused companies around the world while maintaining stability through exposure to multi-sector fixed income securities. All four funds are powered by Fidelity Investments Canada, an industry-leading and world-renowned global investment manager. "We strive to offer intelligent investment solutions to Canadian investors and are committed to identifying the best opportunities within the market," says Paul Holba, Senior Vice-President and Chief Investment Officer. "Further leveraging the expertise of a global leader in Fidelity to add to our existing lineup gives investors and their advisors more of the building blocks needed to produce diversified portfolios that help reduce risk and build wealth." To learn more, contact your advisor today, or visit ® Empire Life and Empire Life logo are registered trademarks of The Empire Life Insurance Company. Fidelity and Fidelity Investments Canada are registered trademarks of 483 Bay Street Holdings LP. Used with permission. TM A trademarks of 483 Bay Street Holdings LP. Used with permission. Policies are issued by The Empire Life Insurance Company. A description of the key features of the individual variable insurance contract is contained in the Information Folder for the product being considered. Any amount that is allocated to a Segregated Fund is invested at the risk of the contract owner and may increase or decrease in value. Please read the information folder, contract and fund facts before investing. Performance histories are not indicative of future performance. About Empire Life Established in 1923 and a subsidiary of E-L Financial Corporation Limited, Empire Life provides individual and group life and health insurance, investment and retirement products. The Company's mission is to provide expertise and intelligent solutions to help Canadians navigate life with confidence. As of December 31, 2024, Empire Life had total assets under management of $19.7 billion. Follow us on social media @EmpireLife or visit for more information. About Empire Life Investments Inc. Empire Life Investments Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Empire Life Insurance Company. The company is the portfolio manager of certain Empire Life segregated funds.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Meet the new Audience Choice winners to lead breakouts at TechCrunch Sessions: AI
You voted. They rose to the top! Meet the two Audience Choice winners who'll take the breakout stage at TechCrunch Sessions: AI on June 5 in Zellerbach Hall at UC Berkeley to share their insights with 1,200 AI leaders and enthusiasts. We sifted through hundreds of Call for Content submissions and narrowed them down to six standout finalists. Your votes crowned two winners — and now they're ready to share their cutting-edge AI insights live. Yann Stoneman, staff solutions architect at Cohere: Behind Your Firewall: Secure Generative AI for Regulated Enterprises Hua Wang, executive director at Global Innovation Forum: The AI Policy Playbook: What Global Startups Need to Know Session: Ever wonder how to use cutting-edge generative AI in healthcare or finance — without sweating over data privacy? Join Yann for a lively breakout session at TC Sessions: AI. Alongside three expert panelists, Yann will guide an interactive, 50-minute conversation packed with real-world use cases from Cohere's North (agentic AI workspace) and Compass (multimodal retrieval). You'll get practical strategies for deploying secure, customized AI models on your own infrastructure — no external cloud required. Expect hands-on demos, live Q&A, and insights that'll help you build AI solutions safely and confidently, right behind your firewall. About Yann Stoneman: Yann Stoneman is a staff solutions architect at Cohere, where he helps enterprises deploy secure, customizable AI powered by next-gen foundation models. Previously at AWS, he supported large-scale AI adoption and debuted an AI demo at re:Invent 2023. Yann is a trusted partner for seamless integration and user-friendly AI design. His expertise has been featured at Generative AI World and Voices of Data Science, and on the blogs of Cohere and AWS. He holds a BA from the Juilliard School. Session: AI gives startups an edge, but regulation can slow them down. This breakout dives into how founders can stay compliant and competitive while scaling globally. Learn how to tap into AI tools for digital trade, navigate evolving data laws, and unlock new markets. We'll cover the policies shaping the future of AI startups and offer real-world strategies to help you expand without the red tape. If you're building, investing in, or regulating AI, this session delivers the insights you need to lead with confidence. About Hua Wang: Hua leads the Global Innovation Forum (GIF), where she builds bridges between diverse entrepreneurs and the global economy. At GIF, she drives inclusive strategies for trade and digital policy, partnering with business leaders, nonprofits, and international institutions like the World Trade Organization and the UN to unlock global opportunities for underrepresented voices. From launching a telemedicine startup to helping startups raise $20 million+ as an accelerator director, Hua's career spans entrepreneurship, law, tech, and policy. She's also served as an entrepreneur-in-residence across Chile, Malaysia, and the U.S. A former attorney and banker, Hua holds degrees from Duke and Northwestern Law — and a deep belief in innovation as a driver of global growth. AI is moving fast — and so should you. Learn how to build behind your firewall with Yann Stoneman and unlock global markets with Hua Wang — two of the audience-chosen breakout leaders you won't want to miss. Save up to $210 on your pass, or bring a crew and save even more. Head to the agenda to see what's in store and grab your ticket before prices jump. Go beyond attending — exhibit your brand and innovation in front of 1,200 top AI minds. Space is limited, so don't miss your chance to make an impact! Grab your exhibit table here before they run out. Or, explore more sponsorship opportunities and activations at TC Sessions: AI. Get in touch with our team by filling out this form. Subscribe to the TechCrunch Events newsletter for early access to special deals and the latest event news.
