International health benefits provider MSH International in April 2021 appointed Guillaume Deybach as Chief Operating Officer of its Americas division and General Manager for the United States market. MSH International, a subsidiary of SIACI Saint Honoré, specializes in the design and management of international health, death and disability insurance solutions for globally mobile populations. With regional headquarters in Toronto, Paris, Dubai and Shanghai and 19 service offices worldwide, MSH

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in April 2021 published its latest set of Composite Leading Indicators (CLIs). Designed to anticipate turning points in economic activity relative to long-term trends, CLIs continue to strengthen in most major economies. In the US, the CLI increases steadily, thanks to a greater consumer confidence. In Japan, Canada, and the euro-area (especially Germany and Italy), the CLIs point towards a steady

Kornelia Köhler in February 2021 joined Zurich’s multinational pooling network, Zurich Global Employee Benefits Services (ZGEBS) as Costumer Relationship Manager, based in Zurich. She had been working at AIG Global Benefits Network (AIG GBN) for six years, first as an account manager and later as a regional manager. She holds a Master of Applied Economic Sciences from the University of Antwerp, Belgium.

Olga Collins in April 2021 became the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Worldwide Broker Network (WBN), based in San Francisco, California. She succeeds Francie Starnes, who became CEO five years ago and will assume the role of CEO Emeritus through 2021. Collins had been leading WBN member firm Beecher Carlson’s multinational practice for 7 years, as well as WBN’s Young Professionals Academy. Beecher Carlson is the large

U.K. risk and insurance management association Airmic in April 2021 appointed Julia Graham as its new CEO. She takes over from John Ludlow and will work with the association’s chairwoman Tracey Skinner. Previously, Graham served as director of risk management and insurance at global law firm DLA Piper; head of strategic risk, insurance, and compliance for RSA; and was Airmic’s deputy CEO and technical director since 2015. A past

AXA in March 2021 announced a series of senior leadership changes in the context of the implementation of its new strategic plan, Driving Progress 2023, presented in December 2020. According to CEO Thomas Buberl, “[…] a renewed leadership team and a simpler organisation [will] accelerate the execution of our strategic priorities […]”. Simplification of AXA’s Corporate Center AXA’s Corporate Center will be led by two Deputy CEOs: Frédéric de

Zurich Insurance in March 2021 launched a new global risk management business unit called Zurich Resilience Solutions (ZRS). It will be led by Hanno Mijer, reporting to Sierra Signorelli, CEO, commercial insurance at Zurich. Initially focusing on property/casualty (P/C) risks, ZRS includes more than 750 risk engineers to deliver risk prevention and mitigation services, complementing traditional insurance products such as employers’ liability, construction, motor fleet, general liability, and property.

In February 2021, MAXIS Global Benefits Network (MAXIS GBN) announced the advancement of Paul Lewis to the position of Regional Director for the Americas. He is joined in this new team by Paul Mielkhe as Director, Christinea Chase as Senior Client Relationship Manager, and Diana Daszewski as Senior Account Manager. Lewis joined MAXIS GBN in 2016 and had been leading their US East Region’s Business Development team. Henceforth, he

GEB in October 2021 made available a selection of country profiles on disability. Looking at disability on a global basis is fraught with difficulties: definitions are far from identical; and coverage by social security, if any; typical private coverage; claims handling; return-to-work programmes; prevention strategies, all these aspects vary considerably. Hence the need for country profiles presented in a consistent way.   Disability Profiles by country currently available: Australia

“You can’t replace reading with other sources of information like videos, because you need to read in order to write well, and you need to write in order to think well.” – Paul Graham. Something of a legend in Silicon Valley IT and VC circles, Paul Graham is an American computer scientist (Lisp programming language), entrepreneur (Yahoo Store), venture capitalist (Y Combinator), and author. The Global Benefits Management (GBM)

