Top 20 spotlight - 4. Zurich

Group Head Office

Mythenquai 2

PO Box 8022

Zurich Switzerland

Tel: 00 41 44 625 21 00

www.zurich.com

A YEAR IN THE NEWS

OCTOBER 2005

- Zurich, alongside QBE and Norwich Union, is given one year to prepare its defence against a series of landmark industrial deafness claims, with the hearing date set for 9 October 2006.

NOVEMBER 2005

- Zurich Financial Services reports a record worldwide group operating performance for the first nine months of 2005, with net income up 21% to $2.26bn (£1.2bn) and business operating profit up 15% to $2.86bn.

DECEMBER 2005

- Zurich Specialities London announces it will no longer write business from the City after choosing to switch domiciles to its Irish branch.

JANUARY 2006

- ZFS confirms that 149 jobs will go as a result of its multi-year business processing outsourcing deal struck with Cap Gemini.

- Zurich Insurance Ireland, the European-Union-wide risk carrier for Zurich Global Corporate, opens branches in France, Sweden and Finland.

- Breathes a sigh of relief after pleural plaques, the asbestos-related condition in its test case, was ruled as non-compensatable by the Court of Appeal.

FEBRUARY 2006

- Reports a 54% rise in group operating profit for its general insurance business to $1.9bn in 2005, and outlines plans to cut $1bn in costs across the whole group over the next two years. UK GI arm reports a $495m operating profit on gross written premium of $3.7bn in 2005. This meant the UK was responsible for one-third of the European worldwide GI result.

MARCH 2006

- Launches a new UK advertising campaign, adopting the slogan 'because change happenz'.

- Bloomberg reports shares in Zurich Financial Services jump 12% after the Wall Street Journal said St Paul Travelers may buy the company - rumours that are denied.

- ZFS strikes agreement with New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer to resolve allegations of bid-rigging and improper finite reinsurance transactions and issues an apology acknowledging its improper conduct.

MAY 2006

- Launches SME Combined to provide brokers with direct access to 100 underwriters, who will be grouped in four regional teams in Leeds, Birmingham, Sutton and Bristol.

- Launches and implements two separate routes to rehabilitation, split by injury severity within the insurer's claims departments.

- Towergate Partnership acquires the Zurich home insurance portfolio from Network Data, representing about £2.7m of GWP.

JUNE 2006

- Creates a new business management team at Zurich Global Corporate UK with Alan Moore, Giles Crowley and Mandy McKenzie appointed as team leaders.

JULY 2006

- Zurich Municipal gears up to target 20 brokers in the charities and voluntary services arena after a year-long review results in new propositions.

AUGUST 2006

- Unveils operational restructure, which puts 700 employees at risk of redundancy. The proposed closure of the Newcastle customer call centre by the end of March 2007 affects 505 jobs; the transfer of personal lines customer services work out of Portsmouth affects 140 jobs; and 86 job cuts are on the cards at the Cardiff office.

- Internally announces a revised general insurance model, which will combine its personal and commercial lines divisions into one.

- Posts global profits for the first half of 2006 with a 29% increase to $1.78bn and combined ratio improving by 2.15 to 94.8%.

- Plans for a regional push are announced to double the size of its property investors book by 2011.

SEPTEMBER 2006

- Reveals major overhaul of its legal advisers. The revamp will handle the bulk of Zurich's domestic legal work.