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Humor may be the Trump resistance's best weapon right now
After Elon Musk ordered 2 million federal workers to send a bullet-pointed list of five things they accomplished the previous week, social media filled with mock replies. "Dear manager, this week: (1) I'm never gonna give you up (2) Never gonna let you down (3) Never gonna run around and desert you (4) Never gonna make you cry (5) Never gonna say goodbye..." went one response, alongside a GIF of singer Rick Astley. To be clear, I did not laugh — but I appreciated the joke. "Rickrolling" has been around since George W. Bush was president, but somehow it seemed like the most appropriate response to an absurd demand from the putative head of the DOGE effort to cut the federal workforce. Musk, after all, made the demand on a Saturday, threatened to fire anyone who didn't respond by Monday, and then backtracked as agency heads instructed staff not to do it. Absurdity, meet absurdity. In fact, resistance to the second Trump administration appears to be leaning more heavily on humor than it did in his first term. For now, at least, humor may be their most effective tactic. While the "resistance" to the first Trump administration was centered on massive rallies, knitted hats, and threads about "game theory," the current one is more about biting wheatpaste posters and goofy internet humor. With grocery prices rising despite Trump's campaign pledge, critics started using the absurd phrase "Trump take egg" to highlight empty shelves. Others borrowed from a tactic used on gas pumps during the Biden administration to post stickers of Trump saying 'I did that' next to high prices in grocery stores. Still others created a poster of Musk doing his stiff-armed salute from a Tesla alongside the words "Goes from 0 to 1939 in 3 seconds" and updated World War II posters saying, "When you ride alone, you ride with Hitler" to reference Musk. The most vicious mockery appeared Monday on internal monitors at the Housing and Urban Development Department headquarters: an AI-generated video of Trump kissing Musk's bare feet with the words "Long live the real king." You don't have to find these laugh-out-loud funny to appreciate how humor is being used to make serious points about Trump's economic policies and Musk's troubling political influence. And because they have a light touch, they are more likely to break through to uncommitted voters than another self-serious speech by a Democratic member of Congress seen only on C-SPAN. Humor has long been a part of modern American protest movements, from political cartoons targeting Hitler to Dick Gregory alternating between comedy sets and civil rights protests, to the countercultural protesters trying to levitate the Pentagon during the Vietnam War and AIDS activists putting a giant condom on Sen. Jesse Helms' house. As in the rest of life, this humor is often born from desperation. Like a lonely kid who starts cracking jokes to make friends, protesters who are shut out of the normal channels of politics often find that humor is their only way to get attention. That's especially true right now, as the daily barrage of news from the White House overwhelms the ability to make sense of it. A pointed joke can briefly commandeer the spotlight. Even the Trump administration has tried to leverage humor as well. The White House posted a Valentine's Day message on its social media accounts: "Roses are red, violets are blue, come here illegally, and we'll deport you." It also posted a SpongeBob meme featuring a federal worker whose bullet points included "cried about Trump" and "cried about Elon." And Trump had a mocking reaction to being asked if he'd visit the site of a plane crash over the Potomac River: "You want me to go swimming?" But these were not the quips of a powerless kid in the back of the class. They were the jokes of the school bully, punching down on people who are being torn from their homes, losing jobs they love or mourning the death of their loved ones. They aren't funny; they're just nastiness borrowing the clothes of humor. For a guy who loves making harsh jokes, though, Trump is terrible at taking them. Over the years, he's attacked "Saturday Night Live," late-night hosts Seth Meyers, Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel and alleged comedian Bill Maher for making jokes about him, often arguing that the government should somehow be able to stop them. That just makes humor an even more effective tool against him. The likelihood that Trump will respond to a joke at his expense — inadvertently giving it a huge publicity boost — is pretty high. And if he does indeed start to use government resources to target comedians, he'll only reveal himself as a thin-skinned authoritarian and invite more criticism. Because when you attack comedy, the joke is always on you. This article was originally published on
Zawya
21-02-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Jordanian Mais Taha wins Global Innovation Award for Digital Sustainability
