Just when U.S. employers were getting the hang of program rules under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and HIPAA, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in May 2016 has added new regulations on to workplace wellness programs. These regulations, issued under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), are additional to the requirements already necessary for compliance with ACA/HIPAA wellness programs. These rules

Frédéric de Courtois, 49 and current CEO of AXA Italy, will head Generali’s new Global Business Lines & International business unit starting in September 2016. He will report to Group CEO Philippe Donnet. De Courtois currently leads the integration of AXA Assicurazioni and AXA MPS into AXA One Italy. He previously served in leadership roles in AXA Japan, AXA Asia P&C, and AXA RE, as well as positions in

Medical error may be the third cause of death in the United States, just behind cancer and heart disease, but we can’t be sure thanks to a flaw in the reporting system that tracks such things. Martin Makary and Michael Daniel of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine hope to change all that, as they explain in their analysis of the system used by the U.S. Centers for Disease

Researchers warn against a particular strain of E-coli bacteria found in Chinese farms and patients that is proving to be resistant to a particular group of veterinary antibiotics called polymyxins. This group of antibiotics is considered to be the last line of defense against food-borne bacteria such as E-coli and salmonella, and its overuse has created a polymyxin-resistant bacteria strain according to a report released in November 2015 in

Insurance broker and risk advisor Marsh in May 2016 announced that Nick Durant will lead Marsh’s Global Captive Solutions Practice, taking over from Chris Lay, who has been named President and CEO of Marsh Canada. Mr. Durant will be based in New York and report to John Drzik, President of Marsh’s Global Risk and Specialties division. Mr. Durant most recently served as Marsh’s global analytics sales leader. Prior to joining

Lockton Benefits in May 2016 announced that Arturo Fisher has been appointed as Vice President and Senior Global Total Rewards Consultant in Lockton’s Chicago employee benefits operation, reporting to Ken Wexler, Senior Vice President and Employee Benefits Practice Leader in Chicago, with a further functional reporting line to Pam Enright, Senior Vice President and Director of Lockton Global Benefits. With more than 27 years of experience in global HR

Source: Statistics Canada – Median household net worth over the life cycle

A recent Willis Towers Watson study, published in April 2016 in cooperation with the CII-Suresh Neotea Centre for Excellence for Leadership, queried 100 CEOs, CHROs, and other senior executives in India to determine the top human capital risks (HCR) and provide recommendations for C-Suite and Boards going forward. The study, entitled The State of Human Capital Risk in India, based its queries on two determining factors: the potential impact

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After 17 years with major global employee benefits consulting firms, LeAnne Stefl in April 2016 founded her own consultancy, Solvere Global Solutions, based in San Diego, California.  

Cigna discovered that reimbursing employees for tuition spent on higher education is a good business practice that benefits the company as well as the employee. An analysis of Cigna’s own Educational Reimbursement Program (ERP) revealed that encouraging and helping employees attain a secondary or post-secondary degree increases employee retention and career opportunities. Moreover, participants in the program are 10 percent more likely to receive a promotion, 7.5 percent more likely

Despite moving at what may seem sometimes as a glacial pace, RESAVER, the pan-European pension plan project, appears to have reached a major milestone. RESAVER, which is set up as a defined contribution (DC) scheme that will provide second-pillar pension benefits, selected its key operational components – namely its third-party service providers – in April 2016, paving the way for its launch. BlackRock has been selected as the asset

As a response to growing concerns over the high cost of cancer care, the Northeast Business Group on Health (NEBGH) Solutions Center, over the course of two 2015 workshops, mounted a study that surveyed 19 self-insured employers representing 1.2 million employees, as well as physicians, oncology experts, employer benefits professionals, executives from health plans, hospitals, consulting organizations, cancer associations, and suppliers of healthcare-related services. The purpose of the study

Yellow Fingers and Diversity – Gender Quotas and Diversity Outcomes Norman Dreger Lifecycle DC Pensions in Brazil Andrego Barbosa De Oliveira Hedge Funds in Pension Funds – the New Normal? Eric Muller-Borle Picking a Winner – Managing Expatriate Selection Risk Paul Pittman and Natalie Richter From the Lab to the Trenches – Time for a Revolution in Executive Pay? Dr. Sandy Pepper

