Aon is offering 10 tips to help organizations maximize the use of occupational health (OH) programmes. Generally, employers use occupational health to be responsible and compliant, while also reducing costs. Aon’s 2018 Benefits and Trends survey released in August 2018 found that 96% of employers agree that they have a responsibility to influence employee health, although only 65% access occupational health services. The authors explain that a common theme

Gallagher has released its 2018 Human Capital Insights Report, Identify the Trends, a 40-page document that looks at the changing landscape of human capital Framework for the Future initiative, which addresses the challenges to employers in a rapidly-changing workplace. The report identifies four areas impacting the change in workplace environments: The transformation of the global business marketplace may mean a more affordable cost structure for talent management The shifting

Swiss Re in August 2018 appointed Russell Higginbotham as CEO Reinsurance EMEA and Regional President EMEA; he joins the Group Executive Committee. He succeeds Jean-Jacques Henchoz, who leaves for Hannover Re. Russell Higginbotham most recently led Swiss Re’s global Life & Health (L&H) Products Division. Previously, he was CEO of Swiss Re UK & Ireland, CEO of Swiss Re Australia and New Zealand and led the company’s L&H businesses

Hannover Re in August 2018 announced Jean-Jacques Henchoz would become its CEO in May 2019 upon Ulrich Wallin’s retirement. Henchoz leads Swiss Re’s reinsurance division in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), having responsibility both for life and for non-life. Previously, he was Managing Director, Client Markets; led Swiss Re Canada as President & CEO; and held positions as Head of Strategic Planning for P&C; Underwriting Manager, Financial Reinsurance;

The UK’s Home Office in August 2018 unveiled a package of briefing packs, posters and leaflets, the “EU Settlement Scheme: employer toolkit” to help staff from the EU to register for a new immigration status that will be legally required after Brexit. An estimated 3.5 million to 3.8 million EU citizens live and work in the UK. Among the employers and groups present at the launch were the British

German HR consulting firm Lurse in August 2018 announced the acquisition of the business interest of one of the partners of pension software provider Deutsche Pensions Group (DPG) who is retiring, while majority shareholders Ulrich Mix and Dr. Otmar Stüpp stay with the company. DPG will continue to be managed independently and be headed by Mr. Mix. A member of the Worldwide Broker Network (WBN), Lurse is an HR

The European Commission in August 2018 announced the names of the ten members of its recently established “High Level Group on [supplementary] pensions”. The mission of the group is “to provide policy advice to the Commission on matters related to ways of improving the provision, safety through prudential rules, inter-generational balance, adequacy and sustainability of supplementary (occupational and personal) pensions in light of the challenges in the Union and

Marsh & McLennan (MMC)’s health, wealth and career consulting arm Mercer in August 2018 acquired the investment consulting, alternatives consulting and wealth management operations of Pavilion Financial. Pavilion is a global investment services firm with about 300 employees, headquartered in Winnipeg, Canada. It has offices across North America, in London, U.K., and in Singapore. In the U.S., Pavilion focuses on the defined contribution (D.C.), endowment and foundation, healthcare and

Current Swiss Life Group Chief Risk Officer Matthias Aellig in March 2019 will take over as Group CFO. He then will also become a member of Swiss Life’s Corporate Executive Board, succeeding current CFO Thomas Buess who is taking on non-executive duties. Matthias Aellig studied physics at the University of Bern, Switzerland. After receiving his doctorate in the field of solar wind and completing a research visit at the

Google parent Alphabet in August 2018 invested  $375 million in InsurTech Oscar Health, giving Alphabet a 10 percent share in Oscar. Google employee and former CEO Salar Kamangar joins the board of directors. Google had previously invested in Oscar through its Capital G investment fund and Verily health and life sciences research unit. An earlier $165 million round in March 2018 valued the company at around $3 billion; the

Employers with operations in the U.S. should not underestimate current difficulties in hiring workers. Gad Levanon, chief economist for North America at The Conference Board, in August 2018 commented on the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Situation Report. “The [U.S.] labor market is tightening with the unemployment rate declining by 0.1 percentage points and the broader U-6 measure dropping by 0.3 percentage points.” The U.S. unemployment rate fell

Issiah Sakhabuth in August 2018 joined Mercer as a Principal in the Multinational Client Group based in London. Issiah worked previously for Aon as a Principal Consultant in the International Retirement Practice and for KPMG as a Senior Manager in the Tax & Pensions Practice, after beginning her career as an actuarial trainee for Lloyds Banking Group. She has extensive experience in advising companies on their international retirement and

AIG in August 2018 announced the appointment of Thomas Lillelund as CEO of AIG Europe, based in Luxembourg and reporting to Chris Townsend, CEO, International General Insurance. He will be responsible for Continental Europe and Ireland. Anthony Baldwin, now CEO of AIG Europe Limited, will become CEO of AIG’s new UK entity, American International Group UK Limited, and will continue to report to Townsend. Headquartered in Luxembourg, AIG Europe

