Nicola Fordham in September 2017 was appointed as Director of Underwriting of the MAXIS Global Benefits Network (MAXIS GBN), the international employee benefits joint venture between MetLife and AXA. She joins from MetLife UK, where she was Chief Pricing Underwriter. In this role, she was in charge of technical relationship between MetLife UK and MAXIS GBN, and led a 25‑strong team of underwriters and built and delivered trainings for

Interview – LeAnne Stefl, Worldwide Broker Network Benefits & Perks for the New Millennium Eric Muller-Borle Is Freelancing the Future of Employment? Anthony Hussenot Is Hiring an Experiential Learning Process? Ming Leung Interview – Frank Schmid, American International Group

Tine Thorsen in September 2017 joined Chubb as Director of Marketing and Communications for Europe, Eurasia and Africa, based in London. Previously, Tine had been the global head of market development for the corporate customer segment at Zurich Insurance in Zürich, Switzerland; head of marketing for global corporates in Europe at Zurich Financial Services in London; and several other leadership position in marketing at Zurich. In addition to her

Global Benefits Vision: Could you share with us the highlights of your career, with emphasis on global employee benefits or on related fields? Frank Schmid: I entered the insurance industry in 2004 from the Federal Reserve, serving as a Senior Economist at the National Council on Compensation Insurance in Boca Raton, FL.

Today, freelancers represent 35% of the United States workforce. In the European Union, the rate is 16.1%. Both figures demonstrate the same global trend: from creative entrepreneurs to those paid by the task, freelancing is on the rise worldwide.

How do employers react to past hiring experiences when it comes to members of specific social categories? In Learning to hire? Hiring as a dynamic experiential learning process in an online market for contract labor, we investigate why job applicants run the risk of not being hired when they reveal their social category – in this case, their country of origin.

Global Benefits Vision: LeAnne, can you share some of your career highlights with us, focusing on global employee benefits and global mobility? LeAnne Stefl: I’ve been in the industry close to 30 years. I started my career on the private client services side, with Barney and Barney (now part of MMA) in San Diego, California, in the mid-1980s. In 1999, I joined Marsh San Diego as a benefit analyst, focused on U.S. clients.

When it comes to research and data on consumer behaviors and attitudes, one of the first names that come to mind in the United States is the Gallup organization. Their most recent report, State of the American Workplace, takes a comprehensive snapshot of the modern American workforce, and was created to help business leaders optimize their attraction, retention, engagement, and performance strategies in a time of unparalleled advancement and social change

Increased leisure time and reduced labor supply of young men may be partly due to the improved quality of video games, according to a working paper published in September 2017 by the U.S. National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). The objective of the paper is to distinguish the increase in leisure due to improved leisure technology from increases in leisure due to other forces such as declining labor market

Cyril Samson in July 2017 was appointed as Managing Director, Head of Sales of Allianz Global Benefits (AGB), reporting to AGB CEO Dirk Hellmuth. Based in Stuttgart, he is responsible for the operational management of AGB‘s sales & account management teams, servicing multinational clients in the risk as well as the pension field. Cyril joined Allianz Global Benefits in January 2004 as Managing Director. Since 2013, he has been

Jayesh Patel in July 2017 was appointed as Regional Director for the UK and Ireland of Allianz Global Benefits (AGB), reporting to AGB Head of Sales, Cyril Samson. Based in London, he is responsible for UK multinational clients and is the senior point of contact for AGB network partners in the region. Jayesh joined Allianz Global Benefits in the UK in 2009 and has performed a number of roles

The demand for short term international private health insurance or IPMI which bridges the gap between travel insurance and longer term cover looks set to keep growing, particularly as events such as Brexit unfold. Brexit could unleash yet more demand as international arrangements such as the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) may no longer cover travelers to and from the U.K. . The impact of the internet, budgetary pressures

American International Group in August 2017 appointed Peter Zaffino as Executive Vice President, Global Chief Operating Officer, reporting to CEO Brian Duperrault. Zaffino joins AIG after serving as Chief Executive Officer of Marsh, a subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies (MMC) and as Chairman of the Risk and Insurance Services segment of MMC. He was also a member of MMC’s Executive Committee. Brian Duperreault, who joined AIG in May

American International Group in May 2017 announced the appointment of Brian Duperreault as President, Chief Executive Officer and Director. Duperreault previously served as Chairman and CEO of Hamilton Insurance Group, a Bermuda-based holding company, with property and casualty insurance and reinsurance operations in Bermuda, the U.S. and the UK. Prior to this, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of Marsh & McLennan Companies. Before joining Marsh, he served for two years as non-executive Chairman of ACE,

