When we said goodbye at the 2019 MAXIS Global Forum in Lisbon there was no way to know it would be over three years until we all met again. After such a long time apart, we were so pleased to finally be back with our network members in San Francisco at the 2022 MAXIS Global Forum.
On 27-28 September, we welcomed MAXIS partners from around the world to join us and discuss some of the biggest trends facing the future of employee benefits (EB), improve how we work together, celebrate our successes and have some fun along the way.
At the 2019 forum our theme was Shaping the future. Given how much has changed since that time, we thought it only right to reflect that with the theme Reshaping the future.
It was a busy couple of days – here are just some of the highlights.
Data and digital innovation powering the future
It’s impossible to talk about the future without looking at the role that data and digital tools will continue to play in the world of EB. Helga Viegas, Director of Digital & Innovation at MAXIS GBN, and Eirini Gialou, Senior Digital Product Manager, demonstrated a new tool we are developing to help improve the way our network shares the vast quantities of data we work with. 
And data continued to be a hot topic at the Forum. Federico Morosi, Chief Financial and Technical Officer, and Paul Lewis, Chief Business Development Officer, discussed how data helps power our shared clients’ global programmes and how, with an ever greater focus on the quality of that data, MAXIS and the network can meet the needs of multinationals.
Rethinking wellness
The delivery of health and wellness solutions has, understandably, grown in importance in the wake of the pandemic. A comprehensive wellness strategy is no longer a nice-to-have for a multinational… It’s an essential component of any global programme, not only to care for people and attract the best talent, but also to control rising medical costs.
Dr Leena Johns, Chief Health & Wellness Officer at MAXIS GBN, was joined by a panel of innovative health tech partners as they discussed the latest data trends and how technology can play a role in providing the proactive healthcare solutions needed to tackle the biggest problems facing employee populations.
A change in thinking is needed, according to Dr Leena, who stressed the importance of focusing on VOI (value on investment) rather than ROI (return on investment) in the post-pandemic world.
Diversity, equity and inclusion
DE&I was another of the big topics at the MAXIS Global Forum. Employers around the world are looking to use their benefits to accelerate their DE&I agenda and we, both as MAXIS and local insurers, need to ensure we can help multinationals meet their goals.
Bas Schepmann from Achmea, Lilia Mokhtari from MetLife Gulf and Richard Saunders from AXA Health shared their experiences at a local level, including products for women at every life stage and same-sex partner and gender dysphoria coverages. Naturally, the conversation turned to captives and how a captive programme can enable multinationals to offer a standardised set of benefits to employees, wherever they are based.
Improving how we work together
A major part of the Forum is the networking, the reconnecting, the getting to know each other and improving how we work together. And we made sure we left plenty of time for those activities.
Improv comedy expert Jeff Kramer taught us how to be flexible, evolve, adapt and (be) resilient… or Face our F.E.A.R. in a very unpredictable world, with a high-energy, interactive session.
A quiz hosted by the MAXIS team, a hotly contested football (soccer) match, some relaxing yoga, and a networking sunset barbeque completed a very successful first day. 
But the real highlight came at the end of the second day with our party and the presentation of our much-valued member awards. Meet our winners here.
Getting together with our friends and colleagues from around the world reminded us all of just how much had missed doing so and we are already looking forward to the next time.