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

Industry lobby, the Cross-Border Benefits Alliance (CBBA) will hold a half-day conference focusing on “The French perspective on Cross-border and pan-European pensions” on 8 October 2018 in Paris, France. The program includes six timely discussions: New EU regulatory initiatives to promote cross-border and pan-European pensions, with Carine Pilot-Osborn, Senior Pension Expert, European Securities and Markets Authority Insurance and Pensions (EIOPA) ESG investments of pension funds, with François-Guy Trebulle, Director

Young people in Britain face mounting debts and unaffordable living expenses according to new research from Neyber, but employers believe employees are borrowing less this year. The September 2018 study, carried out among 10,000 UK employees, found that 70% of people under the age of 34 need to borrow regularly either to pay their monthly bills or deal with day-to-day living expenses. However, only 77% of employers, down from

Generali Employee Benefits (GEB) in September 2018 announced the launch of CIAO, a mobile health app designed to help clients promote healthy behaviors within their organizations, encourage employees to improve their overall health and address lifestyle-related illnesses such as obesity, diabetes, stress, and heart disease. The CIAO app has been developed in partnership with UK-based health tech firm Tictrac. Through research and a deep understanding of consumer behavior and

New research published by MetLife UK in September 2018 shows nearly two out of three SME bosses worry their staff face a benefits protection gap in comparison with workers at larger firms. The nationwide survey of companies employing between 50 and 300 staff – equivalent to around 34,000 businesses with an annual turnover of £541 billion and employing 3.3 million people – found 63% of bosses worry about a

Fragomen, Del Rey, Bernsen & Loewy (Fragomen) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in September 2018 announced a strategic alliance to offer common immigration, tax and global mobility services to clients and their cross-border employees. Cross-border employee mobility is changing dramatically with frequent business travel replacing traditional, long-term assignments and relocations. In addition, the geopolitical landscape makes immigration increasingly complex. Developments in the field are creating new compliance challenges for organizations as

American International Group (AIG) in September 2018 acquired Glatfelter Insurance Group, a Pennsylvania-based full-service broker and insurance company that provides services for specialty programs and retail operations. Headquartered in York, Pennsylvania, Glatfelter “brings high-quality program underwriting capabilities that will accelerate the strategic positioning of AIG’s general insurance business,” AIG said in a statement. Glatfelter is a large privately owned U.S. insurance broker and has more than 500 employees. Its

Alistair Fraser in September 2018 was appointed chief executive officer of the U.K. corporate division of global broker Marsh. Fraser previously was CEO and president director of Marsh Indonesia and a member of Marsh Asia’s executive committee. He succeeds Joe Grogan, who has been named the chairman of Marsh Ireland. He will report to Chris Lay, CEO of Marsh UK & Ireland. Grogan, who will concentrate on Marsh’s Brexit

Global HR services firm Randstad in September 2018 released its Q2 2018 Workmonitor survey results. The survey tracks employee confidence and captures the likelihood of an employee changing jobs within the next 6 months, provides a comprehensive understanding of sentiments and trends in key job markets around the world. Published once per quarter, it also covers local and global trends in mobility, job satisfaction and motivation across 34 countries

Cigna in September 2018 announced the launch of Cigna Ventures, a corporate venture fund focused on transformative and innovative healthcare companies. Cigna has committed $250 million of capital to help it find, assess and sponsor early-stage innovation ideas that call for deeper exploration through pilots and test-and-learn activities. The $250 million will be used to invest in startups and growth-stage companies across three strategic areas: insights and analytics; digital

The fledgling Berkshire Hathaway, Amazon and JPMorgan Chase health care company for employees in September 2018 appointed Jack Stoddard as chief operating officer. Stoddard joins the company from media firm Comcast, where he was General Manager of the Digital Health division; and previously, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Strategy Officer of Comcast Ventures’ investee Accolade, a health technology and services company providing health navigation and care coordination to consumers.

Next Insurance, a Palo Alto, California-based digital insurance company that focuses on small businesses, in August 2018 became a licensed insurance carrier, shedding its brokerage business model. As a carrier, Next Insurance is able to write policies independently, resulting in better control over underwriting, pricing, and policy wording. The company now works directly with U.S. state insurance regulators to introduce innovations in the small business insurance market, including on-demand