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The European Commission has put forward a raft of new measures that will improve health and the healthcare sector in the EU. Measures include a new biotech act to increase Europe’s biotechnology potential, a Safe Hearts plan to tackle cardiovascular diseases and simplified rules for medical devices.
The European Commission’s new European affordable housing plan will help millions of Europeans who are struggling to find a home they can afford. The plan focuses on increasing housing supply, triggering investment and reforms, and addressing short-term rentals in areas with housing shortages. Source link
The European Commission’s new European affordable housing plan will help millions of Europeans who are struggling to find a home they can afford. The plan focuses on increasing housing supply, triggering investment and reforms, and addressing short-term rentals in areas with housing shortages.
New EU rules to prevent microplastic pollution from plastic pellets take effect today. Plastic pellet operators must now avoid, contain and clean up any spills or losses, as well as implement risk management plans tailored to the type and size of their installations. Source link
New EU rules to prevent microplastic pollution from plastic pellets take effect today. Plastic pellet operators must now avoid, contain and clean up any spills or losses, as well as implement risk management plans tailored to the type and size of their installations.
Chile: Statement by the Spokesperson on the outcome of the presidential elections Source link
Many business owners today search for virtual assistant services. They want help with daily tasks. Wing Assistant is one name that comes up often. But is it really good? Let us find out in this detailed review.
Wing Assistant is a subscription-based virtual assistant company. They give you a dedicated VA for your business needs. You pay monthly fee and get access to their platform and support system. The company started some years back and now they claim to offer managed outsourcing solutions for many tasks like admin work, customer service, lead generation, and social media management .
The main idea is simple. Instead of hiring freelancers on Upwork, you get a managed service. Wing Assistant handles the hiring, training, and management of your VA. You just tell them what work you need done.
The process is straightforward. First, you schedule a 15-minute call with their team. Then you meet your Customer Success Manager (CSM). This person helps you throughout. After that, they match you with an assistant. You don’t get to choose from multiple candidates – they give you one VA based on your needs .
Once matched, you can start delegating tasks through their management app. They have a special dashboard for task management and communication. You can track progress, give feedback, and monitor hours used. The platform also includes AI-powered tools for scheduling and analytics .
Pricing is a big factor for any business. Wing Assistant uses fixed monthly plans. There is no hourly billing. According to 2025 research, their rates are :
These are flat fees paid in advance. You cannot rollover unused hours. This is different from freelance platforms where you only pay for actual work done. The cost seems high at first. But Wing includes management, CSM support, and software tools in the price. With freelancers, you would pay separately for these things or manage them yourself .
One important point: even though some call it “unlimited,” Wing Assistant is not truly unlimited. You get fixed hours per day. If you need more, you must upgrade your plan or hire additional assistants .
Wing Assistant offers several features that make it different from hiring freelancers:
Dedicated Assistant: You get one VA who works only for you. This helps in building relationship and understanding your business better .
Management App: Their custom dashboard helps in task assignment, communication, and file sharing. It includes video recording tools and media library for easy onboarding .
AI Integration: The platform uses automation and AI for task routing and progress monitoring. This helps improve turnaround times and reduces repetitive work .
Scalability: You can start with one assistant and add more as your business grows. This is good for companies planning to expand .
Training and QA: Wing employs full-time assistants who get continuous training. They have quality assurance processes and dedicated CSMs for oversight .
Data Security: They use SSL encryption and secure password sharing tools. This is important for businesses handling sensitive information like law firms and healthcare providers .
Wing Assistant covers many business functions:
The range is wide. But the actual quality depends on the individual VA’s skills and training.
Let us look at honest advantages and disadvantages based on real user experiences.
Pros:
✓ Reduced Management Work: The CSM and supervision layer saves you time. You don’t need to recruit, interview, or manage HR issues .
✓ Dedicated Support: Your VA focuses only on your business. They learn your processes and become part of your team .
✓ All-in-One Platform: The integrated app means you don’t need separate tools for task management, time tracking, and communication .
✓ Predictable Costs: Fixed monthly billing helps in budgeting. No surprise bills .
✓ Quality Oversight: They have training programs and performance tracking. This ensures assistants meet business standards .
Cons:
✗ Higher Fixed Cost: $699 per month is a big commitment for small businesses. If you don’t use all hours, effective hourly rate becomes very high .
✗ No Choice in Selection: You cannot interview or pick your assistant from a pool. You must trust their matching process .
✗ Mixed Quality Reviews: Many users report inconsistent performance. Some VAs need constant follow-ups and micromanagement .
✗ Communication Issues: Some clients mention poor communication and delayed task completion. English fluency varies among assistants .
✗ Inflexible Billing: You pay for full month even if you don’t use all hours. No refunds for unused time .
