Can coverage be extended to an employee’s family?
Absolutely. Companies provide services to the employee but if the family is accompanying them, or even if the family is staying at home, they need to make sure those services extend from the individuals.
If an individual wants to speak with our nurses about their concerns, we often find that it relates to a family member rather than the employee.
How does distribution work at Cigna?
We operate in a relatively specialist area that has grown significantly, and continues to do so. A lot more people are employed outside their home country than 10 years ago, and that is expected to double in the next decade.
We have found a lot of independent financial advisers or healthcare broking specialists have developed a specialism within the globally mobile sector.
We tend to engage with those specialists within our key markets but, because of our large global footprint, we also have a lot of direct relationships with clients. The split varies by market but tends be around 80/20.
Which are your strongest markets?
We are very strong in the UK, which is where we based our operations initially. During the past 10 years, we have seen a lot of growth in Switzerland, the Benelux countries, Scandinavia and Spain.
Our focus now is growth in Germany and France. Both markets are evolving and have large and multinational employers that need a global partner for their healthcare needs.
Europe is not one market, it is a collection of very different countries. Our trad-
itional customers are within international organisations that have a need for globally mobile employees.
We still have a very strong focus on industries such as extraction, oil, gas, mining and financial services.
Those are still very strong segments but that is changing. As companies and sectors experience economic headwinds in their home market, for example, more and more are looking at ways to take advantage of the global market.
Has Brexit been a concern?
We are well placed with operations across Europe but Brexit impacts everyone who is trading across the continent. We are planning for various scenarios.
At the moment, like many others, our customers are unaffected. But as a responsible organisation we are looking at the optimal structures to adapt to any eventuality, so that we can deploy those when we need to.
What are your plans moving forward?
We will be increasing our global footprint and the number and relevance of the services we provide. I have already mentioned Germany and France. We see them as indicative of what we are trying to do across all of our businesses.
We have seen that we can evolve and lead in those markets. We have the experience and expertise to go in and provide our solutions and make a difference.
