The 48th IBIS Academy Conference was held from 7 – 11 May 2018, in conjunction with the IBIS Institute, a “boot camp” for practitioners, and the IBIS Mobility and Partner Program. It included a three-day series of cutting-edge presentations and panels for more experienced colleagues. The overarching theme was “Your Future, Your Workforce” and focused on what it takes to be an employer of choice for the future.

Global Benefits Vision: Why has MAXIS GBN decided to launch its new wellness solution now? What were the key drivers behind the launch? Dr. Leena Johns MD: Over the past few years we have worked with clients to identify the cost drivers of their health claims data across disparate geographies, through our sophisticated data reporting tools. While some markets offer solutions to mitigate these drivers, often, in reality, there is an absence of data-based recommendations and a lack of cohesive, centralised solutions that can be rolled out globally.

Many of us may be considering “burning some fat” so we feel better in our bathing suits out on the beach or at the pool. What does that actually mean, though?

The new health care venture formed by Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase announced June 20 that Harvard professor and well-known author Atul Gawande would be the company’s CEO. The idea for the new company is to innovate by cutting costs from the health care system, starting with the more than 1 million employees of the three companies behind the venture.

AXA in July 2018 announced its business insurance operations would trade under the new AXA XL brand once the acquisition of XL Group is completed. The master brand AXA remains untouched. AXA XL will combine existing P&C commercial lines and specialty risks into a new entity. It will include four main business units: XL Insurance, XL Reinsurance, XL Art & Lifestyle, and XL Risk Consulting. The new entity will

Digital insurance company ONE in July 2018 entered into a new joint venture with Swiss geolocation experts Axon Vibe, and Munich Re. The joint venture, called “ONE Coach,” is poised to use encryption technology, a novel approach, within the insurance domain. ONE is based in Vaduz, Liechtenstein, and operates in the German market. After launching in February 2018, ONE has become the fastest-growing digital insurance company in Europe. Using

Swiss Re’s annual sigma report on premium volumes and growth trends for 2018 reveals that global life premiums increased to roughly USD 2.7 trillion in 2017, while global non-life premiums rose to about USD 2.2 trillion, while growth in both the life and non-life sectors slowed, partly due to falling life premiums in advanced markets such as the U.S. or Western Europe. Nevertheless, emerging markets remain an important driver

Poor quality health services are holding back progress on improving health in countries at all income levels, according to Delivering Quality Health Services – a Global Imperative for Universal Health Coverage, a joint report published in July 2018 by the OECD, World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank. Factors that hinder progress include inaccurate diagnoses, medication errors, inappropriate or unnecessary treatments, inadequate or unsafe clinical facilities or practices,

Chris Burns in April 2018 joined EBCG as a Partner. With over 35 years of diverse experience in the employee benefits, healthcare, digital health and retirement industry in the U.S. as well as globally, he contributes expertise and depth to EBCG’s suite of professional services. For 25 years, EBCG’s team has helped clients unlock the hidden value in their employee benefit programs. EBCG is a member of the Worldwide

A new OECD Health Statistics 2018 report, released in June 2018, shows that health spending in 2016 grew by its fastest rate in seven years, with further growth expected in 2017. OECD countries spending on health care increased by 3.4% on average in 2016, its highest rate since 2009. That percentage is still below pre-global financial crisis levels, when average health expenditures rose by around 4-6% per year (in

Realogy Holdings, a full-service residential real estate services company in the United States, in June 2018 appointed Katrina L. Helmkamp as CEO of its relocation services subsidiary, Cartus Corporation. She reports to Realogy CEO and President Ryan Schneider. Helmkamp has more than 27 years of leadership experience in business strategy, operations, product development, technology and innovation across multiple sectors. Most recently, she has been CEO of Lenox Corporation, a

U.S. virtual care provider Teladoc in June 2018 acquired Advance Medical, a virtual care provider with strong presence outside of the United States, creating a global virtual care platform. Advance Medical adds its suite of international clinical capabilities to Teladoc’s technology and scale. The new company is now equipped to meet the needs of U.S. multinational employers, for whom one-third of all employees live abroad. Advance Medical is present

Privately held broker Lockton in July 2018 announced posted record revenue of $1.57 billion in its recently completed fiscal 2018, a 9.9 percent increase above fiscal 2017. This is the 52nd consecutive year of revenue growth for Lockton. The company posted organic growth in the U.S. of $84 million, or 7.7%, with the employee benefits business leading the way with 14.1% year-over-year revenue growth. Lockton’s international operations grew 10.9

From automated check-outs in grocery stores to autonomous vehicles, automation and artificial intelligence (AI) is here to stay, prompting fears of robots replacing humans. The latest McKinsey Global Institute briefing note, which was published in June 2018 for the Tech4Good summit organized by the French government, addresses “both the promise and the challenge” of automation and AI in the workplace and provides a list of ten things we need

