Generali in January 2017 promoted its Group Head of Corporate Finance Luigi Lubelli to Group CFO, replacing Alberto Minali who leaves the group. Mr. Lubelli will join the Group Management Committee and Minali will not immediately be replaced in his role as General Manager as defined by the articles of incorporation. All the first-level business functions previously reporting to Minali now report directly to the Group CEO, Philippe Donnet.

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After Aetna and Humana in December 2016 extended the deadline of their proposed merger to mid-February 2017 ( see here ), Anthem in January 2017 extended to April 30, 2017 its own deadline for completing its proposed merger with Cigna. All four healthcare providers await U.S. federal court rulings to decide the legality of their respective deals.

Following the successful conclusion in January 2017 of the bilateral agreement on insurance and reinsurance between the European Union and the U.S., industry body Insurance Europe welcomed the deal, supporting in particular the removal of the discriminatory collateral requirements that E.U. reinsurers were subject to when placing business in the U.S.. This change is expected to support bilateral trade in insurance and reinsurance. However, the National Conference of Insurance

There’s a joke among insurers that there are two things that health insurance companies hate to do – take risks and pay claims. But, of course, these are the essence of their business!

My outlook for 2017 and beyond is that the U.S. economy will likely see another recession. Yes, the economic picture currently looks wonderful. The Dow and S&P 500 are at record levels. Unemployment is well below 5 percent of the labor force. Inflation is still tame. The U.S. dollar is strong.

– how Spieker Point’s platform, DECK DecisionWare, helped MSH International innovate in the global mobility industry with the Aviator product.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, came closer to repeal as the U.S.Senate and House on January 12, 2017 passed a “budget reconciliation” order to launch a formal legislative process that may lead to substantial repeal. Or maybe not.

It is hardly unusual for Cabinet nominees to leave more questions than answers after their confirmation hearings. Yet for the millions whose lives hang in the balance depending on the future of the Affordable Care Act, Rep. Tom Price’s (R-Ga.) answers were surprisingly vague on January 18, 2017 – especially coming from a man who has authored a detailed, 242-page replacement for the ACA, more commonly called Obamacare.

Successful Captive Programs: The Insurer’s Evolving Role Jayesh Patel As Republicans Dismantle Obamacare, Insurers Likely to Bolt J.B. Silvers Fixes, Not Repeals, More Typical for Major Legislation Like Obamacare John McDonough Tom Price, Short on Specifics In Trumpcare Hearing Miranda Yaver Get Ready for The Coming Economic Recession Jay Zagorsky Leveraging Big Data and Software for Competitive Advantage Greg Campbell Sara Hallberg

Worldwide Broker Network (WBN) in January 2017 announced that three current members of its Board of Directors have been reelected to three-year terms.  The reelected directors include Juan Carlos Arias of Panama; Pavanjit Singh Dhingra of India; and Steve Hylant of the U.S. The 16-member WBN Board of Directors now is comprised of: Daniel de Swaan, WBN board chairman and Director at Meijers Assurantien in the Netherlands Juan Carlos

Interest in using captive programs as risk-management tools has been slowly growing within the Employee Benefits (EB) community for some time. But recently it has been gaining momentum, as multinational corporations have begun to realize the potential the concept holds.

U.S. health insurance providers Aetna and Humana in December 2016 announced they had come to an agreement to extend the deadline for their proposed merger from December 31, 2016 to February 15, 2017, as U.S. federal courts are poised to decide whether to allow the merger to proceed. The decision is expected by mid-January. The deal was first announced in August 2015.

