Fitbit in February 2019 launched a new fitness tracker, the Inspire, which is available through health and wellness providers only. From a consumer perspective, the Inspire is a fully subsidized (i.e. free) product intended to be distributed in mass quantities and is promoted “as a way to encourage the well-being of health care recipients”. The tracker monitor activity and sleep, calories burned, and prompts wearers with reminders to get

Gatehouse in February 2019 released its 2019 State of the Sector Report. A member of global brokerage Gallagher, London, UK-based Gatehouse is an internal communication agency providing consultancy on internal communications research. With over 820 responses from 40 countries, the report surveys the internal communication and employee engagement landscape. It also provides internal communications strategists with insights into careers, budgets and working practices, as well as insight into what

France in February 2019 published transitional (or emergency) measures related to insurance in case of a no-deal Brexit. As per the new rules, contracts may not be amended if additional premiums are collected renewals, including automatic renewals are not allowed payment of claims will not be considered a breach for at least the first 12 months The new rules apply to contracts covering French risks and entered into before

InsurTech Oscar Health in February 2019 named Sid Sankaran CFO, reporting to CEO Mario Schlosser. He succeeds Brian West. Sankaran joins from American International Group (AIG) where he was CFO and earlier, chief risk officer. Prior to AIG, he worked for consulting firm Oliver Wyman as a partner in the Finance and Risk practice in Toronto, Canada; and Mercer Risk, Finance & Insurance Consulting and MMC Enterprise Risk. He

Generali Global Assistance (GGA) in February 2019 announced the acquisition of U.S. travel insurance specialist TripMate. GGA is Europ Assistance’s main brand name outside of Europe, and Europ Assistance is part of Generali Group. Based in Kansas City, Missouri, USA, TripMate is a specialized provider of travel insurance products. It acts as a managing general agent (MGA), operating as an intermediary between travelers and the U.S. travel insurance market. It

The 8th edition of the World Pensions Forum will be held in Brussels on 23 and 24 May 2019. The forum will focus on pension investments, financial regulation, and risk management in the post-Brexit era. It also will address the evolving fiduciary role of pension executives and trustees – notably corporate governance, green growth, and women’s economic empowerment. Furthermore, UK, US, Canadian and European Union policy makers, financial regulators

Jean-Baptiste Ramboz in January 2019 joined Chubb as Head of Corporate and Multinational Business Development, Accident & Health (A&H). He is based in Paris, France. Ramboz joins Chubb from UNIQA where he was Head of marketing and sales, based in Geneva, Switzerland. Previously, he was head of the insurance division of broker Assor Russia in Moskow, Russia; and Insurance manager for haulage company Norbert Dentressangle, now XPO, based in

AXA Egypt in February 2019 joined pooling network MAXIS Global Benefits Network (MAXIS GBN). AXA Egypt is the second MAXIS partner in the country, along MetLife Egypt, and joins the global network of over 140 local insurers. AXA Egypt was established as recently as 2015 and is a multi-line insurance carrier, offering general insurance, life and protection insurance, health insurance, and micro-insurance plans. The company is ranked fourth in

Gallagher in February 2019 announced the expansion of the IBIS Academy conference with an Employment Law Symposium. The new track is in addition to the 2-day Conference, the 5-day Institute, and the 3-day Mobility modules. It is designed specifically for employment law practitioners and HR professionals with a particular focus on global employment law. Topics include: Is the law up-to-date with today’s flexible workplaces and forms of work (i.e.,

Adam Winslow in January 2019 was elected Chairman of the Board of the AIG Global Benefits Network (AIG GBN) pooling network, succeeding Frank Schmid who remains a member of the Board while assuming new responsibilities within AIG. Adam in June 2018 became CEO, International Life and Retirement at AIG, a position he retains. Earlier, Adam held positions at AIG in France, South Africa, and the UK, both in life

Francoise Ah-Kuit in January 2019 joined cosmetics distributor Sephora (a member of LVMH Group) as Global Compensation & Benefits Project Director. She is based in Paris, France. She joins Sephora from Van Cleef & Arpels where she was International Compensation & Benefits Director. Earlier, she was Compensation and Benefits Manager at Moët Hennessy, and an MBA Intern in International Benefits & Mobility Management at Louis Vuitton. Previously, she was

American International Group (AIG) in January 2019 named Edward Levin global head of accident and health (A&H), general insurance. He is based in London, UK, and reports to Christopher Townsend, CEO of AIG International General Insurance. Levin joins AIG from Chubb where he served most recently as Group Digital Business Officer, and earlier as Division President of International A&H. Previously he spent four years at ACE Europe as Executive

Zurich UK in January 2019 announced it was backing London, UK-based travel insurance startup Pluto. Pluto targets Millennials, an under-insured segment when it comes to travel insurance, with up to 60% of them traveling without insurance. The underwriting engine blocks people over the age of 46. Zurich provides underwriting and claims management; Pluto brings mobile-oriented software that gives clients a standard insurance quote in around one minute, or three

Chubb in January 2019 named Glen Browne as deputy regional president for Asia-Pacific and division president for Southeast Asia. He is based in Singapore and report to Paul McNamee, SVP and regional president, Asia-Pacific. Browne is in charge of Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. He retains his current role of regional head of accident & health for Asia-Pacific. Prior to his current position, he served at ACE,

The Aon Benefits and Trends Survey 2019 published in January 2019 says that 97% of UK employers agree that employees’ expectations of their experience in the workplace are changing, and that employees’ top priorities now include flexible working hours, agile working, mental health, diversity and inclusion, and parental leave. The survey asks questions of over 200 UK employers of all sizes who work across a broad range of sectors.

