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According to Aon Hewitt’s 2016 study of medical trend expectations of employer-sponsored medical plans in 90 countries, the cost of employer-sponsored medical plans is continuing to rise as in previous years and still significantly outpace global inflation. Average Medical Trend Rates by Region 2015 2016 Medical trend rate Annual general inflation rate Medical trend rate Annual general inflation rate Asia Pacific 10.4% 4.2% 9.4% 3.2% Europe 5.7% 1.6% 5.9% 1.6%

Melissa Ruchhoeft in March 2016 joined the Global Benefits Practice of Lockton Benefit as a Senior Consultant. Melissa comes to Lockton from Gallagher Benefit Services, where she served as the Area Vice President of the company’s Multinational Technical Consulting Unit. Before that, she was the Vice President of Technical Services at IBIS, which was acquired by AJ Gallagher in 2014. She graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Wellesley

Nine Top Trends Shaping Global HR Strategy in 2015 Richard Polak From Maturists to Millennials – Why a Global Benefits Strategy is Key in Engaging the Multigenerational Workforce Chris Bruce Using Data to Identify Cost Drivers in Global Group Medical Insurance Eric A. Butler Interview: Ludovic Bayard, General Manager GEB Maximizing your Health Through Improved Sleep Dr. Leena Johns

250 U.S. employers, representing nearly 7 million workers, recently took part in the “2016 Hot Topics in Retirement and Financial Well-Being” survey conducted in late 2015 by Aon Hewitt that revealed plans by large employers to expand their current financial well-being programs for their employees in 2016. The survey indicated that 55 percent of employers currently offer some sort of help for workers in the areas of budgeting, money

Modern Survey, a Minneapolis, U.S.A.-based employee survey and talent analytics solutions provider, has been acquired by Aon Hewitt in February 2016. In search of new sources of revenues, large employee benefits consulting firms are diversifying into and/or expanding employee engagement services. Modern Survey is responsible for software solutions in the areas of talent analytics, onboarding, 360o feedback, engagement, retention, performance, and measurement. Modern Survey’s current offerings are visible at

Insurope and Ping An are hosting the 29th Insurope Conference in Beijing, China from 1-3 June 2016. This conference is free of charge and designed to bring together Insurope team members, advisors and persons responsible for international employee benefits. Client attendees work for benefits, risk management, finance and human resources departments. The conference allows to share experiences with peers dealing with all manners of employee benefits issues ranging from

A 2015 survey of U.K. defined contribution (DC) pension plans reveals that there is a disconnect between what new initiatives they want to deliver and what they can actually provide. The Aon DC Survey 2015 revealed that out of 330 respondents from 297 U.K. DC pension plans, 57% of respondents feel that the top priority for DC schemes is better member outcomes, while 47% identified the need for specific

Chris Bruce, managing director of Thomsons Online Benefits, discusses its latest Global Employee Benefits Watch, revealing the industry’s challenges and why technology is central to global benefits success.

Two critical issues faced by most multinational employers are (1) containing escalating healthcarecosts globally, and (2) building a healthy, committed, and engaged workforce. To help address these issues more effectively, multinational employers should place a higher emphasis on structured analytics when designing and implementing their health and wellness strategy, or prioritizing wellness programs.

The sad truth is that sleep deprivation is an issue too often ignored, even when it is frequently the root cause of decreased productivity, accidents, and mistakes, costing companies billions of dollars each year. Several studies have confirmed that fatigue and/or lack of sleep can produce impairment similar to that from alcohol.

Global HR executives face a distinct set of challenges every year. Our rapidly, constantly changing world is growing more sophisticated, expanding its labor pool and pressing employers, at every turn, to find new and efficient ways to add value to their organizations. Multinational companies must compete as employers of choice to meet their financial and overall organizational goals in 2016 and beyond.

Even the insurance sector, once widely associated with stability, is seeing the impact of disruptive forces and shifting landscapes, from technology to demographic trends and of course economic volatility. The new strategic plan announced by Generali Employee Benefits is all the more interesting as it sees a company that is an integral part of the history of employee benefits getting ready to shape determinedly its future.

