Products January 5, 2012

Mercer Changes Investment Organization

January 5, 2012 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – Mercer has aligned its investment organization to meet changing client needs and to advise on challenging market conditions.
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The changes integrate global investment consulting and investment management at Mercer, provide the opportunity for tailored regional solutions, and strengthen Mercer’s manager research and wealth management capabilities globally, noted Phil de Cristo, president and group executive of investments.   

“Mercer continues to serve its traditional investment consulting client base. But directionally, many of our clients are asking Mercer to move beyond investment consulting and to assume a greater role in helping them manage their investment programs,” said de Cristo. “In an outsourced governance model where Mercer implements investment advice, Mercer almost becomes an extension of company staff. Some clients may not want to staff internally to oversee their alternative investments or other complex investment vehicles, or to monitor fast-moving markets.In other cases, involving DB pension plans, our clients have transitioned to a de-risking model where the speed of decision making enabled by outsourcing of implementation is critically important for clients.” 

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Under Mercer’s new organizational structure, four regional managers for investments, the head of manager research and wealth management, and the global chief investment officer (CIO) will report to de Cristo.  

Andrew Kirton will continue in his role as global CIO with an increased emphasis on strengthening Mercer’s portfolio management and strategic research capabilities.  

Jeff Schutes was named global head of manager research and wealth management. Cara Williams, will continue to lead wealth management, reporting to Schutes.   

Rich Nuzum was appointed head of Investments for the US. Tom Murphy will become head of fiduciary management for the U.S., reporting to Nuzum.  

Tom Geraghty was named head of Investments for EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa).  Michael Dempsey will become head of fiduciary management for EMEA, reporting to Geraghty.  

Stephen Roberts was named head of investments for Asia-Pacific. Simon Eagleton was appointed Australia/New Zealand market leader for investments.    

Ted Singeris was appointed the head of investments for Canada and Latin America. Yvan Bretan will become head of fiduciary management for Canada and Latin America, reporting to Singeris.
Benefits January 5, 2012

Employers Would Follow Their Peers on Offering Health Benefits

January 5, 2012 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – HighRoads’ November “Pulse Survey” revealed most employers (80%) do not intend to drop healthcare coverage in 2014, when healthcare exchanges are made available under the healthcare reform law.
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However, nearly two-thirds (65%) of respondents said they would drop coverage if the majority of the companies in their industry eliminated their benefits programs. Conversely, 84% reported they would not consider removing coverage if only a few in their industry no longer offered coverage.   

Nearly all of the respondents (91%) in the study also stated they would not consider eliminating some benefits coverage currently offered based on the complexity of the new Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBC) requirements. Employers said they are already committed to their healthcare strategy.   

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Of those that indicated they would consider removing some current healthcare coverage (9%), the majority (75%) said increased regulation would be the main driving factor, while the remaining (25%) cited increased healthcare costs.   

Fifty-eight percent of respondents said they are prepared to produce SBCs by the original March 2012 deadline.   

The HighRoads Pulse Study was conducted in November 2011 and included a sampling of respondents from the healthcare, hospital, transportation, education, food and beverage, and energy and utility industries, with most of the respondents employed at hospitals or healthcare systems.

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