Aspen Pharma Group has promoted Peter Gasteiger to Head of HR, International Region, as of October 2019. Gasteiger will remain based in Munich. Gasteiger has been with Aspen Pharma Group for over five years. He joined the company as Head of HR for Europe in December 2013 and held that position until his promotion. He came to Aspen from Sandoz, where he was Global Head HR Antiinfectives, and Head

Obesity-related diseases will claim more than 90 million lives in OECD countries in the next 30 years, with life expectancy reduced by nearly 3 years. Obesity and its related conditions also reduce GDP by 3.3% in OECD countries and exact a heavy toll on personal budgets, amounting to USD 360 per capita per year, according to a new OECD report published in November 2019. The OECD’s The Heavy Burden

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) released its latest Global Investment Trend Monitor as of October 2019. Report highlights include: Global foreign direct investment (FDI) flows in the first half of 2019 were 24% higher than in the first half of 2018. However, the underlying FDI trend (removing the effects of one-off transactions and intra-firm financial flows, including repatriations driven by the 2017 US tax reforms)

Speed Medical Examination Services, as of September 2019, has named Andrew Apps as Head of Proposition, PMI (private medical insurance), based in the UK. Apps joins from Expacare Limited, where he was in Distribution and Marketing, and Bellwood Prestbury, where he was Head of Global Healthcare. Apps was also Director, Sales and Marketing, for ALC Health, and Deputy Chairman, Association of International Medical Insurance Providers (AIMIP) from 2009 to

Health expenditures will outpace GDP growth over the next 15 years in almost every OECD country, according to the OECD’s Health at a Glance 2019 report, published in November 2019. The OECD foresees that health spending per capita will grow at an average annual rate of 2.7% across OECD countries and will reach 10.2% of GDP by 2030, up from 8.8% in 2018. The report notes that the United

Tiffany Ulbing, CEBS, has been named Director, Education and Outreach, for the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (IFEBP), effective July, 2019. She will remain based in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin area. Ulbing was previously the Director of Educational Programs from 2010 to 2019. Before joining the IFEBP, she was a benefits manager at Clifton Gunderson LLP (now CliftonLarsonAllen), and a benefits analyst at Mercer Health and Benefits. Prior to

Artex Risk Solutions announced the promotion of Kevin Heffernan to Executive Vice President North America, effective September, 2019. Heffernan will be based in Burlington, Vermont. He leads captive operations including domicile management across the U.S. He is also responsible for Artex North America’s operational controls, administration, and reporting procedures and systems. Heffernan was previously Division Chief Operating Officer for Artex. He holds a B.S. in Accounting from William Paterson

Generali Employee Benefits (GEB) has promoted Francesco Johan Cortese to Manager, Client Development as of October 2019. Cortese will be based at the Regional Office EMEA in Luxembourg. Cortese was previously Assistant Manager for Global Reporting and based in Brussels, Belgium. Before that, he was Assistant Manager, International Accounts Administration, and International Accounts Administrator. He joined GEB as a Marketing Consultant in 2002. Previously, Cortese served as a Second

Published in November 2019, the OECD’s Pensions at a Glance 2019 report advises governments to urgently reform their pension systems to allow for the one-third of employees who are now in non-standard employment (self-employed, temporary or part-time employment) to have adequate retirement income. With women being three times more likely to be in part-time work, and the older workforce more likely to be self-employed, it has become a necessity: non-standard

Terumuo BCT has announced the appointment of Marie-Ann Poissonier as Compensation and Benefits Manager EMEA, as of August 2019. She will be based in Brussels. She joins Terumo BCT after 17 years at Mastercard, where her most recent position was Vice President, Human Resources. Poissonier holds a bachelor’s degree in Law from KUB (Katolieke Universitet Brussels) in Brussels, Belgium.

Europe Day 2019: Vocational training key to securing skilled workers in the digital labour market Under the title “Vocational training for a digital labour market”, the Europe Day of the German construction industry held in Brussels on November 6, 2019, underlined the pioneering role of the vocational training scheme in the construction industry. In addition, the European Commission’s proposals for the new European funding programmes were discussed. “SOKA-BAU successfully

A U.S. national survey conducted in September 2019 has been published by the Milbank Memorial Fund, and addresses the ‘culture of health’ (CoH) in private sector organisations. Authors Michael Anne Kyle, Lumumba Seegars, John M. Benson, Robert J. Blendon, Robert S. Huckman, Sara J. Singer measured corporate CoH along four dimensions that assess the extent to which businesses promote employee, environmental, consumer, and community health and well-being. Policy Points

Aetna report shows differing perceptions among employers and employees globally There is a major gulf between how employers view the health and wellness support offered and employees’ views of the support they receive. This could have a significant impact on productivity, according to research from Aetna International published in November 2019. The first of two Business of Health 2020 reports, Tackling polarised perceptions of corporate health and wellness, investigates

Zego, the Swiss RE-backed UK insuretech, in November 2019 awarded an insurance licence to operate as an insurer in Gibraltar. This step allows Zego to act as a carrier and build and sell its own products under Gibraltar domicile and regulations. Zego was launched in 2016 in order to provide flexible insurance for the gig economy and has since expanded its B2B offering to cater to the fast-growing market