MIBAV from Pulheim, Germany, a firm specialized in consulting corporate top managers and private owners of multinationals in all matters related to strategy and supply chain management of global benefits, received in June 2017 the German “Top Consultant” certification. It is the first time a consulting firm specializing in global employee benefits is certified. The “Top Consultant” certification focuses on work performed for medium-sized firms, in German “Mittelstand”, that are

Interview – LeAnne Stefl, Worldwide Broker Network Benefits & Perks for the New Millennium Is Freelancing the Future of Employment? Is Hiring an Experiential Learning Process? Interview – Frank Schmit, American International Group

Zurich in September 2017 announced the appointment of Peter Huber as Chief Executive Officer, Zurich International. He reports to Patrick Manley, CEO of Zurich Insurance and Chief Administrative Officer for the Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) region. Zurich International includes the international life businesses in the Isle of Man, Middle East and Zurich International Corporate Solutions (including Zurich Eurolife based in Luxembourg). Peter Huber had been working as

Data breaches and cyber security are a significant concern with U.S. businesses expecting to see an all-time high of nearly 1,500 reported data breaches in 2017. Business owners need to be more vigilant than ever in order to avoid these near-certain attacks, and to protect their employees’ and customers’ personally identifiable information (PII). Generali Global Assistance, in cooperation with the Identity Theft Resources Center (ITRC), in August 2017 released

In the context of the impending Brexit, Tokio Marine Group in September 2017 announced plans to set up an insurance company in Luxembourg for writing European business. For decades, the group has been active in the European Economic Area through several of its subsidiaries, principally Tokio Marine HCC and Tokio Marine Kiln. Tokio Marine is aiming to have the new insurance company incorporated and capitalized within the first half

GeoBlue, the international health insurance provider of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, in August 2017 announced the appointment of Linda Cote to Vice President, Corporate Sales and Account Management. Linda Cote brings 13 years of international experience from Aetna International, where she held sales and leadership positions within the organization. Prior to her tenure at Aetna, Linda spent 14 years within the domestic health insurance market, where

GeoBlue, the international health insurance provider of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, in August 2017 announced the appointment of Jill Milliken to Vice President of Scholastic Sales. The Scholastic business unit for GeoBlue provides educational institutions the international healthcare and assistance services their schools need for both study outside of the U.S. and inbound programs. Jill Milliken comes to GeoBlue from Generali Global Assistance where she was Vice

US-based employee benefits consultants United Benefit Advisors (UBA) in August 2017 published a report revealing that, contrary to common belief, small businesses are keeping pace with large employers when it comes to offering health benefits to their employees. The report, “Small Business Health Care: How Employees Are Faring,” outlines how employees across all plan types pay an average of $3,378 toward annual health insurance benefits, with their employer picking

Management consulting firm McKinsey & Company in August 2017 published an article, “A 360-degree approach to patient adherence” that discusses how an insight-driven approach can help when patients drive up healthcare costs by neglecting their treatment regimens. The article points out that 50 to 60 percent of patients are likely to skip medications, follow-up appointments and other treatment protocols, which places them at risk for complications and overall worsening

The strategic partnership between Allianz and Brokerslink, a company of brokers and risk consultant firms, is intended to give small and mid-sized enterprises better access to Allianz worldwide expertise and market access solutions. Brokerslink was created in 2004 as a global network of independent brokers. Since then, it has integrated a number of risk expert firms with a view to becoming a credible alternative to the mainstream models in

Europ Assistance Holding in August 2017 appointed Fabio Carsenzuola as the new CEO and General Manager of Europ Assistance Italy, a member of the Generali Group. Carsenzuola replaces Bruno Scaroni, who was recently named Strategy & Business Accelerator Director at Generali Group. He began his professional career as project leader in Pride Group and later worked for management consulting firm McKinsey, where he focused on banking and insurance in

David Wichmann, president of UnitedHealth Group, in September 2017 succeeds Stephen Hemsley as the company’s chief executive officer and becomes a director of the company. In his previous position, Wichmann oversaw UnitedHealthcare’s domestic and international businesses; he also served as group chief financial officer. Earlier, he held positions as president of UnitedHealthcare; president and chief executive officer of Specialized Care Services (now OptumHealth); and senior vice president, corporate development.

Global Benefits Vision is proud to announce the release of the new Global Employee Benefits and Global Mobility Directory! Our vision is for the directory to be the core record of Employee Benefits and Global Mobility providers in the industry, and a one-stop shop for company data and contact details at your fingertips. We will be revising it periodically to ensure the data remain current and to add new