Professional sport is full of stories of elite athletes “choking” emotionally and mentally under the pressure of competition. One famous example is golfer Greg Norman, who was leading the 1994 U.S. Masters by six strokes at the beginning of the final round, but then lost by five strokes to Nick Faldo. And England football teams are well known for their struggles in penalty shoot outs.

In the December 2019 issue History of Pooling at Allianz – François Jacquemin, Michael Scheu Vaping and e-cigarettes – Allison Kurti Hospital Price Transparency in the U.S. at Last? – Neeraj Sood To Lose Weight, Eat Less or Exercise More? – Juan Ignacio Pérez Iglesias Exercise Before Breakfast Works Best – Rob Edinburgh Controlled Breathing for the Rest of Us – David Shearer Allianz Global Benefits Interview – Dirk Hellmuth,

History of Pooling at Allianz – Vaping and e-cigarettes – Hospital Price Transparency in the U.S. at Last? – To Lose Weight, Eat Less or Exercise More? – Exercise Before Breakfast Works Best – Controlled Breathing for the Rest of Us – Allianz Global Benefits Interview, Dirk Hellmuth, Cyril Samson

I tend to be overweight, and for the last few years my blood glucose levels have been putting me on the brink of Type 2 diabetes. I love my food, and it is often part of my social commitments. I’m a Spaniard, so there’s also the occasional tapas and glass of wine, or maybe a martini on Saturdays. As a physiologist, I know I need to take steps to control my blood glucose and weight. So early every morning, I spend a considerable amount of time pedaling away on a stationary bike.

New federal regulations finalized Nov. 15 require hospitals to make public all the prices they negotiate with insurers and health plans, starting in 2021. The aim is to untangle the hospital marketplace with a wave of consumer-friendly information that will promote competition that leads to lower costs. Hospitals are not happy, but advocates of well-informed, patient-centered health care should be cheering.

MAXIS Global Benefits Network (MAXIS GBN) in December 2019 announced it had chosen CareClix as its global partner for telemedicine services. CareClix is a leading telemedicine solutions provider headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, USA and focused on technology-driven medical services to employers, governments, health plans and health systems. Beefing up the MAXIS Global Wellness Solution The partnership will allow MAXIS GBN’s clients, as a part of its MAXIS’ Global Wellness

Randstad’s WorkMonitor report for Q4 2019 was released in December 2019 with a look into work-life balance and the economic and financial outlook for 2020 and shows some interesting results. The survey covers trends across the globe in the mobility, job satisfaction, and motivation in 34 countries around the globe. Work-Life Balance Highlights of the report include the inevitability of technology creeping into our lives more and more: Workers

Hong Kong-listed Ping An Good Doctor (PAGD), along with the Hurun Research Institute, in early 2019 released a “Good Doctors Guide” covering both traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine to “help 1.4 billion people find the doctors they need”. In 2019, Good Doctor intended to develop its Hospital Cloud, Clinic Cloud, Pharmacy Cloud, Village Medical Cloud and increase the pace of its international strategy. According to Wang Tao, chairman

  Standard Setting Bodies and Professional Federations The European Commission: ec.europa.eu/internal_market/insurance/solvency/index_en.htm European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA): eueiopa.europa.eu National Association of Insurance Commissioners, USA (NAIC): content.naic.org/ International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS): www.iaisweb.org The European Federation of (Re)Insurers: www.insuranceeurope.eu The European Federation of Risk Management Associations: www.ferma.eu The Association of Reinsurance Professionals in France: www.apref.org Regulators and Control Authorities Belgium: www.nbb.be France: acpr.banque-france.fr/lacpr.html Guernsey: www.gfsc.gg/ Ireland: www.centralbank.ie Italy:

MAXIS Global Benefits Network (MAXIS GBN), the global network of locally licensed insurance companies founded by AXA and MetLife, in December 2019 announced it had teamed up with Peru’s largest insurance provider, RIMAC (Rimac Seguros y Reaseguros) to provide life and medical cover to MAXIS’s multinational clients. Prior to this, MAXIS GBN had Pacifico Compania de Seguros y Reaseguros as it’s Peruvian partner – alongside Insurope. RIMAC’s leading position

Cancer can change a person’s world beyond recognition. During this often highly stressful time, work can provide an oasis of normality and routine. However, the experiences of those working through a cancer diagnosis can vary widely. Employee benefits specialist Unum recently conducted a survey of 300 U.K. workers diagnosed with cancer in the last five years. Published in November 2019, the survey explored workers’ attitudes and challenges, as well

Ping An Good Doctor Develops Commercial Operation of One-Minute-Clinics in China Ping An Good Doctor (PAGD), China’s largest online healthcare services provider and a spin-off of Chinese insurer Ping An, in 2019 expanded its AI-based “One-Minute Clinics” across eight Chinese provinces and cities. One-Minute Clinics are small rooms where patients enter to connect with a virtual doctor (the “AI Doctor”) which in a few minutes offers a preliminary diagnosis

MAXIS Global Benefits Network announced in September 2019 that Grégoire Bonnefoy has been promoted to Reporting and Reinsurance Analyst from the position of Multinational Account Manager where he was responsible for business development for Multinational Pooling and Captive clients. He will be based in London. Prior to joining Maxis, Bonnefoy was a Commercial and Communication Assistant with OC Sport in Geneva, Switzerland. He has also been a business developer

