Generali Global Health (GGH) in November 2018 announced the appointment of John Kaye as Head of Business Development, EMEA. He reports to Chief Commercial Officer Stuart Leatherby and is located in London. Prior to joining GGH, Kaye worked at Cigna International for 16 years, with roles in Client Services and Business Development in the Middle East and Asia, before becoming Managing Director for Europe. Previously, he was Client Manager

A survey conducted by Swiss Life in Switzerland, France, Germany, Austria, and the United Kingdom and published in November 2018 found that only 46% of respondents feel confident about their current financial situation. The differences in the individual countries are huge: 65% of Swiss respondents said they feel comfortable with their finances and only 27% feel financially stressed. By contrast, financial confidence in Austria (48%), Germany (44%) and the

Generali Global Health (GGH) in November 2018 appointed Ran Wang as Head of Market Development for the Asia-Pacific Region, based in Singapore and reporting to Chief Commercial Officer Stuart Leatherby. GGH is Generali’s specialist division for international private health insurance (iPMI). Both GGH and Generali have a strong focus on the Asia-Pacific region. Ran joins GGH from Aetna International, where he held the position of Regional Head of Strategy and

Generali in September 2018 changed its organizational structure. Group CEO Philippe Donnet adapted Generali’s organization to carry out the new Strategic Plan 2019-2021 and better support “integrated projects at Group level and a strong involvement of the operating companies within the Group.” A new position of General Manager reports to the Group CEO. Frédéric de Courtois is in charge of the Group CFO; Group Chief Marketing & Customer Officer;

Lloyd’s in October 2018 confirmed it will be able to write facultative and excess of loss treaty reinsurance on Lloyd’s Brussels paper from January 1, 2019 across all markets in the European Economic Area (EEA). Should the UK not secure Solvency II reinsurance equivalence in 2019, Lloyd’s will be ready to process proportional treaty reinsurance business through Lloyd’s Brussels from January 1, 2020. In any event, the market said

Generali in October 2018 launched a new Cyber Insurance division as well as a start-up, CyberSecurTech, to address cyber risks. The new division combines cyber insurance products with Generali CyberSecurTech, led by CEO Remo Marini, and which will deploy cyber risk assessment methodologies for customers. Generali recently launched the in-house designed and developed Majorana technology platform. It collects and analyses customer data, starting from an assessment of the customer’s

AIG in October 2018 received approval from British courts for its European subsidiary, AIG Europe Limited (AEL) to transfer its business into two new entities: American International Group UK Limited (AIG UK), based in London, UK, and AIG Europe SA (AESA) in preparation for Brexit. AESA’s headquarters are in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, and has 21 branches across the European Economic Area and Switzerland. It is led by Christophe Nicolas

In need of great employees to take your company to the next level? Look no further than Global Benefits Vision. GBV is proud to introduce GBV Open Jobs, where employers and recruiting firms can advertise open positions on the home page of the only independent, knowledge-oriented global employee benefits and global mobility website. Listings on Open Jobs can include links, embedded images, videos, and PDF files to help make

Aon in October 2018 announced it had established a “New Ventures” group and appointed its senior leaders. The stated goal is “to further accelerate the creation of new sources of value for [our] clients”. Aon in 2018 already created the “Aon Operating Committee”; appointed two new co-presidents – Michael O’Connor and Eric Andersen; and transitioned to a single Aon brand. The “New Ventures” initiative is a component of the

Global brokerage Arthur J. Gallagher (Gallagher) in October 2018 acquired global employee benefits and global mobility firm Richter International Consulting, based in Issaquah, Washington – U.S.A, near Seattle. Richter International designs international benefits programs for multinational companies and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and their employees. Offerings include: expatriate health plans, international employee assistance plans (EAP), international medical and security assistance programs, traveler medical insurance, business travel accident insurance, disaster preparedness

IPMI provider Generali Global Health (GGH) in October 2018 enhanced its Global Choice iPMI product by adding the My Digital Doctor app. Using a smart phone or tablet, beneficiaries now can schedule video and phone consultations with a global, multilingual team of doctors 24 hours a day. Through the new app, GGH members are able to discuss all aspects of primary care; manage ongoing conditions with a doctor and

AIRINC in October 2018 appointed Joanna Wakeham as General Manager, EMEA, reporting to President & CEO Steve Brink. She will be based in London, U.K. Jo will be responsible for EMEA client relationships and will lead business development activities in the region. Her experience mostly is with relocation management companies. She most recently held the role of senior vice president at BGRS (formerly Brookfield), and previously was Global Client

According to figures released in October 2018 by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), global foreign direct investment (FDI) fell by 41% in the first half of 2018 to an estimated $470 billion from $800 billion in the same period in 2017, mainly due to large repatriations of accumulated foreign earnings from United States parent companies affiliates abroad. This comes on the heels of US tax

Willis Towers Watson (WTW) in October 2018 announced it would expand its existing partnership with InsurTech platform Plug and Play. WTW will now have access to all of Plug and Play’s InsurTech international platforms, which include Beijing, Munich, New York, Silicon Valley, Singapore and Tokyo. WTW and Plug and Play also partner on innovation platforms dealing with health and wellness, as well as on transforming management structures, company culture

