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France

Hervé Lavisse in July 2022 joined Veolia as its new group compensation and benefits (C&B) director, based near Paris, France. Veolia is active in water management; waste management; and energy services. As of June 2022, it has around 220,000 employees worldwide. Veolia in January 2022 completed the acquisition of competitor Suez and subsequently spun off part of the combination as the “new Suez”. The latter includes Suez’s Water and

French iPMI broker-TPA MSH International in March 2022 announced the appointment of Frédéric Grand as its new CEO. Grand succeeds Frédéric Van Roekeghem who becomes Group EVP in charge of corporate function of MSH International’s mother company Diot-Siaci. MSH International is dedicated to international health and life insurance solutions. It is one the three leading French iPMI broker-TPAs, with Henner and April. Grand started his career at French mutual

WTW France in January 2022 announced the appointment of Mélanie Birgé as Head of Health & Benefits for France. A member of the executive committee, she is responsible for defining the commercial strategy and managing the business line dedicated to social protection and employee benefits for all WTW clients in France. Mélanie succeeds Liliane Spiridon who leaves WTW for Aon France. Mélanie Birgé began her career in Burkina Faso as

Coming shortly after the announcement of their merger, the new Diot-Siaci group, which is now the leading broker on the French market, in November 2022 finalized the make-up of its future executive committee. This new management body will include eleven members, coming from both Diot and Siaci. At the top of the group, Pierre Donnersberg, Chairman of Diot-Siaci, and Christian Burrus, Vice-Chairman and General Manager. Changes affecting international benefits,

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

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,

Willis Towers Watson (WTW) in April 2020 appointed Cyrille de Montgolfier as the new leader of its French business, Gras Savoye Willis Towers Watson (GSWTW), based in Paris. He brings over three decades of insurance industry experience to the role and will be responsible for setting the strategic vision of GSWTW, developing innovative solutions to client needs, and driving revenues across multiple lines of business. Since early 2019, de

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

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,

Safran Seats, a French suppliers of aircraft seats for passengers, crews and helicopters, in April 2019 announced that Emma Voisin has joined the company as Director of Compensation and Benefits. Voisin was previously with Orano, most recently as Global C&B and International Mobility Manager. She also served in Global Compensation & Benefits, C&B International Mobility advisor, and Expatriate/Impatriate Coordinator. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications Science, Communication, HR,

Willis Towers Watson announced in March 2019 that Laurie Paillat has been promoted to Associate Director, based in Paris, France. Ms. Paillat joined WTW after serving as Global Benefits Manager for Criteo, a Paris-based software company. Prior to that, she was an employee benefits expert for EMEAR, Dassault Systèmes, based near Paris. She has also been a pension consultant for PricewaterhouseCoopers in London and Paris, and an actuary and

France in February 2019 published transitional (or emergency) measures related to insurance in case of a no-deal Brexit. As per the new rules, contracts may not be amended if additional premiums are collected renewals, including automatic renewals are not allowed payment of claims will not be considered a breach for at least the first 12 months The new rules apply to contracts covering French risks and entered into before

French social protection group (SPG) Malakoff Médéric Humanis (MMH) in January 2019 arose from the merger of the two former Malakoff-Médéric and Humanis SPGs. As the new French market leader in group life and health insurance (market share 17%), MMH has 426,000 corporate clients with 10 million people insured. Furthermore, it is the recommended employee benefits provider for 93 professional sectors, a significant competitive advantage. In pensions, MMH has

Here is the list of the 30 French insurance carriers by assets under management (AUM) as of 31 December 2017, the most recent data available. Numbers include individual and group life; health, life, and pension products; and unit-linked as well as guaranteed savings products. Companies with the “B” marker are bancassurance players, owned by a banking group and mainly distributed through bank agencies. #   Name AUM (in m€)