Conduent, itself a 2017 Xerox spinoff, in May 2018 announced and in August 2018 completed the spin-off of its consulting business formerly known as Buck Consultants. Private equity investment firm H.I.G. Capital acquired Conduent’s human resources consulting and outsourcing businesses in the U.K. and in Canada as well as its U.S. human resources consulting and actuarial business, forming again what once was actuarial firm Buck Consultants. The new-old firm

Zurich Canada in August 2018 appointed John Thain as Vice President, Travel, Accident & Sickness. He is based in Toronto and reports to Greg Irvine, head of Specialty Products for Canada. He will be responsible for launching personal leisure travel, business travel accident and supporting accident and sickness products in Canada. Zurich Canada expects to begin selling personal travel products by the start of 2019. According to Zurich, the

Zurich Insurance in August 2018 appointed Saad Mered as chief executive officer and chief agent of Zurich Canada, based in Toronto, Ontario. He will report to Zurich North America CEO Kathleen Savio. Zurich North America focuses on workers’ compensation, liability, property, specialty and F&I (finance and insurance); as well as life insurance and disability (in the United States only). It employs approximately 9,000 people out of the Zurich group

Aegon in August 2018 sold the last block of its life reinsurance business to French reinsurer Scor Global Life. Aegon’s U.S. subsidiary Transamerica will reinsure an additional USD 700 million of liabilities through Scor Global Life. In December 2017, Aegon had agreed to divest USD 750 million of life reinsurance liabilities to Scor. It also dissolved a related captive insurance company. Technically, Aegon’s Transamerica life subsidiaries reinsured about half

Financial Analyst – XYZ Benefits Consulting – Open Position EXAMPLE Central London, UK Apply before 15 November 2018 XYZ Benefits Consulting XYZ Benefits Consulting assists employers on occupational pension plans. We provide all services necessary for the design, implementation, and ongoing administration of Defined Contribution and Defined Benefit pension schemes. Our clients are accustomed to relying heavily on our technical expertise to run their plan in a way that

The liquidation of New Zealand insurer CBL and its Ireland-based European subsidiary, CBL Europe in February 2018, appears to have made ripples if not waves with the further voluntary liquidation of its subsidiary, Luxembourg-based broker/tied agent Securities & Financial Solutions Europe (SFS Europe) in July 2018, just 5 months later. SFS Europe specializes in the construction sector and was providing its services in France under the EU’s freedom of

French social protection group Apicil in August 2018 acquired Luxembourg-based individual life insurance carrier OneLife from its owner, U.S. private equity firm J.C Flowers. Apicil has a €2.4 billion turnover and specializes in health and life insurance, pensions, as well as savings and financial services. As a paritarian institution, Apicil is akin to a mutual that is co-managed by trade unions and employers’ representative bodies. Headquartered in Lyon, France,

Brokerage group Ascoma’s employee benefits unit, Ascoma EB, in August 2018 joined global employee benefits broker network IBN (International Benefits Network) as a member for Morocco, Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Cameroon, Gabon, Congo Brazzaville, and Congo DRC. Based in Monaco, Ascoma Group has 34 locations in 24 countries, including 22 in Africa, and more than 700 employees (600 in Africa). Ascoma was the first independent broker network in

CNA Hardy, a commercial insurer operating within the Lloyd’s market, in August 2018 was granted its insurance license by the Luxembourg regulator, Commissariat aux Assurances (CAA). It is to write business across continental Europe from Luxembourg through a network of offices in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, but also through its Lloyd’s of London platform. The company had announced in June of 2017 that it would set

CFO Jörg Schneider to hand over to Christoph Jurecka at the end of 2018 Munich Re CFO Jörg Schneider in December 2018 will retire from Munich Re after more than 18 years on the Board. His successor Christoph Jurecka is 43 years old and comes from ERGO Group AG, Munich Re’s primary insurance subsidiary, where he served as CFO. Christoph Jurecka studied technical physics at the Technical University (TU)

Gallagher in July 2018 acquired employee benefits, group retirement, and individual insurance broker and consultant Belton Boisselle in Winnipeg, Manitoba (Canada). Belton Boisselle has clients across Western Canada, primarily in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. The broker provides group benefit and retirement plans, individual life and living benefits, as well as investment strategies. Belton Boisselle president Roger Belton, president of group benefits and pensions Kasey Boisselle, and their associates will stay

Economic growth is picking up and unemployment has reached record lows in some OECD countries but wages continue to stagnate. Unless countries can break this cycle, public belief in the recovery will be undermined and labor market inequality will widen, according to a new report, published in July 2018 by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The OECD Employment Outlook 2018 states that the employment rate for