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,

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

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.

Marsh & McLennan (MMC) in September 2018 announced the acquisition of Jardine Lloyd Thompson (JLT) for $5.6 billion. Based in London, JLT is the eighth-largest insurance broker and employee benefits provider in the world as per 2016 revenues (1.55 billion). JLT was created in 1997 when Jardine Insurance Brokers merged with Lloyd Thompson Group. The firm operates in 40 countries with particular strength in the UK and Australia. MMC

The 10th edition of AEIP’s Annual Conference will focus on the adequacy and sustainability of social protection in the years ahead. The conference program includes keynote speeches by Ms. Ruth Paserman from the European Commission; Ms. Ulrika Hall from the Social Protection Committee of the EU; and Ms. Flavia Micilotta, from the High-Level Expert Group on Sustainable Finance. Panel discussions will address the issues of access to social protection

Livio Mocenigo in September 2018 was appointed by Zurich as the Global Head of Corporate Life & Pensions (CLP), reporting to James Shea, CEO Commercial Insurance. Based in Zurich, Switzerland, Livio replaces Hanno Mijer who becomes the new CEO of Zurich subsidiary Cover-More. Livio previously headed the Global Customer and Distribution Management for CLP where he established strategic partnerships with major employee benefit consultants, and strengthened the relationship with

Hanno Mijer in September 2018 became CEO of Zurich’s travel insurance provider Cover-More, succeeding Mike Emmett. He will relocate from the city of Zurich, Switzerland to Sydney, Australia. He reports to Jack Howell, CEO Asia-Pacific, and to Group Chief Strategy, Innovation and Business Development Officer Giovanni Giuliani. Before his appointment at Cover-More, Mijer was Zurich’s Global Head of Corporate Life and Pensions, a major driver of the growth of

Insurer – Country of Destination – Date Announced – Source MS Amlin – Brussels – 28 June 2017 – Press release Lloyd’s of London – Brussels – QBE – Brussels – CNA Hardy – Luxembourg – RSA – Luxembourg – AIG – Luxembourg – FM Global – Luxembourg – Hiscox – Luxembourg – Liberty Mutual, Special Markets – Luxembourg – Admiral – Dublin – Beazley – Dublin – Chesnara –

U.S. reinsurer TransRe in September 2018 announced plans to redomicile its continental European legal entity TransRe Zurich to Luxembourg and change its name. The continental European offices in Munich, Paris and Zurich, as well as Dubai, will become branch offices of Luxembourg. Commenting on the move, Paul Bonny, President TransRe Europe and Asia Pacific, said: “we are now simplifying our corporate structure [for] our European, Middle Eastern and North

Gallagher in September 2018 acquired Wheatman Insurance Services from Woodland Hills, California, a retail property/casualty broker that also offers employee benefits consulting services. Since January 1, 2018, Gallagher has closed 26 acquisitions for an total amount of approximately $240 million.

Jacqueline Carter and Rasmus Hougaard, authors of new book, “The Mind of the Leader”, published by Harvard Business Press in March 2018, will be on hand and present their key messages at the launch event supported by Generali Employee Benefits – GEB. According to the authors’ research, organizations and leaders are not meeting employees’ basic human needs of finding meaning, purpose, connection, and genuine happiness in their work. Furthermore,

Gallagher in September 2018 acquired Australian brokers Super-Advice Corporate Services and Personal Advice Services, based in Perth, Western Australia and Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Super-Advice is an employee benefit consultants and corporate advisory group, expanding Gallagher’s superannuation (employer-funded occupational pension programs) and employee benefit consulting service capabilities across Australia. Robert O’Shea, Dean Lawson and their associates will continue to work from their current locations in Perth and Sydney

Aon is offering 10 tips to help organizations maximize the use of occupational health (OH) programmes. Generally, employers use occupational health to be responsible and compliant, while also reducing costs. Aon’s 2018 Benefits and Trends survey released in August 2018 found that 96% of employers agree that they have a responsibility to influence employee health, although only 65% access occupational health services. The authors explain that a common theme