One of the major events of 2016 was Generali Employee Benefits’s 50th anniversary celebration with the GEB Forum held in Brussels, Belgium on November 21, 22 and 23, 2016. The three-day conference gathered approximately 300 delegates from over 60 countries including 52% from outside the E.U. . Business leaders and experts discussed and shared insights on the future of the employee benefits industry. The agenda included inspirational keynote speakers,

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The “Global Employee Benefits Watch” Report Analyzed Chris Bruce Death in Service Pensions Paul Avis Starting an Employee Benefits Captive Marc Reinhardt Sven Roelandt R&D: What is the Difference between a Migrant and an Expat? Amanda Klekowski von Koppenfels IGP Sao Paulo Conference Report

Nepalis, Indians, Americans, Syrians and Pakistanis all have something in common: they were the top five migrant groups who received family-related visas to the UK in the year to March 2016. But while US citizens coming to join a family member who is already in Britain are often called “expatriates” or “expats”, the others are often portrayed as “migrants” – mainly because of the country of their birth.

Chris Bruce, Managing Director of Thomsons Online Benefits, discusses the Global Employee Benefits Watch 2016/17 report, shining a light on the relationship among benefits strategy and technology, employee engagement, and business success.

The management of employee benefit plans through captives continues to gain traction with multinational corporations in all sectors of industry. Captives are rarely the beginning but generally the end point of a risk management journey. Every journey has a starting point, of course. This year’s European Captive Forum (ECF) in Luxembourg included several employee benefit related breakout sessions. One was called “Getting Started – What Do You Need to Consider and What Is the Role of HR?”

Having a dependant’s income continue when an employee dies is, to my mind, a massively valuable benefit. But is the product and market understood by both purchasers and employees?

The 2016 IGP Regional Americas Seminar, held on September 15, 2016 at the Renaissance Hotel in São Paulo, Brazil, attracted over 100 registrants and offered a choice of 12 country-specific presentations focused on the Americas region that explained both the basics and the latest developments on social security, plan design, funding requirements, trends and legislative updates in those areas.

According to a December 2016 Reuters report, Aon is in the process of selling its employee benefits TPA business unit for $5 billion. Aon had in 2010 acquired most of this unit as Hewitt Associates for $4.9 billion. The negotiations with potential buyers, who are understood to include several private-equity firms, are expected to take more time. The unit’s EBITDA is estimated at close to $500 million, implying a

Amsterdam, The Netherlands-based sleep expert Els van der Helm, PhD,  in November 2016 launched her new website, www.elsvanderhelm.com, that includes resources such as videos, brief articles and Els’s academic research. Prior to her own consulting firm, Els worked as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company. There she combined her passion for leadership development and sleep management. She developed and facilitated training programs for both McKinsey consultants and clients.

Lockton Global Benefits is hosting its annual Global Benefits Forum in three locations in 2017: Washington, D.C., London and Manila. The theme of each Forum is “Employee Benefits in a Globally Connected World.” The American edition of the Forum is held over two days on April 10 and 11, 2017 in Washington, D.C.; additional workshops for employers are offered on April 12. The registration fee is USD 650 with

Lockton Global Benefits is hosting its annual Global Benefits Forum in three locations in 2017: Washington, D.C., London and Manila. The theme of each Forum is “Employee Benefits in a Globally Connected World.” The European edition of the Forum is held over two days on June 7 and 8, 2017 in London, UK. The registration fee is GBP 350 with an early-bird discount available until January 20, 2017. Additional

Lockton Global Benefits is hosting its annual Global Benefits Forum in three locations in 2017: Washington, D.C., London and Manila. The theme of each Forum is “Employee Benefits in a Globally Connected World.” The Asian edition of the Forum is held over two days on May 15 and 16, 2017 in Manila, The Philippines. The registration fee is PHP 12,500 with an early-bird discount available until January 20, 2017.

Generali Group’s new management under Group CEO Philippe Donnet and Frédéric de Courtois, CEO of Global Business Lines and International, in November 2016 confirmed their commitment to the business units in charge of global mobility and global employee benefits, and in particular to Generali’s network, GEB. De Courtois at the GEB Forum 2016 announced increased investments in GEB. The areas targeted for growth in the years ahead include: