According to the insurer, Indonesia is one of the fastest growing life insurance markets in Asia, and the acquisition is consistent with the its long-term strategy to build a presence in key South East Asian markets.

WLI has gross assets of £15 million and manages pension fund assets totalling £42 million.

It is a top three health insurance provider in the country, and has a 6% share in the Indonesian financial institutions’ pensions market.

The firms offers a broad range of life, health and pension products, operating predominately through employee benefit consultants, brokers and non-exclusive bancassurance channels.

Aviva Asia Pacific chief executive, Simon Machell, says: “It is another step in our strategy to build a competitive presence in key markets in Asia to ensure that we benefit from the region’s long term potential.”

This agreement is subject to approval by Indonesian regulators, and following completion of the transaction, WLI will be renamed PT Asuransi Aviva Indonesia.

The firm saw new business sales rise by 11%, with ISA and unit trust sales up 59% and income protection product sales rising by 36%.

Wesleyan also increased the quantity of its funds under management by 11.7% and recorded 20.1% gross investment return on the main with profits fund.

In February Investment Director Mike Lewis attributed the strong with profits return to Wesleyan’s faith in the long term potential of equities investment, which it remained heavily invested in during previous years leaving it in a position to enjoy the rewards in 2009.

The firm also enjoyed being the sole recipient of a 10/10 rating from Cazalet Consulting’s With Profits ratings for its life office, and the ABI has recently stated that Wesleyan’s customer service is substantially above the industry average.

Chief Executive Craig Errington has described the results as being very positive, particularly in the light of ongoing economic difficulties.

Higgins brings with him decades of experience in the insurance sector, and extensive expertise in international property reinsurance.

He joins Miller from Newman, Martin and Buchan LLP, leaving behind his erstwhile role as a director of the Property and Casualty Divisions.

Head of Facultative Reinsurance Mike Papworth has praised Higgins’ strong reputation and expressed his delight that Higgins has joined Miller.

Papworth went on to say that hiring Higgins was a significant step in the firm’s efforts to bolster its capabilities in an increasingly important area of business.

The site has been updated with a new look and fresh content representing the Leaseguard Specialist Approach to Insurance and providing browsers with current information regarding the firm’s products and services.

It has been redesigned for ease of navigation and is filled with clear, simple information, and provides quotation facilities for Landlords Insurance, Tenants Contents Insurance and Rent Guarantee, which will be dealt with by the specialist insurance team.

Managing Director Mairi Scott has expressed delight at the firm’s new website, particularly as it the redesign has taken on board feedback from current agents to help enhance its ease of use and simplicity.

The firm, which is holding its AGM in a week’s time, saw written premiums rise by 2.4% to £15.2m with a technical surplus of £303,918, despite the ongoing difficulties in the economy and prolonged severe weather conditions.

Cornish Mutual recorded investment income of £1.2m, and achieved pre-tax profits of £2.5m.

Chairman Gerald Blewett has stated that 2009 was a very challenging time, with Devon seeing subzero temperatures in December and January, and the county suffering heavy snow in February.

Blewett added that the firm’s financial hit from the worst winter in decades was less than the £1.5m initially feared.

The firm’s AGM on 25 March will see three present board members (Jerry Davison, Alan Goddard and Michael Grigg) standing for re-election.

Fronting – in which parents insure their child’s car in their own name to save money – is illegal and can result in claims being rejected by insurers.

Nonetheless, one in three (30%) parents polled said they would consider fronting if it saved them money.

Only half (54%) were aware that fronting is illegal. A quarter (26%) believed that fronting is legal.

Just two in five (38%) said they would not run the risk of fronting on their car insurance.

“It is staggering to see just how many people are happy to take the risk and “front” on their car insurance,” said Steve Sweeney, moneysupermarket.com’s head of car insurance.

“It is illegal and will immediately be classified as fraud by an insurer.

“It may save you money in the short term on your premiums, but if caught your insurance will be invalidated and a younger driver could face court – charged with driving without insurance.”

The reprimand comes after eight of the firm’s laptops, two of which contained details of 2,135 people who had sought pension scheme illustrations, were stolen from the company’s Edinburgh offices.

The data were password protected but unencrypted.

An internal report established that the company was uncertain about the precise location of the laptops at any given time and that physical security measures were inadequate, in part because managers were not aware that personal information was stored on any of the laptops.

Royal London’s group chief executive, Michael Yardley, has promised that the company will mend it ways and signed an official undertaking to that effect.

The ICO’s head of enforcement, Mick Gorrill, drives his message home with the following statement: “It is crucially important that portable devices such as laptops containing personal information are properly protected.”

Adding: “All staff members should be fully aware of the policies and procedures in place to safeguard personal information and should be appropriately trained.”

Last month, reports emerged that Royal London was in talks with rival mutual, Royal Liver, regarding a merger.

A search for a partner could have been prompted by the Financial Services Authority’s concerns over mutuals’ balance sheets, particularly with regard to their with-profits funds.

According to research by the consumer group, the insurer’s quotes vary by an average of 18%, dependent on how applicants answer the question “Have you lived in the UK since birth?”

In making its argument, Which? says it has been advised by a legal expert that basing a premium quote on an individual’s country of origin is a breach of the Race Relations Act 1976.

The group’s chief executive, Peter Vicary-Smith, says: “It is outrageous to charge someone more for insurance just because they haven’t lived in the UK for their entire lives.”

He adds: “We believe that this kind of discrimination has been outlawed for decades.”

In a statement, Admiral has said it respects every customer, regardless of race, colour or religion and that the problem question included in its application process relates to residency not race.

Admiral’s brands include Bell, Diamond and Elephant.co.uk.

The new offices come as Novae seeks to enhance its presence in the important European reinsurance marketplace.

Presently, Novae writes business from its London office, and it announced last year the formation of the Novae Re business in Zurich.

The firm has indicated that it hopes the new offices in Zurich will help it to access reinsurance business on behalf of Syndicate 2007.

Dr Richard Ward, chief executive officer of Lloyd’s of London, opened the office last week, an event where Novae Re Chief Executive Officer Gunther Saacke was also present.

Saacke expressed his delight that Dr. Ward was able to open the new office, adding that Novae Re has made a good start and that international brokers and cedants have welcomed the new route to avail themselves of Lloyd’s.

The new microsite is dedicated to such protection and aims to offer a single port of call for advisers seeking a complete and professional service to offer to customers.

The microsite will provide advisers with a range of templates for effective protection campaigns, tips on talking to clients regarding protection, an interactive sales kit and video customer case studies.

Advisers will also benefit from guidance on how to respond to difficult questions, and a number of calculators to work out just what coverage is needed for a specific customer, as well as additional support for those wishing to expand into the business protection sector.

Protection Management Director Peter Hamilton has said that the start of the financial year is the perfect time for advisers and clients to discuss together and re-evaluate the needs of the customer, including protection.