The French government had promised to review the tax framework for captives to encourage their creation in France. However, in November 2021, it appeared that the measure would not be part of the 2022 Finance Bill. The creation of a specific mechanism allowing captives to smooth their reserves over time, i.e. equalization reserves, is understood to be considered by the European Union as a “state aid mechanism”, and therefore

The European Association of Paritarian Institutions (AEIP) in November 2021 announced its upcoming webinar, to be held on December 2, 2021, on “The added value of the Paritarian model – Celebrating 25 Years of AEIP in Brussels”. The full title of the event is ‘The future of social protection – the role of supplementary social protection institutions: The added-value of the paritarian model to deliver solutions in a changing

Willis Towers Watson (WTW) in November 2021 announced the appointment of Johan Lindvall as chief executive officer of WTW Sweden, and as the firm’s head of Sweden and Finland. Lindvall joined WTW in 2013, developing and managing its Affinity insurance-tech operation, for which he remains responsible. Before working for WTW, Lindvall worked as commercial director at Norwegian carrier Protector Forsikring, and previously at Aon. Johan attended the Aon Catalyst

Big-Four firm Ernst & Young in November 2021 released the 2021 edition of its Worldwide Corporate Tax Guide. The 2012-page document summarizes corporate tax systems in more than 160 jurisdictions and is current as of January 1, 2021. It can be downloaded here as a PDF (free of charge, personal details required).

The Future for Global Mobility in a Pandemic Economy – Global Food Prices Are Higher Today Than for Most of Modern History – Half of Unvaccinated Workers Say They’d Rather Quit, But Few Follow Through

In the October 2021 issue: The Future for Global Mobility in a Pandemic Economy – Pasquale Gorrasi R&D: Global Food Prices Are Higher Today Than for Most of Modern History – Alastair Smith R&D: Half Of Unvaccinated Workers Say They’d Rather Quit, But Few Follow Through – Jack J. Barry, Ann Christiano, Annie Neimand

Recently formed French mutual insurance carrier Aéma in October 2021 announced it has completed the acquisition of Aviva’s French operations. As a result, the company now ranks #5 among French insurance carriers. British seller Aviva plc received EUR 3.2 billion in cash for the sale of Aviva France, including its life, non-life, and asset management businesses. Aéma Groupe was launched in January 2021 by mutuals Macif and Aésio Mutuelle,

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in October 2021 published its latest data about inflation. According to the OECD, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) continued upward, reaching 4.3% in August 2021 driven by energy and food prices. The new data point compares with 4.2% in July, continuing the upward trend beginning in December 2020. In the euro area, annual inflation picked up strongly to 3.0% in August

Ranked by 2020 employee benefits revenue, the Top Ten E.B. brokers are:   Rank Company EB Revenues 2020 Growth 2020/2019 EB as % of Total Revenues 1 Marsh & McLennan $4.9bn -1.9% 28.6% 2 Willis Towers Watson $4.8bn 5.6% 51.5% 3 Aon $3.4bn -2.2% 30.8% 4 Arthur J. Gallagher $1.2bn 4.1% 17.8% 5 NFP $0.8bn 5.5% 49.0% 6 Hub International $0.8bn 17.6% 28.8% 7 USI $0.7bn 7.5% 36.3% 8

Ranked by 2020 brokerage revenue, the Top Ten insurance brokers are: The average growth in 2020 was close to 5%. The 2020 rankings differ from the 2019 league table only by #9 and #10, Acrisure and USI, which have swapped their places.  

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)’s Composite Leading Indicators (CLI) in September 2021 indicated that growth remains at above-trend levels but is moderating in the OECD area. Among the major OECD economies, the signs of a moderating growth at above-trend levels already were flagged in last month’s assessment. They now have been confirmed in Canada, the euro area as a whole, including Germany and Italy, and in

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in September 2021 published its July 2021 unemployment data. The OECD area unemployment rate fell to 6.2% in July 2021 (41.1 million workers) from 6.4% in June (minus 1.6 million), and still 0.9 percentage point above the rate observed in February 2020. The latest rate largely reflects the return of temporary laid-off workers in the United States and Canada, where they

According to SwissRe Institute’s sigma study published in September 2021, global premiums in P/C insurance are expected to grow by an average 5 to 6% per year over the 2020 to 2040 period, reaching USD 4.3 trillion by 2040, up from 450 billion in 2020. The expected growth is driven by effects of economic development and climate change, and includes a shift from lower-risk, high-volume motor insurance to catastrophe-exposed property

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in August 2021 announced that the Gross domestic product (GDP) of the OECD area remains below pre-pandemic levels, despite increasing growth in the second quarter of 2021, by 1.6% from 0.6% in the previous quarter, according to provisional estimates. The United Kingdom recorded the strongest growth (4.8% from minus 1.6% in the previous quarter), followed by Italy (2.7% from 0.2% in the previous quarter).