MassMutual’s international insurance holding company MassMutual International and Nippon Life, Japan’s leading life insurer, have announced the completion of the sale of 85.1 percent of MassMutual Japan, its Japanese life insurance and wealth management subsidiary, to Nippon Life. The transaction was first announced in March 2018. MassMutual International will retain 15 percent of the company and receive approximately JPY 104.2 billion (about USD 955 million) in cash. MassMutual Japan

Global broker Aon in June 2018 announced that Andy Marcell has been appointed as CEO of its new Reinsurance Solutions division. Aon recently announced a rebranding of its reinsurance broking unit Aon Benfield to just Aon and has split its operations into new Solutions divisions, one of which is the Reinsurance Solutions arm. Along with the change, Eric Andersen who was CEO of Aon Benfield was made co-President of Aon,

International Benefits Network – IBN in June 2018 added Dutch broker Van Lanschot Chabot / Mandema and Partners to its network as member for Netherlands. Van Lanschot Chabot / Mandema and Partners is the largest Dutch broker in risk and benefits management. They have access to national and international insurance markets with 250 employees (including lawyers, economists, engineers, risk analysts, actuarial advisors and trainers). Mandema and Partners work with clients

Gallagher in June 2018 named Todd Woodward as its head of global communications, where he will be responsible for developing, implementing, executing, and enhancing the global communications strategy for the entire Gallagher organization, both internally and externally. Woodward was most recently vice-president, corporate and brand marketing communications at Amway Global. He was also an associate vice-president, marketing communications for the University of Notre Dame from 2006 to 2011. Prior

Health insurance start-up Oscar Health in June 2018 announced it would sell Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) health insurance policies in six new markets as of 2019, adding three U.S. states – Florida, Arizona, and Michigan as well as three large metropolitan areas in Ohio, Tennessee, and Texas. Oscar offers individual products as well as a small group health plan targeted at small businesses of up to 100 employees, “Oscar

AIA in June 2018 announced the appointment of Daisuke Iwase as Group Chief Digital Officer (CDO) and a member of the AIA Group Executive Committee. Mr. Iwase currently serves as President of Lifenet, a listed digital direct life insurance company in Japan, which he co-founded in 2006 and took public on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 2012. Lifenet provided over US$18.8 billion of insured capital and has more than

American International Group (AIG) and Munich Re in June 2018 announced that AIG Life Ltd. (AIGLL), a UK subsidiary of AIG Life & Retirement, has agreed to acquire Ellipse, a specialist provider of group life risk protection in the UK, from Munich Re. Ellipse’s group protection products, which include life, critical illness and income protection, along with its technology-enabled business model with high levels of straight through processing (STP),

AIG Life & Retirement, a division of AIG, in June 2018 announced the appointment of Adam Winslow as CEO, International. Winslow is now CEO of AIG Life Limited (U.K.), where he has led the business since its acquisition by AIG in 2015. In his new role, Winslow will lead AIG Life and Laya Healthcare in Ireland. He will also support potential further international expansion opportunities. Adam will continue to

Global broker Gallagher in June 2018 announced that Simon Matson will assume the role of CEO, UK brokerage and underwriting, leading a 4,500 strong team. Matson’s predecessor Grahame “Chily” Chilton will be stepping down later this year. Simon Matson is now head of Gallagher’s London Market and the founder of Alesco. He began his career in 1989 in the oil and gas division of a global insurance broker, eventually

MAXIS Global Benefits Network in June 2018 launched ‘MAXIS Global Wellness’, a centralized wellness proposition based on comprehensive health analytics to help multinational organizations mitigate the soaring costs of healthcare. The solution is delivered via corporate employee benefits plans. It allows multinationals to target country-specific cost drivers identified via analytics to deliver focused wellness solutions to employees. The new product is underpinned by over four years’ global health data

Ardian and Edmond de Rothschild in June 2018 announced they would transfer control of French brokerage Siaci Saint Honoré (SSH) to its management with the support of investment fund Charterhouse. Investment fund Ardian now owns 51% and Edmond de Rothschild 19% of the company. The value of the deal, which is expected to close in September 2018, has not been disclosed but is understood to stand at a little

UNCTAD in June 2018 released a simulation of the impact of an all-out trade war on tariffs based on classical economic theory as validated by past observations. UNCTAD stands for United Nations Conference on Trade And Development. According to the report, the U.S. would impose average tariffs of 30% (vs. 7% now); the E.U. would increase its own average tariffs from 3% to 35%; Canada from 3% to 53%;

RSA Insurance Group in June 2018 said it received regulatory approval for its new insurance subsidiary in Luxembourg from the Commissariat aux Assurances (CAA). RSA, a P/C carrier, previously operated outside of the UK by way of an EU branch, focusing on large commercial clients. It writes approximately £350m in GWP and has over 5,000 commercial policyholders including the UK. Richard Turner, who currently oversees EU business from the UK