As he juggled his full-time position and his new role as chairman of the rapidly-expanding International Employee Benefits Association, Generali’s Marco Giacomelli took a few minutes to sit down with the editors of Global Benefits Vision and reflect upon the changing nature of the industry and the association.

Does corporate social responsibility improve the value of a company? When making decisions, should companies only care about shareholders or should they take other stakeholders (e.g., employees, customers, the environment) into account? This is a decades-old debate, but despite many cogent views on both sides, there’s surprisingly little hard evidence.

The trend for employers to move from defined benefit (DB) to defined contribution (DC) pension plans is a global phenomenon. Many multinational companies now have pension guidelines that encourage or even require pension provision to be granted using a defined contribution approach, and some emerging economies without long-standing pension systems have skipped DB benefit provision altogether.

LaLux insurance company has acquired a further 75% stake in health insurance carrier DKV Luxembourg which it nows wholly owns. LaLux will implement a full operational integration of DKV Luxembourg in the coming months. The second-largest domestic insurer in Luxembourg behind Le Foyer, LaLux is the AIG Global Benefits Network partner for Luxembourg and offers a full range of group life, health and pension benefits as well as other

Sören Schulze joined Allianz Global Benefits in June 2015 as Senior Network Mana­ger based in Munich. In his new position, he is responsible for the operatio­nal and day-to-day management of the network insurers within the Allianz Global Benefits network and reports to Dr. Reinhardt Schink, Head of Market Management. Sören Schulze started his professional career at Generali Emplo­yee Benefits in Frankfurt, Germany as an account executive. He continued his

David Myers was appointed head of Global Broker Life & Health Development in January 2015, based in Munich. In his new role he is responsible for strategic engagement with global brokers. He directly reports to Dirk Hellmuth, CEO and Head of Sales & Distribution of Allianz Global Benefits. Earlier, he was part of the Allianz Group broker distribution team where he has been for four years, the last two

Adam King was appointed Regional Director for the Americas in June 2015, based in Chicago. He is responsible for Employee Benefits sales and distribution to multinational companies in North and South America. In this role he directly reports to Dirk Hellmuth, CEO and Head of Sales & Distribution of Allianz Global Benefits. Before joining Allianz Global Benefits, he was with MetLife/Maxis and in charge of business development in the

In a compact, fast but mid-resolution version, the prototype issue of Global Benefits Vision magazine is now made available to you on-line. Its contents are identical to the version published a few days ago. Let us know which one you prefer: the fast one, or the hi-res one? Please note that most of the contents of the prototype issue is based on articles published elsewhere and rewritten for Global

Sheldon Kenton reports to Robert Lang, Managing Director for Bupa Global, and is a member of the Bupa Global executive team.  The newly created role of Global Commercial Director focuses on sales to corporate clients, on health benefits, as well as on institutional distribution partnerships. Kendon had been with Cigna since 1997, lastly as global head for sales of international employee benefits, and relocates from Philadelphia, PA. He holds

A prototype issue of Global Benefits Vision magazine is made available to you online three weeks ahead of the launch of the Inaugural Issue. Please note that most of the contents of the prototype issue is based on articles published elsewhere and rewritten for Global Benefits Vision. The real thing, beginning with the Inaugural Issue on September 9, 2015, will feature original, up-to-date material only.     This content

Payroll software and services provider ADP and the GoHealth Insurance platform that offers subsidized health insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act, have together launched a private health exchange that enables employers to assist both full-time employees and the contingent workforce, i.e. part-time, temporary and contract workers ineligible for employer-sponsored coverage, in selecting health plans. Apparently in an effort to leverage up-to-date, detailed employee data from its clients’ payrolls,

Eating a group of specific foods may slow cognitive decline among aging adults, even when the person is not at risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, according to researchers at Rush University Medical Center, in a study recently published online in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association. The MIND diet, which is short for “Mediterranean-DASH Diet Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay,” is a hybrid of the Mediterranean

The team at Global Benefits Vision is proud to announce its website, live since July 31, 2015 at www.global-benefits-vision.com ! Thanks to the great work done by Marc at OuterRim and by Yazid at GBV, Global Benefits Vision is online one month ahead of the launch of the magazine. What is available now Read news in the free, public section of www.global-benefits-vision.com Try out the magazine reader application (placeholder “magazines”

