The Conference Board’s economic indicators for the U.K., published in April 2018, indicate a possible downturn is ahead for the British economy. The Conference Board’s leading indicator, the Leading Economic Index (LEI), turned negative at -0,4% in February 2018 ; whereas the current indicator, the Coincident Economic Index, still is in positive territory at +0,2%. The U.K. is one of several large economies with a negative outlook as determined

European digital health insurance company Alan in April 2018 announced it has raised €23 million in Series A funding. Alan has two characteristics that sets it apart from most other insurtechs. First and foremost, it is a real, licensed insurance carrier that actually writes risks and mutualizes them. It is not acting as a broker or a services integrator or a business process outsourcer, like most insurtechs do. Second,

Marsh in April 2018 appointed Christos Adamantiadis as CEO of its new Middle East and Africa region, based in Dubai and reporting to Flavio Piccolomini, president of Marsh International. He was most recently CEO of Oman Insurance in Dubai, having previously worked for AIG as EMEA Lead for AIG’s global organizational realignment initiative; Managing Director, CEE (Central, Eastern Europe) and Turkey; Managing Director, Middle East & North Africa; General

Global broker Lockton in April 2018 named Said Taiym executive vice president-chief digital officer. He will focus on digital innovation and new technologies and report to Ron Lockton, president and CEO. Most recently, Taiym was the senior vice president and chief information officer for the AF Group, a leading worker’s compensation insurance organization. Before AF Group, he was with XL Group and Zurich North America. Taiym holds bachelor’s degrees