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• 2 IT specialists settle insider trading charges

  PORTLAND, Ore.-- A worker came from the IT department of a Central Oregon health insurance business a few years ago to fix an email problem for the CEO.

• UPDATE 3-Aetna profit falls on costs and legal settlement

  Shawn Guertin, who has been with Aetna since 2011 and was previously CFO of Coventry Health Care Inc, which Aetna is buying, will replace Zubretsky on Feb. 25. The Hartford, Connecticut company announced plans in August for the $5.6 billion acquisition of Coventry, part of a strategy to expand in government-sponsored healthcare programs like Medicare.

• UPDATE 2-Aetna profit falls on settlement costs, names new CFO

  Jan 31- Aetna Inc said on Thursday that fourth-quarter earnings fell sharply, as costs rose in parts of its employer-based insurance business and as it took charges for settling litigation involving its payment practices for out-of-network care.

• UPDATE 1-Aetna profit falls on legal settlement, new CFO named

  Shawn Guertin, who has been with Aetna since 2011 and was previously CFO of Coventry Health Care, which the company is buying, will replace Zubretsky on Feb. 25. Aetna announced plans in August for the $5.6 billion acquisition of Coventry Health Care Inc, part of a strategy to expand in government-sponsored healthcare programs like Medicare.

• Aetna profit falls as company takes settlement charge

  Jan 31- Aetna Inc said on Thursday that fourth-quarter earnings had fallen sharply as it took charges for settling litigation and costs rose in parts of its employer-based insurance business. Aetna said net income had declined to $190.1 million, or 56 cents per share, from $372.6 million, or 97 cents per share, a year earlier.

• Boeing insurer: Too early to say how big 787 claims will be

  *Global Aerospace backed by Berkshire, Munich Re. LONDON, Jan 30- Boeing Co has some insurance in case its aircraft are grounded, but it is far too soon to say whether the problems with the 787 Dreamliner will lead to significant claims, the head of the planemaker's lead insurer said on Wednesday.

• Health Net 4Q profit plummets as costs pile up

  Health Net Inc.' s fourth-quarter profit sank more than 91 percent compared to the final quarter of 2011, when the health insurer recorded a $17.1 million gain from a business it has since discontinued. Even so, Health Net reaffirmed a forecast it made last month for 2013 earnings.

• Haiti launches micro-finance catastrophe insurance program

  *World Bank announces $1.7 million funding for program. PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Jan 29- When Hurricane Sandy struck Haiti late last year, the home Guerda Pierre shares with her three children and mother in Cabaret, north of Port-au-Prince, was flooded- and so was the merchandise she sold to make a living.

• Ace 4Q profit up, but shares fall on weak forecast

  Property and casualty insurer Ace Ltd. said Tuesday that its fourth-quarter net income improved, but losses tied to Superstorm Sandy drove down its operating profit. The Zurich- based company's net income increased to $765 million, or $2.22 per share, for the period that ended in Dec. 31.

• UPDATE 1-ACE forecasts 2013 profit below estimates; shares drop

  *Expects 2013 oper profit of $6.60- $7.00/ shr vs est $7.89. *4th- qtr operating profit $1.43 vs $1.90 a year earlier. The company forecast an operating profit of between $6.60 and $7.00 per share for 2013, below the average analyst forecast of $7.89 per share.

• ACE operating profit falls; forecasts 2013 earnings below estimates

  Jan 29- Insurer ACE Ltd reported a 24 percent fall in quarterly operating profit, hurt by losses resulting from superstorm Sandy, and forecast a full-year profit below analysts' estimates. The company forecast an operating profit of between $6.60 and $7.00 per share for 2013, below the average analyst forecast of $7.89 per share.

• Minn. building new health insurance marketplace

  Leading this construction project is April Todd-Malmlov, a 35- year-old mother of two who grew up in the small northwestern Minnesota town of Halstad and shows a knack for rattling off facts and figures without notes.

• Hong Kong, China shares fall to week low; Li Ning slumps

  *AIA climbs, China railway counters suffer stiff weekly losses in HK. HONG KONG, Jan 25- Hong Kong and China shares fell to their lowest in more than a week on Friday as investors took profit on outperformers after a strong start to the year faltered on the charts as profit warnings trickled in ahead of the corporate earnings season.

• Zurich Insurance CEO: Low Interest Rates Impact Business 

  

  Martin Senn, CEO of Zurich Insurance, tells CNBC how the low interest rate environment has a severe impact on the insurance industry.

• China insurance watchdog warns sector of cash crunch, low returns

  SHANGHAI, Jan 25- Some Chinese insurers may face a cash crunch this year as many policies mature, and as the sector faces sliding investment returns and rising costs, the China Insurance Regulatory Commission said.

• Swiss Re Chief: Govs Must Manage Risk Better  

  

  Michel Lies, CEO of reinsurer Swiss Re says authorities in both developed and developing countries still have considerable risk management work to do.

• Fla. committee hears concerns about Citizens

  TALLAHASSEE, Fla.-- A number of unresolved problems haunting the state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp. have left Florida increasingly vulnerable to catastrophe, the chairman of the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee said Wednesday.

• UPDATE 2-WellPoint expects states to expand Medicaid

  *WellPoint expects significant Medicaid growth in 2014. Jan 23- A top U.S. insurance industry executive on Wednesday predicted that most states will agree to expand their Medicaid programs under President Barack Obama's healthcare reform law, despite opposition from more than a dozen Republican governors.

• On the Call: WellPoint CEO John Cannon

  WellPoint Inc. reported on Wednesday that its fourth-quarter profit grew 38 percent, the health insurer's second quarter of improved earnings after a string of quarterly disappointments. The Indianapolis insurer said it expects 2013 earnings of at least $7.60 per share, compared with the $8.18 per share it earned last year.

• ANALYSIS-The Great Rotation: a flight to equities in 2013

  LONDON, Jan 23- One of the big investment shifts of our day may be at hand- regardless of how global markets actually perform this year. What's already known as the "The Great Rotation"- a tilting of pension and insurance funds' strategic, long-term asset preference back toward equity from extreme positioning in bonds- has been one of themes of the new year so far.