Willis Re in May 2018 appointed Franck Pinette as managing director of its Europe, Middle East and Africa life and health practice He joins WTW from Guy Carpenter (MMC) where he was the CEO of the European Life Business. Previously, Pinette worked for PartnerRe as MD of the Life Reinsurance Business Unit and began his career as Life reinsurance manager for Mutuelles du Mans Reassurance. He is a qualified

ECA Italy in June and July 2018 organizes three training sessions for HR professionals, covering tax, benefits, employment law and immigration. The destinations addressed are Asia, the U.S., and the Balkans. The Asia session (China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam) is scheduled on 6 June 2018 from 09:30 to 17:00 U.S.A. session: June 20, 2018 from 09:30 to 13:30 Balkans session (Romania, Serbia, Bosnia, and Montenegro) – 4 July 2018

U.S. surgeon general Jerome Adams in April 2018 urged employers to help in fighting the opioid epidemic. He was speaking at a conference sponsored by the National Business Group on Health (NBGH), an association of large employers. Adams estimates that 2.1 million people in the U.S. are struggling with an opioid-use condition. While these drugs can be helpful for a short time, they pose serious addiction risks. Common opioids include

MAXIS GBN in May 2018 published research revealing that three quarters (75%) of employee benefits professionals believe the enhanced use of data and the application of innovative technologies to improve the employee experience are the primary growth opportunities for the employee benefits sector globally over the next two years. The findings, from the inaugural MAXIS Global Perspectives report, reveal the majority of sector professionals are bullish about the opportunities

The Worldwide Broker Network (WBN) in April 2018 announced the election of three Board members, Susan Murphy from Canada, Matteo Scagliarini from Italy, and Markham McKnight from the U.S.A. Susan Murphy is President & CEO of Totten Insurance Group of Canada (a Hub International owned company), a national managing general agent focusing on niche and specialty products. She is a member of the WBN US and Canada Steering Committee.

WBN in April 2018 announced that global mobility specialist Globiana will join the network as its 11th Associate Member. Globiana helps multinational organizations train, guide and support their globally mobile employees and their families.  The company has a global footprint that spans over 140 countries, with offices in San Francisco, California and Stuttgart, Germany. The role of WBN’s Associate Members is to provide WBN Partner Companies with specialized support

Worldwide Broker Network (WBN) in April 2018 added three new members to its 112-strong network. All three firms focus on employee benefits; their addition is consistent with WBN’s strategy of enhancing its capabilities beyond its traditional P/C business. EBCG is based in Illinois and has four field offices across the U.S. It focuses on employee benefits. GBS Benefits is based in Utah, with seven other U.S. offices. It offers

Global Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) flows decreased by 18% to USD 1 411 billion in 2017 compared to 2016. This represents 1.8% of global GDP, compared to 2.3% in 2016 and 2.5% in in 2015. The drop in FDI reflects a drop in financial and corporate restructuring, possibly as a result of U.S. tax reform, which decreased incentive to engage in those types of transactions in 2017. The US

Consulting firm HR Path in May 2018 acquired Ataraxis, headquartered in Belgium and operating in the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Spain and France. Ataraxis is a Workday specialist (Workday is a provider of enterprise cloud software for finance and human resources). Ataraxis will become the dedicated Workday practice of HR Path. The senior management team, Tom Hillen, Wouter Van den Avont and Jan Snyers will become HR Path partners. Ataraxis

Generali in April 2018 sold Generali Belgium to Athora Holding for EUR 540 million. Generali Belgium is primarily focused on the life segment but also offers P/C products. After the sale, Generali will remain present in Belgium through its Global Business Lines and especially Generali’s multinational pooling network GEB as well as through Europ Assistance. Athora is likely to rename the company after completion of the deal; it will

The Blockchain Insurance Industry Initiative (B3i) in March 2018 incorporated B3i Services AG in Zürich, Switzerland. B3i has been a collaborative initiative of 15 global insurers and reinsurers who came together in late 2016 to explore and test the potential of using Distributed Ledger Technologies within the re/insurance industry. B3i Services will provide insurance solutions on a blockchain platform, striving for improved speed, transparency, quality, security, and cost. It

In the wake of Brexit and of the introduction of Solvency II, global actuarial firm Milliman in April 2018 opened an office in Luxembourg. Led by consulting actuary Olivier Mahieux, Milliman Luxembourg is one of the three components of Milliman Benelux. Their offices in Amsterdam, Brussels and Luxembourg cooperate together and consist of around 50 actuarial, quantitative risk and health consultant. As a PSA (Professionnel du Secteur de l’Assurance),

McKinsey’s research division McKinsey Global Institute, in April 2018 published a discussion paper on the impact of artificial intelligence (AI). Applications and relevance of AI are broken down by industry and by corporate function, for an in-depth and nuanced analysis. “Notes From the AI Frontier: Insights From Hundreds of Use Cases” in particular focuses on the relevance of so-called “deep learning” techniques. Deep learning refers to techniques known as

