The 2016 Asia Pacific Health Conference, to be held in Singapore on 14 July 2016, will share the findings of two studies by Willis Towers Watson pertaining to the Asia-Pacific region. The 2015/2016 Staying@Work survey will present how organizations take steps to develop and implement health and productivity programs to improve health culture and well-being. The 2015/2016 Global Medical Trends survey will show the results of medical cost tracking

Humanis, a large French employee benefits carrier that operates mainly as a paritarian institution and also is a major provider of health, life and retirement coverage for expatriates, in June 2016 hosted the ninth edition of its “Rencontres de la Mobilité Internationale” – or Global Mobility Conference. Compliance matters! A recurring theme heard over and over again at the conference, both from speakers and from attending practitioners, is the

Released in April 2016, a study entitled Association Between Carbohydrate Nutrition and Successful Aging Over 10 Years of more than 1,600 adults aged 50 years and older revealed that a diet rich in fiber from breads/cereals and fruits could be part of a successful strategy for aging successfully. A group of researchers from Australia’s Westmead Institute for Medical Research led by Associate Professor Bamini Gopinath, PhD, examined the relationship

Generali Group’s new CEO Philippe Donnet does not lose any time in making changes to the structure of the global insurance leader from Trieste, Italy. Generali in May 2016 announced the formation of a new “Global Business Lines & International” business unit, which will consolidate the individual units of Generali Global Business Lines (GBL), i.e. Generali Global Corporate & Commercial, Generali Employee Benefits (GEB), and Generali Global Health and

When the Lumina Foundation studied the Cigna Corporation’s Employee Reimbursement Program, they discovered that reimbursing employees for tuition spent on higher education is a valuable business investment that “translates into quantifiable cost avoidance for Cigna.” The Lumina Foundation, a national foundation focused on increasing post-secondary attainment, partnered with Cigna to design the study, which was conducted by Accenture. Lumina’s analysis of Cigna’s Educational Reimbursement Program (ERP) revealed that encouraging

Worldwide Broker Network (WBN) in May 2016 announced today the appointment of LeAnne Stefl as Director of Employee Benefits, reporting to Francie Starnes, WBN’s President and Chief Operating Officer. Founded in 1989, WBN today includes more than 100 firms on six continents. WBN members’ combined annual property & casualty and employee benefits premiums exceed $50 billion. LeAnne joins WBN from WBN member and broker HUB International, where she was

Patsy Langridge in May 2016 was appointed Chief Marketing Officer of MAXIS Global Benefits Network, an AXA and MetLife partnership. Based in MAXIS’ new headquarters in London, Patsy reports to Thierry Mestach, head of markets and strategy, working closely with the company’s CEO, Mauro Dugulin, as well as the other members of MAXIS’ leadership team, including Andrew Stocker, Head of Business Development, Philippe Ly Van Luong, Head of Technical

New regulations dealing with the protection of personal data for the citizens of the European Union went into effect on 25 May, 2016. E.U. General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 (GDPR) will fully replace Directive 95/35/EC in 2018, after a two-year transitional period. The new regulations, drawn up in 2012 for the purpose of ensuring a consistent and high level of protection of an individual’s personal data and rights, have

After hearing pension specialists all over the world moaning about the adverse effects of increased longevity, and seeing insurers and reinsurers alike offloading longevity risk onto (unsuspecting?) financial markets as if their lives (or at least their bonuses) depended on it, GBV found it both intriguing and refreshing that a respected and composed organization such as The Economist had the intestinal fortitude to organize a two-day conference in November

The National Center for Health Statistics (NHCS) in May 2016 reported that the percentage of Americans without health insurance has dropped below 10%, mostly due to provisions in the 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA) that give federal premium subsidies to low-income individuals to help them underwrite the cost of health insurance. In many cases, the insured pay little or no money to be included under health plans available in

The women’s market for insurance worldwide is growing rapidly, and is projected to attract $1.45 to $1.7 trillion through 2030, well up from the $800 million the insurance industry realized in 2013. Most significantly, over half of those trillions will come from emerging economies in Brazil, China, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Morocco, Nigeria, Thailand, and Turkey. Recognizing the potential of these untapped markets, AXA, IFC, and Accenture collaborated to

For its 47th edition, the 2017 edition of the IBIS Academy will be held in Cannes, France, from May 1 to May 5, 2017 and include a three-day Global Mobility track, co-developed and co-hosted with AIRINC, as well as the IBIS Institute, a “boot camp” for practitioners; and the IBIS Conference, a series of cutting-edge presentations and panels for more experienced colleagues. Some sessions are shared between tracks and