Customer feedback is mixed. On platforms like Trustpilot and G2, ratings vary widely. Some clients are very happy while others face problems .
Positive Reviews: A construction company executive says: “Working with Wing Assistant allowed us to focus more on building and less on office work.” The assistant was timely and needed minimal training .
A job consultancy COO reports: “The team was disciplined and punctual. They helped us achieve 30 sales closes per month.”
A healthcare manager shares: “Their virtual assistants seamlessly integrated into our medical practice, significantly enhancing our workflow” .
Negative Reviews: A house cleaning company owner gave very low ratings in all areas. They said: “Wing Assistant failed to deliver promised services. Their project management was poor, leading to frequent delays and unfinished work” .
One Reddit user wrote: “Wing was okay for simple tasks, but I constantly had to review and redo things myself. It just added more work than it saved” .
These mixed experiences show that results depend heavily on your specific VA and how well they understand your business.
Based on the research, Wing Assistant is best for:
Wing Assistant is NOT ideal for:
If Wing Assistant does not fit your needs, there are other options:
Prialto: Similar managed service but with different pricing structure.
Boldly: Offers US-based executive assistants for higher-end clients.
Time etc: Another alternative with flexible plans.
Upwork: Best for direct hiring and project-based work with maximum flexibility .
Delegated: US-based assistants with personality matching, but much more expensive at ~$48/hour vs Wing’s ~$11/hour equivalent .
So, is Wing Assistant the best unlimited VA service in 2025? The answer is: it depends on your needs.
If you value convenience, predictability, and managed support, Wing Assistant delivers good value. The platform’s AI integration, training programs, and dedicated CSMs make it a solid choice for businesses wanting to offload routine tasks . Many clients report positive experiences, especially in healthcare, construction, and sales sectors .
However, the “unlimited” claim is misleading. You get fixed monthly hours, not truly unlimited service. The quality can be inconsistent, and you must commit to relatively high monthly fees . For small businesses or those with variable needs, the inflexibility can be a problem.
Wing Assistant is a legitimate company with real infrastructure and security measures . But like any service, success depends on the specific VA assigned to you and how well you communicate your needs.
Our recommendation: If you need 20+ hours of support weekly and want to avoid management headaches, try Wing Assistant. Start with part-time plan to test the waters. If you need specialized skills or have tight budget, consider Upwork or other alternatives instead.
Wing Assistant offers a managed VA solution that sits between DIY freelancing and full in-house hiring. It is not perfect, but for the right customer, it provides real value. The key is understanding your own requirements before signing up. Do your homework, ask questions during onboarding call, and set clear expectations. This will help you get the most from Wing Assistant service in 2025.
The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) published today the results of its 2025 stress test of occupational pension funds, which assessed the sector’s capacity to withstand rapid movements in yield curves and the liquidity pressures that arise from hedging positions when market rates shift quickly. The stress test confirms that the European occupational pensions sector – with investments in large and deep markets and diversified exposures to marketable securities – has sufficient liquidity buffers on aggregate to absorb shortfalls. At the same time, the tested scenarios underline that liquidity risks, particularly margin calls, can pose a threat to institutions for occupational retirement provision (IORPs). While IORPs demonstrated both flexibility and expertise in managing liquidity challenges without creating material spillovers to other markets, robust liquidity management processes remain crucial, especially for entities using derivatives.
This year’s stress test is the first pan-European exercise to focus specifically on liquidity risks in the occupational pensions sector. It follows recent episodes of financial stress — such as the 2022 UK gilt crisis and the 2023 US regional banking turmoil — which demonstrated that different triggering events can create liquidity strains for certain segments of the financial sector when rates and risk premia rise sharply. Liquidity strains can also be triggered by adverse developments in the current geoeconomic and geopolitical tensions. The exercise set out to explore the extent to which IORPs in the European Economic Area (EEA) could cope with similar shocks and where vulnerabilities would be the most pronounced. The results should be interpreted in light of the focused approach, which targeted only the asset side of the balance sheet of the IORPs and of the severe but plausible set of shocks (e.g. haircuts).
Relevant scenarios with a dynamic and realistic implementation
The stress test probed European IORPs’ resilience to geopolitical tensions, making the exercise and its findings highly relevant in today’s tense and uncertain macroeconomic environment. Under the ‘yield curve up’ scenario, interest rates rose rapidly and the euro fell in response to a sudden escalation of geopolitical tensions, bringing trade disruptions, high commodity prices and an upward revision of inflation expectations. In the ‘yield curve down’ scenario, interest rates dropped and the euro depreciated as markets abruptly priced in the effects of a protracted period of geopolitical tensions with low investment, weak demand and a worsening economic outlook for the region. Both scenarios triggered asset price corrections, higher volatility and a loss of confidence in financial markets.
