Zurich Names Senn New Chief Investment Officer

Zurich Financial Services Group has announced the appointment of Martin Senn, 48, as its new Chief Investment Officer and as a member of the Group Executive Committee (GEC) effective April 1, 2006.

He will be based in Zurich and takes over from 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,” said the announcement.

Senn joins Zurich from the Swiss Life Group where he has been Chief Investment Officer and a member of the Corporate Executive Board since 2003. He trained as a 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,” said the bulletin. “In 2001, he was appointed member of the Credit Suisse Executive Board and Head of the Division Trading and Investment Services”

Zurich’s CEO James J. Schiro commented: “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.”

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 U.S. real estate.