2021 Global benefits financing matrix and poolable coverages

More and more companies are taking a proactive approach to the financing of employee benefits at a global level. Actively managed multinational pooling, global underwriting and captive financing approaches not only yield significant financial savings opportunities, but also serve as great tools to support broader HR initiatives and, ultimately, bring more value to employees.

With all the challenges that most businesses faced during 2020, we expect to see an increasing number of companies using these programs to bring as much value as possible to their businesses and employees in 2021 and beyond.

A key component of implementing an optimized global employee benefits financing strategy is selecting the right global insurers to best meet the needs of your business.

Willis Towers Watson's 2021 global benefits financing matrix provides a complete listing of the eight global benefits networks and their affiliated insurers across 212 territories, with full details of the offshore (third-country national or expat) capabilities for each. For each country, we have listed only insurers that can provide locally admitted policies and products. Poolable coverages—life, accident, disability, medical and pension—are shown in brackets for each insurer.

Key developments seen amongst the global benefits networks during 2020 included the following:

• The AIG Global Benefits Network confirmed that it would cease to provide multinational pooling solutions from 1 January 2021.
• There was a net increase in the number of local affiliated insurers reported across all networks from 2020 to 2021, indicating that the market continues to evolve.
• A number of the networks have experienced material growth in global underwriting and captive programs over the last 12 months. There is much less growth, if any, in the volume of multinational pooling arrangements.
• There has been an increased focus on developing particular solutions that support the change in demand as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic (e.g. telemedicine and mental health).

The global benefits network market continues to evolve, and we will continue to monitor developments during 2021.

Willis Towers Watson has tremendous experience in supporting companies in identifying, implementing and managing innovative global employee benefits financing strategies that are tailored to best meet the needs of each business.

As you set your priorities for 2021, if you would like to understand how we can bring value to you in this area, please do reach out to one of the contacts below, or to your usual Willis Towers Watson consultant.