AXA in May 2018 completed the initial public offering (IPO) of its U.S. individual life insurance unit, formerly known as The Equitable Life Assurance Society of America and based in New York, NY. Total proceeds are estimated at $4 billion. AXA had demutualized and recapitalized the failed U.S. mutual life insurance company, The Equitable, to the tune of $1 billion in July 1991. Back then, the company had $5.9

Generali’s Trieste, Italy-based mother company Assicurazioni Generali SpA in May 2018 announced it would set up a new branch in Luxembourg, dedicated to the global employee benefits business. It will operate as the insurance and reinsurance operation of Generali Group serving global companies and their employees from the multinational corporate as well as the international middle market segments. The Luxembourg branch also will be used as a base to

Where are the headquarters of the world’s eight pooling networks? Brussels used to be the location of choice for multinational pooling networks, owing to its status as (one of) the capital(s) of the European Union. It is still is home to three networks, but Luxembourg appears to gain traction as GEB in May 2018 followed Swiss Life in relocating there. Network City / Cities IGP Brussels BE, Boston MA

French life/health mutuals Humanis and AG2R La Mondiale in May 2018 announced they would merge their employee savings activities. French “employee savings” plans (“plans d’épargne salariale”) come under two guises, PEE  – Plan d’épargne entreprise (“corporate savings plans”) and PERCO – Plan d’épargne pour la retraite collectif (“group pension savings plan”), and are tax-advantaged, employer-sponsored investment vehicles run by, but legally separate from, insurance groups or banks. Tax advantages