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☆ Baltimore bridge insurer is reportedly set to write a $350 million check
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-02 | by ( George Glover | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Chubb, the Baltimore bridge insurer, is set to pay out $350 million, per The Wall Street Journal. The bridge's collapse in March killed six people and shut down the port of Baltimore. Chubb, the state of Maryland, and victims' families will likely sue the ship's owners, per the Journal. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . AdvertisementThe insurer of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge is gearing up to issue a $350 million payout to the state of Maryland, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

Persons: Chubb, Baltimore . Chubb, —, Francis Scott Key, Henry Daar, WTW, Daar, Dali, Chubb didn't Organizations: Street, Service, Barclays, Business Locations: Baltimore, Maryland, London

☆ Maryland is about to get $350 million from insurance in bridge collapse
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-02 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —The state of Maryland is about to get an insurance payment of $350 million related to the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in late March, according to the broker handling its policy on the structure. The payment would come from insurer Chubb, which has a $350 million limit on the policy it had written on the bridge, according to Henry Daar, head of property claims, North America for WTW, the broker on the policy. The payment will be made soon rather than waiting for the construction of a new bridge to begin, a process that could be years away. The accident temporarily closed much of the operations of the Port of Baltimore, trapping ships in the port. The planned payment by Chubb was first reported Thursday by the Wall Street Journal.

Persons: Francis Scott Key, Chubb, Henry Daar, Dali Organizations: New, New York CNN, Francis Scott Key Bridge, WTW, Grace Ocean Private Limited, Synergy Marine PTE LTD, CNN, National Transportation, Wall Street Locations: New York, Maryland, North America, Baltimore, Port of Baltimore

☆ How climate change is beginning to be built into employee pay and benefits
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-13 | by ( Trevor Laurence Jockims | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

There are some companies all-in, as a brand, in fighting climate change , such as Patagonia. So-called green perks, also referred to as climate change benefits, could help to bridge that gap. A rising, though still marginal trend in the job market, employee enticement and compensation packages tied to climate change can help to make these abstractions clearer and more actionable in the workplace. "There's a nascent but growing interest in climate change benefits," Schneider said, pointing out that Google searches for commuter benefits, as an example, are trending up. Green perks are a benefits arena where the demand would seem to outstrip supply, and green commuter benefits may be the first indication of a wider adoption wave.

Persons: enticement, WTW, Caroline Mangiardi, Mangiardi, Lauren Schneider, it's, Schneider, Mercer, Lizzy Kolar, Kolar, Kolar's Organizations: Walmart, Apple, Bank of America, Compt, CSR, employee's CSA, Fortune Locations: Bentonville , Arkansas, Patagonia, Bentonville —, Bentonville, employee's

☆ What Walmart’s new focus on employee stock could mean for the wealth of the average American household
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-03 | by ( Cheryl Winokur Munk | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

Walmart is offering its store managers stock grants, which based on a manager's store format, can range between $10,000 and $20,000. It's not only managers that Walmart wants to encourage to buy into stock ownership. 1 employer, Walmart's decisions are likely to have significant ripple effects and could even lead to broader equity ownership among rank-and-file employees. Already companies such as Ingersoll Rand and Harley-Davidson have taken steps to broaden stock ownership to employees. "Stock ownership is a pillar of worker financial wellness."

Persons: John David Rainey, Chris Taylor, It's, John Furner, Doug McMillon, Biden, Marc Roloson, Aalap Shah, Pearl Meyer, Shah, Brian J, Albert H, Gordon, Stacey Kole, Ed Rataj, Michael Kestenbaum, Gallagher, Peter Follows, Kole, Ingersoll Rand, Davidson, Martin Whitman, Whitman, Pete Stavros's, Walmart's, Harvard's, WTW's Roloson Organizations: New York Stock Exchange, Walmart, International, NYSE, LinkedIn, Companies, Business Administration, Harvard Business School, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, CBIZ, Carpedia, Harley, Just Locations: U.S

☆ 8 more of our stocks report earnings next week. Here's what we want to see
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-03 | by ( Zev Fima | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +13 min

The three major averages posted gains for the fourth week in row, lifted by strong quarterly earnings results for most of the Big Tech companies and a strong jobs report. A weaker ADP Employment report on Wednesday provided no read-through to the monster January jobs report Friday. Here's what we're keeping an eye on in the coming week: 1. Earnings: It's another big earnings week head for the portfolio, with 8 more of our companies reporting. Consistency is what we appreciate most from nat gas giant Linde , so we're hoping for another quarter of solid earnings growth Tuesday.

