BENEFITS CHALLENGES AND TRENDS FOR EXPATRIATES AND INTERNATIONALLY MOBILE EMPLOYEES

Transcription

1 BENEFITS CHALLENGES AND TRENDS FOR EXPATRIATES AND INTERNATIONALLY MOBILE EMPLOYEES MARCH 2012 Mark Price, Roger Herod and Callum Burns-Green

2 AGENDA Overview of survey participants Typical expatriate benefits Types of assignment Benefits challenges Survey highlights Benefits: Retirement Expatriate localization International medical Overview of life & disability Questions & contact details 1

3 RESPONDENTS BY REGION 288 MNCs REPRESENTING 119,000 EXPATRIATES Latin America 2% Non-EU W. Europe 2% Other 2% Asia Pacific 15% European Union 21% North America 58% 2

4 RESPONDENTS BY ANNUAL REVENUE 64% EXCEED $1 BILLION 8% 2% 3% 11% 26% 11% < $25 M $25 M $100 M $100 M $500 M $500 M $1 B $1 B $10 B $10 B Not reported (Data in USD) 38% 3

5 BENEFITS TYPICALLY PROVIDED TO EXPATRIATES Retirement Medical Accident Death Disability Other (dental, vision, maternity, emergency assistance/evacuation, dependent medical, critical illness and short-term disability) 4

6 FIVE ASSIGNMENT TYPES TRADITIONAL Assigned for 1 5 years, expecting to return to home country LONG-TERM Assigned for > 5 years, not localized to host country programs, not expected to move country to country GLOBAL NOMAD Move country to country on varying assignments 5

7 FIVE ASSIGNMENT TYPES, CONT D SHORT-TERM Assigned < 1 year (excluding those who travel frequently on business); most will remain in home country programs and maintain home residence LOCALIZED Moved to host country programs; no longer considered a traditional expatriate 6

8 ASSIGNMENT TYPES DISTRIBUTION IN SURVEY % 10% 17% 11% 77% 79% Expatriates Short-term Global Nomads 7

9 CHALLENGES IN EXPATRIATE BENEFIT PROVISIONS 36% % 24% 22% 20% 18% 15% 15% 14% 5% 2% 2% Developing globally consistent approach Ensuring Expats are not disadvantaged Cost containment Ensuring smooth transition at end of assignment Developing policies & plans for new countries Other 8

10 KEY SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS 63% of traditional expatriates are maintained in home country retirement plans 12% of companies have established International Pension Plans to ensure continuity of benefits for global nomads and long-term expatriates 60% of International Pension Plans are now DC plans vs. only about 20% in % of companies experienced premium increases of 6% or more in their international medical plan premiums at their last renewal 9

11 RETIREMENT 10

12 KEY RETIREMENT BENEFITS CHALLENGES NATURE OF ASSIGNMENTS LONG-TERM NATURE OF PENSIONS EMPLOYEE EXPECTATIONS BENEFITS FRAGMENTATION TAXATION COST ALLOCATION 11

13 APPROACHES TO PROVIDING BENEFITS RETIREMENT HOME COUNTRY HOST COUNTRY INTERNATIONAL PLAN Maintain membership in home country plan Suitable for short- and medium-term assignees (up to 5 years) Avoids fragmentation Aligns with employee expectations Can be expensive, hard to administer Leave home country, and join host country plans Suitable for localization and DC environments Equity between expats and locals Can fragment benefits Join dedicated international benefit programs Participation in home/host country programs may be waived Suitable for global nomads Provides common design, addresses home country coverage limitations Tax challenges, limits on membership 12

14 RETIREMENT BENEFITS FOR TRADITIONAL EXPATRIATES Through an international plan 5% Remain in home country plan 63% Case by case; no set approach Covered under headquarters plan Covered under host country plan Through a regional plan We do not have this group Other 7% 5% 6% 2% 10% 2% 13

15 INTERNATIONAL PENSION PLANS PERCENT OF RESPONDENTS THAT SPONSOR THEM Yes 12% No 88% 14

16 INTERNATIONAL PENSION PLANS TRENDS IN PLAN TYPES % DB DC Hybrid 15

17 INTERNATIONAL PENSION PLANS FUNDED STATUS Unfunded 19% Other 19% External offshore trust 37% External offshore insurance 26% 16

