Zurich proposes Joan Amble and Kishore Mahbubani for election to the Board of Directors

Zurich Insurance Group (Zurich) announced today that the Board of Directors will propose to elect Joan Amble and Kishore Mahbubani to the Board of Directors for a term of office of one year each to the Annual General Meeting on April 1, 2015.

Tom de Swaan, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Zurich, said: “We are delighted that Joan Amble and Kishore Mahbubani have accepted our nomination to join our Board. Kishore is widely recognized as an expert in geopolitical and economic issues and has a strong network in Asia and internationally. Joan brings extensive business experience in finance, accounting, operational and risk management, and strategic leadership to the Board. It is planned that she would take over from Don Nicolaisen as chairperson of the Audit Committee as of end of March 2016 following a transition phase.”

All current board members will stand for re-election for another one year term. Subject to the re-election and election of the members of the Board by the shareholders, the Board of Directors of Zurich will consist of the following members: 

• Tom de Swaan, Chairman
• Fred Kindle, Vice-Chairman
• Joan Amble
• Susan Bies
• Dame Alison Carnwath
• Rafael del Pino
• Thomas K. Escher 
• Christoph Franz 
• Monica Mächler
• Kishore Mahbubani
• Don Nicolaisen

The invitation to the Annual General Meeting along with the Annual Report 2014 will be published on www.zurich.com on March 6, 2015.

Note to editors

Biographical information Joan Amble

Joan Amble (age 61, U.S. citizen) is a member of the boards of Sirius XM Satellite Radio and Brown-Forman, where she chairs the audit committees. She is also a member of the board and the audit committee at Booz Allen Hamilton.

Ms. Amble started her professional career as an accountant with Ernst & Young in 1977. From 1984 to 1989 she served at the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), specializing in pensions, derivatives and other financial instruments. She then spent 14 years with the General Electric Company (GE) in various leadership roles, including CFO GE Real Estate, COO and CFO GE Capital Markets, and as Vice President and corporate controller for GE Capital Services. From 2003 to May 2011, Ms. Amble served as Executive Vice President and Corporate Comptroller, and until the end of 2011 as Executive Vice President, Finance, of the American Express Company.

In December 2011, Ms. Amble completed a four year term as a member of the Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council (FASAC). In January 2015, she was appointed to the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board's Standing Advisory Group, which advises on the development of auditing and professional practice standards. Ms. Amble is also involved in several organizations focused on the development of women in business, including chair emeritus and co-founder of W.O.M.E.N. In America. 

Ms. Amble received a bachelor of science in accounting from The Pennsylvania State University, and later became a Certified Public Accountant (currently inactive).

Biographical information Kishore Mahbubani

Kishore Mahbubani (age 66, Singapore citizen) is Dean and Professor in the Practice of Public Policy at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy of the National University of Singapore.

Mr. Mahbubani began his career as a diplomat with the Singapore Foreign Service in 1971 where he served until 2004, with postings in Cambodia, Malaysia, Washington DC and New York. He served two postings as Singapore’s Ambassador to the UN and as President of the UN Security Council in January 2001 and May 2002. Mr. Mahbubani was Permanent Secretary of the Foreign Ministry from 1993 to 1998. He has spoken and published globally on geopolitical and economic issues. His latest book, The Great Convergence: Asia, the West, and the Logic of One World, was selected by the Financial Times as one of the best books of 2013. 

Mr. Mahbubani serves in boards and councils of several institutions in Singapore, Europe and North America, including the Yale President's Council on International Activities (PCIA), Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs, University of Bocconi International Advisory Committee, the World Economic Forum: Global Agenda Council on Geo-economics, and as Chairman of the Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize Nominating Committee. 

Mr. Mahbubani graduated with a First Class Honors degree in philosophy from the University of Singapore and an M.A. in philosophy from Dalhousie University, Canada, where he was also awarded an honorary doctorate.