AES International

17/07/2026

Ten years ago, Damien Walsh joined AES – and the employee benefits landscape hasn't been the same since.

As MD of Employee Benefits, Damien puts people at the centre of everything he does. He leads with genuine passion and care, not just for his team but for every client he works with. Completely unique in his approach, he's single-minded about doing what's best for the client, and he's spread that mentality throughout the entire team.

His dedication goes beyond the office in ways that genuinely move people. Damien has boarded planes and flown around the world to be with members who need him in the hospital, fighting for them, whether they're blue collar or CEO.

Just recently, he was at the hospital with someone needing spinal surgery that the insurer had rejected. He fought with the insurer, negotiated with the hospital CMO to lower costs, and ultimately helped transfer the member to another hospital where the surgery was covered. That's not in any job description – that's just who Damien is.

He'll protect anyone on his team fiercely. He's loyal, he's all heart, and he leads by example every single day. The kind of leader who makes you want to be better.

Thank you, Damien, for ten years of showing us what it truly means to put people first.

17/07/2026

Three years in, and Alois Abiad has become the person everyone wants in their corner when things get complicated.

As part of the employee benefits team, Alois helps create and execute well-being strategies that genuinely make a difference. His ability to solve any problem that arises is remarkable – he always finds a solution, and he's incredibly quick to learn new things along the way.

His organisational skills inspire complete confidence. When Alois arranges something for a client, colleagues know it'll be flawless every time.

That reliability showed brilliantly when the war started and HR leaders were flooding us with requests about their Employee Assistance Programs and what support they could offer staff. Alois quickly created a comprehensive list for our account managers detailing each client's policy, their psych benefits, and EAP providers, which helped our clients enormously during a difficult time.

But beyond the problem-solving and organisation, Alois is simply a pleasure to work with. He's genuinely caring, quick to help, and funny enough to keep spirits high even on the busiest days. That combination of capability and warmth is rare.

Thank you, Alois, for three years of proving that the best solutions come from people who truly care.

16/07/2026

Private banks play an important role for many internationally connected families. Financial life management plays a different one.

The two are often complementary, not competing. But understanding what each is designed to deliver, and how their revenue models shape the advice you receive, makes it far easier to build a wealth structure that actually works for your life.

We've written a straightforward whitepaper covering how private banks make their money, what to look for in the relationship, and how financial life management sits alongside it.

If you're weighing the options, it's worth a read.

https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0wZHP50

15/07/2026

Is your group medical insurance costing you more than it should?

Most companies don't find out their group medical insurance isn't working until renewal arrives, and the number shocks them.

By then, the decisions that shaped that number were made months ago.

Group medical insurance is one of your largest people costs after salaries. It should be one of your most managed. For most businesses, it's one of the least.

We built a short assessment to help you find out where your plan actually stands. Where it's strong, where it's exposed and where it could be quietly costing you more than it should.

It takes two minutes. Most people are surprised by what it finds: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0wYgLh0

06/07/2026

Six years in, and Brandon Anege continues to lead the charge in keeping us at the forefront of AI adoption and automation.

His recent work with the AES employee benefits team exemplifies his forward-thinking approach – turning hours of manual work into streamlined efficiency.

Brandon's leadership in identifying and implementing these technological advances consistently delivers measurable improvements across the business.

His enthusiasm for problem-solving is infectious – colleagues appreciate how he always approaches challenges with a smile and consistently finds solutions.

That positivity, combined with his constant learning and ability to see connections others miss, makes Brandon the go-to person when technology gets complicated.

Whether automating processes or generating ideas that make operations more efficient, Brandon proves that the best IT work isn't just about fixing things – it's about reimagining how they could work better.

Thank you, Brandon, for six years of turning technical challenges into competitive advantages, one solution at a time.

29/06/2026

Do you know exactly where your finances stand right now? Take the 90-second Financial Health Assessment, and you'll likely find 2 or 3 gaps you had no idea about. Get your instant results: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0wxgBC0

26/06/2026

When life gets chaotic, the instinct is to do something.

With your career. With your family. With your finances.

That instinct, applied to a long-term financial plan, is one of the most common ways we watch financial independence get quietly undermined.

Our CEO and founder Sam Instone explores why the messy middle of a working life is when good plans are most at risk, and what the people who reach financial independence in good shape actually do differently.

Read his latest column in The National:

Beware the urge to act when everything else in life seems chaotic

25/06/2026

Your brain takes shortcuts to cope with information overload. Useful in a meeting. Expensive when the decision involves money.

Confirmation bias, sunk cost, overconfidence: this cheat sheet maps the mental traps that catch even sharp investors, and how to spot them in yourself.

Read it here: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0w9Rfh0

23/06/2026

The questions worth asking before the next renewal aren't usually about price.

They're about whether the plan you're paying for still fits the team you've got. Whether the cover your employees expect is actually in the policy. Whether the way you'd want a medical emergency handled is the way it would actually be handled if one happened next week.

We built a 2-minute benchmark for HR teams to answer those questions on their own. It scores your employee benefits across three areas and shows you where the gaps are before you sit down with your broker.

It's called the Corporate Healthcare Assessment. Free. Results on the screen.: https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0w9QbR0

19/06/2026

Plenty of people with $1m+ portfolios drift back to work. Not because they need the money, but because the plan fell apart the moment life went off script.

Staying retired isn't about hitting a number. Sam Instone lays out the seven truths that decide who actually stays out. Read it here:

https://eu1.hubs.ly/H0w9LMm0