18 INTERNATIONAL PENSION PLANS DC FORMS OF PAYMENT 10% 3% 14% 48% Lump sum only Annuity Employee choice Lump sum w/annuity option Other 24% 17

19 INTERNATIONAL PENSION PLANS DC CONTRIBUTION STRUCTURES 9% 4% 9% % of compensation Employer matching Varying rate Other 78% Average employer contribution rate rate is is ~ 8.5% 8.5% of of compensation change change from from 9% 9% in in and and 7.5% 7.5% in in

20 LOCALIZATION 19

21 LOCALIZATION WHAT ARE THE TRIGGERS? 73% 39% 27% 3% Employee request on assignment completion After specified period Case by case Other 20

22 LOCALIZATION WHAT HAPPENS TO PENSION BENEFITS WHEN LOCALIZED? Host plan, no special treatment of home service 18% 18% Case-by-case 11% 14% Host plan with transfer of benefits where possible 8% 12% Remain in home plan 5% 12% Other 1% 3% Most cases All cases 21

23 INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL BENEFITS 22

24 APPROACHES TO PROVIDING BENEFITS MEDICAL HOME COUNTRY HOST COUNTRY INTERNATIONAL PLAN Aligns with employee expectations Reinforces assignment s temporary nature Maintains equity with home country peers Aligns with home country Social Security Avoids problems with pre-existing conditions Equity between expats and locals Benefits appropriate to host country Local employer costs in line with domestic burden Local tax relief both corporate and personal Common design; equity among expatriates Reduces administration effort Relieves financial, time resource constraints Often anticipated by Social Security reciprocity agreements 23

25 INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL PLAN ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA Expatriate type 31% Country / region of origin 24% Length of assignment 21% Employee position/level 8% Length of service 1% Other 15% 24

26 INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL COVERAGE BY INSURANCE COMPANY CIGNA 32% 46% BUPA Aetna 11% 10% 10% 11% Allianz 3% 9% AXA 6% 6% Aviva 1% 1% Other 23% 30% 25

27 INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL HIGH-VALUE BENEFITS INCLUDED 81% 74% 72% 69% 56% 50% 2% Primary care Routine maternity Chronic Illness Routine dental Evacuation Repatriation Other 26

28 INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL PREMIUM INCREASES AT LAST RENEWAL Over 20% 16-20% % 6-10% 1-5% None % 27

29 INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL COST CONTAINMENT MEASURES 57% 50% 42% 28% 25% 20% 3% Employee deductible Co-insurance Annual benefits limits Restrictions on providers / networks Annual claims cap Claims preauthorisation Other 28

30 OVERVIEW: DEATH AND LONG-TERM DISABILITY 29

31 DEATH BENEFITS METHOD OF PROVISION BY TYPE OF EXPATRIATE 80 % Short-term Traditional Long-term Global Nomads & Local+ Localised Home Host HQ International Tailored Other 30

32 LONG-TERM DISABILITY BENEFITS METHOD OF PROVISION BY TYPE OF EXPATRIATE % 80 Short-Term Traditional Long-term Global Nomads & Local+ Localised Home Host HQ International No LTD Other 31

33 S OTHER SURVEYS AND RESEARCH WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM, ASSIGNMENT POLICIES SURVEY TODAY S GLOBAL BENEFITS SURVEY AND PRESENTATION Thanks to all who participated Copy of presentation and link to recording to be ed Full report available at end of April Pre-order report at expatbenefits WEF RESEARCH ON TALENT MOBILITY globaltalent 2012 WORLDWIDE SURVEY OF INT L ASSIGNMENT POLICIES & PRACTICES Participation open later this week in English at Soon available in Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, Korean More than 1,000 MNCs took the last survey New this year assessment tool for 7 different common expatriation patterns 32

34 QUESTIONS?

35 CONTACTS Mark Price +44 (0) Roger Herod Callum Burns-Green Pre-order Mercer s 2011/2012 Benefits Survey for Expatriates and Internationally Mobile Employees 34

36 Mercer Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority Registered in England No Registered Office: 1 Tower Place West, Tower Place, London EC3R 5BU