The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) released its latest Global Investment Trend Monitor as of October 2019. Report highlights include: Global foreign direct investment (FDI) flows in the first half of 2019 were 24% higher than in the first half of 2018. However, the underlying FDI trend (removing the effects of one-off transactions and intra-firm financial flows, including repatriations driven by the 2017 US tax reforms)

Speed Medical Examination Services, as of September 2019, has named Andrew Apps as Head of Proposition, PMI (private medical insurance), based in the UK. Apps joins from Expacare Limited, where he was in Distribution and Marketing, and Bellwood Prestbury, where he was Head of Global Healthcare. Apps was also Director, Sales and Marketing, for ALC Health, and Deputy Chairman, Association of International Medical Insurance Providers (AIMIP) from 2009 to

Health expenditures will outpace GDP growth over the next 15 years in almost every OECD country, according to the OECD’s Health at a Glance 2019 report, published in November 2019. The OECD foresees that health spending per capita will grow at an average annual rate of 2.7% across OECD countries and will reach 10.2% of GDP by 2030, up from 8.8% in 2018. The report notes that the United

Tiffany Ulbing, CEBS, has been named Director, Education and Outreach, for the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (IFEBP), effective July, 2019. She will remain based in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin area. Ulbing was previously the Director of Educational Programs from 2010 to 2019. Before joining the IFEBP, she was a benefits manager at Clifton Gunderson LLP (now CliftonLarsonAllen), and a benefits analyst at Mercer Health and Benefits. Prior to

Artex Risk Solutions announced the promotion of Kevin Heffernan to Executive Vice President North America, effective September, 2019. Heffernan will be based in Burlington, Vermont. He leads captive operations including domicile management across the U.S. He is also responsible for Artex North America’s operational controls, administration, and reporting procedures and systems. Heffernan was previously Division Chief Operating Officer for Artex. He holds a B.S. in Accounting from William Paterson

Generali Employee Benefits (GEB) has promoted Francesco Johan Cortese to Manager, Client Development as of October 2019. Cortese will be based at the Regional Office EMEA in Luxembourg. Cortese was previously Assistant Manager for Global Reporting and based in Brussels, Belgium. Before that, he was Assistant Manager, International Accounts Administration, and International Accounts Administrator. He joined GEB as a Marketing Consultant in 2002. Previously, Cortese served as a Second

Published in November 2019, the OECD’s Pensions at a Glance 2019 report advises governments to urgently reform their pension systems to allow for the one-third of employees who are now in non-standard employment (self-employed, temporary or part-time employment) to have adequate retirement income. With women being three times more likely to be in part-time work, and the older workforce more likely to be self-employed, it has become a necessity: non-standard

Terumuo BCT has announced the appointment of Marie-Ann Poissonier as Compensation and Benefits Manager EMEA, as of August 2019. She will be based in Brussels. She joins Terumo BCT after 17 years at Mastercard, where her most recent position was Vice President, Human Resources. Poissonier holds a bachelor’s degree in Law from KUB (Katolieke Universitet Brussels) in Brussels, Belgium.

Europe Day 2019: Vocational training key to securing skilled workers in the digital labour market Under the title “Vocational training for a digital labour market”, the Europe Day of the German construction industry held in Brussels on November 6, 2019, underlined the pioneering role of the vocational training scheme in the construction industry. In addition, the European Commission’s proposals for the new European funding programmes were discussed. “SOKA-BAU successfully

A U.S. national survey conducted in September 2019 has been published by the Milbank Memorial Fund, and addresses the ‘culture of health’ (CoH) in private sector organisations. Authors Michael Anne Kyle, Lumumba Seegars, John M. Benson, Robert J. Blendon, Robert S. Huckman, Sara J. Singer measured corporate CoH along four dimensions that assess the extent to which businesses promote employee, environmental, consumer, and community health and well-being. Policy Points

Aetna report shows differing perceptions among employers and employees globally There is a major gulf between how employers view the health and wellness support offered and employees’ views of the support they receive. This could have a significant impact on productivity, according to research from Aetna International published in November 2019. The first of two Business of Health 2020 reports, Tackling polarised perceptions of corporate health and wellness, investigates

Zego, the Swiss RE-backed UK insuretech, in November 2019 awarded an insurance licence to operate as an insurer in Gibraltar. This step allows Zego to act as a carrier and build and sell its own products under Gibraltar domicile and regulations. Zego was launched in 2016 in order to provide flexible insurance for the gig economy and has since expanded its B2B offering to cater to the fast-growing market

Sibylle Reichert has joined the Association Internationale de la Mutualité/International Association of Mutuals (AIM) as of June, 2019. She remains based in Brussels, Belgium, where she has served as a Member of the Occupational Pension Stakeholder Group of the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA), and a Board Member of the European Association of Paritarian Institutions (AEIP). Reichert previously headed the Brussels Office of Pensioenfederatie (Federation of Dutch

Vodafone announces the appointment of Alexandra Kitching to the position of Pensions and Benefits Manager effective October 2019. She will be based in London. Kitching comes to Vodafone from Deloitte UK where she was Consulting Manager, Human Capital, as well as Senior Consultant (D.C. Pensions and Group Risk) prior to being promoted to Consulting Manager. Prior to Deloitte, she was with NAPF as a Pension Quality Mark Manager. She

The saying that “whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” is simplistic, disingenuous, and potentially destructive. While it’s true that some who experience horrible events are stronger for surviving them, this is probably only true if they were strong to begin with. In the face of horrible events, others are more likely to be traumatised and suffer for years or decades after.

