Swiss Life to Cut Jobs Next Year: Report

Swiss Life will cut jobs in 2009 in a bid to save costs, the group's chief executive was quoted as saying in a newspaper interview on Wednesday.

"Cost management is becoming ever more significant in today's economic environment. Although we have made great progress in the last few years, we have to further improve our efficiency to remain competitive," Bruno Pfister told Swiss newspaper Handelszeitung.

When asked if that meant that jobs would have to be cut next year, Pfister said "yes", but declined to give further details.

Last week, Swiss Life, which is Switzerland's third-largest insurer, said third-quarter premium volumes had fallen 11 percent to 3.08 billion Swiss francs ($2.57 billion), warned it would not meet its full-year net profit outlook and halted its share buyback program.

Pfister also said in the interview there was a possibility he would not receive a bonus this year.

Earlier this week, Swiss bank UBS axed bonuses for top executives and said it would introduce a more transparent pay system.

Pfister said he was still confident about Swiss Life's prospects and said September had been the strongest month for some time.

"The month of September was the best month for a long time because customers are looking for professional advice and security in the current crisis," he said.

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