AMMAN: Jordanian entrepreneur Mais Taha, founder of MTiPX, has been awarded the Digital Changemaker Award at the Global Innovation Forum (GIF) 2024, recognised by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The 160-year-old UN agency acknowledged Taha's contributions to digital sustainability through her initiative XEROWASTE, a certification system aimed at reducing material waste and energy consumption, according to a statement for The Jordan Times. A Framework for Sustainable Design XEROWASTE is a 343-point digital certification system targeting students and researchers aged 14 to 60, helping them eliminate material waste, energy use, and emissions in product design. Built on ISO 14024 environmental standards, it certifies waste prevention rates between 25 per cent and 60 per cent. The system is designed to integrate sustainability into early-stage design processes, making it a tool for industries seeking to minimise environmental impact. Taha, originally from Jordan and now based in Malta, has been involved in nature conservation since 1996 and digital design since 2002. Her work focuses on zero-waste interactive design using Internet of Things (IoT) and Internet of Behaviour (IoB) technologies, the statement said. Over the past two decades, she has combined digital transformation with environmental advocacy, working on green certification standards, project management methodologies, and ISO regulatory frameworks. Her approach integrates technology and sustainability, offering data-driven solutions to reduce waste in product design. Taha's company MTiPX has been recognised for its contributions to technological innovation and sustainability. Other notable achievements include the Malta Intellectual Property Award for Technological Emerging Innovation Initiative, the AWE Award (Award for Women Entrepreneurs) from the American embassy in Valletta and Women Directors Malta, the Top 6 Startup in EIT RawMaterials 2022, part of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), according to the statement. Taha is also a member of the Early Warning Europe Network, supporting start ups in niche industries, particularly in eco-design and sustainable digital technologies. Taha stressed that progress in sustainable innovation is slow-moving and requires long-term commitment. She pointed out that technical start ups in niche industries often struggle with funding, industry adoption, and regulatory challenges. 'We cannot control the world, but we can design it inside out,' she said, underscoring the role of design in shaping sustainable solutions. Taha's work highlights the increasing role of digital tools in sustainability, particularly in circular economy models and resource efficiency, according to the statement. Her recognition by a global institution like ITU reflects a broader shift towards technology-driven environmental policies. While XEROWASTE's long-term impact remains to be seen, the project aligns with global sustainability goals and provides a structured approach for integrating ecoconscious design into mainstream product development, the statement added. © Copyright The Jordan Times. All rights reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
Jordan Times
20-02-2025
- Business
- Jordan Times
Jordanian Mais Taha wins Global Innovation Award for Digital Sustainability
Taha, originally from Jordan and now based in Malta, is involved with nature conservation since 1996 (Photo courtesy of International Telecommunication Union) AMMAN — Jordanian entrepreneur Mais Taha, founder of MTiPX, has been awarded the Digital Changemaker Award at the Global Innovation Forum (GIF) 2024, recognised by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The 160-year-old UN agency acknowledged Taha's contributions to digital sustainability through her initiative XEROWASTE, a certification system aimed at reducing material waste and energy consumption, according to a statement for The Jordan Times. A Framework for Sustainable Design XEROWASTE is a 343-point digital certification system targeting students and researchers aged 14 to 60, helping them eliminate material waste, energy use, and emissions in product design. Built on ISO 14024 environmental standards, it certifies waste prevention rates between 25 per cent and 60 per cent. The system is designed to integrate sustainability into early-stage design processes, making it a tool for industries seeking to minimise environmental impact. Taha, originally from Jordan and now based in Malta, has been involved in nature conservation since 1996 and digital design since 2002. Her work focuses on zero-waste interactive design using Internet of Things (IoT) and Internet of Behaviour (IoB) technologies, the statement said. Over the past two decades, she has combined digital transformation with environmental advocacy, working on green certification standards, project management methodologies, and ISO regulatory frameworks. Her approach integrates technology and sustainability, offering data-driven solutions to reduce waste in product design. Taha's company MTiPX has been recognised for its contributions to technological innovation and sustainability. Other notable achievements include the Malta Intellectual Property Award for Technological Emerging Innovation Initiative, the AWE Award (Award for Women Entrepreneurs) from the American embassy in Valletta and Women Directors Malta, the Top 6 Startup in EIT RawMaterials 2022, part of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), according to the statement. Taha is also a member of the Early Warning Europe Network, supporting start ups in niche industries, particularly in eco-design and sustainable digital technologies. Taha stressed that progress in sustainable innovation is slow-moving and requires long-term commitment. She pointed out that technical start ups in niche industries often struggle with funding, industry adoption, and regulatory challenges. 'We cannot control the world, but we can design it inside out,' she said, underscoring the role of design in shaping sustainable solutions. Taha's work highlights the increasing role of digital tools in sustainability, particularly in circular economy models and resource efficiency, according to the statement. Her recognition by a global institution like ITU reflects a broader shift towards technology-driven environmental policies. While XEROWASTE's long-term impact remains to be seen, the project aligns with global sustainability goals and provides a structured approach for integrating ecoconscious design into mainstream product development, the statement added. Page 2