Human beings are living longer than ever, which can be a wonderful thing. As the T-shirts say, life is good. But human longevity has big consequences for society, which is one reason President Obama is hosting today’s White House Conference on Aging. It’s great that we can get new hips when our old ones wear out, but someone has to pay for them. It’s great that Baby Boomers will

Aging reduces the production of new immune cells, decreasing the immune system’s response to vaccines and putting the elderly at risk of infection, but antioxidants in the diet may slow this damaging process. That’s a new finding by scientists from the Scripps Research Institute in Florida, published in an open-access paper in the journal Cell Reports. The problem is focused on an organ called the thymus, which produces T lymphocytes

As of June 2015, Candriam – BIL Pension Fund is still the Luxembourg representative at AEIP (Association Européenne des Institutions Paritaires, or European Association of Paritarian Institutions), even after its former owner, leading Luxembourg bank Banque Internationale à Luxembourg (BIL) separated from Dexia group and was acquired by Precision Capital of Qatar and Candriam was sold in February 2014 to New York Life Insurance Company, the largest U.S. mutual

Prime factors for a higher probability of reaching age 100+ are long telomere length and low inflammation. Newcastle University’s Institute for Ageing in the UK and Keio University School of Medicine in Japan note that severe inflammation is part of many diseases in the old, such as diabetes or diseases attacking the bones or the body’s joints, and chronic inflammation can develop from any of them. The study was

IGP hosts its annual international employee benefits seminar in Boston, Massachusetts on September 29 and October 1st, 2015. The seminar includes a choice of up to 12 country panel presentations about local social security programs and customary private employee benefits practice, including legislative updates and recent trends and new products. An optional training program on multinational pooling and related issues is offered on September 28 pm. Registration fees start

In a August 5, 2015 press release, New York-based insurance brokerage Integro said it has reached an agreement to be acquired by PE firm Odyssey Investment Partners. Odyssey re-enters the insurance industry after previous investments in Montpelier Re, OneCall Medical and York Insurance Services.  

INTEGRO TO BE ACQUIRED BY ODYSSEY INVESTMENT PARTNERS Investment Strongly Endorses Specialty Growth Strategy New York, NY (August 5, 2015) – Integro Ltd., an international insurance brokerage and risk management firm, today announced that it has reached an agreement to be acquired by entities affiliated with Odyssey Investment Partners, LLC, positioning Integro for continued growth. Financial details of the investment were not disclosed. Founded in 2005, Integro has evolved

Two years after joining AON France as its Global Benefits practice leader, Bruno Valette joins Mercer France as Client Relationship Director and Principal. Or, rather, rejoins, as Valette had spent 14 years with Mercer in Paris right before AON. Mercer was his first employer in the insurance sector from 1989 to 1997, to be followed by leading French broker Gras Savoye, soon to be a division of Willis –

After leaving Allianz Deutschland, Dr. Markus Riess has joined Ergo as CEO and Munich Re’s management board. Ergo is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Munich Re, which operates under the brand names Ergo, Victoria, DKV and others. Munich Re’s CEO Nikolaus von Bomhard has no known successor and has not announced any plans to retire, despite the fact that he will reach the mandatory retirement age of 60 in 2016.

Willis announced the acquisition of PMI Health Group, an independent healthcare adviser and broker in the U.K. The deal will  raise Willis’s presence in the U.K. employee benefits and healthcare market, and  enhance its product offerings and skills base.

Willis announced the appointment of Brian Shea as Head of Europe for Willis Capital Markets & Advisory, its insurance investment banking division, based in London, effective August 24, 2015. Brian joins from reinsurer  SCOR, where he was Chief Corporate Strategy Officer after 20 years as an investment banker with Salomon Brothers and Merrill Lynch.

IGP welcomes Gothaer Lebensversicherung AG as their new Network Partner in Germany. Previously, Victoria Lebensversicherung -part of Ergo group and no longer in existence as a separate brand- was IGP’s German partner. Ergo Germany is no longer a member of a pooling network. Gothaer Germany remains a member of the new AIG network (formerly known as ING Global Network).  

Aetna will acquire Humana for cash and stock valued at $37 billion. The acquisition will push Aetna’s Medicare Advantage membership to  4.4 million and make it possible for the two companies to share knowledge and innovations in order to create better healthcare products, the company said. The deal is subject to regulatory and other approvals; it is expected to be completed in late 2015.

Willis appointed Simon Weaver as CEO of its Singapore office, as well as to the newly-created role of regional CEO for South-East Asia.