MAXIS Global Benefits Network (MAXIS GBN) in November 2019 announced its selection of INTERVENT International as global provider of a suite of designated digital behavior change and population health management solutions. The partnership enhances Maxis GBN’s global solutions for the prevention and management of multiple chronic diseases, disability condition management, maternity care, and other drivers of health-related medical costs. As part of the collaboration, multinational employers working with MAXIS

Marie Moberg in December 2019 started her own consulting firm, Morem Consulting AB. Previously, she served as Group Head Compensation and Benefits at Bonava from 2016-2019 where she also served as Interim Group Head of HR (2018). Prior to this she was a Compensation Expert at Sandvik from 2012-2016 where she served in Australia and was Compensation and Benefits Manager at Sandvik Mining global. Marie was Director of Compensation

Chloé has announced the appointment of Arnaud Sachs as Head of Compensation Benefits and HR Control, effective October 2019. He is based in Paris, France. Sachs was previously with Vallourec, where he was compensation manager of social benefits and social management control, and with Towers Watson as a Consultant, Compensation and Benefits. He holds an MBA in Compensation & Benefits from École normale supérieure in Paris, and a Master’s

The OECD in November 2019 released its annual Health at a Glance report for 2019. It provides the latest comparable data and trends on different aspects of the performance of health systems in OECD countries, while providing striking evidence of large variations across countries in indicators of health status and health risks, as well as in the inputs and outputs of health systems. Gains in longevity are stalling, with

Reto Toscan, who oversaw the rapid rise of elipsLife from only 7 employees in 2011 when he joined, to 300 in 2019 and USD 500 million of premium in the employee benefits space has been succeeded in December 2019 by industry veteran Christoph Gaus. Gaus, who joined elipsLife from Zurich Insurance Group and Swiss Mobiliar Insurance Company, where he held senior roles, has more than two decades’ experience in

Aspen Pharma Group has promoted Peter Gasteiger to Head of HR, International Region, as of October 2019. Gasteiger will remain based in Munich. Gasteiger has been with Aspen Pharma Group for over five years. He joined the company as Head of HR for Europe in December 2013 and held that position until his promotion. He came to Aspen from Sandoz, where he was Global Head HR Antiinfectives, and Head

Obesity-related diseases will claim more than 90 million lives in OECD countries in the next 30 years, with life expectancy reduced by nearly 3 years. Obesity and its related conditions also reduce GDP by 3.3% in OECD countries and exact a heavy toll on personal budgets, amounting to USD 360 per capita per year, according to a new OECD report published in November 2019. The OECD’s The Heavy Burden

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) released its latest Global Investment Trend Monitor as of October 2019. Report highlights include: Global foreign direct investment (FDI) flows in the first half of 2019 were 24% higher than in the first half of 2018. However, the underlying FDI trend (removing the effects of one-off transactions and intra-firm financial flows, including repatriations driven by the 2017 US tax reforms)

Speed Medical Examination Services, as of September 2019, has named Andrew Apps as Head of Proposition, PMI (private medical insurance), based in the UK. Apps joins from Expacare Limited, where he was in Distribution and Marketing, and Bellwood Prestbury, where he was Head of Global Healthcare. Apps was also Director, Sales and Marketing, for ALC Health, and Deputy Chairman, Association of International Medical Insurance Providers (AIMIP) from 2009 to

Health expenditures will outpace GDP growth over the next 15 years in almost every OECD country, according to the OECD’s Health at a Glance 2019 report, published in November 2019. The OECD foresees that health spending per capita will grow at an average annual rate of 2.7% across OECD countries and will reach 10.2% of GDP by 2030, up from 8.8% in 2018. The report notes that the United

Tiffany Ulbing, CEBS, has been named Director, Education and Outreach, for the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (IFEBP), effective July, 2019. She will remain based in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin area. Ulbing was previously the Director of Educational Programs from 2010 to 2019. Before joining the IFEBP, she was a benefits manager at Clifton Gunderson LLP (now CliftonLarsonAllen), and a benefits analyst at Mercer Health and Benefits. Prior to

Artex Risk Solutions announced the promotion of Kevin Heffernan to Executive Vice President North America, effective September, 2019. Heffernan will be based in Burlington, Vermont. He leads captive operations including domicile management across the U.S. He is also responsible for Artex North America’s operational controls, administration, and reporting procedures and systems. Heffernan was previously Division Chief Operating Officer for Artex. He holds a B.S. in Accounting from William Paterson

Generali Employee Benefits (GEB) has promoted Francesco Johan Cortese to Manager, Client Development as of October 2019. Cortese will be based at the Regional Office EMEA in Luxembourg. Cortese was previously Assistant Manager for Global Reporting and based in Brussels, Belgium. Before that, he was Assistant Manager, International Accounts Administration, and International Accounts Administrator. He joined GEB as a Marketing Consultant in 2002. Previously, Cortese served as a Second

Published in November 2019, the OECD’s Pensions at a Glance 2019 report advises governments to urgently reform their pension systems to allow for the one-third of employees who are now in non-standard employment (self-employed, temporary or part-time employment) to have adequate retirement income. With women being three times more likely to be in part-time work, and the older workforce more likely to be self-employed, it has become a necessity: non-standard