Zurich Insurance seeking to replace CEO: Bilanz magazine

[ZURICH]Zurich Insurance AG is seeking a replacement for Chief Executive Officer Martin Senn, according to Swiss business magazine Bilanz.

Switzerland's biggest insurance company has hired the London executive search firm MWM Consulting to conduct the search, Bilanz reported Thursday on its website, without identifying its sources.

The magazine didn't give a reason for why the company is seeking a new CEO. Riccardo Moretto, a company spokesman, declined to comment.

The report comes one week after Zurich Insurance reported a 79 per cent decline in third-quarter earnings to US$207 million(S$293.7 million) from a year earlier. Group profit declined after the company booked US$275 million in losses from the mid-August explosions in the Chinese city of Tianjin and set aside US$367 million more in reserves to cover mainly North American auto and construction liabilities.

Zurich in September abandoned its proposed bid for Britain's RSA Insurance Group Plc after forecasting losses at its general insurance business because of Tianjin and increased reserves for U.S. auto liabilities.

MWM Consulting is the same company that Credit Suisse Group AG used to recruit Tidjane Thiam for its top job earlier this year, Bilanz said.

BLOOMBERG