To learn how IORPs would respond to similar events in real life and assess potential spillovers, participating entities were permitted to apply reactive ‘management actions’ (e.g. sale of assets, reduction in trading activities or rebalancing of portfolios) to mitigate the impact of the shocks. In a bid for even more realistic results, risk-sensitive liquidity haircuts were introduced to various asset classes to mirror the difficulty that liquidity-stretched IORPs face when selling into a downward market.
Results confirm liquidity matters
The stress test results show that IORPs’ practices of hedging against a drop in interest rates and against a fall in the value of the euro via derivatives can expose them to considerable liquidity risks under the scenarios tested. Given the combined effects of rising rates and euro depreciation, the ‘yield curve up’ scenario proved more challenging to IORPs than the ‘yield curve down’ one, where interest rates declined.
The ‘yield curve up’ scenario triggered substantial variation margin calls for IORPs as well as additional liquidity needs from market shocks. Although IORPs started the stress test from an aggregate liquidity position of around 74 billion euros (referring to cash and cash-equivalent holdings), their post-stress results without management actions show an overall liquidity shortfall of 60 billion euros – that is, 134 billion euros lower than the baseline. Post-stress results left 68 of the 156 participating institutions with a negative liquidity position, meaning that they would have had to resort to asset sales to cover liquidity needs. With management actions allowed, IORPs managed to recover their aggregate liquidity position into positive territory (15 billion euros). However, 27 entities still lack sufficient cash to meet margin calls, which must be covered swiftly and, with some exceptions, in cash.
Broader sustainability metrics covering liquid assets on top of cash and cash-equivalent holdings nevertheless point to a resilient sector with solid aggregate liquidity buffers. The baseline’s 1.44 trillion euros in liquid assets drops to 1.14 trillion euros without management actions and to 1.20 trillion euros with management actions, with no participants reporting negative sustainability indicators.
The overall results reveal that while IORPs face sizeable liquidity risks when interest rates rise rapidly, they have the risk management expertise and sufficient liquid assets at their disposal to cover liquidity shortfalls. Even as IORPs reduce the volume of their trading activities, they remain net buyers, containing the shocks without generating spillovers.
Next steps
Although the stress test had a primarily micro-prudential approach, it is not intended as a “pass or fail” exercise. Nevertheless, the findings provide a valuable basis for follow-up dialogue between supervisors and participating IORPs on the vulnerabilities identified. The insights of the stress test will also support EIOPA in its work on the supervision of IORPs’ liquidity risk management.
Petra Hielkema, Chair of EIOPA, said: “Our liquidity stress test of IORPs highlights two important points. First, it confirms that the increased focus on liquidity risks by industry participants and supervisors in recent years is strengthening the sector’s preparedness. Second, it shows that Europe’s occupational pension sector is generally well placed to withstand periods of liquidity strains that might lead to more turbulence in smaller, less diversified or more derivatives-heavy markets. That said, we will continue to closely monitor liquidity risks in the sector, particularly as allocations to illiquid assets — such as private credit, real estate and long-term infrastructure — keep rising.”
The awards were presented at ICC Headquarters in Paris during a ceremony organized with the OECD and the European Commission, with support from Microsoft. The SES Awards, now in their third edition, recognize organizations demonstrating leadership in advancing innovation and entrepreneurship globally, with emphasis on public-sector contributions to startup ecosystems.
The 2025 awards recognized 54 winners—36 Stars and 18 Rising Stars—from across the global innovation landscape. The ceremony coincided with the release of Mind the Bridge’s report “The Calm Before the AI Storm – Global Innovation Ecosystems 2025,” developed with ICC.
The report shows that venture capital has created a $4.2 trillion startup economy with nearly 98 000 scaleups worldwide over 25 years, though innovation remains concentrated in key hubs. Europe accounts for 22% of global scaleups but receives only 13% of capital. Mind the Bridge CEO Marco Marinucci noted that while the balance of power appears stable, underlying shifts are accelerating. Chairman Alberto Onetti stated that AI will reshape the innovation landscape faster than previous technological waves. Sergio Balassone, Head of Unipreneurship at 28DIGITAL, accepted the award at the ceremony.
As global innovation enters what many describe as the “calm before the AI storm,” the SES Awards spotlight the organisations shaping the next decade of ecosystem growth.
The message is clear: those investing decisively in startups, industry collaboration, talent, capital, policy, and innovation-driven procurement are the ones rising.
This recognition reflects the outstanding work and dedication of the entire 28DIGITAL team and our broader ecosystem. Year after year, we continue to deliver for Europe and the global innovation community—grounded in trust. Receiving this award for the first time as 28DIGITAL validates our strategic direction.
Federico Menna, CEO of 28DIGITAL
