IGP hosts the EMEA regional version of its international employee benefits seminar in Windsor, U.K. from May 24 to 26, 2016. Windsor is located 40 km to the West of London. During the seminar, HR professionals, C&B specialists, Risk Managers and Finance Executives of all levels have the opportunity to discuss past, current and future employee benefits trends with industry specialists and their peers. A mix of country panels

IGP hosts an event aimed at Malaysian subsidiaries and advisors in Penang, Malaysia on Wednesday on April 27, 2016. The programme includes an introduction to pooling and other topical sessions about employee benefits trends. There is no fee to attend. More information and registration here.

IGP hosts an event aimed at Malaysian subsidiaries and advisors in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Tuesday on April 26, 2016. The programme includes an introduction to pooling and other topical sessions about employee benefits trends. There is no fee to attend. More information and registration here.  

IGP hosts an event aimed at Indonesian subsidiaries and advisors at Manulife’s offices in Jakarta, Indonesia on Tuesday, April 19, 2016. The programme includes an introduction to pooling and other topical sessions about employee benefits trends. There is no fee to attend. More information and registration here.

IGP hosts an event aimed at Colombian subsidiaries and advisors at Club El Nogal in Bogota, Colombia in the morning of Thursday, February 11, 2016. The programme includes an introduction to pooling and other topical sessions about employee benefits trends. There is no fee to attend. More information and registration here.

Did we lose our focus on global employee benefits? Hopefully not! In fact, global employee benefits do include insurance and assistance services pertaining to international travel, so we thought you might be interested in hearing this fascinating news from one of our adjacent industries, travel, as reported in February 2016 by B2B website travelmarketreport.com . Available as a mobile phone app, OneGo offers unlimited U.S. domestic flights on plans

Marco Fattori has taken over the leadership of the account management team as Head of Account Management. In this new position he will be leading the client service teams of Allianz Global Benefits around the world. He will directly report to François Jacquemin, Head of Products & Solutions. Prior to this Marco Fattori has worked as an Account Manager since February 2014, servicing multinational corporations and global brokers in

Barry Perkins has been appointed Regional Director U.K., with responsibility for client management and sales activities. Barry will be relocating to London and will report to Dirk Hellmuth, CEO of Allianz Global Benefits. Before his new position, Barry was Head of Account & Tender Management in the head office of Allianz Global Benefits in Munich, in charge of client service delivery and the operational management of the client teams

GBV magazine published this candid interview of Guy Abbiss, the managing partner of London-based lawyers Abbiss Cadres and one of the founding members of the CELIA Alliance, a global network of law firms, in the December 2015 issue, now available as a free downloadable PDF here. Abbiss Cadres LLP specializes in tax and social security, employment law, and employee incentives as well as broader HR consulting and communications services.

Lockton Global Benefits is hosting its annual Global Benefits Forum in three locations in 2016: Chicago, London and Singapore, responding to a growing trend among corporations to reduce travel by employees. Regardless, in-person meetings and conferences are still irreplaceable for focused learning and for networking; hence, industry conferences are a good investment of time and money for global employee benefits practitioners and experts alike. The theme of each Forum

Lockton Global Benefits is hosting its annual Global Benefits Forum in three locations in 2016: Chicago, London and Singapore, responding to a growing trend among corporations to reduce travel by employees. Regardless, in-person meetings and conferences are still irreplaceable for focused learning and for networking; hence, industry conferences are a good investment of time and money for global employee benefits practitioners and experts alike. The theme of each Forum

Lockton Global Benefits is hosting its annual Global Benefits Forum in three locations in 2016: Chicago, London and Singapore, responding to a growing trend among corporations to reduce travel by employees. Regardless, in-person meetings and conferences are still irreplaceable for focused learning and for networking; hence, industry conferences are a good investment of time and money for global employee benefits practitioners and experts alike. The theme of each Forum

IGP hosts an event aimed at Korean subsidiaries of Japanese multinationals at Samsung Life’s offices in Seoul, Korea in the afternoon of Friday 19, 2016. Held in Japanese, the 3-hour workshop includes an introduction to pooling and labor law and human resources management in Korea. There is no attendance fee and the deadline for registering is February 12, 2016. Link : IGP Seminar website

