MetLife is building a centre of excellence for finance in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The centre will partner with the insurer’s local and global teams to provide expertise and support on financial reporting, planning and analysis, and financial technology systems.

Located at the Vertical Corporate Towers in the heart of Kuala Lumpur’s Bangsar South commercial district, the centre will open in mid-2019 and will employ over 80 people.

With a population of over seven million, the greater Kuala Lumpur area has a diverse, highly-trained and multilingual talent base, a statement by MetLife said. The insurer is recruiting actuaries, chartered accountants, and other financial professionals to staff the new centre, and recently held recruitment events at Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman and Sunway University.

“We are delighted to open our new centre in Kuala Lumpur,” said Rick Butler, MetLife’s vice president for finance transformation in Asia. “The centre is well positioned to leverage the available skillset and geographic proximity to Asia to deliver best-in-class service to our colleagues and customers in this region and beyond.”

MetLife has other centres of excellence in Asia, including a technology and operations hub in Malaysia and LumenLab, an innovation centre in Singapore. MetLife also established a strategic partnership with AmBank Group in Malaysia in 2014. The company, known as AmMetLife, offers life insurance and family takaful.