Persons: Estee Lauder, Eli Lilly, Mounjaro, Nelson Peltz, Estée Lauder, Tyson, CARR, Jacobs, Willis Towers Watson, Edwards, Walt Disney, Oscar Health, Philip Morris, Armour, BAX, BILL, Jim Cramer's, Jim Cramer, Jim, George Frey Organizations: Big Tech, Dow Jones Industrial, Nasdaq, PMI, Apple, Starbucks, Procter, Gamble, GE Healthcare, DuPont, Linde, Ford, General Motors, Trian Partners, Disney, ESPN, Wynn Resorts, Wynn, Vegas, Prix, Estée Lauder Companies, Caterpillar, McDonalds Corp, Allegiant Travel, Bowlero Corp, Tyson Foods, TSN, Air Products & Chemicals, IDEXX Laboratories, CNA Financial Corp, CNA, Timken Company, Graham Corporation, Mesa Laboratories, Sphere Entertainment, Loews Corp, Technologies, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Semiconductors, Simon Property Group, Amkor Technology, FMC Corporation, FMC, BellRing Brands, Crown Holdings, ChampionX Corporation, Golub Capital BDC, Flexsteel Industries, Kilroy Realty Corp, Gladstone Capital Corp, Unibanco, S.A, Snack Foods Corp, Kimball Electronics, Skyline Corp, Cabot Corporation, Simpson Manufacturing Co, Varonis Systems, Co, GE HealthCare, Linde plc, LIN, Spotify Technology S.A, BP, Hertz Global Holdings, AeroSystems Holdings, Toyota Motor Corp, Cummins, CMI, Software Technologies, AGCO Corporation, Carrier Global Corporation, Lear Corp, CONSOL Energy, Centene Corporation, Gartner, Arcbest Corp, CTS Corporation, Energizer Holdings, Hamilton Lane Incorporated, KKR, Precision Drilling Corporation, Frontier Group Holdings, Waters Corp, Alfa Laval, Aramark Holdings Corp, FirstService Corporation, Garden Sports Corp, New Jersey Resources Corp, nVent Electric plc, PJT Partners, Resources, Sensata Technologies, Ford Motor Company, Enphase Energy, Grill, VF Corp, Edwards Lifesciences Corp, Gilead Sciences, Lumen Technologies, Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp, Weatherford International plc, Amcor plc, Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, Advanced Energy Industries, Uber Technologies, CVS Health, Roblox Corporation, Ares Capital Corp, Bunge, XPO Logistics, Scotts Miracle, Gro Company, Berry Global, Flex LNG, Equinor ASA, Griffon Corporation, OneMain Holdings, Brookfield Asset Management, Emerson Electric Co, Hilton Worldwide Holdings, Reynolds Consumer Products, Silicon Laboratories, Brands, Sciences, CDW Corp, Fox Corporation, WYNN, PayPal, Arm Holdings plc, ARM, Axcelis Technologies, Mattel, Paycom, Annaly Capital Management, McKesson Corp, Health Corporation, O'Reilly Automotive, Allstate Corp, Fluence Energy, Power Systems, Digital Turbine, Blue Bird Corp, Everest Group, Omega HealthCare, Coty, COTY, ConocoPhillips, Cameco Corp, Philip Morris International, Spirit Airlines, Hershey Company, Lightspeed Commerce, Aurora Cannabis, Lincoln National Corp, P, Tenet Healthcare Corp, Asbury Automotive Group, Arrow Electronics, Baxter International, PetMed, Boyd Gaming Corp, FirstEnergy Corp, Motorola Solutions, Terex Corp, PepsiCo, Growth, AMC Networks, Owl, American Pipeline, TELUS International, Magna International, Newell Brands, Jim Cramer's Charitable, CNBC, Bloomberg, Getty Locations: U.S, China, Macau, Wynn Macau, Valvoline, VVV, ALFVY, Madison, New Jersey, Gilead, Ceridian, ORLY, Paycor, Aurora, Provo , Utah

☆ The crisis at Kyte Baby might not have happened if the US had a mandated paid leave policy for new parents
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-23 | by ( Jeanne Sahadi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

What’s more, almost all OECD countries have paid leave programs around childbirth for mothers and fathers, whether they are birth parents, adoptive parents or same sex parents. Looking more globally, “approximately 83% of countries guarantee at least 12 weeks of paid leave to parents who give birth,” according to the paid leave advocacy group FamilyValues@Work. “Nobody knows what they have access to,” said paid leave expert Vicki Shabo, a fellow at the policy research think tank New America. (Among state and local government workers, 28% have access to paid family leave today.) At the national level, however, there is still not a federal program for paid leave, despite legislative efforts in recent years to pass one in Congress.