Global brokers Aon and Willis Towers Watson (WTW) in July 2021 announced they had mutually agreed to terminate their combination agreement after the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed an antitrust lawsuit against the $30bn deal. Aon also announced the extension of employment agreements for CEO Greg Case and CFO Christa Davies to April 1st, 2026, in a move to reassure financial markets. The merger was announced in early

Why a harmonious collaboration with Employee Benefits Providers can be advantageous for International Companies A long-term perspective is key In today‘s world of fast flows of information and increased striving for transparency, it became natural to source products and services from distant markets and change providers/vendors regularly. Often the main reason for repeated changes of providers is price. While in many moments in private and business life providers are

Global benefits network IGP (International Group Program) in July 2021 announced the appointment of Marco Giacomelli as its new Head, replacing Peter de Vries who retires after a long and distinguished career in multinational pooling. Marco joins from iPMI carrier Generali Global Health where he served as CEO. He previously was with Generali Employee Benefits (GEB), serving as Chief Insurance Officer, Chief Operating Officer, and earlier as Technical Director;

GEB’s New Business Accelerator – Gaining Control Over Employee Benefits: Yes You Can – Deciphering the Symptoms of Long COVID – Returning to the Workplace?

In the July-August 2021 issue: GEB’s New Business Accelerator – Ludovic Bayard Gaining Control Over Employee Benefits: Yes You Can – Guglielmo Callipari, Balasz Kaposvari R&D: Deciphering the Symptoms of Long COVID – Allison Navis R&D: Returning to the Workplace? – Helen Hodgetts, Nick Perham

In the previous articles of this series, we examined the importance of gaining control over employee benefits (EB) costs and management. As a foundation for action, the Head Office should consider its data acquisition and evaluation. In practice, this is much more complicated than it sounds. The biggest challenge is that EB data flows from different sources (Benefits Networks, insurers, brokers, TPAs, accountants etc.) to subsidiaries and then to

Multinational pooling network IGP in May 2021 announced a new partner in Cambodia, Sovannaphum Life Assurance. Sovannaphum Life Assurance (SVL) is a joint venture between Canadia Investment Holding, the owner of Canadia Bank, and Muang Thai Life Assurance, IGP’s partner in Thailand. The company was granted full license as a life insurance Company by Ministry of Economy and Finance of Cambodia in December 2015 and started operations in 2016.

A group of nine European associations in June 2021 announced the launch of European Retirement Week, which will take place during the week of 29 November 2021. The goal of this initiative is to provide a platform for a wide range of stakeholders to debate the future of pensions in Europe and to raise citizens’ awareness of the need to save for retirement. Achieving pension adequacy is indeed crucial

In our previous article in this series (see Part I here) we examined a case in the Netherlands that demonstrates how the head office of an organization can help subsidiaries with an international approach. We will now analyse another example in which an international solution added value to local employee benefits (EB) provision. Maintaining the example of the German Group, we are assessing a subsidiary located in the United

Swiss Re in June 2021 published a new edition of its SONAR research report under the title “New Emerging Risks Insights”. The report addresses the threats that will shape the future post-COVID-19 risk landscape. They range from the unintended consequences of government interventions through to the dangers of restarting under-maintained industrial facilities. The key issues addressed include: COVID-19 to worsen income inequality; growth in the global middle class slowed

In the previous articles of this series (Article I & Article II), we discussed the importance of knowing the insurable employee benefits (EB) specific to your organisation, so as to understand the total costs associated with providing benefits to employees. With this knowledge gathered centrally in the head office of your organisation, your central Finance and Benefits managers will be able to seek possibilities of optimisation at a local

Life-insurance startup Ethos in May 2021 raised USD 200 million in a funding round valuing the business at more than 2 billion. The San Francisco, California-based company previously had raised a total of USD 100 million. Ethos is a producer and a third-party administrator (TPA) for life insurance carriers. Its platform allows customers to purchase life insurance policies online. Currently, the company works with a list of carriers that

Zurich North America in April 2021 announced the appointment of David Fike as the new head of its Life, Accident & Health business unit. Fike accumulates over 30 years of experience in insurance and pensions, with a special focus on Asia. He has been with Zurich for close to 7 years, lastly as the CEO of General Insurance and Takaful in Malaysia. He previously had worked for CIGNA in Turkey;