Insurance broker Willis Group Holdings says it plans toeliminate 200 full-time positions after reporting a fourth-quarternet loss of more than $800 million due to charges and tax.

Dominic Casserley, Willis CEO, said the firm will take a firstquarter charge of about $35 million to $45 million primarily fromthe elimination of the 200 positions. Willis expects to save $20million to $25 million starting the second quarter, with annualizedsavings of approximately $25 million to $30 million.

Willis says the decision to eliminate the positions is a costsavings move that came after an assessment of the firm'sorganizational design in the weeks since Casserley took over Jan.7.

Today was the first Q4 conference call for Casserley as CEO ofWillis. He replaced long-time CEO Joe Plumeri who retired from the post atthe end of last year.

Turning to earnings, Willis reported a Q4 net loss of $801million compared to net income of $29 million the prior year.Revenues showed some increase, up 6 percent in the quarter to $871million.

Willis took $1.06 billion in charges in the quarter related togoodwill impairment in North America, write-offs, bonuses andtaxes.

The firm also reduced Q4 2011 net income by $50 million relatedto a 2011 operational review and $22 million related to write-offof uncollectable accounts receivables.

Scandal hit Willis last year when it discovered fraudulentoverstatements in a Chicago office that spanned a six year period.Integration issues related to its Hilb, Rogal & Hobbsacquisition also weighed on the company's earnings.

For the year, Willis reported a net loss of $433 millioncompared to net income of $220 million. Revenues rose 1 percent, or$33 million, to $3.5 billion.

On the positive side, the firm pointed to Q4 organic growth of7.5 percent and 3.1 percent for the year.

When asked by an analyst how long the honeymoon period for thenew CEO would last, Casserley said, “I think in the world that welive in today, honeymoons don't last very long at all.”

Asked about his strategic plan for the firm, Casserley said hewould present his ideas during Willis' Investor's Day conferencethis summer.