Persons: Kyte, Ying Liu, ”, Vicki Shabo, Mercer, WTW, “, —, CNN’s Eva Rothenberg Organizations: New, New York CNN, Organization for Economic Cooperation, Development, OECD, America . Nine, District of Columbia, Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Department of Labor, CNN Locations: New York, United States, Greece, New America, Mercer

☆ What to expect at work in 2024
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-02 | by ( Jeanne Sahadi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Another recent survey by consulting firm Mercer found that employers expect to promote just under 10% of their employees this year. Expect, too, to see a wider variety of employers offer more financial wellness benefits in 2024. “After three years of turmoil it finally looks like [work from home] has stabilized and 2024 will look a lot like 2023. Employees who can work a hybrid schedule are generally working from home roughly 30% of the week (or about 1.5 days), Bloom noted. For example, someone with a busy work schedule may opt to take them via text or chat on their phone on a Sunday morning, he said.

Persons: WTW, Mercer, ” Mercer, Rich Fuerstenberg, Emily Rose McRae, ” McRae, McRae, ”, Nick Bloom, Bloom, Anthony Reynolds, Reynolds Organizations: New, New York CNN, Gartner Inc, …, Stanford University, Employees Locations: New York

☆ There's a 'radically different' wage growth forecast in 2024, says economist. What that means for you
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-30 | by ( Jared Mitovich | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

In June, employers surveyed by consulting firm WTW said they were planning to increase salaries by about 4% in 2024, compared to 4.6% in 2023. Wage growth has 'come down pretty steadily'Employees are entering a tighter job market, which has affected wage predictions, said Terrazas. "We should expect less turnover to continue to tamp down wage growth in coming months," according to the report. At the current rate, Indeed's tracker forecasts posted wage growth to reach the 2019 average of 3.1% in late 2023 or early 2024. Wage growth has "come down pretty steadily" since that pandemic high, Indeed economist Cory Stahle said.

Persons: Scott Dalton, WTW, Mercer, LaCinda Glover, —, Cory Stahle, they've, Julia Pollak, Terrazas, Pollak Organizations: Workers, Bloomberg, Getty, Mercer, Employees Locations: Columbus , Texas

☆ The numbers are in: Here’s how big your raise is likely to be next year
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-16 | by ( Aki Ito | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Now it's: How much of a raise can I expect in 2024 if I stay in my current job? Sure — but it may wind up being the biggest boost in purchasing power that workers have gotten in years. If you think you deserve a raise that's higher than the 4% average, pay experts have a few tips. These days, as the hiring frenzy subsides, you're not as likely to get a bigger raise simply by switching companies. Which means that 2024 may be your last, best hope for landing an above-average raise — perhaps for years to come.

Persons: —, That's, it's, David Turetsky, What's, they're, Ruth Thomas, don't, Aaron Terrazas, Aki Ito Organizations: Congressional, Salary.com, Employees Locations: California, Washington, Payscale

☆ How big is your raise likely to be next year? We found out.
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-16 | by ( Aki Ito | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Benefit consultants from Mercer, Aon (AON.N) and Willis Towers Watson (WTW.O) see employer healthcare costs jumping 5.4% to 8.5% in 2024 due to medical inflation, soaring demand for costly weight-loss drugs and wider availability of high-priced gene therapies. Benefit consultants help design insurance plans for medium and large employers. About two-thirds of U.S. workers receive benefits through such plans.Insurers UnitedHealth (UNH.N), Centene (CNC.N), Cigna (CI.N) and Elevance (ELV.N), which manage employer insurance plans, declined to comment for this story. Of its projected 8.5% increase in employer healthcare costs for next year, Aon anticipates 1 percentage point coming from weight-loss drugs alone. Gene therapy treatment of just one employee could significantly raise costs for a company, consultants said.