Sibylle Reichert has joined the Association Internationale de la Mutualité/International Association of Mutuals (AIM) as of June, 2019. She remains based in Brussels, Belgium, where she has served as a Member of the Occupational Pension Stakeholder Group of the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA), and a Board Member of the European Association of Paritarian Institutions (AEIP). Reichert previously headed the Brussels Office of Pensioenfederatie (Federation of Dutch

Vodafone announces the appointment of Alexandra Kitching to the position of Pensions and Benefits Manager effective October 2019. She will be based in London. Kitching comes to Vodafone from Deloitte UK where she was Consulting Manager, Human Capital, as well as Senior Consultant (D.C. Pensions and Group Risk) prior to being promoted to Consulting Manager. Prior to Deloitte, she was with NAPF as a Pension Quality Mark Manager. She

Deloitte has announced that Patrice Plouvier has joined the company as Partner, Human Capital, Actuarial, Rewards & Analytics, effective October, 2019. Plouvier will be based in Paris. Plouvier was previously Head of Employee Benefit Consulting with ADDING SAS, and Head of International Group Pension Development for AXA France. He also served as Head of Investment Solutions and International Retirement for AXA. Prior to that, he was with Mercer as

Discovery has announced the promotion of Hannah Naude to Director, International Compensation & Benefits, effective October 2019. She will remain based in London. Naude was previously Senior Manager Manager, International Compensation & Benefits. Before joining Discovery, she was a Human Resources Advisor at inVentiv Health Commercial, and worked in HR for the Save the Children foundation and Viasat Broadcasting. She started her HR career in Human Resources and Quality

AXA has announced the promotion of Elise Ganem to International Employee Benefits Manager at AXA’s Group HR department, effective July 2019. She was previously Head, Inter-governmental Organizations. She is based in Paris, France. Prior to her employment at AXA, she was Director, International Organizations & NGOs for Groupe Henner. Prior to that, she was Head of the International and European Department for CNAV – the French National Pension Organization,

Fidelity International has named Ken Gulick as Commercial Director, Pan European pensions, effective August 2019. He is based in Luxembourg. Gulick was previously with Fidelity Investments, as Vice President, Global Benefits Solutions, and based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. He was previously Vice President, Product Portfolio Strategy. Before joining Fidelity, he was Principal for PRTM Management Consultants; a manager for American Management Systems; and a Technical Trainer for the U.S.

Alta Actuaries & Consultants has named Douglas Carey Principal and Global Consulting Actuary as of October 2019. He will be based in the greater New York City area, USA. Carey comes to Alta after being a managing partner of Global Strategy Consultants. He has also served as past Chair, AWB; Treasurer PBSS, IACA, with the International Association of Actuaries since 2014. Previously, Carey was Director, Human Capital, for Deloitte

First Actuarial in October 2019 announced the appointment of Martin Leigh as D.C. Consultant, based in Tonbridge, UK. Leigh joins First Actuarial from EQ Investors where he was a Corporate Pensions & Risk Benefits Manager. Previously, he was an account manager for Creative Employee Benefits, and Intermediary Relationship Manager with B&CE Benefits Scheme. He was also Client Relationship Manager for Aviva plc. He holds a Certificate in Marketing from

Danone has announced the promotion of Öyküm Güneygül to the position of Global Benefits & Equity Senior Manager, based in Paris, France, and effective September 2019. Güneygül was previously Global Benefits Manager, and Compensation in Paris, and Benefits Manager based in Istanbul, Turkey, with Danone. Before she joined Danone, she was HR Rewards Manager for Adidas group in Istanbul. Prior to Adidas, Güneygül was an HR Generalist with Accenture,

Thermo Fisher Scientific has announced that Zayda Hammond has joined the company as a Global Mobility and Human Resources Professional as of September, 2019. She isbased in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Hammond comes to Thermo Fisher from Merck, where she was most recently Global Mobility/Human Resources Manager for the U.S. & EMEA. Prior to that position, she held the title of Senior Global Mobility/Human Resources Specialist, Learning & Development Specialist,

Mercer has appointed Sam Johnson as a Global Consultant effective September 2019. Johnson is based in London, UK. Johnson comes to Mercer from Fidelity Investments, where he worked in International Benefits. Prior to that he was a Global Benefits Consultant for Aon Risk Solutions and a futures trader for H2O Trading LLP. He holds a Master of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering, 1:1 from the University of Warwick.

Walmart has named Steve Reeve as Senior Manager, Global Mobility as of September 2019. Reeve is based in Bentonville, Arkansas, USA. Reeve joins Walmart after being employed as Client Services Manager for MSI Global Transformation Solutions in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina. Previous to that he was a Senior Expatriate Assignment Consultant with Cartus, and Wholesale Account Executive with Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, after serving in the same role for Vertice

In the November 2019 issue Mental Health in the Workplace Across the Generations – Camilla Lewis Washing Hands Properly – Ellen W. Evans Being Mentally Tough Can Be Taught – Peter Clough PTSD Also Affects Families – Hope Christie Better Flexible Work – Jane Parry How to Stay Fit into Your 60s – Julie Broderick