Willis North America, a unit of Willis Group Holdings (NYSE:WSH), the global risk advisor, insurance and reinsurance broker, today announced the appointment of Eric Joost as Chief Operating Officer.

Joost has been serving as Chief Executive of Willis North America's Specialty Practices since 2009. He will report to Todd Jones, CEO, Willis North America. Willis North America is the North American retail brokerage business of Willis Group Holdings. The business, which in 2012 reported revenues of more than $1.3 billion, has more than 100 local offices across the United States, Canada and Mexico, offering a full range of insurance and risk management services, specialist expertise and global resources to large corporate, middle-market and small business clients. In this newly created role, Joost will lead the development and execution of Willis North America's growth and operational strategies.

He will work closely with business unit leaders across North America and collaborate with Willis Group leadership to ensure Willis has the proper specialization, structure and operating models in place to support growth. Joost will continue to lead the North American Specialty Practices, which feature dedicated specialty brokers serving key marketplace sectors including construction, health care, financial services, real estate and life sciences; as well as dedicated insurance products to protect unique risks such as executive risk and environmental liabilities.

Commenting on the appointment, Todd Jones said, "Eric is well-suited to lead our operational strategies in North America. His experience aligning our specialty practices and product capabilities with our business platforms combined with his strong leadership skills and client focus makes him ideally suited to help us achieve our goal of improving connectivity across all of Willis to ensure we are positioned to support a much deeper and broader delivery to each and every client."

New York-based, Joost joined Willis in 2006 and has more than 25 years of experience in the insurance industry as a specialist broker and underwriter. Prior to joining Willis he held leadership positions at Allianz and Aon. He received his M.B.A. from Kellogg School of Management and his B.S. in industrial engineering from Northwestern University. 

Organizations all over the world are leveraging the benefits of a globally mobile workforce. According to a KPMG International survey, 72 percent of over 600 respondents use global mobility programs to support overall business objectives. KPMG International’s 15th annual Global Assignment Policies and Practices (GAPP) survey provides a wealth of information for those responsible for or interested in global mobility. The detailed data found in these pages is an opportunity to compare or contrast one’s current practices to those of their peers or other types of organizations. Further, it allows for critical learning of best practices and new ways of thinking.

“A globally mobile workforce is as popular as ever,” says Achim Mossmann, Principal, KPMG’s International Executive Services, KPMG in the US. “Over the 15 years of this survey’s existence, in those companies where use of mobility is the norm, we have seen continued expansion and adaptation to the programs. We even see companies with headquarters in Nordic and Asia Pacific regions beginning to jump on the globalization bandwagon and needing to move their people to new strategic growth locations.”

Flexibility and adaptability of programs to address changing demands is strongly evidenced through the variety of assignment types offered:

• 81 percent offer short term assignments;
• 96 percent offer long term assignments;
• 47 percent offer permanent transfer/indefinite length assignments.

Surprisingly, given the current economic environment, and the noted desire to support the business, only 12 percent of survey participants say that cost control and assurance of an acceptable return on investment (ROI) are of importance.

According to Mossmann, “Having agreed upon metrics to demonstrate ROI helps any global mobility program demonstrate objectively their value to the broader organization and secure continued program funding. However, a notable amount of survey participants struggle to track ROI information as it relates to international assignments—27 percent do not know the percentage of assignees that leave the organization within 12 months of repatriation and 31 percent do not know why they leave.”

Encouragingly, survey participants, year-on-year, continue to exhibit inclusionary mindsets as it relates to the definition of a “family” within their policies for benefit purposes. Fifty-five percent include unmarried domestic partners/companions of the opposite gender and 49 percent include unmarried domestic partners/companions of the same gender.

These broader definitions are most evident in European and Asia Pacific-headquartered organizations, and also within the financial services and high technology industries. In circumstances where organizations may offer incentives for assignees to accept international opportunities, many survey participants also take into consideration dual-career couples and their children.

For instance 21 percent provide job search support in the host country and 21 percent reimburse education expenses for the spouse/partner. Forty-one percent offer language training and 37 percent offer cross-cultural training to the assignee, spouse and their children.