Persons: Srdjan, Willis Towers Watson, Mercer, Marsh McLennan, Beth Umland, Aon, Novo's Ozempic, Eli Lilly's, Janet Faircloth, Jodi Picoult's, Khushi Mandowara, Leroy Leo, Caroline Humer, Bill Berkrot Organizations: U.S, REUTERS, Reuters Graphics, Novo, Reuters, Employers, Thomson Locations: Ljubljana, Mercer, Aon, United States, Bengaluru

Seven years in, Country Garden has invested 20 billion ringgit ($4.3 billion) in the project, Forest City said, a far cry from the initial $100 billion plan. "Seeing is believing," Forest City said in an email response. "The land plot itself is valuable," a Singapore-based bondholder of Country Garden said, while highlighting the complications of dealing with a local government joint-venture. Last month, Malaysia's central bank said local banks had limited exposure to Country Garden amid concern about its financial stress. Anwar, Malaysia's prime minister, has designated Forest City a "special financial zone" to attract investment, which Forest City said would help with its marketing.

Persons: Foo Gee Jen, Anwar Ibrahim, Anwar, Malaysia's, Yang Ming Han, Loh, Loh Wee Loon, I'm, Xinghui Kok, Xie Yu, Anne Marie Roantree, Lincoln Organizations: ISKANDAR PUTERI, Garden, Forest, Malaysian, Reuters, Thomson Locations: KUALA LUMPUR, ISKANDAR, Malaysia, Garden's, City, Johor, Singapore, Forest City, Malaysian, Forest, Loh Wee, China, Johor Sultan, Iskandar Puteri, Kuala Lumpur, Yantoultra, Hong Kong

☆ Obesity drug Wegovy's popularity has US employers rethinking insurance coverage
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( Patrick Wingrove | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/2] A selection of injector pens for the Saxenda weight loss drug are shown in this photo illustration in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., March 31, 2023. A new and more expensive version of the drug specifically for weight loss, called Wegovy, had been approved in 2021 by U.S. health regulators. Employers that cover weight-loss drugs have required medical practices to document patients’ need for Wegovy since it was approved. The federal Medicare healthcare program for Americans aged 65 and older cannot cover weight loss treatments by law. Only 16 states – the most populous being California, Pennsylvania and Michigan – cover Wegovy and other obesity drugs under their Medicaid plans for low-income patients.

Persons: Jim Vondruska, Shawnte, Aon, Mercer, Willis Towers Watson, Eli Lilly, Jeff Levin, Levin, Scherz, Michael Manolakis, William Yancy, Manolakis, Patrick Wingrove, Michele Gershberg, Suzanne Goldenberg Organizations: REUTERS, New, Warner Bros, Warner Bros Discovery Inc, Reuters, Marsh & McLennan, Employers, Barclays Research, Novo Nordisk, Duke University, Thomson Locations: Chicago , Illinois, U.S, New York, Marsh, Wegovy, California, Pennsylvania, Michigan

☆ Workers are clamoring for pricey new weight-loss drugs like Ozempic. Companies are grappling with how to respond.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Companies that pay for workers' health insurance are grappling with how to cover the pricey drugs. Medicare, the federal program that provides health coverage for people 65 and older, doesn't cover weight-loss drugs. ArcBest already has a program to help workers lose weight through behavior changes and nutrition. Krutsch said he wants to build on that, covering the weight-loss drugs Wegovy and Saxenda for employees who aren't able to lose weight without medication. The new weight-loss drugs were in short supply in 2022, and that gave employers time to figure out how to handle them, he said.

☆ Here are Monday's biggest analyst calls: Tesla, Alphabet, Apple, Nvidia, Best Buy, Zillow & more
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Goldman Sachs upgrades Nomad Foods to buy from neutral Goldman said it sees an "attractive investment opportunity" to invest in the frozen food company. Goldman Sachs upgrades Willis Towers Watson to buy from neutral Goldman said it sees a robust turnaround for the insurance company. Barclays reiterates Tesla as overweight Barclays said it's standing by its buy rating heading into Tesla's investor event on March 1. Raymond James upgrades Frontier to strong buy from outperform Raymond James upgraded the cable company after its "impressive" earnings report. UBS reiterates Apple as buy UBS said its survey checks show Apple is the preferred brand in both the U.S. and China.

☆ Here are key things you need to know about health savings accounts as you near retirement
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Sarah O'Brien | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

If you have a health savings account and are nearing retirement age, be aware that some of the rules are different for the older crowd. The standard HSA contribution limits for next year are $3,850 for self-only coverage (up from $3,650 in 2022) and $7,750 for family coverage (up from $7,300 this year). The definition of an HSA eligible, high-deductible health plan for 2023 depends on whether you have single or family coverage. A solo plan would need to have a deductible of at least $1,500 and a maximum limit of $7,500 on out-of-pocket expenses. For family coverage, the deductible is at least $3,000, with a $15,000 maximum on what members pay out of pocket.

