Insurer

Aviva's programme of job cuts, which will see 800 staff made redundant, is on track to save the insurer £250m by the end of the year, according to latest results.

John McFarlane has confirmed that discussions over the sale of the firm's US life and annuities business are on-going.

The quality of talent entering the insurance industry is at an all-time low, according to the latest Skills Survey from the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII).

Legal and General (L&G) has announced a steep rise in third quarter protection sales over the same period last year with sales up 30% at £56m (2011:£43m).

Foresters Life is working on cutting costs in its outsourced underwriting process.

More consumers will buy protection direct from online providers in response to the Retail Distribution Review (RDR), an online insurance group has predicted.

Insurers will be forced to get tech savvy next year as the on-going economic pressure takes its toll, Ovum has said.

UK insurers continue to exercise caution in their investment strategies despite the threat to earnings, Fitch Ratings has said.

Skandia has announced its gender-neutral pipeline plans including the launch of tele-underwriting.

Some 43% of European insurers are unlikely to be prepared for Solvency II by 2014, research by Ernst & Young has revealed.