Sheldon Kenton in January 2019 was appointed President and CEO of iPMI insurance carrier GeoBlue. He replaces Diego Fernandez, President and CEO since September 2018, and who himself succeeded Guillaume Deybach. GeoBlue is the iPMI (international private medical insurance) joint-venture between BlueCross – BlueShield (U.S.A.) and BUPA (UK). In addition to his responsibility at GeoBlue, Kenton will continue setting BUPA Global’s overall strategic direction. He previously was BUPA Global’s

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in January 2019 published a new report revealing that public social spending in OECD countries was just above 20% of GDP on average in 2018. Public spending on areas such as pensions, healthcare, and unemployment benefits was highest in France (31.2%), Belgium (28.9%) and Denmark (28.7%) and lowest in Mexico (7.5%), Chile (10.9%) and Korea (11.1%). Pensions spending is the biggest

APRIL International Care, the international private medical insurance (iPMI) division of APRIL Group, in January 2019 launched the MyHealth France product, an iPMI policy designed to meet the needs of expatriates living in France in both the pre and post Brexit era. France is now home to 1.3 million expatriates of all nationalities, with that figure expected to rise to 1.5 million within the next two years. UK nationals

Grab, a Singapore-based competitor to Uber present also in the Philippines and in Malaysia, in January 2019 announced it would sell insurance through its smartphone app. Grab will open up its ride-hailing app as a platform for direct distribution of insurance policies. The new capability is provided by Chinese partner ZhongAn Online P&C Insurance. The first insurance carrier to join the program is Chubb, with a loss of income

Adam Winslow in January 2019 was elected Chairman of the Board of the AIG Global Benefits Network (AIG GBN) pooling network, succeeding Frank Schmid who remains a member of the Board while assuming new responsibilities within AIG. Adam in June 2018 became CEO, International Life and Retirement at AIG, a position he retains. Earlier, Adam held positions at AIG in France, South Africa, and the UK, both in life

French social protection group (SPG) Malakoff Médéric Humanis (MMH) in January 2019 arose from the merger of the two former Malakoff-Médéric and Humanis SPGs. As the new French market leader in group life and health insurance (market share 17%), MMH has 426,000 corporate clients with 10 million people insured. Furthermore, it is the recommended employee benefits provider for 93 professional sectors, a significant competitive advantage. In pensions, MMH has

In mid-January 2019 the UK Parliament rejected the proposed European Union (EU)-UK agreement that provided for a more or less orderly Brexit. Two months ahead of the deadline, the British government is expected to further push for an approval of the agreement, but a disorderly separation may now be the most likely scenario. Accordingly, EU nations are getting ready to minimize expected disruptions. The European Commission, in December 2019, published

Sulaxmi Prasad in January 2019 joined Herbalife as Director of compensation & benefits (C&B) and human resources information systems (HRIS) for the APAC & China region at Herbalife. She is based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Previously, she worked for Digi Telecommunications in Malaysia as Head of Performance, Rewards and Analytics, then as Head of Talent and Rewards. Earlier, she was a Practice Leader with Willis Towers Watson in Kuala

Here is the list of the 30 French insurance carriers by assets under management (AUM) as of 31 December 2017, the most recent data available. Numbers include individual and group life; health, life, and pension products; and unit-linked as well as guaranteed savings products. Companies with the “B” marker are bancassurance players, owned by a banking group and mainly distributed through bank agencies. #   Name AUM (in m€)

The European Association of Paritarian Institutions (AEIP); pension funds PFZW and PGGM from the Netherlands; the Finnish Pension Alliance TELA from Finland; and social protection group Humanis from France on January 24, 2019 organize a conference on the topic of “Retire Vitally” in the European Union. To kick off forthcoming discussions on “vital retirement”, i.e. retirement in a state of good health, the conference will analyze the current situation; discuss

French insurance group Apicil in January 2019 announced it has completed the acquisition of Luxembourg life insurance company OneLife. Luxembourg regulator CAA has granted its approval. OneLife has more than €5.2 billion in assets under management and employs more than 150 staff across Europe. It focuses on wealth management and asset management services to ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW), high-net-worth (HNW) and highly affluent clients. Apicil, the fourth largest social protection group

Bermuda-based Athora Holdings in January 2019 completed the acquisition of Generali Belgium, first announced in April 2018. The final consideration paid is approximately €540 million. Generali Belgium has 530,000 customers and sells a range of life and non-life insurance policies through around 1,000 independent brokers. In 2017, total premium income amounted to €640 million and assets to €6.5 billion. The company will be rebranded to Athora Belgium in the