☆ Recession fears could trigger a 'lipstick' effect on deal activity next year
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Sheila Chiang | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

For the first time in over three years, there were no mega deals valued over $10 billion during the third quarter, according to the latest M&A report by Willis Towers Watson . There were only 49 large deals valued over $1 billion during the quarter, as compared with 67 large deals closed in the same period a year ago. Despite global recession fears, geopolitical tensions and expectations for inflation and interest rates to keep rising in 2023, WTW predicts dealmaking activity will continue. "An unprecedented number of disruptive forces have created headwinds for dealmakers, but they are also generating opportunities," said Massimo Borghello, head of human capital M&A consulting, Asia Pacific at WTW. "The fundamentals that drive dealmaking are still in place and, with valuations moderating after the historic levels reached in 2021, strategic and financial buyers alike will take advantage of better-priced opportunities for growth."

☆ 31 stocks that mutual funds are heavily betting on, driving their best-performing year since 2007 according to Goldman Sachs
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Laila Maidan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Mutual funds are set to have their best year of outperformance relative to benchmarks since 2007. The report indicates that 56% of large-cap mutual funds outperformed their benchmarks compared to a 36% outperformance rate seen since 2007. Meanwhile, 66% of large-cap value funds outperformed the benchmark Russell 1000 Value index. Below are 31 of the 50 stocks listed in Goldman Sachs' Mutual Fund Overweight Positions basket. The list is based on the investment bank's analysis of 548 large-cap core, growth, and value mutual funds with $2.5 trillion in equity assets.

☆ UniCredit to give staff in Germany 2,500 euro tax-free bonus-memo
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MILAN, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Italy's second-largest lender UniCredit (CRDI.MI) will give its staff in Germany a bonus of 2,500 euros ($2,594) to compensate for rising inflation, a copy of an internal memo seen by Reuters and confirmed by a spokesperson showed. Trainees will receive a bonus of up to 1,250 euros, depending on the time they worked for the bank, the memo showed. The bonuses are exempt from tax as well as social security charges and will be paid out in December, it added. Under a third package of inflation relief measures costing in aggregate more than 65 billion euros, Germany announced in September that employers can pay out tax-free bonuses to staff of up to 3,000 euros each until the end of 2024. UniCredit had roughly 14,000 employees in Germany as of end-September, its website showed, making it its second biggest market after Italy where it employs nearly 35,000 people.

☆ Hot Market for Cyber Insurance Begins to Stabilize
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Richard Vanderford | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

The market for cyber insurance has begun to stabilize after a surge in ransomware attacks in recent years propelled a steep rise in premiums, observers say. Cyber insurance can pay ransoms to hackers who lock company technology systems, or it can help offset the cost of responding to data breaches. The insurance itself remains relatively niche—insurer Munich Re Group estimated the global value of cyber insurance premiums at $9.2 billion at the outset of 2022, compared with hundreds of billions of dollars spent in the U.S. alone for commercial insurance, according to the Insurance Information Institute—but events spurring premium increases have become familiar. But not all companies can, as some must have cyber insurance to work with partners, Mr. McNicholas said. “The cyber insurance community has to be fairly nimble and flexible in how it looks at risk.”Write to Richard Vanderford at Richard.Vanderford@wsj.com

☆ New York City helps kick off 'wave of pay transparency legislation' as workers demand full salary disclosure
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Jessica Dickler | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

New York City's Wage Transparency Law goes into effect on Nov. 1, making it mandatory for employers to share the salary or hourly wage in postings. "We expect the recent wave of pay transparency legislation to continue," said Mariann Madden, director of work and rewards at benefits consulting firm WTW, formerly known as Willis Towers Watson. "Job seekers and current employees want to know and understand that they are treated fairly and are provided with equal opportunities to thrive and grow within the organization," Madden said. The idea is that pay transparency will bring about pay equity, or essentially equal pay for work of equal or comparable value, regardless of worker gender, race or other demographic category. "Employers may realize this transparency is important to job seekers and start including it anyway without a mandate," she said.

☆ Two-minute drill: PSA, MDT & WTW
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

In this videoShare Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailTwo-minute drill: PSA, MDT & WTWJeremy Bryan, Gradient Investments portfolio manager, joins 'Closing Bell: Overtime' to discuss his favorite stock picks including; Public Storage, Medtronic and Willis Towers Watson.

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