Policy adminstration

Safeco Corp. has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its life and investments operations to a group of investors led by White Mountains Insurance Group, Ltd., and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. The sale includes Safeco Life & Investments' life insurance, group insurance, annuities and mutual fund businesses. The purchase price is $1.35 billion, and could include additional proceeds based on June 30, 2004 statutory book value.

Travelers Property Casualty Corp. announced that it has executed a definitive agreement settling asbestos-related statutory-based direct actions pending against Travelers under various unfair trade practices acts and similar statutes, including the Wise, Meninger and Cashman purported class actions and similar cases. The settlement in principle was previously announced on November 21, 2003.

Sapiens International Corp.has announced results of its survey of U.S.-based senior insurance executives on industry IT trends conducted at the ISOTech tradeshow in Anaheim, California, in late 2003. The survey uncovered an industry inclination toward short-term solutions and quick fixes that could harm companies downstream.

DALLAS-- Entrust Inc., a global leader in securing digital identities and information, today announced that Aon Limited, a leading global insurance broking, risk management and human capital consulting company, is expanding its use of the Entrust Secure Identity Management Solution by capitalizing on Entrust's innovative CPU-based pricing model to make deployment of its Web-based applications more cost effective.

PHILADELPHIA--CIGNA today released the findings of a new study that reveal an unmistakable trend: Integrating disability with health care programs has the potential to lower employers' total benefits costs and help disabled employees get back to work sooner and stay at work. As a result of the positive results found in the study, CIGNA is lowering its prices on disability benefits purchased with CIGNA medical coverage.

ATLANTA, March 12 --In follow-up to definitive agreements announced with Atlanta-based Cotton States Insurance Group in December 2003, COUNTRY Insurance & Financial Services has filed the required Form A with the Georgia Insurance Department to seek approval of the proposed transactions.

OLDSMAR, Fla. --eAutoclaims, a provider of claims management services, and ADP Claims Services Group, a leading provider of integrated business solutions for the property and casualty, collision repair and automotive recycling industries, announced today an agreement offering insurance carriers a new service to more efficiently and effectively administer their managed repair programs.

Travelers Property Casualty Corp., Hartford, Conn., assisted the New York Attorney General's Office and the New York Insurance Department's Auto Fraud Unit in a major investigation that led to a 100-count indictment charging 11 people and seven corporations, including health care providers, attorneys and a network of recruiters, for engaging in a scheme to defraud insurance carriers of an estimated $1 million.New York's No-Fault law allows reimbursement to medical facilities for services provided to persons injured in motor vehicle accidents. The defendants are charged with manipulating New York's No-Fault system by soliciting motor vehicle accident victims to attend Queens-based IK Medical P.C., and submitting fraudulent claims for treatment that had not been provided and for medical procedures that were unwarranted. Among the charges the defendants face are scheme to defraud, money laundering, grand larceny, insurance fraud, and falsifying business records.

Wilmington, Del.-based Rockwood Programs has initiated a promotional campaign designed to raise market awareness regarding its Sponsored Errors & Omissions Program. This campaign will be aimed at insurance companies and Managing General Agencies with large sub-producer networks.

LANSING, Mich.--Continuing a year-long process to significantly expand its life insurance operations, Jackson National Life Insurance Company (JNL) announced today that it has launched Perspective Investor, its first-ever variable universal life product. Perspective Investor is a flexible premium, variable universal life product designed to provide the security of base life coverage for the duration of the contract.

DALLAS--Docucorp International, a leading provider of enterprise information solutions, announced today the availability of Library Xpress for the insurance industry. Library Xpress provides insurers with customized electronic libraries of ISO industry standard forms for the property and casualty (P&C) marketplace.

GREENSBORO, N.C.-- Jefferson Pilot Financial, one of the nation's leading providers of fixed and variable universal life insurance and fixed annuities, today introduced its E-Delivery service for owners of variable universal life and variable annuity policies on the company's public Web site at www.jpfinancial.com. E-Delivery, or electronic delivery, enables owners of variable policies to view product prospectuses and semi-annual and annual reports online.

JUPITER, Fla.--Property and casualty insurers earned $22.9 billion during the first nine months of 2003, representing a $12.1 billion, or 112 percent, increase over the $10.8 billion profit reported during the same period in 2002, according to Weiss Ratings, Inc., the nation's leading independent provider of ratings and analyses of financial services companies, mutual funds, and stocks.

Evolution Benefits Inc., Avon, Conn., and Seattle-based drugstore.com inc. have teamed to create a paperless, IRS-compliant system for electronically substantiating and adjudicating the reimbursement of over-the-counter medications (OTCs) eligible under flexible spending accounts.The program, available through the drugstore.com Web store, automatically recognizes and separates those OTCs eligible for reimbursement under flexible spending accounts (FSAs)--a benefit authorized by the Internal Revenue Service last year--as well as for prescription drugs covered under basic health plans. Purchases of eligible OTCs and covered prescription drugs can be placed on Evolution's Benny Card, a special purpose, debit MasterCard card, and electronically deducted from the consumer's appropriate Benny Card account(s).

At the urging of the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI), Washington, D.C., the Internal Revenue Service has issued new guidance that will provide annuity policyholders under age 59 more flexibility in taking distributions from annuity contracts.In Notice 2004-15, the IRS says that annuitants age 59 or younger who are receiving annuity payments --a regular stream of income--from a life insurance company can revisit their insurer to restructure their payment plans. In effect, the IRS guidance allows these annuitants to restructure their payment schedules to take advantage of changing market conditions.

FRAMINGHAM, Mass.--Workscape Inc., a provider of benefits and workforce management solutions, today announced that it has acquired the business of Performaworks, Inc., a leading developer of Goal-Driven Performance Managementsoftware based in Burlington, Mass.

ATLANTA--Crawford & Company was recently named one of three national service providers to offer property, casualty, and workers' compensation claims handling to CNA Insurance Companies. "Crawford is honored to be chosen as the primary provider for such a prestigious and world-renowned company," said Grover L. Davis, Crawford chairman and CEO. "I look forward to continuing to grow this relationship, and am confident that this arrangement will greatly benefit both companies."

A new study by New York-based PricewaterhouseCoopers has confirmed that Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) is on the boardroom agenda as a key driver for a competitive edge in the insurance industry, but some leading insurers need to close the gap between the design and planning stages, and the actual execution and integration of ERM programs. Market and regulatory forces will continue to drive insurers to implement ERM as an enabler for attaining financial goals. Leading companies look to ERM as a framework under which they can not only manage all the categories of risk but also optimize their portfolios and enhance product development. Some, however, continue to struggle with the necessary infrastructure, people, processes and technology essential to fully reap these benefits.

The Phoenix Companies Inc. has completed the implementation of Metaserver Inc.'s business process integration (BPI) technology that supports the Phoenix Information Gateway, which is supporting several straight-through processing initiatives for the Connecticut-based insurer.

Daniel Burrus, a leading technology forecaster and one of the New York Times' top three business "gurus will keynote the ACORD LOMA Insurance Systems Forum, to be held May 23-25, 2004, in Las Vegas, NV. Burrus has a worldwide reputation for accurately predicting the future of technological change."In times of great uncertainty, we must ask ourselves what we are certain about," says Burrus. "Changing times mean changing strategies." At the Forum he will share "Technostrategies for Creating and Sustaining Strategic Advantage" in an uncertain world.