Overall, the use of international assignees will remain the same amount or more for 86 percent of survey participants.

Latest update: Summary and Safety and security, Crime section - reports of westerners being robbed at gunpoint on the main road from Abidjan to Yamoussoukro.

The FCO advise against all but essential travel to parts of the country.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) advise against all but essential travel to the western regions of Dix-Huit Montagnes, Haut-Sassandra, Moyen-Cavally and Bas-Sassandra. There have been a number of shootings around Abidjan since August 2012. Attacks happen mainly at night and the targets have usually been the police and military. Further incidents can’t be ruled out. Violent crime can occur at any time.

Be particularly vigilant and take care when travelling by road, especially at night. There is a general threat from terrorism.

Following French military intervention in Mali, there is a possibility of retaliatory attacks targeting Western interests in the region.

You should be vigilant. Cases of meningitis have been detected in northern and central regions of Côte d’Ivoire. The affected districts are Boundiali, Bouna, Ferke, Korhogo, Seguela and Tengrela in the North and Bandama Valley region in the central part of the country.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and other international health agencies are supporting local authorities to control the spread of the disease. Yellow fever, cholera, and measles cases have been reported in the Abidjan area since the start of 2011. Falciparum malaria is also endemic. You should register with our Embassy and warden network in Abidjan.

Take out comprehensive travel and medical insurance before you travel.

Health Insurance and Group Risk Protection, created by the sister company of HI Magazine, is the industry's first independently researched conference looking at the latest issues driving the PMI market. This event is targeted at leading Employee Benefit Consultancies, Brokers, Intermediaries and IFAs and provides practical information to help drive forward your business and improve yourself professionally.

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Discover more information at http://www.informa-ls.com

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Meet International Private Medical Insurance Magazine at Totally Expat London, Business Design Centre, Islington, May 20th 2013.

The London Totally Expat Show is now Europe’s largest ever global mobility conference and exhibition with over 100 exhibitors, 30 technical sessions running throughout the day and over 1000 attendees. It takes place on 20 May at the Business Design Centre, Islington and is the must-attend event of the year for all European based global mobility professionals.

As with all our events, in-house HR/global mobility professionals attend free so book your place now to gain the contacts, knowledge and information you need to make every assignment productive and cost-effective! Our best-ever conference will include insightful, practical sessions covering the key issues in global mobility now.

Read iPMI Magazine's report on last years Totally Expat Show, which we also supported as a media partner and exhibitor. 

Visit http://totallyexpat.com to book your tickets today.

International health insurer Allianz Worldwide Care has launched an interactive online map highlighting the key partnerships which it has established to provide multinational clients with locally compliant healthcare plans. The map, which is available on the company’s homepage www.allianzworldwidecare.com also shows the location of the company’s offices, its regionally based Doctors, Network Managers and sales team, and links through to its global medical network of hospitals, clinics and doctors.

Claude Daboul, Director of Sales, Marketing and Operations explained “We establish partnerships with local insurers in countries where our clients have staff on assignment and where healthcare cover must be provided by a locally licensed insurer. A key benefit of being part of the Allianz Group means that very often we are able to partner with the local Allianz company in these countries, which speeds things up significantly”. In 2013, Allianz Worldwide Care established a number of new partnerships to be able to provide corporate clients with locally compliant products in:

• Angola with Nova Sociedade de Seguros de Angola (NOSSA Seguros)
• Argentina with sister company Allianz Argentina Cía. De Seguros S.A.
• Panama with Acerta Compañia de Seguros
• Saudi Arabia with sister company Allianz Saudi Fransi

This initiative is part of Allianz Worldwide Care’s continuing focus on providing its corporate clients with a truly global health insurance solution and follows similar partnerships already established in a number of countries including China, Australia, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the UAE, Algeria, Mozambique, and Mexico. The company also established its own branch in Qatar in 2012.

Daboul added “Establishing these relationships means that we can provide our clients with healthcare cover regardless of where their employees are based. Clients have the convenience of dealing with one company, rather than having to establish relationships with multiple insurers. We deal with the complexity of local regulatory requirements so that our clients don’t have to”.