French insurer Apicil in December 2018 launched an EUR 10 million insurtech fund along with private equity firm Odysseus Alternative Ventures (OAV). The fund will invest in European startups “seeking to develop new technologies, new business models and new forms of delivery for the insurance sector”. APICIL Group is France’s 4th largest provider of occupational health, life, and retirement plans. OAV is the private equity and venture capital arm

French regulator ACPR in November 2018 gave its final approval to the merger between Malakoff Médéric and Humanis, effective January 1, 2019. Both companies are paritarian institutions and offer supplementary pensions and life and health insurance. The new leadership team announced in December 2018 includes: Thomas Saunier, CEO Michel Estimbre, Deputy CEO, in charge of supplementary pensions, Human Resources, IT, underwriting, and operations; Christophe Scherrer, Deputy CEO, in charge

The liquidation of New Zealand insurer CBL and its Ireland-based European subsidiary, CBL Europe in February 2018, appears to have made ripples if not waves with the further voluntary liquidation of its subsidiary, Luxembourg-based broker/tied agent Securities & Financial Solutions Europe (SFS Europe) in July 2018, just 5 months later. SFS Europe specializes in the construction sector and was providing its services in France under the EU’s freedom of

French social protection group Apicil in August 2018 acquired Luxembourg-based individual life insurance carrier OneLife from its owner, U.S. private equity firm J.C Flowers. Apicil has a €2.4 billion turnover and specializes in health and life insurance, pensions, as well as savings and financial services. As a paritarian institution, Apicil is akin to a mutual that is co-managed by trade unions and employers’ representative bodies. Headquartered in Lyon, France,

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

Aon is reported to have made an offer to acquire French broker SIACI Saint Honoré (SSH). SSH caters to the needs of corporations and SMBs. Since 2015, SSH is controlled by venture capital firm Ardian which owns 57% of the firm. Managers control a further 23% and Edmond de Rothschild 20%. SSH chairman Pierre Donnersberg in late April 2018 denied any plans to sell. Instead, SSH is looking to

Consulting firm HR Path in May 2018 acquired Ataraxis, headquartered in Belgium and operating in the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Spain and France. Ataraxis is a Workday specialist (Workday is a provider of enterprise cloud software for finance and human resources). Ataraxis will become the dedicated Workday practice of HR Path. The senior management team, Tom Hillen, Wouter Van den Avont and Jan Snyers will become HR Path partners. Ataraxis

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,

Cigna in December 2017 announced the appointment of Thien Brechon as Senior Sales Director France. She is responsible for leading the organization’s expanding health insurance services for globally mobile employees and works in partnership with Nicolas Redant, Sales Director for France, Belgium, Luxembourg and French-speaking Switzerland. Specifically, Brechon is tasked to develop Cigna’s presence in France. She will lead initiatives to provide personalized healthcare products and services for globally

The French government presented their highly-anticipated finance bill for 2018 on 27 September 2017, indicating a number of employment-related measures that will affect both individuals and companies. The tax package complements recent changes in employment law that are designed to make France a more attractive place for creating jobs, a key part of President Macron’s policy. The bill is being debated by both houses of parliament before being adopted

Australia’s health system is unique – much like its fauna. It has been shaped by the nation’s colonial history – the first hospitals were provided by the colonial administrations – and, of course, politics. It’s a curious blend of public and private funding and delivery of health care, with the Commonwealth (national) and the state governments both having significant roles in what has been described as an example of “marble cake federalism”.

Chubb in September 2017 announced that the company intends to locate its European Union headquarters in France if the United Kingdom leaves the E.U. as expected in March 2019. The company wants to remain well positioned to serve clients, regardless of the ultimate terms of the U.K.’s exit from the European Union. According to Chairman and CEO Evan Greenberg, France was the logical choice as Chubb’s E.U. headquarters as

Jean-Laurent Granier in June 2017 joined Generali Group as Country manager for France and Chairman & CEO (Président Directeur Général) of Generali France. In his capacity, he also is a member of the Group Management Committee of Assicurazioni Generali. Generali France is one of the key providers of group insurance coverage in the French domestic market, as well as of French expatriates products. The group insurance division is led