It’s something most people do everyday, often without really thinking about it, but how you wash your hands can make a real difference to your health and the wellbeing of those around you.

Latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show that a record 32.54 million people are in work in the UK¹; a statistic that looks fantastic on the surface and one that many will celebrate, particularly from a political standpoint. However, mental health issues in the workplace and presenteeism because of mental health is also at an all-time high, with 22% of employees going into work in 2018 despite feeling mentally un-well – up from 18% in 2016². It is possible that there is a correlation between an increasing workforce and an increase in workplace mental health issues; but there are numerous confounding influencing variables which pose a challenge for companies.

Ageing is inevitable and is influenced by many things – but keeping active can slow ageing and increase life expectancy. Evidence shows that ageing alone is not a cause of major problems until you are in your mid-90s. And strength, power and muscle mass can be increased, even at this advanced age.

The world of work is fast changing. As life expectancy lengthens and labour markets shift, our working lives have become more complicated. The old expectations about how we work have become unsustainable – not least the expectation that we religiously travel to and from a fixed location ten times a week during rush hour, with all the knock-on effects that this has for carbon emissions.

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the term “post-traumatic stress disorder”? When I ask this question in public presentations, the answers are along the lines of “the military”, “soldiers” and “war”. Then, when my next slide displays military themed images, it seems as if I have ingeniously predicted the audience’s response.

Deloitte has announced that Patrice Plouvier has joined the company as Partner, Human Capital, Actuarial, Rewards & Analytics, effective October, 2019. Plouvier will be based in Paris. Plouvier was previously Head of Employee Benefit Consulting with ADDING SAS, and Head of International Group Pension Development for AXA France. He also served as Head of Investment Solutions and International Retirement for AXA. Prior to that, he was with Mercer as

Discovery has announced the promotion of Hannah Naude to Director, International Compensation & Benefits, effective October 2019. She will remain based in London. Naude was previously Senior Manager Manager, International Compensation & Benefits. Before joining Discovery, she was a Human Resources Advisor at inVentiv Health Commercial, and worked in HR for the Save the Children foundation and Viasat Broadcasting. She started her HR career in Human Resources and Quality

AXA has announced the promotion of Elise Ganem to International Employee Benefits Manager at AXA’s Group HR department, effective July 2019. She was previously Head, Inter-governmental Organizations. She is based in Paris, France. Prior to her employment at AXA, she was Director, International Organizations & NGOs for Groupe Henner. Prior to that, she was Head of the International and European Department for CNAV – the French National Pension Organization,

Fidelity International has named Ken Gulick as Commercial Director, Pan European pensions, effective August 2019. He is based in Luxembourg. Gulick was previously with Fidelity Investments, as Vice President, Global Benefits Solutions, and based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. He was previously Vice President, Product Portfolio Strategy. Before joining Fidelity, he was Principal for PRTM Management Consultants; a manager for American Management Systems; and a Technical Trainer for the U.S.

Alta Actuaries & Consultants has named Douglas Carey Principal and Global Consulting Actuary as of October 2019. He will be based in the greater New York City area, USA. Carey comes to Alta after being a managing partner of Global Strategy Consultants. He has also served as past Chair, AWB; Treasurer PBSS, IACA, with the International Association of Actuaries since 2014. Previously, Carey was Director, Human Capital, for Deloitte

First Actuarial in October 2019 announced the appointment of Martin Leigh as D.C. Consultant, based in Tonbridge, UK. Leigh joins First Actuarial from EQ Investors where he was a Corporate Pensions & Risk Benefits Manager. Previously, he was an account manager for Creative Employee Benefits, and Intermediary Relationship Manager with B&CE Benefits Scheme. He was also Client Relationship Manager for Aviva plc. He holds a Certificate in Marketing from

Danone has announced the promotion of Öyküm Güneygül to the position of Global Benefits & Equity Senior Manager, based in Paris, France, and effective September 2019. Güneygül was previously Global Benefits Manager, and Compensation in Paris, and Benefits Manager based in Istanbul, Turkey, with Danone. Before she joined Danone, she was HR Rewards Manager for Adidas group in Istanbul. Prior to Adidas, Güneygül was an HR Generalist with Accenture,