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Are Alternative Investments Suitable Assets for Long-Term Insurance Liabilities and Pension Funds? In a low-interest rate world, alternative investments may provide some relief – and unexpected benefits Eric Muller-Borle Pan-European Group Life/Health Plans A Viable Alternative to Local Plans Chris Ennis Making Mobility Manageable Paul Pittman Increased Longevity and Pensions in Brazil Employers and Employees are Taking Notice Eduardo Freitas Sending Employees into Harm’s Way – and Yourself into

Willis and Towers Watson completed their merger in early January 2016 and became Willis Towers Watson (WTW). The go-ahead decision on the USD 18 billion deal was made by shareholders in an early December 2015 vote, after the terms were changed in several increments during the preceding five months as Towers Watson shareholders were unhappy with the terms offered. Driven by both firms’ management, the deal had been announced

European Union authorities signal a stronger commitment towards furthering the integration of private pension systems across Europe and extending the single market to insurance and pensions. In November 2015, the European Commission highlighted efforts by a number of countries in reforming their first-pillar pension systems, especially in the view of increased longevity. At the same time, it insisted that further steps needed to be taken by member states to

Medical inflation appears to have slowed down in the U.S. in 2015, the average increase of health care rates for mid-size and large employers was 3.2% against 4.4% in 2014 and an expected 4.1% in 2016. Lower utilization levels due to reduced purchasing power of individuals and lower increases in medical prices contribute to this modest and perhaps temporary slow-down. The average total health care cost per employee, including

Mobility has never been in the mainstream of HR. Originally few employees transferred among international locations, and those that did were a nomadic and independent bunch. They completed one assignment and then moved on to the next one or returned home; as long as their occasional updates to HQ showed progress they were left alone.

Brazil’s Social Security sector has undergone several transformations since it was implemented in the distant year of 1821, when the country still was a Portuguese colony. The existing models date back to 1923, when the country’s railway companies created a Retirement and Pensions Fund to cover their employees. Today, Brazil has three main pension schemes: the General Pension Scheme, managed by the National Social Security Institute and run by the government, to which all formally employed workers are entitled; the Special Public Servants’ Regimes; and Supplemental Pension Plans.

As global markets turn more positive and the financial markets recover, employees are turning their attention to better managing their talent and headcount. While cost and efficiencies remain the key priorities in global mobility and business travel programs, we also see a new focus emerging: a duty of care to employees.

In a low-interest rate world, alternative investments may provide some relief – and unexpected benefits too. In today’s financial markets characterized by very low interest rates, higher-than-expected risks, and high volatility in equity prices, investing for the long term is a challenging proposition. Decent returns, even at the unexciting level of one two percentage points above inflation, may be difficult to achieve without bearing substantial risk.

Most multinational companies have a single property and casualty insurance policy that covers their factories and offices around the world in case of flood or fire or theft. But when it comes to global employee benefits, many have a different contract—or even many more than one—for each country, through several brokers, and a pooling or captive arrangement to boot.

Ludovic Bayard, formerly Chief commercial officer of Generali’s GEB unit, is promoted to the position of general manager, effective December 1, 2015. This is one of the outcomes of a comprehensive strategic review of GEB’s operations conducted in the second half of 2015, involving Generali’s top executives up to and including the group’s Group management committee. Other decisions pertaining to GEB’s strategy will be announced in early 2016. At

Global composite insurer Zurich in December 2015 announced the appointment of Gary Shaughnessy as CEO Global Life as well as to the Group Executive Committee. He succeeds Kristof Terryn who was appointed CEO of Zurich General Insurance in October 2015 and still acted as interim CEO for the Global Life unit (see here). Mr. Shaughnessy has been CEO of Zurich U.K. Life since June 2012; in 2014 he assumed

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Sleep and Health – The Forgotten Link DB Plans in Mexican Universities De-risking against the flow Denise Gómez-Hernández Crossing the Chasm From consultant to corporate C&B manager Fabiàn Bukschtein News from Belgium An Update on Pensions and Blue Collar Vs White Collar Michel Moreau Postpaid Health Insurance Plans in Brazil  Better Service Quality, Prevention and Management? Eduardo Freitas IGP Conference Report The “Changing Workforce” is upon us Adherence to