(BestWire Services Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) A prominent Denver-area church pastor who fraudulently obtained life insurance proceeds from AIG Life Insurance Co. has pleaded guilty to felony theft and was sentenced to serve eight years probation. He will pay $500,000 in restitution.

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Insurance Executive In New Role

11--John Schlifske, one of Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co.''s top executives, has been named -- at least temporarily -- president and chief executive of Russell Investments in Tacoma, Wash. Schlifske, a member of the Russell board of directors, replaces Craig Ueland, who "has decided to leave the firm," the firm said in a news release. The change took effect Monday. Russell, with almost $213 billion in assets under management, is a subsidiary of Northwestern Mutual. Schlifske, an executive vice president at Northwestern Mutual, has been considered a contender to eventually become CEO of the life insurer. He has been with Northwestern Mutual for 20 years, most recently responsible for its investment products and services businesses. Russell indicated in its news release that Schlifske''s role is temporary.

Research and Markets: Tap into Massive Market Potential of

In the last few years, the Vietnamese insurance sector has seen a noticeable growth. Today, despite being very young, the Vietnamese life insurance market has already overtaken Indonesia and the Philippines in terms of market penetration. This is because Insurance premium forms a larger percentage of the country�s GDP. With the opening up of its insurance market since 1996, more and more foreign insurers are getting access to the highly lucrative insurance market in Vietnam. Foreign companies can now easily operate in the country and are forming joint ventures with local companies in order to enter Vietnam and diversify their clientele. In addition, a range of foreign life insurers, including some large Asian-based life insurers (principally from Singapore, Taiwan, China and South Korea), have set up representative offices in Vietnam and are working toward gaining operating licenses.

Always the bridesmaid

A key missing plank in this public policy debate is support for life insurance, which delivers significant benefits to Australia as do health insurance and superannuation. Exploring superannuation The latest Federal Budget brought no major changes to superannuation. That is in some respects a good thing. The superannuation regime, supposedly designed for everyday people, is extremely complex, especially around the grandfathering of provisions. Investors today need certainty as to the super rules that apply for their retirement. They need a sound basis to plan around, but there is a wider debate needed in my view around how benefits may be accessed on retirement. It was no surprise in the May Federal Budget that life insurance, and its value to Australia, was once again overlooked.