Building on a tried-and-tested concept, a great innovation in U.S. healthcare. Reproduced Without Permission from The Onion – Sept 23, 2015 www.theonion.com/r/51369 and kept warm expressly for GBV readers. ROCHESTER, NY—During a meeting with new hires Wednesday to discuss employee benefits, Radian Analytics human resources manager Ellen Schultz is said to have strongly pushed the company’s infinite-deductible health care option. According to sources in attendance, Schultz described the low-premium,

Lockton has named two-time British National Cycling champion Mark Kelly as Regional Commercial Lead for its Asia Pacific division after an extensive talent search. Kelly was hired from Aon’s Health and Benefits Asia Pacific division, and arrives with 12 years’ experience providing strategic advice and relationship management solutions to multinational companies around the globe. Kelly, who holds 23 British Championship medals in total, won the top spot first in

Lockton, the Kansas City-based risk management, insurance, and employee benefits consulting service, has just chosen Andrew Merrilees to head their Asia-Pacific Benefits operation based in Singapore. Lockton’s search for new leadership began in 2015, prompted by a surge in investment and growth in the Asia-Pacific region. Mike Tyler, Head of Lockton UK Employee Benefits, expressed confidence that the addition of Merrilees allows the company to drive faster development of

Nursing homes and long-term care (LTC) facilities face rising liability costs in the coming years unless they can find alternatives to litigation. According to a national study that surveyed 35 U.S. providers operating an aggregate 240,000 LTC beds, the overall national LTC loss rate is expected to increase by 5 percent annually, driven by a 3 percent rise in litigation claim frequency. These findings were the result of the

GBV magazine publishes this 14-page, in-depth article which discusses alternative investments and their suitability for life insurance in general and pension liabilities in particular. By and large, alternative investments are investments in assets other than equities, bonds and cash. They include real estate, commodities such as oil, cocoa and gold, capital goods such as ships and aircraft, and even more exotic categories: hedge funds, private equity, project finance, venture

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Generali Employee Benefits in February 2016 released a special issue of its newsletter entirely devoted to the African continent, available for download here. The 28-page PDF booklet covers the region’s macroeconomic outlook (good despite multiple challenges), provides an overview of the African employee benefits industry (still in infancy but with positive trends emerging – and already some degree of complexity and regulations that one needs to be aware of)

Strategy – Cutting Loose from The Silos Is Not Enough Beyond products and services, client orientation is critical to success Dirk Hellmuth, Melanie Liedtke Effective Benefits Communication Increases Employee Engagement Matt Frost Interview: Chris Bruce, Managing Director and Co-Founder, Thomsons Online Benefits PPI and APF, Two Acronyms Redefine the Dutch Pension Market Theo Lutgendorff Mitigating Corruption Risks in Corruption-Prone Industries and Geographies A case study of an international joint-venture

Only a few weeks after Dutch telecommunications firm Vimpel and U.S.-based engineering software editor PTC in February 2016 entered into settlements with U.S. authorities in relation to allegations of corruption, telecommunication hardware provider Qualcomm in early March 2016 agreed to pay $ 7.5 million to settle charges under the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). Both PTC’s and Qualcomm’s illegal dealings were with corrupt Chinese government officials, whereas Vimpel got

“Corruption, and the perception of corruption, erodes trust in governments, businesses, and markets. In the aftermath of the greatest financial crisis of our time, we need to rebuild that trust more than ever before.

GBV once again gains exclusive access to Chris Bruce of Thomsons Online Benefits for an insight into the global benefits market from one of the largest benefits software providers in the world Global Benefits Vision: What are Thomsons Online Benefits’ core businesses and main activities in general, and how do they specifically relate to the global employee-benefits industry, today?

While the concept of employee engagement has been around for over two decades, its importance as a competitive driver for employers has sharply increased in recent years. Maximizing gains from the total rewards budget and attracting the best workforce, and then retaining employees by maintaining their motivation, has never been more critical to global business.

Research conducted by the London School of Economics (LSE) in the U.K. proves the value and causal link between companies’ investment in communication and increasing their employees’ engagement with their pension, ultimately improving their retirement outcomes.

Everyone claims to be a solution provider. But even those who manage to provide solutions rather than pure products face a crucial question: Is business designed around solutions still in touch with the modern client?