Generali Employee Benefits (GEB) on June 2, 2016, holds from 8 to 11am a breakfast workshop for brokers and consultants in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Senior experts from GEB will illustrate how multinational pooling and reinsurance to captive programs operate and what make them successful. Participants will gain insights into the set up and implementation of international arrangements and into how to maximize benefits to clients. Topics include: Why set

Scott Sutton in April 2016 joined L.E.K. as Director of Marketing, Americas. Previously, Scott was Director of Global Marketing at AIRINC, which he joined in 1997 as a Client Service Manager. L.E.K. is a global management consulting firm that is active in strategy, mergers and acquisitions, operations, and marketing and sales consulting, spanning a broad range of industries. Headquartered in London, L.E.K. employs approximately 1000 professionals and has 20

In November 2015 Cigna released its Global Mobility Trends Survey, updating the 2013 edition. The survey, conducted between April and June 2015, included 2700 expatriate respondents on assignment in 156 countries. Key findings: Global mobility appears to be evolving into a career unto itself. Expats say they need more communication and support, but employers are viewed as moving in the opposite direction. Expats want more assistance with local culture

Health care costs will continue to rise worldwide in 2016 according to the Willis Towers Watson (WTW) 2016 Global Medical Trends Survey of 174 insurers in 55 countries, employers in 34 countries, and 30,000 employees worldwide who have employer-sponsored health benefits. As private medical insurance costs continue to rise, from 7.5% in 2014 and 8.0% in 2015 to a projected 9.1% in 2016, WTW noted that more than half

Aon Risk Solutions, in collaboration with the Risk Advisory Group, has identified 2015 as the most lethal year for terrorist violence since they started collecting empirical data in 2007. With the issuance in April 2016 of the new edition of its Terrorism and Political Violence Map, Aon particularly emphasizes the rapid evolution over the past year of terrorism and political violence present “a much broader spectrum of potential impacts”

Lockton Benefit in April 2016 appointed Dr. Ronald Leopold as leader of its national Lockton Health Risk Solutions practice. Dr. Leopold will combine his clinical knowledge with Lockton’s data intelligence platform to improve employers’ abilities to identify trends and respond to what’s driving the cost of health. He will also work closely with Lockton’s client service teams to advise employers on developing targeted health management programs to address the

The Cigna Foundation, a private foundation founded in 1962 and funded with contributions from Cigna, in April 2016 announced that it is seeking grant, sponsorship, and “thought leadership” opportunities related to workplace health in Middle East, Africa, India, China, and Europe. This Prioritizing Workplace Wellness campaign emphasizes Cigna’s commitment to health equity and improving wellness via the global workplace and builds on Cigna’s vision of the workplace as being

Selection for international assignments is not one-sided. Being able to select the right employee depends on having the right group from which to select, individuals motivated by “what’s in it for me?” If the best candidates cannot see a clear personal advantage, they are unlikely to volunteer.

Once the preserve of rich investors, endowments, and foundations, hedge funds nowadays acquire 75% of their resources from institutional investors, including 25% from pension funds. In the U.K., where defined benefits pension plans are known for their prudent if not conservative investment policies, fully half allocate at least part of their assets to hedge funds.

Many multinational companies struggle with a lack of gender diversity at the management level, and in particular with the lack of visible female representation in key positions. Many consider that the most logical approach to solving this problem is to preferentially hire and promote women into such roles.

The beginning of 2016 brought with it further controversy about executive pay. A hard-hitting report from the High Pay Centre claimed that, by the end of the first Tuesday of the New Year —dubbed by them “Fat Cat Tuesday”— the U.K.’s top executives will have earned more than the average worker would make in an entire year.

Over the past few decades there has been a significant shift from the traditional defined-benefit (DB) plan toward defined-contribution (DC) plans. In defined benefit (DB) pension plans sponsored by employers, employees must rely on the employer’s investment decisions to guarantee their retirement benefit in the future.

Lockton Benefit Group in April 2016 announced a material investment in its InfoLock data intelligence platform, used to advise employers on developing comprehensive health management programs to address the continuum of health risks across their working population.  InfoLock will now include predictive analytics solution SCIO Health Analytics, enabling client service teams to gain timely insights into trends and make evidence-based recommendations that have a high probability of improving employee behavior