Media releaseZurichApril 7, 2021

Zurich shareholders approve all agenda items of today’s Annual General Meeting

  • Michel M. Liès confirmed as Chairman of the Board
  • Sabine Keller-Busse elected as new member of the Board; all other Board members standing for re-election confirmed
  • Unchanged dividend of CHF 20 per share and all other agenda items approved

The shareholders of Zurich Insurance Group Ltd (Zurich) confirmed Michel M. Liès as Chairman of the Board of Directors at today’s Annual General Meeting. They also elected Sabine Keller-Busse as a member of the Board and all the existing Board members who stood for re-election.

The number of Board members is unchanged at 11 – with six women and five men – after Jeffrey Hayman’s decision not to stand for re-election.

Sabine Keller-Busse
Sabine Keller-Busse

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 situation, the meeting took place without the physical presence of shareholders, who were able to exercise their rights via the Independent Voting Rights Representative prior to the event. He represented 76,036,581 shares corresponding to 70.32% of the voting rights. A video recording of this year’s Annual General Meeting can be found here.

Michel M. Liès, Chairman of the Board of Directors
Michel M. Liès, Chairman of the Board of Directors

In his speech to shareholders Michel M. Liès said: “Zurich’s management has demonstrated clear leadership throughout this crisis. Zurich was quick to look out for its employees, making sure that they could continue providing support to our customers even in these most turbulent of times. Zurich is in an excellent position, thanks to capable management, highly motivated employees and loyal customers – a foundation we can continue to build on. Our every effort will go to staying at the top of our business. And we want to stride into the future with confidence.”

Mario Greco, Group Chief Executive Officer
Mario Greco, Group Chief Executive Officer

Group Chief Executive Officer Mario Greco said: “Across our businesses worldwide, we provided our customers with direct and indirect support worth more than USD 1 billion last year. We dealt with our customers’ concerns quickly and without bureaucracy. This was greatly appreciated, and Zurich has many more customers today than it did a year ago. And, above all, our customers are more satisfied than ever, as our surveys show.”

Shareholders also approved the dividend of CHF 20 per share, which will be paid from April 13, 2021. In a non-binding advisory vote, 78.06% of the represented shareholders approved the remuneration report 2020. All other items on this year’s agenda were also approved and the detailed results of all votes will be published on www.zurich.com on April 8, 2021.

The Board of Directors and the Remuneration Committee consist of the following members. All CVs as well as the members of the four Board committees can be found here.

Board of Directors

  • Michel M. Liès, Chairman
  • Joan Amble
  • Catherine Bessant
  • Dame Alison Carnwath
  • Christoph Franz
  • Michael Halbherr
  • Sabine Keller-Busse
  • Monica Mächler
  • Kishore Mahbubani
  • Jasmin Staiblin
  • Barry Stowe

Remuneration Committee

  • Christoph Franz, Chairman
  • Catherine Bessant
  • Sabine Keller-Busse
  • Michel M. Liès
  • Kishore Mahbubani
  • Jasmin Staiblin

More information about Zurich’s Corporate Governance structure can be found here.

Contacts

Zurich Insurance Group (Zurich) is a leading multi-line insurer that serves its customers in global and local markets. With about 55,000 employees, it provides a wide range of property and casualty, and life insurance products and services in more than 215 countries and territories. Zurich’s customers include individuals, small businesses, and mid-sized and large companies, as well as multinational corporations. The Group is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, where it was founded in 1872. The holding company, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd (ZURN), is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange and has a level I American Depositary Receipt (ZURVY) program, which is traded over-the-counter on OTCQX. Further information about Zurich is available at www.zurich.com.