The Worldwide Broker Network (WBN) held its 58th Global Conference April 11th through the 13th, 2018, in San Antonio, Texas. Over 330 WBN members, associate members, sponsors, and some clients attended, with EPIC serving as the member host. The 58th Global Conference had record attendance from the Employee Benefits field, with 65 Employee Benefits focused attendees coming to San Antonio. Sessions were regularly packed, and an enthusiastic audience gave a special energy to this rapidly growing part of WBN.

In terms of land mass Brazil is the largest country in Latin America and the 5th largest in the world behind Russia, Canada, China, and the USA. Despite its vast territory, Brazil’s population is concentrated in the major cities of each state, mostly on the Southern coast. Being the only Portuguese- speaking country in the region, Brazil is also different in many aspects including cultural, and economic challenges, and the way of doing business in the marketplace. These are the reasons why operating in Brazil brings inherent and unique challenges to the HR team.

Obesity was designated a disease in 2013 by the American Heart Association and American Medical Association. Obesity, defined as a body mass index of 30 or higher, had long been identified as a health condition, but its designation as a disease underscored its role as a risk factor for leading causes of death, such as heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, stroke and many cancers.

Workforce Sustainability & the Death of HR – Paul Pittman Why Are We So Sleep Deprived? – Michael S. Jaffee Six Misconceptions About Meditation – Dusana Dorjee AIG GBN Conference Report

The AIG Global Benefits Network Annual Partners meeting was held on 14 September 2017, in Paris, France. The meeting focused on AIG’s global strategy, with extensive discussion on the effects of the global economy on the insurance industry.

Meditation has been hailed as a way to boost mental health, help chronic pain, reduce stress and build a new appreciation for the world around us. But even with all this interest, misconceptions about what this ancient practice can do for human health and well-being are still circulating.

Many of us dread the loss of the hour’s sleep we incur by moving our clocks forward when daylight saving times comes back in Spring. For millions, the loss will be an added insult to the inadequate sleep they experience on a daily basis.

Anyone who follows trends in cinema will have noticed films for, and about, “baby boomers” that play to themes of memory. With HR profession at a crossroads, just like in one of those movies, I seem to remember having been here before!

International Pension Plans & Guernsey Regulations, Carl Hansen An Efficient Administrative Model for The Cross-Border Environment, Dejan Malesic Exercise Can Slow the Ageing Process, Janet M. Lord HR: Prepare for GDPR In Five Steps Brexit, Borders, and Group Insurance – Paul Avis Introduction to Employee Benefits in the UK – WBN Country Profile Series, Saira Chambers Expat Pensions 2018-2023: Is Big Data the Answer? Patrick Donders

So far cross-border pensions have been discussed extensively, however, have not been put into practice with as much effort. We can all agree how challenging it can be operating in the cross-border environment, in particular complying with the many (and often complex) requirements at each single local level.

International pension plans (IPPs) have been around for many years. A wide variety of employers have already established IPPs covering employees in well over 100 countries. Plan sizes range from only a few members to a handful of plans with more than 5,000 members. There are currently well over a thousand IPPs in existence; and, our experience tells us that this number continues to grow as more employers discover their many benefits, and how they can be used effectively to provide pensions and long term savings for certain employees.

Much has been made of borders in the speculation around Brexit. While focus has been on the Irish border, there is a generalised desire to limit the imposition of so-called “hard” borders after the UK leaves the European Union. These discussions focus on trade barriers, and what remains very much in the air is how people movement will be affected. While limiting free movement is in essence a political problem, it does have very practical repercussions.

The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which will come into force on May 25, 2018, is European in scope but with global implications. In an effort to protect personal data against unauthorized access and tampering, it strengthens the rights of individuals (such as the right of access, right of rectification, and right to be forgotten) and sets up new obligations for businesses (such as setting up a register of personal data processing, responding to requests from individuals, and data security and confidentiality measures).

The tradition of sending a telegram to every British citizen on their 100th birthday was started just over 100 years ago by George V, who sent out just nine letters. Last year, the Queen had to sign over 16,000 birthday letters. The UK has an ageing society, with falling birth rates and increasing life expectancy. Improvements in public health and medicine have helped to achieve this amazing effect on lifespan.

There was a time when expats were given special status and rewarded accordingly. But after the past 10 years of cost reduction and globalization, expats today have been largely replaced with local talent. Those that remain often have local contracts with local benefits.

The move towards compulsory employer pensions provision (which began in 2012) is nearing its end, while taxation changes, legislation targeting higher earners and new ways of saving are all making the reward space an exciting place to be.

GBV: Please tell us about your appointment as Chairman of WBN, what does this entail? Jim Watt: I am going to be assuming the chairmanship of Worldwide Broker Network in April of this year (2018) and I’m excited about the opportunity because I really believe in the network and in the global aspects of business commerce.

The inaugural meeting of the Cross-Border Benefits Alliance (CBBA) on December 6 could be described as a classic meeting of the minds, featuring such authorities as the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) and other private and public-sector organizations coming together to promote cross border pensions as well as find a way to address the legislative and judicial issues that surround them.

Duty of Care is a generally accepted principle in many countries around the world. It’s an important factor in building trust and reinforcing commitment toward employees, and in some countries, it’s enshrined in legislation. An employer can be deemed to have breached its duty of care if it fails to do everything reasonable to keep employees safe from harm.

The current 2017-18 flu season is a bad one. Hospitalization rates are now higher than in recent years at the same point, and infection rates are still rising. The best line of defense is the seasonal influenza vaccine. But H3N2 viruses, like the one that’s infecting many people this year, are particularly hard to defend against, and this year’s shot isn’t very protective against H3N2.

Middle East countries are making fast-paced regulatory reforms to the health insurance industry for half a decade, and healthcare sectors and insurance industries have seen a surge in mergers and acquisitions activity.

GBV: Let’s start our discussion with the highlights of your career, and your focus on global pensions. Thierry Verkest: Aon is the leading global professional services firm providing risk, retirement, and health solutions. I am based in Brussels; I’ve always worked in Belgium, and for more than 25 years I’ve helped international organizations manage the design and financing of their pension funds. We have offices all over the world

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Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase’s announcement that they will create an independent company to offer health care to their employees “free from profit-making incentives and constraints” sent a shock through the health care industry, with share prices of some incumbents tumbling on Jan. 30, 2018.

Every working day, doctors in the U.K. diagnose almost 1,000 people with type 2 diabetes. It is one of the commonest and most expensive diseases. What most people don’t know is that with a bit of hard work, it is possible to become non-diabetic again.

Happiness is the subject of countless quotations, slogans, self-help books and personal choices. It is also being taken seriously by national governments and organisations like the United Nations, as something societies should aim for.

U.S. gross domestic product is at an all-time high. U.S. life expectancy is not. Life expectancy has fallen for the second time in two years – from a high of 78.9 years in 2014 to 78.6 years in 2016. It fell for men and women, whites, blacks and Hispanics. Statistics show that thousands were preventable, premature deaths.