Institutional, legal and regulatory frameworks for corporate governance are the topics for the 2019 Corporate Governance Factbook, released in June 2019 by the OECD. The Factbook provides easily accessible and up-to-date information about the institutional, legal and regulatory frameworks for worldwide corporate governance, and complements the G20/OECD Principles of Corporate Governance. It is intended for use by governments, regulators, and the private sector to compare their own frameworks with

Aetna in May 2019 announced the launch of DNA testing as an optional part of its wellness plans for its European members. The DNA test examines aspects of health and lifestyle, in particular nutrigenomics (the relationship between genes, nutrition and health), fitness, sleep and stress. The goal of the DNA testing is to help members take control of their health and support them to make positive lifestyle changes. Employers

The 2019 Annual Financial Alliance For Women (FAW) Summit will be hosted by AXA from June 17-19 at its headquarters in Paris, France. The theme of the summit is “Building Resilience Through Inclusion” and will focus on highlighting  ways of building women’s economic reliance and growth through inclusivity and empowerment. The summit will commence on the morning of June 17th with a CEO forum, bringing together CEOs from leading

Give an Hour, a US-based, not-for-profit mental health services organization in June 2019 partnered with high profile companies including Facebook, Aetna and IBM to promote global awareness around mental health. The week-long global public education initiative called A Week to Change Direction ran from June 9 to June 15, 2019 with projects registered in 18 countries including Australia, Canada, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, Germany, India, Kenya, South Africa, Turkey,

Generali Belgium in June 2019 became Athora Belgium. The name change is the final stage in the January 2019 acquisition of Generali Belgium by Athora Holding. Since the acquisition, the company is led by CEO Dorsan van Hecke. The Athora brand came into existence at the beginning of 2018 following the spin-off from former parent company Athene Holding. Athora now is an insurance and reinsurance group that focuses on

Bermuda-based Athora Holding in June 2019 announced plans to acquire Netherlands-based Vivat from Anbang Group Holdings along with NN Group of The Netherlands. NN will become the new owner of Vivat Schadeverzekeringen (Vivat Non-Life). Athora will retain Vivat’s life and asset management businesses. The acquisition in the Netherlands comes soon after Athora’s January 2019 acquisition of Generali’s operations in Belgium. It is in line with the company’s external growth

Generali Employee Benefits (GEB) and global consulting and digital solutions company Accenture in April 2019 announced the release of a new blockchain technology solution to be applied to the employee benefits sector. The blockchain technology is reported to facilitate data sharing, thereby  increasing transparency within the reinsurance process for captive or pooling services. It is also designed to reduce processing errors through the use of smart contracts and automated

The Summer 2019 edition of Global Benefits Vision’s Directory of Global Employee Benefits and Global Mobility Providers is now available. The new edition can be browsed online and downloaded as a PDF. If you would like to be considered for free-of-charge inclusion in the Directory, email olivia@gbvmag.com for your Information Pack and Data Form.

Rising medical costs and shifting health drivers fuel innovation in employer-sponsored health plans Medical costs continue to outpace general inflation by close to three times, with a global average 9.7% in 2018 with similar increases for 2019 and 2020, according to the Mercer Marsh Benefits (MMB) 2019 Medical Trends Around the World report, released in June 2019. A survey of 204 insurers across 59 countries, the report assesses how

A new report from MAXIS Global Benefits Network entitled, “In the changing world of employee benefits, does one size fit all?”, reveals that multinational businesses failing to offer more flexible employee benefits packages will struggle to attract and retain staff in an increasingly competitive market for talent. According to the report, the rise of flexible, tailored and personalized E.B. is due in part to the highly sophisticated options now

Gallagher in June 2019 announced that LeAnne Stefl had been appointed Practice Leader of its Multinational Benefits and Human Resources Consulting practice, part of Gallagher’s Benefits and Human Resources division. She reports to Leslie Lemenager, President, International, Benefits and Human Resources division. Stefl joins Gallagher with more than 30 years of insurance industry experience, including executive and leadership positions with several large global consultancies. Most recently, she founded Solvere

As experts in your field, we would appreciate two minutes of your valuable time to answer ten questions to help us best serve our industry, and set the future direction of our GBV magazine +website. For our appreciation of completing the survey, we are offering a one-month, free subcription to GBV magazine and all back issues. Please note your coupon code at the end of the survey and click

Aon and the American Benefits Council have released the Global Benefits Governance and Operations Study 2018/2019. The study queried over 200 multinational companies  ranging in size from over 100,000 to fewer than 10,000 employees, and asked global compensation and benefits leaders for their views on best practices in global benefits management. The survey also explored key issues such as what these organizations can do to improve the alignment of

Wambui Wainaina in May 2019 was appointed Director of Compensation & Benefits at software engineering firm Andela, based in Nairobi, Kenya. Andela hires and trains African software engineers to work in its offices in Lagos, Nigeria; Nairobi, Kenya; and Kampala, Uganda. The 1200 developers work for third-parties that struggle to find technical talents. Wainaina joins Andela from Philip Morris International where she served as Benefits Manager, EEMA. Previously, she

