IGP’s “Workshop on International Employee Benefits, Multinational Pooling & Captives” provides an opportunity for the European advisor community to learn more about multinational pooling and captives. The workshop is mainly aimed at newcomers to the international benefits field or people needing a refresher course on international pooling & captive matters and the services IGP can offer. The program runs on June 7, 2018 from 10:00 to 16:15 and includes

Pensions at a Glance 2017, a new report issued in December 2017 by the OECD, warns that further reforms are needed across OECD countries to mitigate the impact of population aging, increasing inequality among the elderly and changing the nature of work. The OECD also says that public spending on pensions for the OECD as a whole has risen by about 1.5% of GDP since 2000; however, the pace

As the growth of pan-European pension plans is reported to accelerate, asset manager Amundi and insurer LaLux jointly organize a topical half-day conference on 5 February 2018 in Luxembourg. Featured speakers include: Luxembourg Minister of Finance, Pierre Gramegna European Commission head of the insurance and pensions unit, Nathalie Berger PensionsEurope CEO, Matti Leppala EIOPA Executive Director, Fausto Parente Create Research CEO, Prof. Amin Rajan Group head of compensation &

Engineers at Cornell University have developed a simple method for gathering a patient’s vital signs using radio waves. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags use low-power radio frequencies and are similar to the anti-theft tags we find in department stores. These ‘passive’ RFID tags require no batteries, and can transmit information such as heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing rates from multiple patients simultaneously. By measuring internal body motion, such

Deloitte in December 2017 released three reports discussing potential developments in the insurance industry for 2018 and beyond. 2018 Insurance Industry Outlook – Industry trends, strategies to stay competitive Page with link to report 2018 U.S. Insurance Regulatory Outlook – Forging ahead amid uncertainty Page with link to report IAIS update: 2017 annual meeting – Insurance supervisors focus on risk and regulatory standards Page with link to report The

The RIMS-Certified Risk Management Professional certification (RIMS-CRMP), is now the only certification program in the world to hold accredited status, RIMS announced in December 2017. RIMS-CRMP received official accreditation by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) under ISO/IEC 1702:2012. ANSI accreditation signifies that the Institute recognizes the competence of RIMS to carry out certification activities in accordance with requirements defined in International Standards and confirms approval by government and

Sleep technology firm Shleep in December 2017 announced plans to showcase its neuroscience-driven sleep application at CES 2018. Available on iOS and Android mobile devices, Shleep is a fun, easy to use, science-based sleep coaching app that helps people change their behavior to improve sleep. Poor sleep has many negative effects More than a third of American adults are not getting enough sleep on a regular basis and, as

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s report, Technology and Pensions, was released in December 2017, providing an overview of how technology (FinTech) is being used to improve pension design and delivery and how regulators are managing these changes. The report comes after a discussion on the challenges that regulators face to support FinTech from a roundtable held at the G20/OECD Task Force on Financial Consumer Protection meeting held

Governments in Paris, Berlin, London, Madrid, and Rome sent a joint letter to U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin in mid-December 2017 warning him of the risk of tax treaty violations arising from the tax reform under discussion in the United States. If Donald Trump is relying heavily on the tax reform submitted to Congress in autumn − to rebuild his image − he is sending shudders through

Randstad North America, a global provider of HR services, in December 2017 released its 4th Quarter Talent Trends Quarterly, an analysis of current hiring and workplace trends that will impact the U.S. workplace in 2018 and beyond. The report opens with a warning to human capital and business leaders: ‘embrace change to (their workforce’s) advantage or potentially fall behind’, and recommends that employers ‘become more agile, open, and flexible

The overarching theme of the 48th edition of the IBIS Academy is “Your Future, Your Workforce” – what does it take to be an employer of choice in the coming years? Sponsors Announced Sponsors announced for 2018 include headline sponsor Cigna; Diamond sponsor GeoBlue; other sponsors known as of mid-December 2017 include tax advisors GTN, ECA International, and law firm Littler Mendelson. The week-long 2018 IBIS Academy includes a

The Organization for Economic Development (OECD), in December 2017 released a new report, Robo-Advice for Pensions, which looks at the rising trend of technological innovation in finance, specifically the robo-advice model. This model has been proposed as one potential solution for helping individuals manage pensions and invest for retirement. Essentially, ‘robo-advisors’ propose to make investing more affordable and accessible for consumers by relying on user-friendly digital platforms, algorithms, and

Swiss Re in December 2017 announced the appointment of John Dacey, who is currently the group’s Chief Strategy Officer, to replace David Cole, who is stepping down as Chief Financial Officer, effective 1 April, 2018. Dacey, who holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Washington University and a Master’s degree in Public Policy from Harvard University, joined Swiss Re in 2012, after serving as Group Regional CEO and