According to research published in October 2018 by Swiss Re Institute, the research arm of Swiss Re, the health protection gap in Asia reached US$1.8 trillion in 2017 and exhibits a growing trend. The corresponding global figure is $2.9 trillion, with the difference coming mostly from Latin America ($0.7 trillion) and Africa ($0.3 trillion). Central and Eastern Europe comes in at $143 billion. To put these figures into perspective, in

Finding out which laws and regulations apply in the U.S. and especially when crossing the U.S. border sometimes is a complex matter. Case in point: the marijuana industry is legal in certain U.S. States such as Colorado or California but is illegal as per federal law. So what happens when a marijuana industry official enters the U.S. by way of, say, San Francisco International airport? The U.S. Customs and

Willis Towers Watson (WTW) in October 2018 appointed Pamela Thomson-Hall as head of its Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa (CEEMEA) region, which includes more than 40 countries. Based in London, UK, and reporting to Adam Garrard, Head of International, she was also named head of Corporate Risk and Broking (CRB) for the same CEEMEA region. Pamela Thomson-Hall joined WTW in 1999 as General Counsel for the

The global wellness industry grew 12.8% in the last two years, from a $3.7 trillion market in 2015 to $4.2 trillion in 2017, according to an in-depth research report, the 2018 Global Wellness Economy Monitor, released by the nonprofit Global Wellness Institute (GWI). The report was released at the 12th annual Global Wellness Summit in Cesena, Italy, which attracted 630+ industry leaders from 50 nations. This all new data

Unum Group in October 2018 acquired Pramerica Życie TUiR SA from U.S. insurer Prudential Financial. Unum is a provider of employee benefits products and services, and the largest provider of group and individual disability income protection insurance in the U.S. and UK. Pramerica Zycie offers group and individual life insurance products in Poland. Aneta Podyma-Milczarek, president of Pramerica Życie, will report to Unum UK President and CEO Peter O’Donnell.

Mari-Lizette Malherbe in October 2018 was appointed CEO of Munich Re’s U.K. and Irish life reinsurance business. Malherbe spent her entire career at Munich Re. Before her appointment as CEO, UK and Ireland Life, she was Commercial Director, UK and Ireland Life; Head of Pricing and Marketing; and Pricing Actuary, based in London. Previously, she was a Marketing Actuary in Johannesburg, South Africa; held the same position in Beijing,

IGP will host its annual global employee benefits seminar in Dublin, Ireland, 21-23 May 2019. Registrations will open in December 2018. In the course of 2.5 days,  the network will be offering a mix of country panels by local experts from all around the globe (a choice out of more than 30 countries), regional Q&A sessions and plenary sessions with guest speakers. Plenty of peer-to-peer networking opportunities are available

Industry body Insurance Europe in October 2018 called for a two-year delay before IFRS 17 comes into force in order to solve remaining issues. IFRS 17 (International Financial Reporting Standard 17) is a forthcoming European accounting standard that substantially changes the way in which premiums, claims, and other components of an insurer’s or reinsurer’s profit and loss statement are reported. It is intended to come into force for annual

Diego Fernandez since September 2018 leads GeoBlue as President and Chief Executive Officer, succeeding Guillaume Deybach who has left the company. Established in the late 1990’s, GeoBlue is the iPMI (international private medical insurance) joint-venture between BlueCross – BlueShield (U.S.A.) and BUPA (UK). Prior to GeoBlue, Diego’s led sales and middle markets at Bupa Global Latin America. Earlier, he was Cigna International Taiwan’s Chief Operating Officer and Cigna Healthcare

The Cross-Border Benefits Alliance (CBBA) will hold the 2018 edition of its yearly flagship conference on 27 and 28 November 2018 in Brussels, Belgium. The first day is dedicated to pension funds. The second day will address healthcare and other social benefits. We will publish a detailed agenda as it becomes available. Register your interest and request more information by emailing info@cbba-europe.eu.

The Cross-Border Benefits Alliance (CBBA) will hold a half-day conference focusing on the “Swiss viewpoint on Cross-border and pan-European pensions” on 25 October 2018 in Zurich, Switzerland. The program includes three sessions: Cross-border solutions: experiences and opinions of plan sponsors, with Jacqueline Lommen, State Street Global Advisors; Ron Steijn, Global Head Compensation & Pensions, ABB; Daniel Cervantes, Global Head Total Rewards, DSM; Olga Ruf-Fiedler, Dow Chemical Cross-border solutions: experiences

Ahead of Brexit, London-based Prudential in August 2018 announced the reorganization of its long-term non-UK European operations. Currently, Prudential’s European operations are split across The Prudential Assurance Company (PAC), based in the UK, and Prudential International Assurance (PIA), based in Ireland. Going forward, all long-term European business, excluding the UK, will be written by PIA. This includes today’s PAC Poland, PAC France, PAC Malta, and PAC’s branches in Germany

International health insurance provider Generali Global Health (GGH) in October 2018 upgraded its product, Global Choice, by adding a new wellness app called Bria. Bria is a mobile app that helps members identify health risks and take preventative steps. It also offers access to health advice, according to each member’s situation and goals. Bria connects with over 1,000 popular health and activity trackers and is available for free to