As experts in your field, we would appreciate two minutes of your valuable time to answer ten questions to help us best serve our industry, and set the future direction of our GBV magazine +website. For our appreciation of completing the survey, we are offering a one-month, free subcription to GBV magazine and all back issues. Please note your coupon code at the end of the survey and click

GBV author Ruchika Pal in May 2019 joined Apollo Tyres as Group Head – Corporate HR, based in Singapore. Headquartered in Gurgaon, India, Apollo has 16,000 employees worldwide and manufactures tires under the Apollo and Vredestein brands. Ruchika is in charge of global rewards, global mobility, HR policy, and other corporate HR functions; she also serves as HR Business Partner for all corporate functions. Previously, she was the Founder

Generali group general manager Frédéric de Courtois in May 2019 was elected vice-president of Insurance Europe (IE), for a three-year mandate. He succeeds Torbjörn Magnusson, group CEO and president of Sampo Insurance Group. Insurance Europe is the federation of national re/insurance associations from 34 E.U. and other European countries. Frédéric de Courtois began his career in the IT sector with CGI Informatique in France, before moving to French insurance

Worldwide Broker Network (WBN) in May 2019 appointed Alan Fergusson as Employee Benefits Director and member of the executive staff, based in the UK. He reports to WBN CEO Francie Starnes and replaces LeAnne Stefl who joins Gallagher as head of global benefits. Alan held his previous position as managing director of Mattioli Woods after selling his company – Kudos Financial Services in 2011. He has previously served on

Independent captive management firm USA Risk Group‘s senior management team in May 2019 completed a management buyout from Spencer Capital Holdings. The buyout includes operations from all jurisdictions USA Risk Group operates in. The senior management team includes Paul Macey as President; Rob Leadbetter, Senior Vice President and Charmain Aggarwal, Vice President. Jeanne Crawford leads the Barbados office; John Tortell, the Malta office; and Steven Lill, the Cayman Islands

As experts in your field, we would appreciate two minutes of your valuable time to answer ten questions to help us best serve our industry, and set the future direction of our GBV magazine +website. For our appreciation of completing the survey, we are offering a one-month, free subcription to GBV magazine and all back issues. Please note your coupon code at the end of the survey and click

Out of 25 OECD countries for which data are available, the United States, Canada, Sweden, Norway, Ireland, England, and Wales experienced a rise in the average of opioid-related deaths (ORD) of more than 20% from 2011-2016. These findings are highlighted in the May 2019 OECD release: Addressing Problematic Opioid Use in OECD Countries, which calls for governments to take urgent action to combat the rise of ORD. In Canada,

The OECD in May 2019 published its Economic Outlook, containing analysis and projections for its 36 member countries and other major economies. A summary of the Economic Outlook and key data is accessible at http://www.oecd.org/economy/economic-outlook/. A special chapter in the Outlook analyses the ongoing digital transformation of the economy and complementary effects on productivity, which is one of the key themes of the 2019 OECD Forum and Ministerial Council

U.S. health insurer and administrator Cigna and pharmacy benefit management organization Express Scripts in May 2019 announced they collaborated with Amazon Alexa, a virtual assistant device, to produce two new voice skills. Express Scripts customers who use prescription home delivery services will now be able to manage their pharmacy prescriptions using voice technology. By saying “Alexa, open Express Scripts”, users can monitor their prescription order status and receive notifications

As experts in your field, we would appreciate two minutes of your valuable time to answer ten questions to help us best serve our industry, and set the future direction of our GBV magazine +website. For our appreciation of completing the survey, we are offering a one-month, free subcription to GBV magazine and all back issues. Please note your coupon code at the end of the survey and click

8th  WPC Forum, Brussels 23 & 24 May 2019: Pension and Insurance in the ‘Age of Geoeconomics’ Nicolas J. Firzli is Director-General of the World Pensions Council (WPC), a Paris, France-based international association of public and private pension institutions, and an Advisory Board Member for the World Bank Group Global Infrastructure Facility (GIF). GBV: Nicolas, you are one of the original coiners of terms such as ‘The New Silk

Nike, in January 2019, promoted Daniela Carstea as Director, EMEA & Asia Benefits, based in Hilversum. Carstea held her previous position as Global Benefits Manager since 2016 and was also a Global Employee Benefits consultant from 2013 to 2015. She left Nike briefly from 2015 to 2016 to be  Benefits Management Europe Lead for Teva Pharmaceuticals. Prior to that she was with Nike EMEA as a Global Employee Benefits

AXA, in April 2019, promoted Yann Illouz to Group Pension and Savings Director. He was previously the Group Pension and Savings deputy director and chief sales officer since joining AXA in 2018. Illouz came to AXA from Arial CNP Assurances, where he was Deputy General Manager from 2014 to 2018, and CNP Europe Life, where he was most recently Head of Retirement Services, as well as CEO from 2009