Vistra in April 2018 acquired Radius, a U.S.-based provider of international expansion services. Vistra is a provider of international incorporations, trust, fiduciary, private office and fund administration services, and will be acquiring Radius from the private equity firm Hg. Radius provides managed services, advisory services and OverseasConnect, its integrated cloud-based software platform, to more than 500 clients operating in 80 countries. The firm is headquartered in Boston with offices

Randstad US in April 2018 released results from its quarterly Randstad Workmonitor survey (Q1 2018) that suggest that although 82 percent of U.S. workers surveyed say the ability to work from anywhere at any time allows them to maintain a healthy work-life balance, more than half (62%) still prefer to work in the office — and this number is even higher among young workers. Sixty-five percent of those aged

Most organizations significantly lag behind their employees’ expectations for total rewards offerings, according to Bersin’s High-Impact Rewards (HIR) research, a new study area that focuses on employee total rewards. The study released in April 2018 suggests that, with the right strategies in place, organizations that fall short of employee expectations can build a rewards brand that attracts, retains and motivates the most talented workers. As employees and candidates become

Monument Re acquired a run-off portfolio of flexible premium retail life insurance contracts from Ethias in Belgium and will transfer it to its subsidiary Laguna Life DAC, domiciled in Ireland. The transfer will result in the loss of the savings (invested capital) guarantee in Belgium up to a maximum of EUR 100,000; Ireland has no equivalent system. Regarding returns, and according to Ethias CEO Philippe Lallemand, “The payment of

Generali in April 2018 completed the sale of its operations in Panama and Colombia. The Panamean subsidiary was sold to local insurer ASSA and Colombia to German insurer Talanx. Generali Employee Benefits (GEB), Generali’s multinational pooling network, remains unaffected. In addition to GEB, Generali will still be present in both countries through Generali Global Corporate & Commercial and Generali Global Health as well as through Europ Assistance.

Almost one third of U.K. business leaders (30%) are cautious about the operating environment – three times more than at any point in the past year, with 80% characterizing it as ‘moderate to high’ risk. This is according to the latest edition of CNA Hardy’s Risk and Confidence Survey, conducted in Spring 2018. While the report indicates that business leaders from Continental Europe are more confident in their ability

Global mobility management company Topia (formerly MOVE Guides and Polaris Global Mobility) in April 2018 announced it has hired Adam Sold as Senior Vice President of Field Operations. Sold will report directly to Topia founder and CEO Brynne Kennedy. He joins Topia from FinancialForce, where he led worldwide field operations and has over 25 years of experience in the field, having held senior positions in operations management, sales, customer

Sompo International in April 2018 won regulatory approval in Luxembourg for its E.U. subsidiary, SI Insurance – Europe. The legal entity was set up in January 2018. In the context of Brexit, Sompo intends to write commercial property/ casualty lines in the European Union from Luxembourg, as announced in a November 2017 post.

In the wake of Brexit, AIG in April 2018 announced it has established and received authorization for new insurance companies in the U.K. (American International Group UK Limited) and Luxembourg (AIG Europe S.A.). AIG Europe S.A. will have branches across the European Economic Area and Switzerland. The existing carrier, AIG Europe Limited, will transfer all of its existing insurance business to the new entities well ahead of the U.K.

Marsh in April 2018 appointed Sarah Robson as president and CEO of Marsh Canada, succeeding Chris Lay who is crossing the pond to lead Marsh in the U.K. and Ireland. Ms. Robson will be based in Toronto, Canada, and report to Martin South, president of Marsh U.S. and Canada. Currently a Managing Director at Marsh USA, her earlier positions include Managing Director, National Specialty Practice Leader at Marsh Canada;

The Conference Board’s economic indicators for the U.K., published in April 2018, indicate a possible downturn is ahead for the British economy. The Conference Board’s leading indicator, the Leading Economic Index (LEI), turned negative at -0,4% in February 2018 ; whereas the current indicator, the Coincident Economic Index, still is in positive territory at +0,2%. The U.K. is one of several large economies with a negative outlook as determined

European digital health insurance company Alan in April 2018 announced it has raised €23 million in Series A funding. Alan has two characteristics that sets it apart from most other insurtechs. First and foremost, it is a real, licensed insurance carrier that actually writes risks and mutualizes them. It is not acting as a broker or a services integrator or a business process outsourcer, like most insurtechs do. Second,

Marsh in April 2018 appointed Christos Adamantiadis as CEO of its new Middle East and Africa region, based in Dubai and reporting to Flavio Piccolomini, president of Marsh International. He was most recently CEO of Oman Insurance in Dubai, having previously worked for AIG as EMEA Lead for AIG’s global organizational realignment initiative; Managing Director, CEE (Central, Eastern Europe) and Turkey; Managing Director, Middle East & North Africa; General

Global broker Lockton in April 2018 named Said Taiym executive vice president-chief digital officer. He will focus on digital innovation and new technologies and report to Ron Lockton, president and CEO. Most recently, Taiym was the senior vice president and chief information officer for the AF Group, a leading worker’s compensation insurance organization. Before AF Group, he was with XL Group and Zurich North America. Taiym holds bachelor’s degrees