HONG KONG, 13 May 2020 – AIA, the largest independent publicly listed pan-Asian life insurance group, today launched a new content series  (filming was conducted prior to the Covid-19 pandemic) in partnership with its Global Ambassador David Beckham and partner Tottenham Hotspur Football Club (“Spurs” or “the Club”).

This series marks the first time AIA has brought its two global partners together. A teaser image released this week shows the pair at Spurs’ world-renowned stadium.

The initiative is underpinned by AIA’s purpose-led brand promise of helping people to live Healthier, Longer, Better Lives. It sees David Beckham visit Spurs’ training ground and stadium where he met with Head Coach Jose Mourinho, first team players, coaches and nutritionists. David Beckham and members of the Spurs team discuss the simple health and lifestyle choices everyone can make to improve their health, whether a professional player or not.

Stuart A. Spencer, AIA Group Chief Marketing Officer, said: “We’re excited to be collaborating with two of our most important long-term partners, David Beckham and the team at Spurs, to launch this series at a time when so many people are looking for practical ways to improve their health. AIA is committed to creating a movement across the Asia-Pacific region to enable Healthier, Longer, Better Lives. The ability of David Beckham and Spurs to attract and influence the right audience is key to the sustained success of this movement. This series speaks to the importance of taking even small actions to improve our health and wellness, whether relating to getting sufficient sleep, spending time with family and friends, eating well or getting enough exercise.”

The episodes include a focus on the importance of getting sufficient sleep, building on AIA’s successful #OneMoreHour programme, which raises awareness of the physical and mental benefits of sleep. In one episode, David Beckham meets South Korea’s Son Heung-Min and Brazil’s Lucas Moura, both of whom credit stable sleep patterns as one of the major factors in boosting their performance in training and on the pitch. 

Alongside Spurs in-house experts, they discuss how the Club supports them in in establishing good routines, getting enough quality sleep and offer tips everyone can use in their daily lives.  The Spurs team emphasize how the combination of all these individual actions can really help to increase both mental and physical fitness. At a time when we are all focussed on our health, doing what we can to help us be stronger, fitter and boost our immunity has never been more important. 

AIA Global Ambassador, David Beckham, said:  “As new club owner with Inter Miami CF I want to help our team be the best they can be. I am grateful to AIA for giving me the opportunity to learn about Spurs’ pioneering approach to player health and wellness and to get insight from a manager as experienced and successful as Jose was a real privilege. There is a lot of science and new thinking in the game since I was a player but it’s clear that simple things like a solid routine and great sleep are still really important. I am proud to partner with AIA and to see first-hand their commitment to supporting people to live healthier lives.”

Spurs Head Coach, Jose Mourinho, said:  "It was a pleasure to welcome a true football legend like David back to the Club earlier this season and to learn about his affinity to Tottenham Hotspur through his family ties and training at the Club in 2011. We also spent time discussing the virtues of team preparation and ensuring the players are in peak condition both physically and mentally. Leading a healthy lifestyle has never been more important than at the current time and we are proud of AIA’s great work to promote wellbeing through our partnership with them.”

In another episode, Spurs players Harry Winks and Japhet Tanganga join David Beckham to talk about the importance of maintaining discipline when making lifestyle choices, not just from getting enough sleep, but also eating well to give them an extra edge throughout their careers. The combination of all these small steps, combine to make a tangible difference to our health and wellbeing.

Both David Beckham and Spurs are playing a key role in making AIA synonymous with Healthier, Longer, Better Lives, through leveraging the power of football to reach millions across the Asia-Pacific region.

AIA has partnered with Spurs since 2013 and is the Club’s Global Principal Partner. The partnership has been used to promote the vital role that active participation in sport plays in helping people to live Healthier, Longer, Better Lives.

The Club and AIA have seen great success in delivering their unique football development programme, engaging local communities and helping develop the football skills and overall physical fitness to over 55,000 people in 15 of AIA's 18 markets in the Asia-Pacific region.

AIA appointed David Beckham as our Global Ambassador in 2017. As an internationally famous sporting icon, and a dedicated family man, David is playing a leading role helping AIA to promote achievable steps people can take to improve their health and wellness.  AIA launched the #WhatsYourWhy campaign with David, in which members of the public were asked to share their motivation for living a healthier life. Millions of people across Asia viewed and took part in the campaign. David makes frequent visits to AIA markets to help drive the Healthier, Longer, Better Lives movement, where he engages with large numbers of AIA customers, agents, partners and employees.

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AIA Group Limited and its subsidiaries (collectively “AIA” or the “Group”) comprise the largest independent publicly listed pan-Asian life insurance group. It has a presence in 18 markets in Asia-Pacific – wholly-owned branches and subsidiaries in Hong Kong SAR, Mainland China, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan (China), Vietnam, Brunei, Macau SAR, New Zealand, a 99 per cent subsidiary in Sri Lanka, and a 49 per cent joint venture in India.

The business that is now AIA was first established in Shanghai a century ago in 1919. It is a market leader in the Asia-Pacific region (ex-Japan) based on life insurance premiums and holds leading positions across the majority of its markets. It had total assets of US$284 billion as of 31 December 2019.

AIA meets the long-term savings and protection needs of individuals by offering a range of products and services including life insurance, accident and health insurance and savings plans. The Group also provides employee benefits, credit life and pension services to corporate clients. Through an extensive network of agents, partners and employees across Asia-Pacific, AIA serves the holders of more than 36 million individual policies and over 16 million participating members of group insurance schemes.

AIA Group Limited is listed on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited under the stock code “1299” with American Depositary Receipts (Level 1) traded on the over-the-counter market (ticker symbol: “AAGIY”).

Founded in 1882, Tottenham Hotspur Football Club has a tradition of playing an entertaining and attacking style of football. The English Premier League Club, based in North London, reached the final of the UEFA Champions League for the first time in its history in the 2018/2019 season having already secured qualification for Europe’s elite competition for a fourth year in a row.

In April 2019, the Club opened a new 62,303-seat stadium that sits at the heart of a £1billion sport-led regeneration of North Tottenham. The stadium is the largest football club stadium in London and is a multi-use venue with the ability to host a variety of events 365 days a year, including NFL, rugby, concerts and other major events.

When complete, the stadium development scheme will support 3,500 new jobs with £293m pumped into the local economy each year – an increase of 1,700 new jobs and £166m in local spending per year

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