Zurich, January 9, 2006 - Zurich Financial Services Group (Zurich) announces the appointment of Martin Senn (48) to Chief Investment Officer and member of the Group Executive Committee (GEC) effective April 1, 2006. He will be based in Zurich and replace David Wasserman who will step down from his current roles and relinquish his function as member of the GEC to concentrate on a new internal assignment.
James J. Schiro, Chief Executive Officer of Zurich, said: "My colleagues and I look forward to working with Martin. We expect him to continue the job begun under David in driving a successful investment performance. In light of the magnitude of our invested assets, Group Investment makes an important contribution to Zurich's overall result."
David Wasserman will remain with the Group and focus on Zurich Alternative Assets, a new internal business unit responsible for managing alternative investments such as hedge funds, private equity, and US real estate. Within the Group's conservative investment strategy, these asset classes have served as a valuable and growing source of investment yield in recent years. David Wasserman will head the new unit, which will be based in New York and staffed by a dedicated team of specialists in the area of alternative investments.
Martin Senn will join Zurich from the Swiss Life Group where he was appointed Chief Investment Officer and member of the Corporate Executive Board in 2003. He trained as banker and after international career steps with the former Swiss Bank Corporation, he moved to Credit Suisse in 1994 where his executive roles included Regional Treasurer for Europe and chairman of Credit Suisse Group in Japan with a mandate to restructure and reposition its legal entities in Japan. In 2001, he was appointed member of the Credit Suisse Executive Board and Head of the Division Trading and Investment Services.
The Group Executive Committee is Zurich's core management team. It is headed by the Group's Chief Executive Officer and it includes the Chief Operating Officer, the Group Finance Director, the Chief Investment Officer, as well as the Chief Executive Officers of General Insurance, Global Life Insurance, Global Corporate, North America Commercial, General Insurance Europe, and the Farmers Insurance Group.
Zurich Financial Services is an insurance-based financial services provider with a global network that focuses its activities on its key markets in North America and Europe. Founded in 1872, Zurich is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland. Zurich has offices in more than 50 countries and employs about 57,000 people.