Cigna in December 2017 announced the appointment of Thien Brechon as Senior Sales Director France. She is responsible for leading the organization’s expanding health insurance services for globally mobile employees and works in partnership with Nicolas Redant, Sales Director for France, Belgium, Luxembourg and French-speaking Switzerland. Specifically, Brechon is tasked to develop Cigna’s presence in France. She will lead initiatives to provide personalized healthcare products and services for globally

Abelica Global, an international network of financially and legally independent actuarial consulting firms, in December 2017 announced that it was joined by Portuguese firm Actuariado. Actuariado advises Portuguese clients on a range of actuarial and related consulting issues for both employee benefits and insurance. They also provide services to a number of clients in the Portuguese speaking African countries of Angola, Cabo Verde, and Mozambique. ‘We are happy to

Swiss Re in December 2017 announced their intent to merge the Group Chief Financial Officer and Group Chief Strategy Officer roles, bringing the total number of Group Executive Committee members to 12. The world’s second-largest reinsurer will also propose adding three new members to its Board of Directors when they hold their annual general meeting on April 20. Karen Gavan, Eileen Rominger, and Larry Zimpleman are expected to replace

UNCTAD, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in December 2017 launched its annual Handbook of Statistics to celebrate its fiftieth year of publication. The 2017 edition has been overhauled, making it user-friendly, and features a wealth of maps, charts, and infographics. Of particular interest to anyone involved in global mobility or multinational business, the Handbook provides a coherent overview of trends worldwide, as well as novel summary

DaVita Medical Group, a U.S. independent medical group and a subsidiary of DaVita, and Optum, a health services company that is part of UnitedHealth Group, have agreed to merge as of 5 December 2017 for approximately $4.9 billion in cash. The transaction is expected to close in 2018 and is subject to regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions. DaVita, a Fortune 500 company, is the parent company of

The announcement that CVS Health has purchased Aetna, referred to in our earlier news item, was made on Sunday, 4 December 2017, laying to rest months of rumor and speculation. The acquisition sets the stage for a new type of company that will include a health insurer, a retail pharmacy, and a pharmacy benefits manager that negotiates prescription drug prices with drug-makers. The announcement comes at a time when

British insurer Britannia’s plans in relation to Brexit include a location in Luxembourg. A P&I club, Britannia is one of the leading U.K. marine insurers. Its contracts generally cover pollution risks and accidents at sea. 40% of gross written premiums is in the E.U. market, which it cannot cut itself off from. The company in December 2017 announced that the board of directors, after consulting with experts, had mandated

Zenefits, the embattled San Francisco-based HR software company, has jettisoned its Broker-of-Record (BOR) business after Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler ordered the company to cease free distribution of its HR software, and has partnered with OneDigital Health and Benefits as first benefits brokerage partner. Zenefits, founded in 2014 by Parker Conrad, offered software that promised to streamline HR tasks for small businesses. While this was lauded at the time

Employee benefit consultants (EBCs) are forecasting market growth for the United Kingdom, despite concerns about major challenges from newly-introduced data regulations and the impact of Brexit. New research* published in November 2017 by MetLife Employee Benefits shows that more than two out of five consultants (42%) expect their businesses to grow over the next year and another 41% believe they will, at the very least, stand still. Just 13%

Chicago-based global insurance brokerage Hub International in November 2017 announced that it has acquired the assets of the Burlington, Vermont-based Summit Financial Corporation and Summit Financial Insurance Agency. Summit’s leadership team and staff will continue to operate out of Summit’s existing offices and will report to Charles Brophy, President and CEO, Regional President, Hub International US East. Summit, founded by Joe Bonasera and Brian Babcock, is one of New

Aetna International has announced the launch of Access US, a product aimed at helping any non-US headquartered company that currently has, or is hiring, American citizens based in the USA. The Access US Plans are an ideal fit for companies with geographically dispersed employees located in the US. They are an ACA-compliant (Obamacare-compliant) medical product designed for organizations with 50 or more total employees worldwide and allow US companies

Lockton in November 2017 added six new hires to its U.K. domestic and global employee benefits teams. Michael Gillan joins Lockton as Associate Benefits Consultant. Michael joins Lockton from Ombudsman Services where he worked as Investigation Officer. Prior to this, Michael spent four years as Group Risk Scheme Underwriter at Friends Life/Aviva. Michael joins the Manchester team to add additional risk expertise to Lockton’s growing portfolio of SME clients.

EY in November 2017 announced a partnership with Concur to develop services that help global business travelers manage tax and immigration compliance risks via Concur’s App Center. The integrated offering will capture relevant travel and business activity data within Concur. Using EY tax and immigration technology, the integration will analyze Concur data to make real-time assessments of a business traveler’s tax and immigration obligations before they travel. Corporate users

KPMG and global provider of Human Capital Management (HCM) solutions ADP in November 2017 joined forces to help multinational companies better manage employees who need to relocate from one country to another. By combining KPMG’s Global Mobility Services (GMS) practice, including its proprietary LINK Enterprise technology platform, with the ADP Global Payroll solution, the two companies can provide multinational companies with an integrated approach to managing payrolls and reporting