Gallagher in February 2021 announced that Dieter Gistelinck had joined as Managing Consultant, in the Multinational Benefits & HR Consulting practice in Gallagher’s Benefits and HR Consulting Division. Gistelinck will be based in Brussels, Belgium. In his new role at Gallagher, Gistelinck will be responsible for developing the Gallagher Global Workforce Strategy consulting portfolio in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region. This is achieved through understanding clients’

Gavin Royston in February 2021 joined Smith & Williamson Employee Benefit Consultants (S&W) as Associate Director, based in London, UK. Gavin will spearhead S&W’s future development in the “strategically important” expatriate and international benefit market. The company plans to expand in this area and comments: “As we move into the post COVID landscape coupled with Brexit, UK firms will need to look at new markets and the opportunities to

The World Economic Forum (WEF) in January 2021 published the 16th edition of its annual Global Risks Report. Prepared with input from global broker Marsh McLennan, South Korean conglomerate SK Group, and insurance carrier Zurich, the 2021 edition of the report focuses on risks arising from societal fractures, with implications for human health, unemployment, widening digital divides, youth disillusionment, and geopolitical fragmentation. According to the WEF, large cohorts of

As CEO of MAXIS GBN, Mattieu Rouot oversees relationships with more than 500 multinational companies in over 120 countries around the world. Global Benefits Vision: Mattieu, thank you for speaking to us – Can you share a few highlights of your career, perhaps with emphasis on global employee benefits?

International employee benefits network IGP in December 2020 announced the launch of its “Virtual Training Series” to be held in the first half of 2021. The series of six webinars will be repeated in different time zones and will be available in English, German and/or French. January 21, 2021: Trends & Development of the International Employee Benefits Market February 18, 2021: Introduction to IGP Pooling March 18, 2021: Introduction

International employee benefits network MAXIS Global Benefits Network (MAXIS GBN) in January 2021 announced it had selected ICAS World, a London, UK-based employee assistance programme (EAP) platform, as a global provider of counselling support and assistance. As part of the MAXIS Global Wellness solution, multinational clients will be able to choose to work with ICAS World, giving their employees access to counselling and work-life services including legal and financial

Allianz Global Benefits (AGB), the employee benefits network of Allianz Group, in December 2020 announced the appointment of Frank Forster as Managing Director and Chief Transformation Officer. According to the company, “Forster’s responsibility will include introducing new digital offerings to meet the growing demand of multinational corporate clients while implementing AGB’s holistic business model, organized as an employee benefits platform, to simplify and digitize the business.” In a statement,

The role of compensation and benefits manager in charge of a company’s pension plan has always required multiple skills. Not only must you know about the pension scheme itself, you also must be an honorary actuary and an expert in finance, accountancy, and tax.

Generali Employee Benefits (GEB) and San-Francisco, California-based Sensely in December 2020 announced a strategic partnership to advance patient interactions through Artificial Intelligence and provide access to Virtual Health Assistants (digitized interactive ‘human-like’ characters or avatars) that respond to voice and onscreen commands through a multi-functional, cloud-based platform. This strategic partnership brings together GEB’s leading network capabilities in the corporate sector and local market knowledge in over 118 countries with

U.S.-based Insured Nomads in October 2020 appointed Allen Koski as President and Chief Innovation Officer, to provide the insights necessary for the company to grow into new markets and unique client segments.. Insured Nomads is an insurtech focused on the healthcare needs of expatriates, remote workers and business travelers.

Insurance and Propagation in Village Networks, NBER working paper: non-insured events have a lasting impact on the entire supply chain.

According to Swiss Re, global insurance markets are set to rebound in 2021 with China leading recovery.

Swiss Re report advises employers reopening public spaces on reducing the risk of exposure to the COVID-19 virus.

Direct primary care provider Paladina Health in November 2020 changed its name to Everside Health

Mercer appointed Norman Dreger as its new CEO in Germany

According to UNCTAD, global FDI flows fell 49% in the first half of 2020 compared to 2019, due to the economic fallout from COVID-19

Direct primary care provider Paladina Health hired Samie Moore for the newly created position of Senior Vice President, National Accounts, Healthcare Strategy, Benefits & Innovation