AEIP, NCCMP and MEBCO on June 16 and 17 2016 jointly organize the 8th edition of the Transatlantic Conference, which will be held in Rome, Italy. The European Association of Paritarian Institutions (AEIP), the U.S. National Coordinating Committee for Multiemployer Plans (NCCMP) and the Multi-employer Benefit Plan Council of Canada (MEBCO) signed a protocol in 2008 with the purpose of better coordinating their lobbying activities where common interests are

IGP hosts its annual international employee benefits seminar in Boston, Massachusetts on May 9-11, 2017. The seminar includes a choice of up to 12 country panel presentations about local social security programs and customary private employee benefits practice, including legislative updates and recent trends and new products. Several keynote presentations address key issues of interest to global employee benefits professionals. Optional training sessions on multinational pooling, IGP’s “International Experience

Just when U.S. employers were getting the hang of program rules under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and HIPAA, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in May 2016 has added new regulations on to workplace wellness programs. These regulations, issued under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), are additional to the requirements already necessary for compliance with ACA/HIPAA wellness programs. These rules

Frédéric de Courtois, 49 and current CEO of AXA Italy, will head Generali’s new Global Business Lines & International business unit starting in September 2016. He will report to Group CEO Philippe Donnet. De Courtois currently leads the integration of AXA Assicurazioni and AXA MPS into AXA One Italy. He previously served in leadership roles in AXA Japan, AXA Asia P&C, and AXA RE, as well as positions in

Medical error may be the third cause of death in the United States, just behind cancer and heart disease, but we can’t be sure thanks to a flaw in the reporting system that tracks such things. Martin Makary and Michael Daniel of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine hope to change all that, as they explain in their analysis of the system used by the U.S. Centers for Disease

Researchers warn against a particular strain of E-coli bacteria found in Chinese farms and patients that is proving to be resistant to a particular group of veterinary antibiotics called polymyxins. This group of antibiotics is considered to be the last line of defense against food-borne bacteria such as E-coli and salmonella, and its overuse has created a polymyxin-resistant bacteria strain according to a report released in November 2015 in

Insurance broker and risk advisor Marsh in May 2016 announced that Nick Durant will lead Marsh’s Global Captive Solutions Practice, taking over from Chris Lay, who has been named President and CEO of Marsh Canada. Mr. Durant will be based in New York and report to John Drzik, President of Marsh’s Global Risk and Specialties division. Mr. Durant most recently served as Marsh’s global analytics sales leader. Prior to joining

Lockton Benefits in May 2016 announced that Arturo Fisher has been appointed as Vice President and Senior Global Total Rewards Consultant in Lockton’s Chicago employee benefits operation, reporting to Ken Wexler, Senior Vice President and Employee Benefits Practice Leader in Chicago, with a further functional reporting line to Pam Enright, Senior Vice President and Director of Lockton Global Benefits. With more than 27 years of experience in global HR

Despite moving at what may seem sometimes as a glacial pace, RESAVER, the pan-European pension plan project, appears to have reached a major milestone. RESAVER, which is set up as a defined contribution (DC) scheme that will provide second-pillar pension benefits, selected its key operational components – namely its third-party service providers – in April 2016, paving the way for its launch. BlackRock has been selected as the asset

As a response to growing concerns over the high cost of cancer care, the Northeast Business Group on Health (NEBGH) Solutions Center, over the course of two 2015 workshops, mounted a study that surveyed 19 self-insured employers representing 1.2 million employees, as well as physicians, oncology experts, employer benefits professionals, executives from health plans, hospitals, consulting organizations, cancer associations, and suppliers of healthcare-related services. The purpose of the study

Marking GEB’s 50th anniversary, the 2016 edition of the GEB Forum will be held in Brussels, Belgium, from November 21 to 23, 2016. The preliminary agenda includes several presentations and round tables on the future challenges of the Employee Benefits industry. The event website is here. For more information on attending, contact the GEB event team at gebforum@geb.com .

IGP hosts the Americas regional version of its international employee benefits seminar in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on September 15, 2016. During the seminar, HR professionals, C&B specialists, Risk Managers and Finance Executives of all levels have the opportunity to discuss past, current and future employee benefits trends with industry specialists and their peers. A mix of country panels with a focus on the Americas is provided, along with topical

IGP hosts the Asia-Pacific regional version of its international employee benefits seminar in Singapore on September 29, 2016. During the seminar, HR professionals, C&B specialists, Risk Managers and Finance Executives of all levels have the opportunity to discuss past, current and future employee benefits trends with industry specialists and their peers. A mix of country panels with a focus on the Asia-Pacific region is provided, along with topical plenary

Lockton Global Benefits is hosting its annual Global Benefits Forum in three locations in 2016: Chicago, London and Singapore, responding to a growing trend among corporations to reduce travel by employees. Regardless, in-person meetings and conferences are still irreplaceable for focused learning and for networking; hence, industry conferences are a good investment of time and money for global employee benefits practitioners and experts alike. The theme of each Forum