Barclays sells life unit to Swiss Re

Swiss Re is to buy Barclays' life assurance arm for £753m. The cash sale, of policies representing around £6.8bn in invested assets, will give the UK firm a post-tax profit of £330m. Barclays currently holds 760,000 life insurance and pension policies and annuity contracts.

Swiss Re's chief executive, Jacques Aigrain, said: "The difficult market environment also creates new opportunities.

"Swiss Re has the execution capability and capital strength to seize these opportunities.